An Old Friend Leaves Town

Today I want to forget the Willys and tell you that an old friend has left town. It was my faithful companion for the past 3 years and many car shows and 38 thousand great miles. It has gone to Arkansas to a new owner and hopefully will give him the same cruising miles that I had, Bye Bye MGM (Mercury Green Monster, a name given by my granddaughter)

I Just Wanted a Tuneup

Sometimes you dig into something and instead of stopping you reach for a bigger shovel. I just wanted to tune the Willys a little and BAM it is now torn apart and this is just the beginning. The front seats sat on risers (actually they were floor mounted glove boxes) and my head would hit the roof, so out they came and then we moved the crossmember back behind the seats to get it lower, Well that sounds simple but ....... it takes a lot of doing.

But so what it is fun (??) and sometimes you just want to do it right. I know I know, that is a change

In a couple of days you will meet Expert # 2, so be ready.

The Studs of Motorcraft

Had to go on a business trip and actually was too lazy to post, probably lost my readership. Today I want to discuss some of the crew. They all have low testosterone levels UNTIL a hood is raised and then they become

"The Studs of Motorcraft"

We all know them, a lot of tools, nothing to work on and BAM a hood goes up, their libido goes up and the smell of testosterone is in the air. At the far right is Bill Horne (pronounced Horny) and owner of J&B Streetrods. In the middle is Keith the Woodman aka. Paul Bunyon and on the left is Jay the Polish Man. These are just some of the staff that contributed to the building of the car. Wait now I'm not sure Jay did that much, but he always took the largest chair so it was never stolen, but work I can't remember any. Oh wait a minute he did polish HIS wheels to try and look busy.

One other character is Jim: His sandwiches are so heavy he needs the transmission lift just to get them at should level. From Brooklyn so what can you expect. A good man and gets a lot done unfortunately not on the Willys.

Grillin' Out

The Willys originally had round headlights. Someone in the past had changed them to square but left the parking lights round. Kind of looked funny, so it was either both square or both round. The square parking lights were purchased at The Chrome Shop on I-75. Yes, for you "Free-Thinkers" we did consider round on one side and square in the other.

I liked the square except they really weren't square so we thought lets just square them up. Well after all the Bondo removal, then the pop rivets, we determined that the headlights being square was not the problem but rather how they had been made square. Just put metal in, pop rivet and then using more Bondo than is legal in most states just smooth them out. We cut the metal and rivets out of the grill and then set in new pieces and welded them in place.

I must say welding on this vehicle was something to see. In most cases, no heat penetration and to finish a weld you just Bondo it smooth.

There were so many pop-rivets and Bondo in this car that I think someplace, somewhere, probably on the porch in a "Cracker Barrel" rocking chair there sits this happy couple who's daddy owned the Bondo Factory and Pop Rivet Factory respectively.

While dating it was probably in the back seat of a 51 Green Ford (a long story about this car) that you could hear; "If you touch my rivets again I will slap you!" I can just hear their wedding night intimate conversation. "Oh, dear your rivets look so good, here let me smooth them out a little!".

Let's Get Started

You will see the term "we" used and "I". The "we" is myself and Bill Horne, owner of J&B Streetrods, the "I" is me. The "I" was mostly grinder work, procuring parts and the "we" is watching Bill do his thing and maybe handing him a wrench or two. I learned so much I told Bill I was going to open my own shop. He said you don't have to; I'll sell you one!

As with any good Doctor you always start at the rear and look for the wallet. So at the rear we begin. Below the tailgate was a piece of metal that was rusted in many places UNDER the Bondo. As we touched any piece of metal with a grinder, dust flew. So the first step was to reduce the Bondo to dust, get to bare metal, determine the damage and then replace the metal. The piece resting on the tailpipes in the picture fits underneath the tailgate. But first we had to replace a hinge piece for the tailgate to bolt onto. With that in place we then lined up the hinge bolts, drilled and put in Nutserts. After that it was almost easy, I say almost because the whole floor had to be replaced. I planned on driving the car in about 4 months and that almost would have worked if we used a 15 week per month calender. In the meantime I was unofficially named Parts Manager and I like to say; I got so good at what I did that no-one would leave me alone so I could do what I was so good at!

