Pro Street Willys

As with most streetrods they are never really done. The primary direction is to complete the AC install. I installed the evaporator last fall in time to use the heater on a number of cruises. Fri I completed the condenser install and relocated the trans cooler slightly. Roughly 10# in an 8# bag. In other words it's pretty tight up by the radiator. I also made up the stainless steel lower radiator hose. I need this so I didn't have to run the hose inside the belt for the AC. Also it cleaned up the hose and got rid of the nasty spring which I think hinders flow in the snakey hose that I had. It's now a direct shot. I welded a ring on each end of the SS tube so the hose could seal and not come off . For added insurance I double clamped it. (got that from the boat guys). Got the dryer installed today. I'll lay out the fittings required and go get them Mon. I was going to buy a vac pump and a gage set but I got offered both today at the shop so I can save several hunderd bucks.

Next up is to finish the interior. I have a big sheet of ABS plastic that I'm going to attempt to mold into a one piece headliner. Since the car is all round corners I'm trying to keep the theme everywhere. I don't really like the multi panel stuff that the upholstery shops all want so I'm going off on my own again. Once that is done I will do something with the aluminum door panels that I made up last year. Molded arm rests and map pockets are the theme here so far. The Willys doors are pretty thin so any molding has to rob pasenger space which is tight too. These things are like a 3/4 scale model of a 35-36 Ford.

I want some data logging so that is on the side for now...ready to cook off later. haha

Unless I get some Tig welding projects or another funny car to build I may have to go back to work for a year. These cars are expensive. Just hope the motor and trans hold up one more year.

The car is so much fun to drive that I really don't especially like to sit around at shows anymore. I'd rather make an appearance then go cruise around the area.

While I like the gasser look the ones I have been around don't handle very well, at least not to my liking. I like to take the cloverleafs at a good clip and make use of the winding country roads. I even make use of the blower once in a while. haha The car actually rides reasonably well. It's a little stiffer than I'd like but it's still a comfortable ride. I can go as long as anyone else without getting cramped up. At my age anything less than the rocking chair is cramped so it's pretty comfortable.

Thanks for the kind words.

Well I finally got out for a couple of cruises. Last week there was one last nice day so I took a drive about 50 miles round trip. Stopped and got a burger for lunch.

Last night was the last good day for the next week anyway as the weather is closing in again. Went over and met for fast food dinner and discussion. Another 40 mile round trip.

It's really fun to get out but our dang weather is just awful. It's only 37 deg and may hit high 40's late afternoon. We have a cruise to another fast food for dinner tonight but it is supposed to rain and snow again. I don't mind the rain if someone else is going along but the snow is not safe with big tires on the rear.

I have the A/C installed and it is ready for charging. I have a pump but it doesn't pull enough vac so I'm going to get a new one and a new set of gages.

I also decided to complete the interior myself. I bought an industrial sewing machine and I'm working 4 hours a day learing to operate it and to make interiors. I just did a complete French seam. Double row of stictches around a seat is a common place to see them. this machine will sew 4 layers of leather thru 1/4 in plywood at 3000 stiches per minute so it has some real serious power. In hot rod terms....blown BBC haha

I have some headliner material ready for sewing and a new set of roof bows ready to install. Probably this week. There is more to this upholstery stuff than meets the eye.

I worked as a mechanical engineer in the textile industry for a number of years so I am familar with some of the terms and the technology. There is still a lot to learn but I'll get it and go from there.

Just as in sports play to win...

Got a contract welding job for a couple weeks so I have to take a project break.

I sewed up the windlace for the Willys last week. I need to do some final trimming of the body and door fit before I can install it. It sure is nice to have that powerful sewing machine. The windlace is machine perfect. I even impressed myself. haha

I got one cruise in last Monday. Local FF place. There wer about 15 cars plus 6 'Vettes from the Vette club.

Just finished mounting a nostalgia funnycar body and completed all the assembly detail. An incredibly complex car. I think they are going to run it at Rockford Sat and Sun weather permitting.

Tom Hoover's Showtime Corvette ( my project car) and Doc Hallady's Telstar Arrow. Watch this team...two car match racers capable of 5.'s Their truck and trailer is worth seeing by itself.

I'll try and dig up some pictures if I can take the computer time.

Well I got the windlace installed. I had to sand off some of the door opening so the material layed flat. I had to glue it on as the staples won't penetrate the adhesive used to glue the wood frame to the fiberglas body.

Added all of the roof bows Sat. All 7 of them. As it turned out they all went in within 1/8 inchof where they were originally. Not bad. All my headliner patterns still fit great. I have the first 4 panels cut out and ready to sew together. I also got all of the insulation panels cut and fitted today. I got a cheap HF detail gun to spray the glue. I haven't found a solvent for the glue however. It's a vinyl top contact cement. Very aggressive stuff. You only get one chance with it and it sticks for good. I'll probably just glue in the insulation and toss the gun as it will cost more for solvents to clean it than it's worth. Besides it is the poorest quality item I have ever got from HF. It was full of sealer and dust.

