1962 willys truck build--Cummins!

so little by little things get done in this thing this weekend and last night I welded up the front upper shock mounts. I used the easily attainable ford f350 shock towers. I scored these on amazon for $20ea!

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it's been a while since I updated on the truck. I got some great Christmas goodies including a steering column and twin stick shifter and some gift cards thanks to my wife and family! I have installed both of those and am close to being able to turn the front wheels with a steering wheel (in transit)!



I also have hand fabricated a new transmission tunnel and floor patch panel where the original pedals went through the floor.

Seats are in place only for mock up as of now.

We made the decision not to use the factory bed, instead we are purchasing a ruger trailers trailer tub, fenders, tailgate, and lid that will be mounted. we own aruger trailer expedition trailer for camping.

the new bed is 8" shorter which allowed me to shorten the frame. Coincidently it is also narrower at the mounting points so I have had to fabricate a new frame structure to mount the new bed. I was able to do it all bolt on! I also added a new rear cross member for the rear upper shock mounts. goal this year is to see it move under its own power....




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That tub will be cool looking. I also decided to ditch the factory bed.

I agree I think the dimensions will match perfectly.

here's a pic of a TJ with a similar bed for an idea of what it may look like.

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bikemanx2 said:

I agree I think the dimensions will match perfectly.

here's a pic of a TJ with a similar bed for an idea of what it may look like.

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Click to expand...

I have been thinking along those lines of bed style as well for a while now too.

well I can now officially turn the front wheels with the steering wheel! I opted to add a steering wheel quick disconnect from NRG Innovations along with one of their wood steering wheels and short hubs. Now I can sit in the truck in the garage and pretend that I'm driving it!

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Where did you get the steering column from? Truck is looking great!

thanks, it's a summit brand column from summit racing.

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It's again, Been a while since i updated on the progress of my truck. I picked up my new bed yesterday, it still has to be assembled but I think it sits nicely. I realized that I need to add more lateral supports in my bed frame to support the floor of the bed since it is just flat steel.

I also disassembled my dana 300 tcase and did an inspection. I found it to be pristine internally so just some new gaskets, seals, and a fresh coast of paint and it goes back in!

I also finally got around to fabricating a frame for my 2 jeep jk bucket seats. I found some really Essbase seat sliders from Speedway that worked great for the drivers seat. I built the frame to be centered on the under seat storage and bolt to the floor. these things aren't going anywhere!I have room in the middle for a nice size ammo can console!

I'm trying to focus now on getting this thing to move under its own power. I have a 20 gal fuel tank that will be bed mounted from spunaluminumgastanks.com on order.

in order to get the 700r4 to do what I want I found Americanshifter.com and got one of their shifters installed this weekend.


To keep the little cummins cool I decided to buy a direct replacement radiator from champion, their offering is a 3 row down flow aluminum radiator. I did have to build some offset brackets since my steering box resides in the lower left corner of the grill. this is still s work in progress but I think will turn out nicely!


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Looking at going to a similar style bed as reminds me of the army trailers. Want mine to sit a bit lower though.

it does sit a bit high, this bed is 24" deep and has a lid on it, it also doesn't help that I don't have the hood on it. I think once I get it painted and everything together it's going to look and function great. And who knows it may someday have a rack on it with a roof top tent.

I haven't seen this truck with a bed on it, in general, for so long that I think it would look strange regardless lol.

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Even 2-3 inches out of the top would look a bit better. I don't totally mind it though. The more I stared, the more I liked it. Looking good!

this weekend I got the fenders and tail light housings mounted which certainly helps with the vertical perspective so to say. I also replaced the rear leaf springs which were from a Ford Explorer with springs from a mid 90's f150 that have more arch, they certainly helped with the rear sag. radiator mounts are coming along, have some fine tuning to do but they are OK for now. I did get my shiny overflow bottle mounted. SHINY!

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So I realize it has been a very long time since I posted anything in this. To be honest, it feels like not much has happened. You take one step forward and 3 steps back. I have replaced the firewall and trans tunnel, sprayed the entire underside of the cab with both chassis saver as a primer and Monstaliner. My goal was to paint or coat everything that would require removal of the cab or bed to accomplish. After getting everything assembled I was actually able to drive this truck under its own power around the back yard for the first time last fall. I quickly found out that the previous owner of the drive train had used bolts that were too long to bolt the torque converter to the flex plate allowing excess play and the bolts all sheared. After repairing that mess, the next test drive i couldn't get the transmission to shift so I pulled it and sent it to ATS diesel for a rebuild. This last weekend I can say I have had a blast driving this beast around the back yard. Runs great, shifts right etc.

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A couple more pics

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Glad you were able to sort the PO mistakes and got to do a drive!

Gojeep said:

Glad you were able to sort the PO mistakes and got to do a drive!

Click to expand...

All I technically need is lights to drive it on the street, now comes wiring!

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