Starting on my '50 Willys Overland 2WD Wagon. Started on body (rough/rusted), snagged a '96 Buick Roadmaster and have the LT1/4L60 ready to go. Question is what to do about suspension. I want a more modern (read IFS) suspension for ride and handling. Should I reinforce the stock frame (afterall, it was designed for a flat head 4 with maybe 70 hp), install an aftermarket Mustang II style front end (Speedway Motors?) and source a good modern rear axle (Ford 8.8?) or would it be better (cheaper) to just go with a early 90's S10 chassis I can get for little of nothing (get whole roller pickup for $400, maybe end up with $200 in the chassis after selling body)?
Opinions?
i found on my willys wagon that a s10 needed motor moved to clear radiator,,,plus w.b. adj. and firewall mod.
so i found a 2001 taco in boneyard with same 104 inch w.b. for 225 bucks
willys fit perfect except for 1 ft. in back floor needed notched 3 inches for frame rails. i moved rad forward to clear fan on my hiperf. ford 2.3 1985 with c4 auto. headers...23mpg 65mph, power rack on taco is located behind xmember so u cant see it. nice stk. a-arms too.
no more s10 swaps for me,,,toyota tacoma better fit,,,straight frame,,,power r/p steering
Hey Guys! I'm back... had a pretty bad car wreck last March. Kid pulled out in front of me when I was driving 50 mph with no warning--didn't even get my foot on the brake before BOOM! Anyway, a busted up right wrist and two subsequent surgeries, a cast for 3 months and 2 months of missed work and income (self employed with 2 kids in college) put the brakes on the Willys project. Finally got started again last month.
To update: the S-10 frame is easily adjustable, just cut out a couple welds and the frame slides to the needed length, the re-weld. Had to fabricate new body mounts to match the Willys body mount points. Cleaned, blasted and painted the frame. Replaced all bushings and had to do surprisingly little cutting on the body to get it to set down properly. It is now a complete rolling assembly. All focus recently has been on fabbing and replacing floor pans, fabbing a new trans tunnel to fit the tranny (used a section of the Old's hood and bent it to shape--worked perfect) and fitting welding in patch panels for the rear quarters that were rusted out.
Still have a TON of work to do... wiring, brake lines, instruments, A/C, interior, paint, etc, etc. But it is coming along! Hardest decision so far has been chosing a color. My wife wanted '67 Corvette Sunfire Yellow... I chose late model GM Torch Red and will paint the top above the drip rail something like Wimbledon White. Tan interior (re-upolstered Porsche Recaro buckets) should really look good. Can't wait!
I started a S-10 frame swap with a '39 Ford fordor body years ago. Just gets worked on intermittanley. I made a plywood template to match the stock frame and laid it on the S-10 frame and cut it to match the top profile. Channelled the body over it for a better stance.Located the motor mounts to put my 2007 5.3 with 1802 miles on it so it was close to the firewall. Looks good but the steering is driving me nuts.Tried moving the box over 2 1/4" and tilted it just a little. That, even with the center link lengthed in the proper spot, caused too many issues with the way the steering moves. Now I am working on installing a center-steer rack and when I figure out how to turn the hydraulic control part for better hose placement, hopefull I can continue at a much faster pace since I retired two months ago. Martinsr, I agree with 90% of your posts. At the time I was a single dad with my son in a private school. It was S-10 or nothing. Now I am much better financially and wish I still had my stock frame.I am above average at fabrication and have many resources available so I hope I can make this work. Thanks to everyone for all the comments on this. Steve
Welcome back Old Thread... Willys is slowly coming along. The S-10 chassis fit surprisingly well. Did measurements and called AFCO--had a alum radiator and 3000 cfm e-fan that fit perfectly. Next up is an Ididit tilt column and custom gas tank then headers. Already did 2" front drop spindles and blocks for the rear. Everything on the suspension gone through and rebuilt/replaced... a few pics:
LOL... yeah, going to have some custom offset Wheel Vintiques (or similar) steelies made for it. Believe me, wheel wells will be full. The rims/tires on it were just some junkers had laying around to mount up so we could roll it around. If someone just can't live without them I'd sell them for a couple thousand $$$.
over the years we have had a 48 Jeepster, acturally still have it, a jeep wagon, a jeep pickup, a jeep 3/4 ton pug nose FC, The jeepster has gone thru a lot of swapsm changes, is now presently on a full size blazer chassis and that was a lot of work. I cut out the radiator mounting box like you did when I put in a Buick Nail head back in the mid 60's and had some cracks start to show up in the front -grille headlight panel, so I added some square tube, formed a bit across the top. a straight piece of 1/2 across the bottom.
Jeepster rear fenders molded on the rear look good and clear big tires but you have already painted the body.
With a little (lot) of massaging to the inner fender and rolling the lip I can squeeze an 18x9 Billet Specialties rim and 275/35R18 tire in. Will fill the well completely but should look nice... going with a 17x8 front with a 245/45R17 tire.
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