55 Willys Restoration

Looks Sharp!! Wish mine was at the stage I could put the tub back on for the last time.

 

Thanks. Having the tub on lets me know that she's that much closer to getting back on the road and playing in the dirt. Picked up some parts yesterday that I had media blasted and powder coated gloss black. They look awesome and should be around for another 60+ yrs. link: http://s776.photobucket.com/user/Muzclehead0791/library/55 Willys CJ5/Paint

 

More pictures. Hood, grill, fenders, dash and small parts painted President Red. http://s776.photobucket.com/user/Muzclehead0791/library/55 Willys CJ5/Paint. I'm hoping to be able to paint the gas tank, windshield frame, and roll bar tomorrow or after work on Monday.

 

Painted the gas tank, windshield frame, roll bar, and mirrors on Sunday, use previous posted link to access.

 

whats the best way to restore and paint the engine? Mine is quite pitted. I want to replace the gaskets/seals. then paint it but afraid it will look like crap if I cant prep it.

 

This is what I did for my motor. The motor was rebuilt back in 1986-87. I removed the motor from the chassis so I could remove the oil pan and head to inspect the internals. After the inspection and noted everything was in good repair, I reassembled the motor. Then took a scraper, drill with wire wheel and paint solvent and cleaned and wiped down the exterior of the engine, masking off the areas that I did not want to get painted. I then proceeded to paint it with rustoleum engine paint. You stated yours as being quite pitted. What area is pitted? Is the pitting located around areas where water flows through? The water pump, thermostat housing, water jackets in the engine block and head.

 

Mainly the manifold area

 

That's a nice little project you have going there. To clarify is that the exhaust or intake manifold. If the pitting does not go all the way through then you should be able to clean it up and give it a coat of paint. I used a high temp paint on my exhaust manifold.

 

Update. Made some progress on the Willys this weekend. Bolted tub to frame. Bolted on the fenders and grill. Installed Air cleaner. Installed radiator and fan shroud. Cut radiator houses to fit. Installed gas tank and plumbed to fuel pump. Bolted in access cover plates in the tub. Installed gas pedal and hooked up to throttle linkage. Installed brake and clutch pedals along with draft seals. Wired up the instrument panel. Installed horn and headlight junction block on inside of left fender. installed speedometer cable and hand brake cable. Installed handbrake handle assembly to firewall. Wired up headlights and placed them in the grill. installed hood. installed windshield tub hinge half.
You can view the pictures here:
http://s776.photobucket.com/user/Muzclehead0791/library/55 Willys CJ5
a couple of pictures

 

Some more assembling of the Willys since the last post.

http://s776.photobucket.com/user/Muzclehead0791/library/55 Willys CJ5

Windshield hinge installed for Drivers side and installed on the jeep along with mirrors:


Couple shots of the Engine compartment after installing the harness, horn, headlight junction block, headlight buckets:

 

Your Jeep looks great! It would look even better, I think, with some original steel wheels...

 

Very well done ! I love shiny paint

 

Beautiful.

 

Thant is pretty friggin awesome. Well done.

 

Thanks for the comments. I can't wait to get a little dirt on that shiny paint.

69Willys, you may be right about the wheels. Might look into that down the road.

 

Very nice work!

 

Some more work accomplished this weekend. Worked on electrical. Parking and tail lights. Installed turn signal switch and connected to wiring harness. Operational check on lights.

Lights - Parking lights before:


After:


Assembled:



Installed and lite up:


Headlights:


Brake lights:


Turn signal video:


Installed welt material on windshield hood rests and installed.

Windshield hood rest:


Installed:

 

Focker, Thanks for the comment. I love what you did with your jeep. I believe it was one of the first threads I read on this site when I was researching information for my jeep.

 

Update. Dad and brother came in for the weekend. Soooooo.....we towed the jeep out to the desert and gave her a shakedown run. You can see the video put together by my good friend Tristan here.



Nothing too extravagant. just exercised the old girl to see if anything came lose. Enjoy.....I know I had a blast and can't wait till I get to do this on a regular basis