Building a 61 Willy's Wagon Rockcrawler

whoo Hooo!! just picked up a set of these for the grand total of $75 R)

dang pic got deleted after purchase...ill take my own tomorrow



The little dodge wheel caps will not be used. They are minor bling with the aluminum finish whcih is perfect. i wont mind the fact that they are aluminum as the tires should protect the wheels from most rock attacks. with the money I saved i will be able to afford Staun Beadlocks!!! i am stoked.

 

Man, that frame has turnde out grest. I'm gonna haf to get oyu to come to Tennesse and box one of my 5's in for me. Burrrp!

 

Man those are the beadlocks that if I were to get a set I would want.

 

alrighty...

Finished up cleaning and painting the springs this morning.





also here are some pics of the wheels i got for $75 that I was so excited about. Also for reference, one of the four 39.5" x 13.5" Iroks that I got for a sum total of $400. (two of which were worn and will be used as spares).







I guess Ill start working on getting the clutch, brake, and gas pedal assemblies together...that ought to be fun :twisted:

 

ooooh big purchase time...just got these quotes from 4 wheel parts

Staun Beadlocks - 4 $755.96
39.5x13.5 r16 Iroks -2 $491.98
ARB Dana 60 35 spline $750.00
Mastercraft Restraints 5 point 3" bolt in - 2 $179.90
ProComp Xtreme res shocks xp3908 14" stroke soft - 4 $410.99
atlas 4.3:1 xfer case $1,900.58
mount balance 4 wheels $60.00

total $4,549.41



R)

 

Doesn't sound too awful bad for what you are getting. I usually mount my own tires though and balancing 39 Iroks on beadlock rims is pretty much pointless, but maybe they can do a good job of it.

 

I hate mounting tires, its a total pita unless you have some kind of tricks I dont know about.

I was shocked at the price of the atlas.....

 

I do have a little secret for mounting tires. You want to hear it?.........











A buddy of mine has a tire machine.

I didn't really say it wasn't worth the $60 bucks to have them mounted because it would be well worth it if you don't have access to a machine. Also, that sounds about right for an atlas t-case.

 

Got up at 6 am and got busy this morning....

Interior front prior to scraping off freakin tar paper that had melded with the floor panels...





same area after scraping, wire brushing, cleaning with soap and water, and painting. the floorboards will all be covered with 1/16" steel plate.







I am off to K&K surplus to get steel to extend framerails and also make bumpers.

see ya'll later

 

man this project is coming along so nice!!! i have loved reading this thread

 

Hey all. I will be hanging my leaf springs onn the Wagon this weekend and I need to decide on the wheel base. I will be running 39.5" Iroks.

The stock wheel base is 104"...Should I lengthen to 110"?

Thoughts??

 

I moved my front axle forward 8-inches (combination of moving the hangers and the Rancho RS44044 Waggy springs' offset centerpins) so the 40-inch Goodyears wouldn't tag the cab when the springs compressed. I left the rear pretty much where it was. Mine's a pickup, though. My wheelbase is at 126-inches now. Oct. issue of Jp will have pics, but that doesn't really help you now.

 

Whoo Nothing like the feeling of hot molten welding cherries burning through the seat of your pants and jumping from butt cheek to butt cheek!!! now that would have made for some quality video with me squirming and bounching under my rig.

Now for an update.

pedals pre and post cleaning and painting:





Rear of rig prior to lengthening



I thought alot about how too go about lengthening the frame and decided on sleaving the box and reinforcing with internal "pins" as well as gusseting. i havent gotten to the gusseting yet.

After lengthening rear:

 

Now for the front of the vehicle.

Front prior to any lengthening. I had actually cut some of the front frame off as the old shackle mounts were a pita to remove what with the rivets and all.



tadaaaa front is longer...




in order to reduce the amount of shear stress on the mated framerails i decided to install shear pins. I just drilled holes through both sides of the sleaved box and then welded the inner areas where they meet, and then drove some rebar through the holes and welded it all up. Like i said earlier i will add gussetting to further strengthen the joints.









Okay I need some lunch then ill get back to the garage already!! sheesh you guys are pushy

 

ok i am tired now.

Just got done adding 1/16 plate to the drivers floorboard. Man welding to paper thin rusted metal is a real treat!!!!! I think I only blew through the floor about 11 times, so thats not to bad considering...

fiirst plate measured, cut. painted and welded in place over the pre-existing hole for the clutch, brake, and steering wheel.



Floorboard ...



Its amazing how much steel can be cut with a circular saw with a metal blade. Here is the plate i needed to cut for the floorboard



and welded iinto place. Note the circlular cut that was made to ensure that the middle was tacked down as well.



weld shots





this section was badly rusted and really thin, so i blew through in a few spots, but what ya gonna do?

 

Shop Dog

 

looks great!! keep it up, cant wait to see this as she gets closer to being on the road

 

Sheesh, this small wonder of the modern world took me four hours to measure, cut, fab and mount....one freakin shackle hanger!!!!

Gah!!



yup, this is where the springs go



One side of one hanger cut....



Hopefully this thing can take a beating...





Gotta love it when the springs are wider than the frewakin frame!! what a PITA

 

Looks nice

 

damn....had to take the last 4 days off from the garage to look after my own children! Whats this world coming to when the woman has better things to do than look after the litt'uns! :toetap:

That was a joke if you can't get the sarcasm....The wife is getting her administrators license so she can be a Principal. Two teachers incomes sucks!

anyways, I got to spens some time in the garage today.

The rear suspension is set up and ready for the 14 bolt. I just scored a detoit locker for the 14b for $275. i didnt want to run it welded if I didnt have to. also i bought the calipers and rotors in order to do the disc brake conversion. hopefully the rear axle will be completely in place by the end of the weekend.

Rear end



new rotor and caliper for disc brake conversion



Front end








I think I may be seeing some light at the end of this tunnel.