I got an extra yard of material to practis on. It took a bit to get the tension right and the technic to get everything to lay flat. I used up the whole extra yard so now it is time to light the fire as they say.

I have to work Tue thru Thur then I hav eto go to Chicago for a couple days. Maybe Sun I can stitch all the panels together.

I did manae to get out for a cruise Sat morning and safety inspection. Then I slipped out between rain squals to the local Mon eve cruise in at a FF place. Sure is nice to be able to jump in the car turn the key and go.

Went on another cruise last Sat. 7 Am on the road to Menomonie Wisc then another 20 miles out in the country for a country pancake and waffle breakfast. All the local farmers and business people were there. It was the showcase for an automated milking machine. Get this.. the line to see the milking machine was longer than the food line. haha beautiful day in the country and lots of people looking at our cars. 31 cars with 52 onboard. Then we cruised south thru Stout University then down to the Wisc side of Lake City. Then back up thru Pepin along the river shore. We then crossed the Miss to Red Wing (shoes) where we stopped for a late lunch. finally got home at 5M. My air cleaners are full of white flying stuff and bugs. haha What a mess. Got the best mileage ever...17.1 Could not believe it. About time.

We finally have had some nice weather....record high 103.....day and a half later it was 47 deg at 9 am. Been to about 6 shows. I had to turn down 2 of the 3 today as I just had to get the AC charged up. I got a new vac pump and gage set but I had a little trouble getting the compressor to run. It was only 58 deg after the breakfast cruise and not really warm enough. I finally ran the heater and set the AC to max warm and jumpered the binary switch to get the compressor to start. Once I got a little heat in the system it charged fine.....It will be nice to have the AC for Back to The 50's next week end. We are expecting 12,000 cars. There are already cars cruising around town. It's a blast.

I just sewed the last panel on to the headliner a few minutes ago. I may be able to get it installed tomorrow if the race car guys stay in Cordova overnight. Sure hope I can get it done. It looks pretty nice so far.

Still working every day. It will be another 6 weeks it looks like. Maybe more. This work stuff it really cutting into my summer fun. We have a big week longe cruise planned for northen Minn the week of the 4th of July. Should be fun cruising the Range towns. I never had a job that I worked 6 months then took a week off. haha

Byron

I just got back from our northern Minnesota cruise. 3 days in the sun. 4 of us guys and 2 wives with a wife car. haha a rice burner no less. We left St Paul Monday morning about 6 am and began gathering up the gang finally beginning the north bound treck about 8:30. We took the back roads thru Jay Cooke park then up to Cloquet for the afternoon car show. It was about 85 deg so a nice pleasant day. My new AC performed flawlessly....37 deg blowing out the vents. Nice. i arrived refreshed and ready for the day while my partners were all hot and sweaty. haha. I told them I was having trouble getting the window down due to the frost...haha Anyway I got the long distance trophy...189.8 miles

Then we cruised on up to Nashwalk for the rest of the qfternoon and evening picnic. What fun among friends. chicken, brats, bergers, beans and corn from the grill and a huge salad with all the fixings....It's amazing how much room there is in the Acura trunk. Finally went to be about 1:00 am

Tues we replaced a headlight, walked up town (pop of 935) for home cooked breakfast. Great cinnamon french toast bacon and eggs with gret coffee. then it was off to be tourists. We went over to Hibing to the Hull iron mine. It is the largest open pit mine in the USA The Minn grand canyon. 600 feet deep about 25 sq miles. We took a lot of pictures so after I get then to posting size I may post a few. We climed aboard the display mining truck...240,000 pounds empty. It carries 240 tons of ore. Normal speed is flat out 35 mph....empty or full. It's service life is 100,000 hours or about 16 years ..24/7 Tires are about 9 feet tall. It has a 16 cyl diesel with 4 pairs of turbos. Runs continuous 1900 rpm driving a generator which supplies power to each wheel motor. Dual rear tires. Auto trans, PS, PB AC plus a copilot. Quite a piece. a guide told us it takes about 5 minutes to load 240 tons of ore. There were many other iron mining piece to view also.

Then we down the road to the Greyhound bus museum. Prett cool. Many had Detroit V-6-71 diesels and the later model ones had V8-71. Neither blower is worth much in our hot rod market. The rotors are about all that is used. One was made into a motorhome that was very well done and restored. It happened to be called the Wanderer which is the name of our club...Wanderers. We put on our jackets for soome fun pictures.

That evening we met up with the Hibbing Squires for a cruise thru the iron range then a dinner stop. About 25 cars. It was a perfect night for a ride however we were totallt covered with bugs. 85 miles of beautiful country back roads.

Wed we drove over to Duluth for the afternoon and evening down town car show. There were over 500 cars and the area was packed with people. We all are from the area wo we ran into many old friends. It was another perfect weather night. About 8:00 pm we decided to head for home. Just as we exited from the west end of town about 9:00pm we enc ountered the first of the Minn deer. A nice big doe ran across the road right in front of Mikes's 64 Valient. Mike jumped the brakes and averted a collision. We kept a sharp lookout after that but didn't see many more.

We got home about midnight. 650 miles of wonderful friends and cruising. Finally a summer vacation.