1962 Willys Truck Build

[rking.1688]

So I am starting down the road of tearing down a 1962 Willys Truck to build an overland truck. I am keeping everything stock save three things: suspension & tires, adding an overdrive and disc brakes. The goal is to restore it back to flatbed with removable sides, and eventually I want to build a camper to slide on and off the flat bed.

I don't plan on doing true off roading with it, but want it to be capable of handling unkempt dirt roads and easy trails. I have no intention of taking it rock crawling or fording anything past a shallow creek. On the tires I would like to go up to 31x10.5's to get width more than anything. I wouldn't mind lifting it 1-2 more inches on YJ springs to better the ride. Overdrive will help with road speed and allow me to split gears if need be to better handle hills. Disc brakes on the front axle are strictly for safety since road speed will be much faster with the overdrive.

Any thoughts on what else I should think of? Didn't know if a steering dampener would be worth it for mechanical steering, things like that. Any insight would be a ton of help! I hope to put some drawings up in a day or two of what the finished product will look like.

 

[VCeXpedition]

I wouldn't paint it! I dig the patina.

 

[maktruk]

Does it run? That's the first thing to be addressed.

No disc brakes without power to press on 'em...

 

[rking.1688]

I am very torn to keep the current paint. I like it a lot, but it doesn't come without its difficulties. Matching the camper to the look will be difficult enough, and it's going all the way down to the frame and back up. The fenders are a little lacey right now too, afraid if I don't do some body work they won't last.

Brake kit I'm looking to get come with all of it. So I should be set there! It was running on 5 of 6 cylinders, but I still want to go through everything top to bottom for reliability reasons.

 

[Saints&Sailors]

So I am starting down the road of tearing down a 1962 Willys Truck to build an overland truck. I am keeping everything stock save three things: suspension & tires, adding an overdrive and disc brakes. The goal is to restore it back to flatbed with removable sides, and eventually I want to build a camper to slide on and off the flat bed.

I don't plan on doing true off roading with it, but want it to be capable of handling unkempt dirt roads and easy trails. I have no intention of taking it rock crawling or fording anything past a shallow creek. On the tires I would like to go up to 31x10.5's to get width more than anything. I wouldn't mind lifting it 1-2 more inches on YJ springs to better the ride. Overdrive will help with road speed and allow me to split gears if need be to better handle hills. Disc brakes on the front axle are strictly for safety since road speed will be much faster with the overdrive.

Any thoughts on what else I should think of? Didn't know if a steering dampener would be worth it for mechanical steering, things like that. Any insight would be a ton of help! I hope to put some drawings up in a day or two of what the finished product will look like.

Today I found this thread and discovered that Expedition Overland released three new episodes. Christmas came early. Loving this old build and can't wait to see how it develops!

My only complaint is that this thread needs more pics! Haha!

 

[rking.1688]

Ask and you shall receive. Sadly right now she isn't much. I'm hoping I can find time to get the drivers fender and cab off this weekend. That will get me down to the frame, from there I'll start stripping and repair the frame and axles. I'm going to completely frame off the truck and drive train; doing as much as possible by myself to save money and learn!

 

[rking.1688]

The eventual plan is to build a camper bed out of a plywood skeleton like the one above. This is all provided I can strengthen the frame and suspension enough to handle it. The camper will have a door on the back, under bed storage and a fold out kitchen. I will have 10 gallons of fuel storage mounted behind the front fender. If I can't handle the weight I'll split it up and build a teardrop and then put a flatbed and storage on the truck.

 

[toxicity_27]

I can't wait to see how this goes! Love the old flatties.

 

[rking.1688]

Made some progress this afternoon. Drivers side fender is off, cab mount bolts were ground off and the steering box is off for a rebuild. I pulled the rest of the wiring harness as well as the jack wagon who worked on it before routed wires around both sides of the parking brake cable. There have been so many VERY wrong things that I have found along the way...

 

[ArmyofMike]

Sub'd.... Cause this is an awesome vehicle and an awesome build idea!

 

[expeditionnorth]

this will be so bad azz when its all said & done

I remember riding in one of those to hunting camp, it had a granny low gear, the tires barely turned but we crawled through the mud & muck

IMHO I'd keep the patina, theres ways to match it on the trailer

a nice rustic look with modern flair

 

[rking.1688]

Great week for picking parts up. Fuel pump that was on back order for two months showed up, got my box of parts for the steering box rebuild, and I scored a nice set of manifolds on a Facebook group. Can't wait to put the steering box and carb on the work bench and get to work!

 

[58-fc170]

Larger than stock tires with a factory ross manual steering box is going to be a work out.

Been there, tried that with 33x12.50r15's.

With your steering geometry I would think a common chevy k10 steering box would bolt on easily.

 

[Overland-Indiana]

Very cool build!