1951 Wagon, Arizona Wagon

If you remove those tanks, you'll have plenty of room for a lithium battery pack...
 
Lithium Battery !!!! OMG you want me to carry a bomb around under my Wagon! ..... :) That's something you never see, a Prius drive train swap into a Wagon or about anything else for that matter. I expect to see Tesla offering electric car kits any time now. It seems like anything that pops into Élan Musk's head is a reality in just a few minutes.

Gary - Since I've been working on my CJ5 for a few years and my Harley Shovelhead before that now my SAE wrenches get regular work outs. The other day I was stunned and oddly a little hurt to find a 12mm nut on one of the Wagons oil lines. For consistency, if it were a regular bolt it would have been GONE, but since it's part of an oil line I am stuck with one metric part.
 
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But that didn’t stop this guy from grafting onto a Prius

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Hmmmmm, drifting along with no apparent course ........
Okay so it's been done, was a joking throw away comment anyway. I'm not much of an environmental anything. It's my goal in life to buy a bull dozer to dig a hole large enough to safely burn tires............ Easy now, I'm just kidding.
 
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If you are thinking about going electric at least do it right! Now this is electrical power!
 

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:) okay now lets drift back to the past, Do I want an electric vehicle of any kind ..... NO! ..... :) There are still dinosaurs to burn and coal to shovel
 
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So, why is it good to have multiple people viewing pictures? On another forum a member noticed that the '51 is missing a grill bar, the top one. I never even noticed it was gone. Of course as these things go the missing bar is absolutely screaming at me ... "I'm MISSING!" Some are available locally and will look at them today. THe nice thing about the early grill bars, they are not stainless steel or plated in any way. Even a cruddy one can be cleaned up and painted.


Edit: Later in the day. Found, bead blasted and primed. Now to mount the grill top bar for a full set.
 
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15 minutes and a Saws-All later and look what happened:IMG_0759.jpg

The yellow tank was the water tank, before that according to the text on the tank, it was an Oxygen tank. Exactly like the ones an aircraft O2 tank. It really is a nice piece of engineering. Now I'm wondering what it can be used for. The fuel tank is obviously an orphan from who knows what. It is in nice condition both inside and out. After getting accustomed to them being under the Wagon the bottom seems down right empty now.
 
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That is a ww2 airplane O2 tank. Lots of uses. My friends Dad used them for air thaks for a home made compressor.
You can get a stock repo tank out of poly. Very thick and comes with strap mounts. That is what I am using. most likely cheaper than finding one then having it cleaned
 
That is not my regular gas tank, it is one that was mounted right behind the drivers seat, under the floor. Not a good location, especially since it was in the middle where a drive shaft would need to be. The stock tank is draining right now. The gas is a VERY ugly very thick coffee color. It will be pulled and inspected tonight.

The O2 tank would add storage capacity to the shop air compressor.
 
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With the smell of old gas you won't have any bugs or varmints for awhile :cheers:
 
The tank is on the ground. I was wrong about one of my previous comments. The fuel pick-up is completely stock. I was accustomed to my '75 CJ's tank pick-up arrangement. The inside isn't bad at all, a little surface rust or maybe just gas goop. I'll hit it with a some diluted muriatic acid tomorrow. The acid will remove all organic material, then I might hit it with some of that liquid rust remover that chemically removes only rust. The surface is smooth and not rough at all. There is some hope for this tank. This is definitely not the stock or original tank. The '51 came from the factory with a solid filler pipe, this one is in two pieces as the replacement tanks were set up.

I can't help but wonder about some of the engineering decisions during manufacturing. Willys made a nice compartment just inside the body for the filler pipe. Mine was filled with fine dirt, since this is Arizona the compartment is perfect, but in snow country the thing would have been rusted to death.
 
