1961 Willys Truck build

Kyeakel

Gear Grinder
May 18, 2024
15
Curwensville, pa
First Name
Kipp
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1961
My recently purchased Willys truck has a few issues which need repair before I put it on the road. The first one is the frame is cracked on the driver's side just below the rear of the cab.
IMG_0980.jpg

What I did to repair this is to take a 20' long stick of 1.5" square tubing and place it on top of the shackle mounts, then measure from the bottom of the tube to the top of the frame. I did this on the passenger side which was not cracked and then compared it to the driver's side.
IMG_0982.jpg

The cracked area was down more than an inch. This also made the rear of the frame 2" higher when measured from the bottom of the frame to the shop floor.

Once I got the measurements to match, I welded up the cracks from both sides. I then made a reinforcement plate which is welded to the inside of the frame channel that spans the cracked area. Actually, I made 2 and did both sides so they would match.

I'll post a photo of the repair as I seem to have misplaced it. Here is the dxf file for the plate.

Thanks,
Kipp
 

Attachments

  • FrameBox1c.zip
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While I'm waiting on parts from Kaiser Willys, I moved on to the cab. I put in a firewall pad, which caused me to remove the brackets from the firewall to the dash. The one that is behind the steering wheel looks botched to me. Does anyone have a photo of a good one? Here's mine.

It looks like someone welded the parts offset from one another, there are slots in each piece but they don't line up, are they supposed to?

IMG_0998.jpg

IMG_0999.jpg
 
Hi Kipp
That steering column support looks pretty correct
See mine installed
 

Attachments

  • steering colum support 1.jpg
    steering colum support 1.jpg
    148.9 KB · Views: 32
Thanks, wow yours is really sweet. From that view it looks better than new. In your photo the U shaped bracket looks to be even with the left side of the firewall bracket. Mine is just the opposite, do you know if the slots in the two parts line up?

Kipp
 
Hi Kipp
let me see if I understand the question .
The part with the nuts welded to them attach to the dash board
and the slotted holes are used to hold the steering column .
(they do not line up)
Does that answer your question, or I can get some more pictures..
 
Built myself a new rear bumper.
IMG_1056.jpgIMG_1057.jpg

This is made from the top of the old bumper, with everything else 3/16 steel. I plasma cut all the parts and bent the ends by using the bump bending method (lots of little bends on my hydraulic brake), then all was welded up.
Kipp
 
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