50 Willys PU Street fighter

[shizzy]

Here is my project. It's a 1950 Willys Pick up. I was talking with my friend over beers about this Street fighter truck idea I had bouncing around in my head. He promptly offered up the titled body of his stalled project in trade for a case of beer.

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This is to be a budget build, NOT to be confused with a rat rod. I don't plan to paint it, Nothing is going in to it that does not make it go, stop or turn.

Its now sitting on an S10 chassis I picked up from a friend. Front suspension had been rebuilt, and already had drop spindles and coils. In the rear is a 9" ford with a three link and will be getting coils and weight jacks. Up front will be coil overs and SPC upper arms. https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/07/photobucket65271371343975227_zps28a57249-1.jpg

Keeping within Budget is a 305 chevy (traded another friend a case of beer) and a TH350. The 305 is getting a Summit house brand cam, dual plane intake and I'm going to build a set of small tube full length headers.

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Wheels will be 18 x 9.5 Boss 338's and tires will be somewhere around 285-295's on all four corners.

I'm going for a street fighter / vintage circle track / Road race feel.


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[Typhoon1015]

awesome, it seems trucks are starting to get big in pro touring style lately.

I look forward to the build. Keep a tally of $$ it would be interesting to see when all done.

I also have a vision for a similar style truck, but I think others are going to beat me to the punch(lots of other projects going currently).

[shizzy]

I think the initial buy in price is what is making Trucks popular. Around here a rust free roller GM A body is around $4000. I'm in a case of beer. I'm planning on coming in under 5K for the whole build.

[Tig]

Love these old Willys pick-ups, bad ass for sure.

Just curious, is that notch going to be a temp set up?
I'd hope you'd use the proper material for that, maybe some 2x3 or 2x4 tubing or a small frame notch.

[shizzy]

That's not a Notch, It's a bridge for the springs and shocks. Both sides are now connected. The frame is getting boxed, more bracing is going in and it's getting a cage with bars connected to the bridge.

[SS PUNISHER]

Any updates on this??

[Tig]

That's not a Notch, It's a bridge for the springs and shocks. Both sides are now connected. The frame is getting boxed, more bracing is going in and it's getting a cage with bars connected to the bridge.

Gatcha, I just notice the material to the left in the pic above.
Wow caged to, nice. This is going to be good.



I'm also in for updates.

[shizzy]

I've been extremely busy. The rear suspension is all tacked in.

I ended up cutting the whole entire floor and inner rockers out. The front half of the floor and most of the fire wall was already missing and I decided it was going to be just as much work to try to patch the old as it would be to start new.

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I welded 2 x 3 tubing in to the inner rockers so that I had a solid base to build body mounts to and attach the floor.

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I then spent the next few months building the body mounts and putting in the subfloor.

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then it was on to the floors and the firewall. The engine is set back a good 11" from the stock S10 location so making room for the HEI distributor and the factory cowl vent AND the transmission AND my feet was a challenge.

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[shizzy]

In the mean time, I picked up a 2004R from a friend and traded the TH350 for a pair of Quadrajets. Another friend gave me a Performer intake he found in his shed. I also picked up a set of Vette / LT1 valve covers at U pull. They are a bit beat up, but for $18, I couldn't pass it up.

bad side shot, it's cold here in MN, no outside shots for a while.

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With the exception of the tranny tunnel, the floors are in. Despite the doghouse, The factory cowl vent will still work.

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the HEI is still snug, but it will side in and out with the cap and rotor removed.

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Summit house brand seats. I wanted better seats, but I'm on a beer budget here.

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[shizzy]

next to go in are brake pedal assembly, steering column and shifter. Shifter and steering wheel will be here on Monday.

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[Tig]

Extremely busy is an understatement.
Awesome work man, looks great and is coming along nicely.
I wish I had friends like yours hah, score on some nice parts.
Are you going with a coil-over set up or conventional coil spring/shock?
What rear set up did you with?

Nice work.

[shizzy]

It does seem like I'll go out to the shop and work for hours and only get done 1/2 of what I planned.

