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Post Info TOPIC: Electric Willys


Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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RE: Electric Willys


Yeah, I'll stuff as many batteries in under that hood as i can too.  I'll probably end up with some on my lap before I'm done.  Maybe I'll pull a trailer!

As for the engine mount there appeared to be only one way to mount it but I'll take another look and sctach my head some more. It doesn't look quite right to me either.



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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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I (ahem) decided to actually look at the instruction manual that came with this kit and did indeed discover that I appear to have put the engine mount on upside down.

Hey it fits both ways!

Once I have this corrected I will post what the installation is supposed to look like.



-- Edited by 66 Grande guy on Thursday 11th of February 2010 12:14:47 AM

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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Ah, good stuff Ken. Glad to hear it fits the other way because the driveshaft angle looked a little steep in the picture.

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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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There is no way I am going to do this project badly wrong with about 500 guys looking over my shoulder.  That's pretty cool.  Just be gentle.

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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Ken, a couple of thoughts for you.

If you use a rigid bed cover, you could cut the bottom out of the original bed (the rigid top would make the unit as strong as an original open bed, with maybe a little reinforcing along the inner bottom walls) then double stack the batteries all back there, avoiding the need to clutter the engine compartment - if you give me the measurements of the bed and of a battery I could sketch an engineering drawing for you, but basically 12 on one level (either 4x3 or 6x2 depending on what would be best fit) and the same on the second level.

I assume you will need a heavy-duty plug-in, to recharge those batteries at night, something like this?
cord.jpg

Where the fuel filler would go, install one of these babies - that'll make people do a double-take when they see it (if the hood isn't open)
Marine outlet.jpg
(available from marine stores)

If you can avoid batteries in the engine compartment, and you smoothed the firewall and inner fenders, especially if you used a hot-rod-type under-the-floor master cylinder, you would have a real WOW factor when you open the hood. Lots of smooth-background space with that lovely motor shining. Even better would be to fabricate a flat firewall cover and inner fenders from polished sheet aluminum.

And yes, that photo I uploaded was a 38 smile.gif

What a cool project. We'll all look forward to updates as you progress!

Dave

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Hi Dave I like your idea but ideally I'd still  like to have a functional box if can.  Iwill get in touch to talk drawings if I can't figure out a way to stuff them inside the frame rails.
I don't mind having a few up front for weght distribution etc however that radical almost-nothing-under-the-hood  look is making me grin too.  What a freak out that would be!


Hmmm.....

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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Maybe a raised bottom on the box? Just enough to get all the batteries under it. Still functional if you have to haul something, could then use a soft cover to keep the elements out, and not have the raised bottom be apparent to the casual onlooker ...

Dave

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



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just curios , do you have to beef up springs to carry the batteries?

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Brighton,Ont.

 



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Hi guys, I will definitely think about the raised box idea.  Once I get the body pieces out of the corner of my garage and stuck on the frame I'll have a better idea.


I'm definitely going to get the demensions of the batteries I'm going to use and start measuring and figuring.

I wasn't planning to beef up the springs.  The GVW of the Blazer was right around3000 lbs and I'm guessing that the truck will end up weighing about that with the batteries in.  However they are leafs so if I need to it would be pretty easy to add a leaf if necessary.

I don't really want to have all the weight in the back though...

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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66 Grande guy wrote:


I don't really want to have all the weight in the back though...



But think of the cool wheelstands you could do!!! biggrin

merkel1.jpg


Dave
 



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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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That is a great idea.  Perfect for getting getting  guys out of my way during the grocery runs to town!

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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Just make sure you latch the tailgate tightly so you don't dump bananas and other fruit that could get bruised, or beer cans that could get shaken up smile.gif

Dave

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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OK I finally found the time to reset the motor properly in the mount.  Way better!



Attachments
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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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Posts: 2249
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thumbsup.gif

Dave

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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feb142010.JPGThose were kindof lousy pictures of the detail.  I think this one will be better.

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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Yep, now you can see how the brackets that attach to the motor were upside down before.

Lookin' good!

Dave

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



Poncho Master!

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thumbsup.gifthumbsup.gif Looks awesome Ken!

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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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challenge.JPGPieces.JPGPieces2.JPGthe cab.JPGclassy chassis.JPGOK now the headscratching begins!   I spent a good part of the day moving stuff around so I could  bring in the body pieces.  This is what I have to work with.  Torn, tattered tired old tin but still worth the fight!

I didnt bring in the box or the tailgate but they are kind of the same condition.  I have two sets of front fenders so Im hoping to be able to make one good set.  As you can see the cab floor is pretty much gone but hey I was going to put in a different floor anyway!

The cab side shot I have might look a little weird as it is presently laying on its back.

Doors are not bad.

My prelim thoughts are to cut the cab floor out,  bang the fenders into good enough shape so that I can bolt them in the proper alignment to the cab,  mount the hood.

I doubt that the cab fenders and hood would weigh more than 3-400 lbs (these things were built light (Flimsy actually) 

  
After that I thought I would dangle the whole assembly over the frame and cut away the stuff from the frame that is going to not allow it to fit. (front bumper mounts etc.) Once I have that done I can maybe lower the assembly down so i can figure the mounting points and the height im looking for
  The tires I have on now are pretty much the size I will run so once that looks right I should be able to figure out a floor plan (yuk yuk)

I was actually toying with the idea of cutting out the floor from the S10 (Its not rusty)
and welding it in as the new floor of the Willys.  It would solve a lot of problems at once like seat mounts, tranmission hump, maybe a couple of body mounts etc.  

Is that nuts or..... 

This is quite a bit more complex than when i fixed up my 39 Buick as with that car all I changed was the front clip. I ended up usng the original frame cause it was plenty beefy. So Ièm heading into some new territory for me.

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



A Poncho Legend!

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I am not a die hard street rodder, but the S10 floor sounds like a good plan to me.

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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles 

1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars



Poncho Master!

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I'm with Carl, plus unless you have a good use or can sell the S-10 body for some good cash, you already have that floor so take the time and energy to cut it out and see if it will work, eh? Might want to tack weld a couple of small tube crossmembers in the body before cutting out the floor so it doesn't collapse on you?

Always hard to tell from photos but doors look good, does not apprear to have the lower parts rusted away, saving time and money there.

Cabs in old pickups were always too small, if you are 6' like me I would consider changing firewall location (moving it forward) for more leg room, you don't have a big motor in your way smile.gif

Looking forward to photos with the body hanging in place!

Dave

-- Edited by davelacourse on Tuesday 16th of February 2010 08:54:08 AM

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Thanks for the reinforcment guys.  Yeah the doors are pretty good actually which is lucky as they are not quite the same as coupe doors.  The cab other than the floor is actually pretty good too except for some pinholes and a big hole rusted through just above and behind the drivers door as a result of lying on its side for about 30 years.

Shouldn't be too bad to fix once I tune my skills up by learning on the floor where nobody will see it!

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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Posts: 2249
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But when you do wheelstands everyone will see the floor smile.gif

Dave

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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i think lots of undercoating might be just the right finish to cope with that!

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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS (temporary, according to my wife)



Poncho Master!

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rofl.gif works for me!!!!

Dave

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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering



Guru

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So Ken, any updates,more pics?

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Brighton,Ont.

 

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