MPG on Willys wagons

kal

Knuckle Buster
Nov 7, 2010
4
Willys Model
Willys Year:
I am looking at buying either a 52 Willys 4 door4wd or a 62 Willys 2 door 4wd. I was wanting to know what kind of MPG would I be looking at? I am planning to use it as a daily driver. Also what changes could be done to make it easier on gas?
 
Four door wagons are pretty rare, so if any of the structure of the rear doors is in need of repair you will need to be good at metalwork or find someone who is. There are no available repair parts for the rear doors. It is a more valuable vehicle by the rarity, but still not a real high dollar vehicle. The two door will have more body parts available to replace the rust that is most likely there. As to milage the 52 will most likely have very low gears and need an overdrive to be hiway drivable, but that will still only get up to about 55MPH. The 62 will have something in the 4.10-4.27 range most likely, that will let you get into the 55-60MPH without an overdrive.

As far as mileage, there are so many variables, from engine condition, engine installed, condition of drivetrain, dragging brakes, ect... In good condition with a factory four or six cylinder you may get high teens to mid twenty miles per gallon, with a small block expect low teens. V-6 should be comparable to factory with a little more power.
 
They are both factory engine & trans. An the 62 has a Super Hurricane in it. Are there any parts available or any changes I could do to increase the MPG on them. An what could I do to make it go like 70-80 on the interstate an would that be a safe speed to go in something like this? I am looking at something like this to use as a daily driver vs my truck I have a 74 F250 Crew with 360/T18 4 speed manual 2wd with Holley 600 4 barrel carb. I am wanting something easier than it on gas an something that could go god in any condition Willys/Jeep just makes sense on the go anywere just wondering how to increase MPG with out swapping engines out. An on the 4 door what is a good price to pay for it? The guy that has the 52 4 door said make offer its all factory 4 door former B&O vehicle & used as a hunting rig from time to time. What would be a good offer to make on it? Also is there any way to tell how many were made & how many are left? An how do you look book value upon these?
 
Frankly, I don't think you will ever be able to drive a Willys wagon safely at 70-80 mph with stock chassis and running gear. I can't say for sure though, since I've never even had mine to a real driveable state (soon though :D ). As for which one to get? From a collectability standpoint, the 4 door would be great if it is in fairly good shape. I don't really have any idea of a value for it, but this website, http://www.willyscountry.com/4_dr_Willys.html, has some good info on the 4 door wagons.

Good luck.
 
So would the Willys wagon be a good vehicle to have? An how hard would it to to find parts for an were they know to have any problems with them besides being under powered for several years? An do you know were I can go an get some information on them at like options available & so on? How would they do in rough areas & winter time? What it i s that I am planning to move from Charleston WV to AZ or NV an I am looking for something easier on gas an something good in any weather with some cargo room. What Willys/Jeep pre 1980 with 4wd an fair on MPG would fit the bill?
 
My 63 wagon with the factory 6-230 OHC engine will do 65-70 down the road with thefactory running gear. It has 4.27 gears and actually gets up and goes pretty well. Stopping is a whole other story, if you are going to drive freeway speeds look into a front axle disc brake conversion, or rebuilding the original to get proper operation, parts are available from several of the vendors who advertise on the site. My wagon has a stretched timing chain making timing the motor impossible and so it has some issues I hope to fix this winter, but still gets 19-20 MPG on the hiway.

You have to realize these are old and are going to have work needed to make them good hiway drivers, but that is part of the appeal, anyone can buy something to drive it takes a dedication to you vehicle to drive a Willys.
 
cnsay said:
My 63 wagon with the factory 6-230 OHC engine will do 65-70 down the road with thefactory running gear. It has 4.27 gears and actually gets up and goes pretty well. Stopping is a whole other story, if you are going to drive freeway speeds look into a front axle disc brake conversion, or rebuilding the original to get proper operation, parts are available from several of the vendors who advertise on the site. My wagon has a stretched timing chain making timing the motor impossible and so it has some issues I hope to fix this winter, but still gets 19-20 MPG on the hiway.

You have to realize these are old and are going to have work needed to make them good hiway drivers, but that is part of the appeal, anyone can buy something to drive it takes a dedication to you vehicle to drive a Willys.
I've got the factory Hurricane 6-226 in my 1960 Mav and get 10-11 MPG highway.
 
Are there any parts available or any changes I could do to increase the MPG on them. An what could I do to make it go like 70-80 on the interstate an would that be a safe speed to go in something like this?


at 70-80 mph in a stock willys with modified drivetrain is just a bad idea

i think your best bet would be to put the body on a different more modern chassis

if you get in an accident with today's insane drivers i think you would be done in a 60+ mph wreck in a willys

the cabs just aren't built for safety in a wreck
 
Yeah, short of transplanting the body on a later chassis and drive train, you need to at least upgrade (seriously) the brakes and do a complete re-power. I've switched to a late model 4.3L V6 and 4L60E automatic transmission running on new axles in a 2WD mode and with all that I am still hoping to get in the mid-20's for mileage. Wagons are after all slightly aerodynamically challenged, you know.
Cheers!
Johnny Mac
 
Wagons are after all slightly aerodynamically challenged, you know.
Cheers!
Johnny Mac

LOL. Yes, I've always compared mine to driving a tool shed down the highway.