As far as the friends, they are just as broke as I am, so we all seem to understand parts trades.

the rear is a 9" out of a 79 Lincoln. it's a pretty nice rear, 3 link with a panhard and coils. I was able to reuse the S10 front leaf spring mounts for the front mount points for the lower control arms and the stock control arm mounts on the 9". I did have to fab a crossmember and a mount for the upper link, but was able to reuse the OEM one on the 9". The rear has coils and weight jacks, and I'd like to go with coilovers on the front, but that will be dependent on cash.

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The cardboard box is a mockup of the fuel cell. It looks like Ill have everything aside from the radiator between the front and rear wheels. I should end up with a pretty even weight distribution.

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[shizzy]

Also, the dash is completely hacked. I haven't decided yet how to handle that. Following with the theme of the build, I may just cut out the whole middle and left side and start from scratch.

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[shizzy]

As I said before, the dash was hacked to pieces.

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So again, I decided it was easier to just cut out the bad and start fresh.

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I then welded a straight piece of 1 x 1 to connect the two sides. I'll trim more out and fill the whole panel in so I have a clean slate to deal with.

New shifter and steering wheel.

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[shizzy]

Booster and master in, hole cut for the steering column.

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sure feels good to be able to sit in an actual seat bolted to an actual floor and grab hold of an actual steering wheel mounted to an actual steering column and put your hand on an actual shifter mounted to an actual transmission.

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[shizzy]

No real update, though I may have reached a crossroads type decision on the build. I'm pretty sure I'm going to yank out the 305 and 2004R and swap in an LS/4l60E combo. both my engine and tranny are of unknown quality, I have no brackets, pulleys or accessories for the 305. Doing the math for both a SBC and an LS comes out similar dollar wise.

[no go nova]

nice build what is the rear spring rates?

[Auto Rod Technologies]

Very cool project, going to be neat when finished, can't beat that price either!!

[shizzy]

The rear springs are 150 lb's. I did some simple internet math. They are universal circle track springs so I can change them out for a different rate. They only run $50 a pair.

[craigs73]

looks pretty cool

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

watchin this..

[GT500KR_Vert]

that top needs to be chopped - would look awesome - would be cool to take 4" out of the cab - right around the middle of the lower door area

[shizzy]

I do want to chop the top, 4" is probably going to be the amount.

[carguykeith]

S-10 front suspension is the same as a g-body so you have a lot of options there. For the $ I don't think you can beat my setup, speedway UCAs ($50 ea), powerperformance tall Upper & loser BJs ($100), moog IROC springs ($50) and some adjustable shocks ($150). You already have drop spindles and you can trim the spring for ride height if needed.

Cheap C5 13" front disks are easy too by cutting your spindle ears and turning down your existing rotors to use as hubs.

[68400BIRD]

I have some pulleys and I think a power steering pump for a sbc if interested. (free)

[CruizinKev]

cool!! I love this project! can't wait to see more!!

[novaboy009]

What steering wheel is that? I dig it.

[Buryingthesun]

I can only imagine awesome things to come

[shizzy]

What steering wheel is that? I dig it.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/joe-13515-b/overview/

[shizzy]

sold off the 305 and everything that went with it, picked up a 5.3. It's a higher milage unit (200K), but it was complete with harness and computer for a good price.

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the Dirty Dingo mounts should show up tomorrow and then I'll see where things look.

[shizzy]

S-10 front suspension is the same as a g-body so you have a lot of options there. For the $ I don't think you can beat my setup, speedway UCAs ($50 ea), powerperformance tall Upper & loser BJs ($100), moog IROC springs ($50) and some adjustable shocks ($150). You already have drop spindles and you can trim the spring for ride height if needed.

Cheap C5 13" front disks are easy too by cutting your spindle ears and turning down your existing rotors to use as hubs.

How many miles do you have on the Speedway control arms? I've heard good and bad about running them on the street.

[carguykeith]

How many miles do you have on the Speedway control arms? I've heard good and bad about running them on the street.

Not many unfortunately, I finished the car (It's of course never "finished" but got it running and enough of the bugs worked out to drive it around) then shortly afterwards took a job in Okinawa Japan… So I'd say maybe a 1000 miles but doubt even that many. I'm a mechanical engineer and in my opinion the arms are plenty strong enough, their chromoly tubing with steel crossshafts and greased joints. Remember these are made for circle track racing and there aren't many things harder on front suspension components than that.

