flipping perch under

boriss69

Bigger Hammer
Jul 31, 2014
40
Fresno, CA
First Name
mark
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1953
Hello all,
I have just acquired my first Willys. (ha, this site thinks Willys is spelled wrong) Anyway, the previous owner replaced the rear end with what I believe is a GM 12 bolt 6 lug truck rear end. I suppose I will have to remove the cover to see what year it is. Knowing the ratio would be nice to know as well.
So, the leaf spring is mounted on top and I would like to move it to the underside. The back end is about 4" higher than the front which has the original (I'm guessing) parts. This makes it look a bit silly and not to mention too tall to fit in my garage.
As long as the perch is parallel to the current one, wouldn't this be fine? There is no drive line to worry about as yet. I will have to ask questions about that in future posts.

Thank you. Go newbies!DSC00408.jpgDSC00398.jpgDSC00386.jpg
 
I counted the bolts and you are right, it is a 12 bolt ! There should be the BOM on the outside of the axle, somewhere around the cover on the casting. It probably wont tell you the ratio but, if no one took it off, there should be a metal tag under one of the 12 bolts telling you what the ratio is.
 
I thought "10 bolt" and "12 bolt" referred to the number of bolts that hold the ring gear to the carrier? Not just the bolts that hold the cover on?

Then again I'm a 7.5", 8", 8.8", and 9" kinda guy. My experience with GM rear ends is limited.
 
Nope, not in this case. They refer to them as 10 and 12 bolt. It's the amount of bolts holding the cover on.There's a 14 bolt also, sometimes referred to as a 10.5 "but, there's also a 14 bolt that is 11.5" now. They are referred to that way for Chevy axles only as far as I have seen.The 7.5, 8, 8.8, and 9" refers to the ring gear size. It's funny that way, what does Dana 44 and 60 stand for ?
 
BTW, Without seeing a really good picture of the underside of your Willys (truck or wagon?) , it looks like you don't have the original leaf springs, or transfer case either. It could be that the entire drivetrain has been swapped out for chevy parts. Maybe the frame and everything.
 
Yes, it now has a small block 350 with a turbo 350 tranny and a 203 transfer case. It has been messed with a bit...a lot. I'm told that particular choice in transfer cases was a poor one as it only has a 2:1 ratio. But, it is in there now and I wanted to get it in the shop to work on it.
Thanks for the comments so far.

So, the leaf spring perch? Can I just move it to the underside without issue?
 

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As long as it looks like it will clear. you should be okay. I would go get a cheap piece of PVC the same diameter as your axle tube and lay it on top of the springs with a lump in the center where your diff. is, and cycle it to make sure of clearance. Will the tires clear ? BTW, are you sure you have the original frame ?
 
Thank you all for stopping by and saying hi.
It looks like the body shouldn't have any trouble going down the 3 or 4 inches from where it sits now...and no, I don't know if the frame is original. I am guessing yes as the rest of the front end is original, though I may take that out some day and that is a whole new post of questions!
The donor vehicle front end with all the controls will be brought back this week and then I may have some idea as from what it came from.
 

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As long as you are moving the spring perches, the pinion alignment should be your first consideration rather than making them parallel to the existing arrangement. Interesting project.
 
Is it just my eyes or is that transmission and transfer case hanging down a bunch? I understand
you want to lower the back of the body but, how much ground clearance will you have @ the
transfer case? Just an observation.......
 
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