Willys Crawler 2.0 aka The Bastard

[Greg]

Great find! How did they load it into the gladiator?

Carefully!

I was pretty nervous about the process, they used a forklift and were actually pretty cautious. I guided the operator just to make sure nothing got bumped, keeping an eye on the back window and the bedside.

 

[Greg]

Good progress today, hauled the Dana 70U to the local powder coat shop to have it sand blasted and cleaned up. Took just over 2 hrs and cost $75, which was money well spent IMO! I need to cut off some bits, then I can work on setting up the truss, link and shocks mount.

Then I started working on narrowing the front Dana 60... squared it up in the band saw and let it go to work cutting the knuckle off!

Used the Sawzall to make a few cuts to the tube inside the inner knuckle, then punched the bits out. Took a flap disc to the axle tube and heated up the inner knuckle by setting it on the burning wood stove for about 30 min. It was still a press fit, but it went on well enough.

I set the housing at 0*'s, then checked the drivers side and tapped the passenger side knuckle until it matched up. I need to install the inner shaft and double check to make sure the u-joint sits where it's supposed to, before welding the inner knuckle into place.

I do need to remove the leaf spring mount on the pass. side, but I'm out of gas for the torch and blades for the Sawzall.

 

[Ashcat]

Clever idea to remove the tube from C

 

[Greg]

Clever idea to remove the tube from C

Wish I could take credit for the idea, but I can't... I learned in on here, from @James K many years ago when he narrowed his Dana 60.

It works great, because it takes the pressure off the knuckle... but you probably figured it out already. I was going to make a 3rd cut across from the first 2, but my last blade didn't make it all the way thru.

 

[Mouse]

Looks like a job well done removing the tube from the inner C. I cut a relief in a D44 knuckle and ground all the weld off, then used a 100 tone press to finish the job. When the tube finally let go, it sounded like an explosion. Had to check that I hadn't been hit by the piece that shot out. Fortunately I made it out of that one OK.

 

[Greg]

Looks like a job well done removing the tube from the inner C. I cut a relief in a D44 knuckle and ground all the weld off, then used a 100 tone press to finish the job. When the tube finally let go, it sounded like an explosion. Had to check that I hadn't been hit by the piece that shot out. Fortunately I made it out of that one OK.

There was plenty of weld penetration into the knuckle after cutting and grinding it flat, I spent quite a bit of time grinding deeper on the tube to get them separated. Crazy experience with the press!

 

[Hickey]

Looks like a job well done removing the tube from the inner C. I cut a relief in a D44 knuckle and ground all the weld off, then used a 100 tone press to finish the job. When the tube finally let go, it sounded like an explosion. Had to check that I hadn't been hit by the piece that shot out. Fortunately I made it out of that one OK.

I tried an 80 ton press on the first C I ever chopped. We gave up trying that method because it hadn't moved and we didn't want to die. Greg's method is how I've done the rest of them.

 

[Bart]

Great progress in a short amount of time. Well done.

 

[UPNO4]

Very cool

 

[glockman]

Nice work. Good call on getting the axle blasted. I usually spend 10 hours and $50 of cleaning products because $75 is too much to have it done professionally.

 

[Greg]

Nice work. Good call on getting the axle blasted. I usually spend 10 hours and $50 of cleaning products because $75 is too much to have it done professionally.

Been there, done that!

 

[Greg]

I've been working my ass off the last few days and feel like I haven't accomplished much. But with where I'm at now, the work is pretty tedious and I spend a lot of time measuring, cutting, measuring, welding, measuring, etc.

Anyway, I left off with the knuckle pressed into place. After test fitting the '79 Ford Dana 60 long side shaft, I decided to cut an additional 3/8" off the tube. I knocked the knuckle off, cut the additional 3/8" off, heated up the knuckle on the hot wood burning stove (it was SO DAMN HOT, I couldn't handle it for more than a few seconds.) 🥵 It slid RIGHT onto the tube and was actually a little loose! About an hour later, it cooled down and was tight on the tube, so I double checked the degree and then started welding it in place. My welds looked pretty bad so I became a Grinder, not a Welder.... but they were hot as hell and it's a good joint.

