My 53 Trail Rig

This is where my build is gonna start. This is my second jeep I bought it from my cousin in the summer of 2009. It is a 1953 Willys M38A1 with Dana 44 front and rear axles with detroit lockers and 3.73 gears. It came with a t90 3speed tranny and dana 18 transfer case. I have a turbo 350 form it and and I am gonna hook it up to the dana 18. other future plans are to build some custom rocker guards and new tube fenders, I want to get new seats and re-do the roll cage. I am also gonna blow it apart and re paint and powder coat the whole thing. Any input and ideas are appreciated.

 

So far I have rebuilt my Dana 44 rear end with a detroit locker and 5.38 gear set. I also got a new grill shell and mounted some trick led stop/tail/ and turn signal light in the rear. I also put led turn signals in the front. My head lights are Hella 700HH halogen off road light that I wired with an H7 Halogen bulb with High and low beams. My off road lights on the Stinger are now Hella 500ff's they look really cool. I Did all my wiring with a blue sea productions sealed marine fuse block. I will have pics up soon.

 

Is that a chevy 283 cubic inch motor?

If so I wouldn't change that out for anything, the 283 is the best motor ever built by GM.






Todd

 

Ditto on that!!

 

That is a 283 and it is the best chevy engine I have ever built and it started out as a block My uncle was gonna scrap so I built it for this project the only thing I am gonna do to it now is put on a pro-jection fuel injection system.
So far I have wired and installed all the lights, made the fenders and put actual hood latches on. I got a new grill and mounted it with bracket i got from my buddy they came from a motorcycle exhaust manufaturer. I also have the Dana 44 rear end finished and ready to go under I did a cool disc brake conversion you guys might like. I did the whole conversion for less than $150.00.

 

Is that a Waggy 44 front? What cam and heads did you use on the 283?

 

the cam has a .442 lift on the intake and .465 on the exhaust its a procomp cam and the heads are port matched to the intake and hedders and they are off a 327. and the front and rear end are from a 79 wagoneer that had the quadratec transfer case. It worked out cause then I got full width without having to do the off set myself the rear was already done and the front was easy I had to move the leafs out only a few inches.

 

So I have just been thinking about what to do next I have come up with a plans to make a mount out of 1/8" plate to mount my clutch and brake pedals to the fire wall to make swing pedals. The plan is to make the mount so that it will hold the master cylinders and then use the through floor pedals to make the atual pedal all I need to do I think is flip the pedal assembly around and then weld the pad to the other side I will let you guys know how it goes soon.


The next thing I need to look at is the winch mounting plate. the steering box presents a difficult challange but I think I have a good idea to get around it. I am going to use a universal plate from harbor freight that is only $50 I think and modify it to use the bolts from the steering box and then just two or three bolst throught he frame on the other side.




I also hooked up some on board air just a really simple set up I just hooked up a power inverter to a small air compressor I had lying around it just needed a home then I strapped down to the rear fender for now.

I also want to do something about the fuel cell it really need to be moved up. any input is apreciated thanks love the site.

 

can you post a pic of your motor mounts im curious and awesome willys man I love it and thanks for the great ideas all around on mine if you dont mind of course!!

Im getting ready to install a V8 in my 55. It did have a 350 prior to my getting that was taken out but rockin jeep man cant wait till mines that ready!!

 

Nice looking Jeep.
Do you have any more details on the dana 44 rear disc conversion? The $150 has peaked my interest.

 

I noticed this thread a bit late, but I'm interested in the LED front turn signals. Would you be so kind and say what you used? My poor old originals are getting pretty poor, and I don't think the original plastic lens are available any more.

Thank you,