Nicolsons 1961 Willys Wagon

Hello I am new to the Old Willys Forum. My name is Keith Nicolson. I have always been intrigued with Jeeps. One of my first sand box toys when I was young was a Jeep fire truck. While I was in high school during the 70’s CJs seemed to be very popular. Recently I bought a 1961 Willys Wagon. I have been reading post by members on the forum and have found them to be friendly and informative. Now that I am starting to plan the course of my project I figured that now would be a good time to introduce myself and enjoy the company of other Jeep enthusiast. I found my Willys on Craig’s list. It had been sitting for 21 years. It looks to have a rattle can paint job Ford Blue engine enamel maybe? I figure it has about a 6” lift kit and 35” tall tires. At no extra cost I have also inherited quite the collection of Pack Rat nest. It no longer has its original drive train but instead a Chevy 283 mated to a TH 400. It is rough to say the least or to sum it up in my wife’s words. “Did you really want to buy that?” I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts and experience with The Old Willys Forum.[attachment=0:1s9ky9vx]5V35U35P43kd3pb3obbbe02f44e7813791082[1].jpg[/attachment:1s9ky9vx]

nice to meet you sounds like you married my wife's sister Like the choice, you will not be sorry. Neither will she.

Welcome to the forum Keith. I like your wagon.

Yes Welcome to the wild world of Willys enjoy and good luck with your build. Congrats :cheers:

Hey Keith, Glad you joined this crazy bunch. When I bring home rusty,dirty Willys parts, my wife looks at them/ looks at me and just shakes her head. Your wife will come around. Enjoy the ride! - Ray

Welcome to the Forum. Nice Wagon. I like the stance. Good luck with your project.

Welcome to the forum Keith...

Pete

Welcome to the forum Keith. Looking forward to watching your build. Don't be afraid to ask question. There is lots of good info and people here.

Terry

Thank you!!
This week I put a little ATF in the cylinders and let it soak. I turned the engine over and it did turn. After dropping the gas tank, cleaning it out and reinstalling it with a new filler neck hose I was surprised that the fuel pump still worked. But not the carb. The carb was a Rochester meant to be installed on an engine with a manual transmission. With some luck I found a Rochester off a Buick 305 automatic rebuilt it and unbelievably this little 283 lit and ran pretty well. I warmed it up poured a quart of ATF into the crank case let it sit overnight warmed it up again and changed the oil. The brakes barley worked but I took it for a little slow drive around the block. To sum it up rattles rattles rattles, shake shake shake, and possible exposure to Hantavirus. Next I will decide what course to take with my wagon roll up my sleeves and get to work.

Hi Keith. Welcome to the Forum. Sounds like you've got this project under control. I think that ALL old Willys Trucks will have tons of Rat Turds, Rat Nests, etc included within. My 57 Willys Pickup had a family of Raccoons living in it for several years while in a barn in storage before I bought it. WOW, it smelled REALLY BAD when I bought it! At least these things are fairly easy to "fix". Good luck with your project, take lots of pictures! John (aka: Pivnic)

Welcome to the forums. Good looking wagon, good to hear it starts and runs. The brakes are a willys thing, a lot of them seem to come with poor or totally non working brakes. Looks like a decent Moab rig as is.

Well I have been putting a lot of thought into my Willys Wagon and thought I would share what I have come up with. I have completed several ground up restorations in the past with modifications to the original designs. They have been time consuming to say the least. Also I put a little more money into them than I had originally planned :shock: . I know that I share these last two points with many builders . So I asked myself…self what was your favorite vehicle? I think that it was a 1975 Ford Bronco. I bought it, put an engine in it, painted it, made sure everything worked i.e. heater, cables, brakes, lights etc. Put fancy rims on it. I then drove it for 14 years until I sold it. I think I liked it because it was simple, parts were always easy to find, and it was fun. Not a gleaming ground up restoration that I had to park in the outer spaces at Safeway. I was able to enjoy it for what it was. Does that make sense? That being said I believe those are some of the same reasons that attracted me to this Wagon. It is simple almost humble. My Willys however is not all there, or all original, basically to far from stock to be used for a restoration. In a way that frees one up a little. After looking at it I have decided to, like my Bronco to enjoy it for what it is. So here are my build plans. No undue modifications, Keep the GM drive train it runs well and the 283 CID is kind of period correct. Like the engine try to use parts that are period correct. Lift kit and 35” Mud Terrains need to go. Looking at the Wagon I feel that it was never designed for this type of modification. (No offense to those that have. One has to build what works for them). I think that I will keep the 11” drums. Like one of my friends said “you need to realize that when driving one of these older rigs life needs to slow down a little”. We will see how they fair. I have looked at a few restored Willys painted with a base coat clear coat. I think that I will actually use acrylic enamel. The modern paint systems look to shiny for a jeep. Never thought I would say that!! Anyway, that is my build plan. One last look at the way she was.[attachment=0:1ain8d4e]5O65Z25P53k33oa3l9bbe19d3532bd13e1f89[1].jpg[/attachment:1ain8d4e]

