1956 Wagon in Atlantic Beach, FL.

GGOLZ said:
Painted my sun visors to match the headliner color (grey), and for the most part it looked ok. I'm seeing cracks where the original color (black) is showing through. Don't know if this is an issue with the paint or if I just need to apply another coat. Either way it's not the original material/color so it will never be as good as what i expect. That said it is an economical way of refreshing the interior of the wagon.
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I’m considering painting my grey sun visors as well. That will be a project for another day.
 
Re-covered and re-installed sidewall and door panels with a brown vinyl that better matches the color of the new seats. Also repainted the door pulls to match. I found the vinyl of my first re-covering of the inserts was, in spots, separating from the fiberboard panels. I learned that the spray can adhesive I originally used is susceptible to heat and humidity resulting in loss of adhesion. Well, here in Florida, we are blessed with an over-abundance of heat and humidity. I did a Google search that recommended Weldwood contact cement as the adhesive that performs best in high heat and humidity. I also learned that the fiberboard must be sealed to prevent the adhesive from being absorbed by the fiberboard, also resulting in loss of adhesion. I applied a good coating of Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 Primer Sealer ($10 for a quart can on Amazon) to the backside of the fiberboard to both seal the fiberboard and provide a stable surface for the contact cement to adhere. The project came out great and I am happy with the final result.
The door panel only appears darker than the seat because the door is in shadow while the seat is in sunlight. You can see the edge of the seat in shadow is the same color as the door panel. The very last picture has both door and seat in sunlight. I think I did a pretty good job mixing the acrylic leather paint to a matching color for the door pulls. Pics:
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That's nice work. fwiw if you keep to original: guy told me to leave the original whole armrest (and in my case door card with new underneath and old covers) out in the sun a few mornings through noon then into the shade so everything gets warm together, cools together, then as you go lay a hot brick across the original vinyl to help as it reforms, lays flat on top - Arizona mornings that is...
 
Gotta give a hoo-yah and a shout out to Permatex for this "flowable" silicone sealant. My wagon has had a very slight windshield gasket leak since I replaced the front glass; even after resealing the gasket twice with a regular sealant. No flooding, but enough water got past the gasket to create a small puddle in both driver and passenger-side footwells. Decided to give this "flowable" silicone a try and am very happy with the results. The sealant is advertised to have the consistency of syrup and that it can find and seal the smallest gaps. I would say it is a bit thicker than syrup, but it does flow into tight areas. I cut the applicator tip with a razor blade to create the very tiniest of openings and applied only to where the gasket met the glass. After drying clear, you cannot even tell the silicone is there. After a heavy rain last night; my floorboards are high and dry! Woo-Hoo!

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Just as I was beginning to believe I have the only Willys at the beach, my daughter sends this picture of a pickup owned by a guy that stopped for a haircut. It is a 1950 truck and says “WILLYS RAT” on the hood. The fella did not want to give his name or contact info, so I may or may not run into him out in the wild.

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QUESTION :
Is there a correct orientation for the red tail light lens? There are asymmetrical facets cut into the red lens (4 on one side of center and 2 on the other side) and I am wondering what is the proper orientation of the facets when looking at the lenses from the rear. On my passenger side, the 4 facets are on the side of the lens closer to the tailgate but I feel they should be on the outer side of the lens where the lens curves around the corner of the body. Does anyone know for sure? In the attached image, my passenger lens orientation is #1.

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I found this image online, so it appears mine are installed upside down. The larger area horizontal cuts go to the top and the shorter area horizontal cuts go to the bottom. In that arrangement, the 4 facets go to the outside.

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As you found out, yes, they are left/right specific. However, I have a set of what I think are aftermarket lenses that appear to be able to be installed either way. But, the factory originals I have really don't fit in the housing backawards and are labled with an L and R too. I made the same discovery as you a few weeks ago when I was messing with my tail lights. Check out post # 543; https://www.oldwillysforum.com/foru...roject-ran-when-parked-58-wagon.31171/page-28 If you need new hardware PN me.

The pair that I think are aftermarket have clear area (not red) area too.
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Here's an original next to the aftermarket lens.
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JABJEEP said:
As you found out, yes, they are left/right specific.
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JABJEEP, thank you Sir. I took a few minutes and corrected mine by rotating each lens 180 degrees. Yes, the lenses are labeled “L” and “R” and are side-specific. Mine were on the correct side but oriented incorrectly top-to-bottom. All is now good.

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Noticing your front plate reminds me of a Wagon out here, lives in the Valley I think. It has a NAS Pensacola 150th anniversary license plate frame. I Thought it was pretty cool so I sent a shot to my brother, retired flag. But he was unimpressed as tin cans were his thing.

BTW, glad you corrected those tail light lenses, that was buggin' the shitoutta me!
 
Tralehead said:
Noticing your front plate reminds me of a Wagon out here, lives in the Valley I think. It has a NAS Pensacola 150th anniversary license plate frame. I Thought it was pretty cool so I sent a shot to my brother, retired flag. But he was unimpressed as tin cans were his thing.

BTW, glad you corrected those tail light lenses, that was buggin' the shitoutta me!
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Tralehead, lots of those license plates in this area. We have NAS Jacksonville and NS Mayport in the local area. NAS Cecil Field closed years ago. I went through the Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) program at NAS Pensacola (aka “The Cradle of Naval Aviation”) in 1986.
My platform was SH-60B helicopters.

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Frank-P said:
Tralehead, lots of those license plates in this area. We have NAS Jacksonville and NS Mayport in the local area. NAS Cecil Field closed years ago. I went through the Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) program at NAS Pensacola (aka “The Cradle of Naval Aviation”) in 1986.
My platform was SH-60B helicopters.

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Droppin' bobbers?
 
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