Michael,

There are many strange designs the Willys engineers created in these vehicles. That odd little "compartment" inside the filler pipe area was in poor shape in our '65 wagon. There was a remarkable mouse nest housed in our case. Here's what the body looked like in our case... Other strange designs include:

*The bell housing on the six cylinder engines (you have to take the flywheel off to remove it)
*No access hatch(es) in the tail gate
*No access hatch to brake master cylinder
*No fuses (at least our wagon had none)
*No external spare on rear bumper (housing the spare inside uses too much space)
• Large central speedo has to be removed inwards - the dash should have had a large hatch housing the gauge
 

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The pictures aren't very good but the point is made. The dirt is what was hiding under the filler hole while I was trying to wash the dirt away. The bottom is just metal, the rust you can see on the sides is more patina than it is rust. IMG_0761.jpg This is the outside. IMG_0760.jpg
 
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Well look at that, but you can't, it's inside the Wagons old gas tank. Now here's a word that usually strikes fear in a normal persons brain ..... Acid! .... specifically muriatic acid. When I mention doing this invariably someone practically runs away in fear. After removing the gas tank I was sure there was some light rust in it, but was also convinced there was a coating of brown rust looking fuel scum as well. So I got a gallon of rust dissolver and some muriatic acid from a swimming pool store. The plan was to pour a gallon of acid in the tank, watch and occasionally agitate it for about a half hour. The half hour turned into 45 minutes before removing the acid from the tank, after rinsing with water a box of baking soda was poured into the tank with some water. After agitating the heck out of the tank it was emptied and rinsed again. The rust remover will not be necessary, with the factory galvanizing looking like new. I'm very pleased.

Also, I know why the PO couldn't start it. The fuel line was plugged with some fuel goop. Fuel would trickle out at best. After running a wire through the line WD40, air and eventually fuel will flow freely.

I'm still going to add a bigger tank, but until then this one will do just fine.
 
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OK Michael, I have been reading your progress and was waiting for a chance to jump in. I live in the south and was thinking that you don't have a water tank but rather a moonshine tank? Maybe your Willys was used to run liquor? Just a thought.
 
That very idea was proposed on The CJ Forum. The thought is one I very much enjoy. The PO thought the Wagon was a "Prospector" model and the water was used for gold mining. There even was a Prospector badge on the Wagon when I got it. Of course the badge came from a Dodge pick up. Imagine how HOT the water would have been after a long desert road trip riding right behind the engine and transmission. There is an attraction to the idea that moonshine was once its intended cargo. :)

Tom - I've got to say this, thanks for following along. I know what I'm doing with my wagon amounts to VERY small stuff compared to what most of the other guys are doing. I simply don't have the resources to pile much money into a complete Wagon build. My work will be very small potatoes in comparison. What I am skilled at seems to be inappropriate for a Wagon build. I'm a decent back yard welder and fabricator. My bumpers look good and are strong, but my bumpers are not appropriate for a wagon. My roll cage skill won't be useful on a Wagon. ........ Eventually there might be a drivetrain swap, something along the lines of a 4.3 V6/T-18 transmission/D20 transfer case and Scout II axles. ... maybe a back yard paint job. That's about all.
 
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An update on cleaning the fuel tank. After the acid bath I looked deeper inside the tank and found some rust in the corners. It's got a gallon of rust remover in it to bake over night. Surprisingly enough the instructions cover using the product in a gas tank, they say that a gas tank might need to soak over night. AANNNNNDD that s what I'm doing. The results tomorrow will be interesting.
 
I mentioned this in another thread, but to keep this thread up to date.

Got a set of D44 Scout II axles. The front has disk brakes so it's at least a '75 or so set. 3.07 gear ratio. An Eaton Tru Trac will eventually go in the differential. ..... Now for that Vortec 4.3 I've been thinking about.
 
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The Axles are stored and will wait, possibly a long time before I get back to them.

A bunch of little things done. Finally have a pump to carb. fuel line. I was going to use a spin on oil filter conversion, got it installed, didn't like the look. So the original oil filter was cleaned up and painted the proper Chevrolet Red, with new original stickers and new hoses. There is no excuse not to have it running from a gas can tomorrow. I'm VERY excited to hear the old girl run. The fuel tank is cleaned, painted and ready for the new sending unit and new rubber boot for the filler line. The original fuel line needs to be evaluated, why it is now bypassed is a mystery that needs an answer. ....... This made me smile, while turning the engine over to exercise the engine before starting it, I pulled the light switch, now remember the wiring is trashed with insulation falling to dust everywhere, WHAT! All the lights work, high /low beams, even the dash lights AND the interior dome light. I expected smoke and possibly fire.
 
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