While I was doing that work, I decided to go ahead and weld the lower control arm mounts in place. I had to trim the housing just a hair and grind the control arm bracket just a bit. I started welding the bracket to the tube first, planning on these welds to be the structural connection. Then I heated up the cast steel with the weed burner till it was nice and hot, then welded the cast iron to the steel control arm bracket, wrapping it up to let it cool down slowly.

I think the weld to the cast turned out OK.... hopefully it holds up over time.

And the last few days have been working on the frame, body mounts & rear bumper. I decided to work on the body & frame upside down for better access. I leveled the body, then the frame.

After measuring the frame placement side to side, front to back I got to work building the rear frame. I mentioned the plans earlier, building a box that is as wide as the bottom of the tub, 36". I squared the rear frame piece up with the front, then set out cutting the kick-ups to tie it all in.

Checking square... it's off by 1/8", but I think that's good enough.

Yes, I'm using hockey pucks for body mounts! There will be 4 body mounts securing the passenger area, then 4 more securing the tub. I plan to brace & plate the rear kick up and all the joints, to make sure it's strong since it's not straight.

Next up, connecting the frame to the body with the body mounts & hockey pucks!

Had to do some CAD (cardboard assisted design) to cut out the plate for the rear body mounts.

I bolted all the body mounts down to connect the frame & body! I need to verify a few more things, then separate the body & frame and work on welding up the rest of the joints on the frame. After that, I'll start working on suspension parts like link mounts, shock mounts, etc!

 

[Greg]

Oh, and.... I think I'm going to sell the 4.3 and run a 5.3L LS... 😍

Because #LSswaptheworld

 

[Hickey]

It looks really good. Cutting with that saw is really slow, and you've been cutting a lot. I think you made pretty great progress considering that. The weld on the cast looks like you won't have a problem with it ever.

 

[Hickey]

Oh, and.... I think I'm going to sell the 4.3 and run a 5.3L LS... 😍

Because #LSswaptheworld

I knew you'd give in to your LS ways. 😂

 

[Greg]

It looks really good. Cutting with that saw is really slow, and you've been cutting a lot. I think you made pretty great progress considering that. The weld on the cast looks like you won't have a problem with it ever.

Thanks Jeremy! It is pretty decent progress, just doesn't feel like much. I do love the profile of the frame, it looks SO much better than the previous stacked frame. I learned a lot from the previous build, while I didn't finish it there were plenty of things I looked at later on and thought to myself that I could have done much better. I don't want to do that again.

Yeah, I spend a lot of time waiting on cuts to finish... I'll usually find something else to work on in the meantime, but with a LOT of cuts, it means a lot of waiting.

I knew you'd give in to your LS ways. 😂

I spent time with the tape measure, comparing the engine bay in this Willys to the LS in the El Camino... I have plenty of room, since the hood and fenders have been stretched 3" over stock.

I don't think I'd be happy with a V6 in this thing... it would crawl just fine, but sand dunes, long two track roads, etc would be so much more fun with a 5.3 under the hood. Plus, they run cooler than the previous Iron GM engines! And after building the LS in the El Camino, I feel like I know them pretty damn well.

What does @I Lean call it.... scope creep? Yep... this will probably add time and cost to the build, but in the end it'll be way more awesome.

The only thing that concerns me is the Dana 300 case... everything else should hold up to V8 power just fine. I know the axles will! If I break the D300 case, then I'll pony up for an Atlas.

 

[RockChucker]

Dana 300 you say? Flipping it? Curious how that will work...because I may be looking at doing similar in a future project. Looking good

 

[Greg]

Dana 300 you say? Flipping it? Curious how that will work...because I may be looking at doing similar in a future project. Looking good

Yes and yes! I'm curious how it will work, too! Going to run cable shifters, probably from NWF? And thanks! 😁

 

[DaveB]

Clever idea to remove the tube from C

When I do it I drill some holes in the tube at 180 degrees from each other then carefully cut through the drill holes. Saves on saw blades.

 

[Bart]

Love the progress. You've got my wheels spinning with new ideas.