1957 Truck Frame up - Pirate Willy’s Build

[Pirate Willy]

Time to leave the intro page and start a thread with my truck build. My intentions, at least right now, are to restore to original. But my eyes keep wandering to some of the modified masterpieces here on this forum and I cant help but dream that I’d like MY truck to look like that! But I’m a long way from either of those goals right now......

 

[Pivnic]

Time to leave the intro page and start a thread with my truck build. My intentions, at least right now, are to restore to original. But my eyes keep wandering to some of the modified masterpieces here on this forum and I cant help but dream that I’d like MY truck to look like that! But I’m a long way from either of those goals right now...... ATTACH=CONFIG]44476[/ATTACH]

Hi Paul. That sounds like You're in a Quandary. Okay, I'm NOT trying to Sway you either way... But if Your Eyes are wandering and you're Dreaming of having Your Truck Look like some of the Modified Trucks on here, Then Why do Twice the Work and Spend more than Twice the Money? You know that "Modified ITCH" in you will be torturing you Forever and ever... Just something to Think about! Pivnic

 

[Pirate Willy]

I understand your point Pivnic. But since this is the first Willys I’ve owned or worked on, I’m not sure what I want to change or keep OEM. So I’m thinking I should start from a stock Willys and work from there. This truck is not to bad of shape so mostly some work will get it back up and running and not too much $$. I’m enjoying working on it. Old school technology without the BS electronics and gadgetry of late model stuff.

 

[JohnMelon]

I’m a long way from either of those goals right now......

Looks great to me, Paul!

Keep at it!
The only way you won't achieve your goal is if you stop.

 

[Blindmelon]

My approach was the same one I always use...1st I treat the project as an experiment... The goal is to learn
something... My first efforts were to see if I could make it run safely off road on my property. Then I worked
to get it to run safely and up to legal standards...

Then I lost all perspective and just started driving it back and forth to work..

Over time and many repairs, I decided to upgrade things...

After 10 years of driving my truck... I have gone thru 3 bench seats, replaced both axles, repaired, hopped up and replaced the engine.
Upgraded the instrument lighting, Upgraded the wheels and tires twice.. Upgraded the radiator..

I am now clearing out my garage, getting ready to install a replacement engine I built up (blueprinted 258).

I still need to remove the doors and replace the door rubber seals (10+ years with bad seals).

For me the most important goal was achieved very early on....It runs and I use it...

Good Luck with your project and enjoy the heck out of it..

 

[Pirate Willy]

Well, I’m a few months into my project. Not spending as much time as I’d like to but it’s coming along. I pulled the head off the ol’ 226 and found a few rusty valves. I cleaned them up and lapped them old school. Main and con bearings seem to be ok. I put new gaskets all around and put it back together. That will have to do. Don’t want to spend too much time or $$ on a rebuild kit. I’d rather spend the money on something with a little more HP if this engine doesn’t hold up. Here’s how it looks.

 

[agne2520]

Beautiful work, Paul. If that runs as good as it looks, you'll be in good shape.

 

[Pirate Willy]

Thanks. The best part now is that all the cleaning work is just about done. I was getting pretty tired of scraping, wire brushing, brake clean, wire brushing, degreasing....did I mention wire brushing? I Have to remember to take more pics as I do work so I can share it on the forum.