1952 Willys 4x4 Pickup Truck

That's a really neat idea!

 

Yup, I plan to keep all the old parts so it could be put back to stock if that's what the future holds.

 

Thanks. It's the long tube fenderwell headers that generate the hellish heat. The PO had the fenders cut off to try to get the "flattie" look, and the inner fenders were almost completely cut away as well. I replaced the fenders to get back to a more stock CJ look. I never understood why he cut the inners...now I realize he was going for ventilation.

 

How do you all think these guts look inside this T90? Too much rust? I can only rotate the input shaft about 1/8" and then it locks up. If I take the D18 off, will the needle bearings fall out? I've read they will, but Novak's rebuild guide makes no mention of that happening at that point...




Here's the engine I've desided on...a 225 out of a running Commando. I'll be watching the 225 reassembly thread closely.

 

69willys, I appreciate your thoughtful feedback, and being so very gracious about me being a curmudgeon.

It's your truck... do what makes you happy!

When I had mine I was younger and I dreamed of chopping and channeling it (!), so I understand. With the perspective I have now, I feel two things... First - when you start customizing, every change you make creates complex new puzzles to solve, and perhaps will be harder to maintain in the future. Stock, at least you know what goes where, and parts can be found. Second, stock vehicles get scarcer and scarcer with time, and therefore ever more special and desirable as an investment. "Restoring" a customized truck to stock will always cost more than it's worth. Having one 98% complete is much easier. My 1950 truck was my DD for ten years, But you hit the nail on the head - I did live in "Mayberry."

Again, it's yours, and I admire your ambition. I've said my piece. Enjoy your find.



68buickV6... As for my avatar image, yes they are real. It's not my actual jeep in the pic, but I do own one, with the gun removed. The M38A1-C was the military predecessor of the CJ5, and equipped with a 106mm "recoilless rifle" to destroy tanks etc. The racks for four rounds of ammo were mounted in the rear of the tub.

If that's not enough for you, the M38A1-D came mounted with a nuclear missile. (The "Davy Crockett") I kid you not.

 

I dont recall asking, but thank you!

I'm pretty decently versed in the M38a1s, we used to have a couple at our Vietnam war living history displays.

 

Thanks PeteL, that was me that was asking "if it was real". WOW... that's a big gun on a little chassis. I bet that was fun.

69willys, I have an extra T-90 sitting in my garage, if you need it for reference or parts let me know.

Steve

 

Oops, Sorry Turk. And 68. Must have had my eyes crossed.

Yes, big. I suppose thats why it had to be a recoilless bazooka type deal. I've seen pictures of them mounted on motorscooters, even. But the M38A1-C did have overload coil springs in the rear, as well as a heavy spring pack.

 

No worries Pete. I really didn't take it as you being a curmudg....crumudge...cranky old guy. Your input is always welcomed.

Steve, thanks for the offer. I'm gonna tinker around with this and see if I can figure out why the shaft won't spin. It's an extra that I picked up about a year ago. It had been in storage for a long time. Obviously a little moisture has gotten in there but it doesn't look that bad to me...I'm thinking probably just atmospheric moisture over the years. It has supposedly been rebuilt just before storage...maybe the rebuilder dropped a needle bearing in there and it's wedging against something? Eventually I wanna put a truck 4-speed in, but right now I need to use what I have on hand. I saw your wagon pic you posted...that thing looks awesome!

 

I sent you a PM

Thanks, my wagon was so much fun to build and is very enjoyable to drive whether in-town, the highway or on the trails. It's still not done it's a work in progress but I guess that true for most Jeeps or Willys.

The T-90's, as you may already know, are pretty simple so I'm sure the problem should be easy to sort out. If you get tired of the T-90 I have a Jeep FSJ T-18 with the 6.32:1 transmission with a Dana 20 in storage. I originally had it in my Willys but I can't depress a clutch pedal anymore so I had to convert it to an automatic.

Steve

 

Well I got the transmission spinning and shifting into all four gears. The transfer case also shifts into all four positions. One wierd thing though...the nut holding the output gear on the transmission is not a castle nut, so no cotter pin and it's 1 1/4, not 1 5/16 as described in Novak's website. I guess someone replaced it at some point...I'm wondering if I should replace it with a castle nut and torque it to specs or just leave it. And here's a funny observation that most of you already know anyway, but when I was shifting the transmission through its gears, I noticed that 2nd and 3rd didn't throw the shifter as far forward and back as reverse and 1st did. But it definitely felt and sounded like the gears were fully engaging. I have basically the same transmission in my CJ (T86AA) that I've been driving for a few years now and I swore that all the gears threw the shifter the same distance back and forth. So now I'm thinking something wierd's going on here. So I jump in the CJ and shift through the gears and damned if it isn't the same! I had never noticed! Anyway, bottom line here is that it looks like I've verified that I have a good, working unit here to use in the pickup.

Here's the oddball nut...


Is that outermost gear on the transfer case side used to engage the overdrive?

 

"the nut holding the output gear on the transmission is not a castle nut,"

No, but it is a "nylock" friction type locking nut. Supposed to hold the threads - if it hasn't been reused too many times. Can you back it up with a cotter pin?

 

Pete, I did some more digging through Novak's website and, apparently some shafts did use an 1 1/4" Nylock nut. Advance Adapters site says the older D18's used the castle nut/cotter pin and the newer ones used the Nylock nuut. So I know I can leave it as is now with confidence. Learned something new...again. Oh, and did some reading up on the overdrive unit...never realized it was a gear splitter...I want one

 

Got the 225 on a stand and began tearing it down. I got this motor for $100 off of Craigslist. It supposedly came out of a running Commando.

Strange looking alternator bracket

Lots of sludge

More sludge

Thick stuff in the bottom of the pan

Inside

The valley

Cam and Lifters

The cylinders don't look too bad to my untrained eye


The heads are coated with carbon!

From what I can gather, this is a 1967-74 225, according to this casting number

The intake casting number--it's a 1 barrel

This is supposed to be the date code stamp. This is where some of the casting number seems to conflict. "KH" is supposed to indicate a 1964 motor...

I'm going to assume it's a 1967-74, because the heads are numbered 1358676, which indicate the same years as the block according to the "Harvard" PDF that Timgr once linked to.

 

I think my CJ had the same alt bracket...