[dangina]

I like where this is going :)

[shizzy]

Well, USPS sucks, took a week to get my Dirty dingo adapter plates in. without swinging the engine in place, I'm thinking the Power steering is going to give me issues. It looks like it will be sitting right on top of the upper control arm. I'll know for sure tomorrow. Since I don't want to raise the engine any higher and i'm on a budget, I may go with this.

http://goatbuilt.com/gm-ls-power-steering-brackets/

Cheap and raises the pump 4.2"

[injcted]

Very cool project! Looking for to much more updates

[shizzy]

Finally got the Dirty dingo plates. It was going to be a warm day (27 degrees, woo hoo!) so I took the day off from work.

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Since I had no idea how this was going to fit in the chassis I decided to just lift the cab up and back. At this point I had that "two steps forward, one step back" kind of feeling.

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I ended up moving the engine up two inches from where I had the SBC before In order to clear the power steering pulley. I just chopped some tubing at 2" and ran some longer bolts through. I'll have to redo the mounts, but this got me bolted in.


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As it sits, the PS pump pulley just clears the crossmember. I'll chop a chunk out and weld in a flat plate.

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Snug, but the pump and lines clear.

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Here it is sitting between the frame rails. I may have some slight hood clearance issues with the truck intake, but we will have to see.

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[jwatts]

Just a heads up on the power steering pulley before you start cutting the crossmember. I had similar issues on the LS swap in my Chevelle. I used a power steering pulley for a Ford E-150 van with a 300 straight six. It is Dorman part number 300-020. This will cause an issue with the belt being too short. I found that a belt for a Jeep Cherokee 2.5L 4cyl with A/C (Gates P/N- K060910) fit just fine.

[shizzy]

thanks for the tip, though it's not worth the extra $60 to me. All I need is a little extra distance to slip the belt on or off.

[jwatts]

No problem. My clearance issue was with the steering box itself, so I didn't have much of a choice but to change the pulley.

[shizzy]

Looks like I'm going to have to move the engine forward about two inches. The exhaust manifolds are too far in to the firewall / toe board area for my liking.

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Also, in this pic, the cab is still needs to come down about 4" on one side before it sits down on the body mounts and it's quite close to the MAP sensor. I'd like to retain the cowl vent, so moving things forward will help.

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2" will make all the difference.

I'll probably be picking up Welder series mounts (LS200), but for now, I'll cobble something together to move the engine to check fit.

http://www.welderseries.com/blog/online-store/ls1-motor-mounts/

[shizzy]

My Wife went out of town for the weekend, so I decided it was a good time to start digging in to the Harness.

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Scary getting started, but it does make sense as long as you slow down and focus on one wire at a time.

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At this point I've got the Unneeded circuits / connectors removed. I'm starting to see why places charge $700 and up for a ready to go harness. I've got a good 6 hours in to this and I'm no where near done. But once again, beer budget....

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[srh3trinity]

There are a few people that make a block hugger ls1 header that has a centered reducer. That might fix your issue with the firewall.

[SS PUNISHER]

Impressive mustache sir, impressive...

[shizzy]

There are a few people that make a block hugger ls1 header that has a centered reducer. That might fix your issue with the firewall.
BLock hugger / mass produced headers are a big no in my book. I worked for a small header company for years and will not spend money on an item that will cause other issues. I'd build a set of long tubes, but again, where the engine sits it's just no good.

[shizzy]

Impressive mustache sir, impressive...

What started as a joke, has become my trademark. My Wife complimented me on it one day, so it stayed.

[Motown 454]

Subscribed . Interesting project.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

What started as a joke, has become my trademark. My Wife complimented me on it one day, so it stayed.



I thought he was a decedent of the Wright bros... lol..

im sure he owns a corn cob pipe and a branding iron..

[SS PUNISHER]

What started as a joke, has become my trademark. My Wife complimented me on it one day, so it stayed.
Haha! I dig it though man, you sport it well.

[shizzy]

I thought he was a decedent of the Wright bros... lol..

im sure he owns a corn cob pipe and a branding iron..