Well I spent yesterday cleaning up the old Willys so that I could clean up the old Willys. My first trip was to take a trip to the dumpster slowly because the brakes barley work at all. There I basically proceeded to throw the interior in the garbage. The roof liner and panels are a 70s light brown tuck and rollish theme. I kept the side panels to use as patterns but everything else was so messed up by packrats that in it went. I drove back using a brick as a seat. I then bought some stuff called Purple Power which stated that it was slightly caustic and sprayed the wagon with it. I thought that it would kill Hantavirus and also grease build up. Then using a steam cleaner set to kick ass, it took me hours to clean, clean, clean and then some more. One of the hardest places was the top of the engine which was used as a nightclub for the rats. I also discovered that the interior was painted with latex house paint. A removal chore for later. All in all I think that it is ready to begin working on.

Ahhh yes... The initial tasks after dragging your Old Willys Home to "Making your Truck your own", are always "lovely". Grit, dirt, grime, Nasty Smells, grease, dust, 60 years worth of rubble, and of course, Rat Turds, and perhaps petrified Rats... Cleaning the old Willys out of all the above (and more), and sanitizing it, is a great start to a great project. You are on your way to a fun project Keith! Pivnic

Been through it a couple of times for my project too.

Well I have dropped the axels and found that a little rebuilding of the suspension is required. So after a trip to the local spring shop I have new bushings, spring clips, center bolts and spring shackles. The front pivot bushings were a little large so I had to turn them down on the lathe. The axels were a mess so I spent a little quality time with them and the steam cleaner. Three hours with a plasma cutter and grinder removed the home made spring pads welded on in order to mount the axels under the leaf springs. Checking the rear end I was surprised what good shape it was in. New seals and a change of gear lube should keep it going. I did have to knock out a dent in the differential cover. Now on to the front axel.

The front axle took a little more time. I cleaned out the tubes using rags wrapped around a broom handle and pushing it through the tubes until they came out clean. New seals for the differential, new axle shaft u-joints, new knuckle bearings on the left side and wiper seals. I bought a new steering arm from Kaiser Willys along with a drag link rebuild kit. I had to install a Heli Coil in the steering knuckle to install that. The old arm had been cut in half turned and rewelded for the lift. Wal-Marts best satin black provided that 51 year old new look.

I went to buy new wheel cylinders and found them to be fairly expensive. That drove me to the bottom drawer of my tool chest to locate my wheel cylinder hone. Using a solvent tank, press and glass beader I was able to clean up the old cylinders. After a little honing and some new rubbers I think that they should work out. Cleaned up the backing plates, new shoes and here we are.[attachment=0:3mr28chp]downsized_1009121527[2].JPG[/attachment:3mr28chp]

Rear axle back in place. There is a very small hole to the right of the spring pad on the rear of the axle tube. Does anybody know what this is for? My gear ratio is 4:27:1. Pretty low. If I take it on the highway at 65 mph my little 283 will be kicking out 3100-3200 rpm.[attachment=0:1ijuwg6o]downsized_1009121529[2].JPG[/attachment:1ijuwg6o]

Pretty sure that's an OEM vent. Your project is moving along nicely. Looking good.

Thanks Splinterguy, I have another question. Two of my friends Brian and Koby knocked the worn out ball out of my pitman arm, built it back up turned it back down on the lathe and welded it back in place. One more step in warding off the dreaded death wobble. I then installed a rebuild kit that I bought from Kaiser Willys. I hope that I assembled it right. On the pitman arm end the spring assembly seemes to go in last and on the steering arm end it went in first. The Steering arm end was a little tough to get over the ball. My question is how tight are the end caps suposed to be adjusted.[attachment=0:2r6rwyzp]downsized_1011120746a[1].JPG[/attachment:2r6rwyzp]