Meeting The Expert

Well the bodyman (Hereafter referred to as Expert 1) is now into it and it sure looks like the project is on the way. He is taking it apart and getting ready for the bodywork needed. I said I want an estimate of the cost and he said he would know better once into the project. I said OK and he was into the project by 40 hours when I said stop and tell me the cost. When he said it was $10,000 to get the body ready I said no and decided that Expert 1 ( I needed to number the Experts because as you will see I met a few) needed to look for other work, he was later laid off anyway, I hope I contributed to it. So I took the car back to the streetrod shop and started the long, long, long road to getting this car on the road. I did not realize being a 1951 car it was also subject to the 1950's diagnosis of cancer. They open you up and then sew you up and say once the air hit it went all through the body. Future blog entries will explain what air can really do.

Finally Home

Well after a lot of water and a 3 day trip because of the dampness and wet, I was in sunny Florida. I parked in the driveway and immediately was asked, "Is that what you bought?" Of course it is my dear I said in a very smooth manner. I had had a couple problems on the trip and now I thought it was time to really get to know the car, should have done that before I paid for it. I took it to a glass shop to see if I could reseal the windshield, He said he could not because it would not hold because the "A" pillar wasn't straight. That was the beginning of this small project, just straighten the pillar and .....

I could smell the dampness and pulled up the carpet and that was the first mistake. I should have dried the interior and then hope someone would steal it!! I pulled up the carpet and then "oh shit". Underneath I found rust and patch panels installed, but not real patch panels but homemade and pop riveted. I ripped all the carpet out and then the door panels and ended up with a bare interior and a lot of cancer. I also had a pile of trash for the trash man and was asked if I was going to leave THAT in the front yard.

I then decided I would repair the rust and then have a good cruiser, this is when I spoke with Bill Horne of J&B Streetrods about doing some metal replacement. He said sure and the adventure began.

The Road Home

Having already spent my money to buy the car and then go and procure a "Temp" plate I left the great state of CN via I-95. Oh boy! The road reminds me of the GM test center in Detroit where they take cars for a shakedown cruise. And of course it started to rain. So off I go and find that the car also takes on water around the windshield and the defroster doesn't work very well but better with the window open a little. The Seller gave me a bag of tools in case I needed them and some spare parts that we always have but don't seem to ever to put on until the car is sold. But still, I said as I was getting colder and colder, it was a great trip UNTIL a place called Riceboro, GA. Just driving along on I95, listening to static which is better than nothing, and I enter a construction zone. I had to slow down and I did and then the engine died. I was able to pull off to the right side of the road and had plenty of gas and it started back up and seemed OK UNTIL I pulled back on I95 and it quit. I made it about 30 feet and pulled into the medium just before a tractor trailer was about to make me a grill ornament. I called the Seller and he said he couldn't figure it out. So here I am tired, wet, damp and negatively excited. I was next to an overpass so I walked across the northbound lanes and slid down to the street below. The convenient store on the corner was my refuge. Does anyone here have a tiltbed I asked and in an Indian accent I was told that JT Jones BBQ next door had one.

Oh boy. A BBG with a tiltbed. Did they actually use hogs so big that a tilbed was required? So I walked next door and met Ms Jones and her grandkids and had a GREAT sandwich. There were also many religious tracts on the wall and she asked if I was a Christian and we had church. They said Mr Jones would soon be there and he indeed had a tiltbed. We spoke of family and how her granddaughter's husband, Wesley Hayes, had just shipped off to Iraq for a tour of duty. I looked at the granddaughter and realized how young she looked and remembered that I was 26 in Vietnam and was old compared to the others there. Mr Jones arrived, had a sandwich, and then said lets go. I had a spare fuel filter and he changed that with a pair of pliers and the car ran perfect and I left with a full belly, a prayer request for Wesley and feeling good about life. So if you ever want a GOOD BBQ sandwich or dinner visit JT Jones BBQ exit 67 of I95, South Newport, SC and pray for these young kids like Wesley Hays, a hero I never met.

The Start of Something Small

You may wonder about the title ... but ... a lot depends on what effort I put into this blog. That will make it small or maybe big. This blog will follow the process of building a 1951 Willys Station wagon that as of today is almost complete. The glass is in and all that is left is about another months work, BUT that is after 17 months of work.