Kal, if your looking for a cool vintage vehicle to drive as a daily driver then a Willys Wagon or Pickup is easily achievable. The hardest part of driving a Willy's is getting out of the parking lot because everyone wants to talk to you about it. Making it economical and safe all depends on how much you want to put into your Willys. A stock Willys isn't going to get great mpg's, a mildly or heavily modified Willys can get very good mpg's depending on how it's set up. There isn't a one way approach to achieve better mpg's that is the great part. With minimal changes you could be very surprised at how economical they can be. The one thing that you must consider is updating the brakes if you plan on driving it over the 45mph design. Taking a piece of American history and upgrading it to be fuel efficient and safe doesn't have to be very expensive or difficult.

There are many threads on this forum illustrating many different drivetrain ideas and even brake upgrades. This is a great forum that is full of good people who are willing to help and best of all no banter.

Steve
 
I saw a guy that put a wagon body on a 89 Camaro frame and v6 driveline. Kept all the electronics, seats, AC it was a cool ride. Not worth much but a good idea.
 
I drive my wagon quite bit. I would call it a fair weather daily driver. It is a 60 with all stock running gear and a new Saturn Overdrive and modern tires and wheels. It is powered by a fresh Super Hurricane and will run 70 but not much more. I stay away from long Interstate drives at high speeds. It does cruise between 60 and 65 nicely. With quite a bit of torque on hand it runs easily with traffic around town. At that speed it usually runs 17mpg. I doubt you will do much to improve the inherant in-efficiency in the flathead design. Peformance is ok in acceleration but the brakes leave something to be desired at speeds over 50mph. I will probably look at front disks this winter. Honestly it is hard to steer and takes cornfield to make a U turn. It rides a little rough so you just have to love it to put up with it. I bought my wife a Benz a few years ago and it would be hard to describe just how different 2 cars can be. On the other hand the Benz does not get the smiles and the thumbs up the Willys gets. I just tell the yuppies it is the original SUV!
 
Our '65 wagon with the 230 engine when driven around town with the front hubs "unset" probably gets about 12 mpg (that's our 4.5 liter gallon up here in the north). I have no idea about highway fuel economy as we rarely do any highway driving for any distances over 15-20 miles at a time. The vehicle feels good up to 50 mph but clearly becomes skittish and unhappy beyond that. The distributor-less Ford electronic ignition that I installed made a difference in smoothness at idle; also, now, there's no pinging when the engine is hot, but I can't say how much fuel is being saved.
Next season I'd love to put the vehicle on a rolling dyno to set-up the ignition map carefully - that might be the best chance to measure fuel consumption accurately.
 
Just in case you guys didn't realize , this guys posting started in 2010 . He has not responded since !
 
I am wanting something easier than it on gas an something that could go god in any condition Willys/Jeep just makes sense on the go anywere just wondering how to increase MPG with out swapping engines out.

Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but if your main reason for wanting better gas mileage is to save $, I'm not sure a 50+ y.o. vehicle is the way to go. However, if you want a badass looking old car and a time-consuming hobby, then you can't go wrong with an old Willys! If you looking for a economical daily driver that can go just about anywhere, you might want to think about an old Subaru (uh oh, did I just commit heresy by mentioning that?). We've got a late-90's Subaru Forester at my work with a ton of miles on it that is continually abused on gnarly old logging roads, and the old girl is still going strong.
 
at 70-80 mph in a stock willys with modified drivetrain is just a bad idea

i think your best bet would be to put the body on a different more modern chassis

if you get in an accident with today's insane drivers i think you would be done in a 60+ mph wreck in a willys

the cabs just aren't built for safety in a wreck

They are tougher than you think. Check out the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World" They roll a wagon and it looks drivable afterward.
 
Just in case you guys didn't realize , this guys posting started in 2010 . He has not responded since !


yeah....... i noticed that after i posted the reply lol



and the quote
Wagons are after all slightly aerodynamically challenged, you know.
Cheers!
Johnny Mac


i alyways said they have the aerodynamics of a billboard

Mike
 
Just in case you guys didn't realize , this guys posting started in 2010 . He has not responded since !
In fact he hasn't even logged in since then.
My guess is that our responses convinced him to not buy either Willys and he went elsewhere for his daily driver.
I wish we could have found out something about that 4-door. I'd love to know where it was and how much the owner wanted for it.
 
Back
Top