I actually do smoke a corn cob pipe from time to time. lol

Moved the engine forward 2" like I was thinking and arrived here. Couldn't have planned it any better. Plenty of room for the radiator and stock mechanical fan and now I've got a bunch more legroom in the cab.

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These days I seem to be counting my progress in inches rather than feet.

[shizzy]

After much head scratching I've decided I don't like the truck manifolds. The driver's side is doable. Not ideal, but workable.

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The passenger side however ride deep in to the toeboard area. That will require a big recess and the exhaust right where the passengers toes are.

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I snagged a set of 04 GTO manifolds on Ebay today and those should work out much better.

[orbit]

Just... WOW! Im in on this.

[shizzy]

The GTO manifolds showed up today.

Much better fit to the firewall. They hang further out from the engine and than I like and I might have to put a small dimple in the frame where the flanges are, but they will work great compared to the truck manifolds.

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[shizzy]

Still picking away at it. Ended up moving the engine forward another 1.75". I also made a purchase today, decided to go big or go home.. Holset HX40W. I plan on no more than 4-6 Pounds of boost for now.

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[SS PUNISHER]

Just keeps getting better!

[liquidh8]

Nice, loving the budget and work going into it.

[shizzy]

No major updates, just tracking down parts. Went to U-Pull today and grabbed a 4l80e out of a 1 ton Chevy van. Cost? $49 + a burger and 2 beers for the friend who helped me yank it. :headbang: I'll be giving it a rebuild and a fresh converter, But this should make my drivetrain bullet proof. I knew I was going to have to put some $$$ in to the TH2004R I had in order to have it stand up behind a turbo'd 5.3L.

I'll put the TH2004R I have now up on CL ad probably come out a few dollars ahead on the deal.



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Also got the engine mount situation figured out. picked up a set of OEM SBC mounts ($8 each, + $10 rebate) and a friend had a set of universal mounts he sold me on the cheap. Just need to do some trimming and welding.
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[Tig]

49 buck, hell yeah. He shoots, he scoooooores a 4l80e transmission.

[shizzy]

49 buck, hell yeah. He shoots, he scoooooores a 4l80e transmission.

Damn right, I initially thought it was going to be $99 (per the yards pricelist) but that is with a 30 day warranty. After I said no to the warranty and the cashier said $49, I couldn't pay quick enough.

[rustomatic]

I like this build. I avoided looking for a long time, because I really like 4x4 Willys pickups and wagons. What you're doing here is demonstrating how so much more cool and fun comes from the basic metal parts and fabrication, not the money dumped on me-too b.s. Stay thirsty!

[shizzy]

I do dig them in stock form as well, but by the time I got my hands on this one it had already been swapped on to an S15 Jimmy Frame. The bed had been shortened, most of the floor and firewall was cut out and the whole project was a mess. The entire original frame and driveline was long gone.

[shizzy]

Still chasing parts, looking for deals.

the Turbo I got had an odd sized V band flange on it so I had to find a new one with the standard flange. Ebay to the rescue... :headbang:

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In keeping with the go big or go home, I'll be running a 4" downpipe. Still waiting on the turbo inlet flange and a few U bends so I can start plumbing things up.

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[acegto]

Cool build

[shizzy]

apparently owning / living in an 84 year old duplex and joining a kickball league leaves little time for working on the whip. all I've done in the last month is tinker on the new transmission crossmember.

[driveit]

Don't give up we need more pics. Have you decided on wheels and tires yet?

[shizzy]

Oh, I haven't given up! Now that the summer season is winding down, I'll have more time to tinker.

I traded a friend some things for a pair of Aero wheels. I've got another friend with a tire machine, so I mounted the tires on them for free. I'll end up ahead as I'll sell off the set I had on the front. I'll probably pick up another pair for the rear and run them for now. I picked up a new DD truck so my budget for this project took a hit.

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I also decided to go back to the Silverado manifolds and just flip them. It will make plumbing the turbo a lot easier. I can also resell the GTO manifolds.

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Ebay to the rescue on flanges for the manifolds.

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And..... decided to go back to my original plan and front mount the turbo and put the radiator in the bed.


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