alan barton Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 (edited) My last build for 2019 was this Willys. It was a great kit to build and very straight forward - my only issue was that despite appearing to have well moulded suspension pieces and a warp free chassis, unfortunately I've ended up with one wheel pawing the air - a bit weird but I will fix it. I attempted to take the "George" out of this model by replacing the 427 SOHC that seems to be in every '33 Willys model we ever see with a more likely 327 Chevy. I scrounged up an injection manifold and used the stacks from the Beverley Hillbillies" Oldsmobile, mainly because they just peak through the opening in the hood. Not sure where I sourced the block from although the black plastic suggests MPC. I transplanted the Ford auto from the SOHC engine to make it simple to install the Chevy into the frame - I'm sure someone must have adapted a C6 to a Chevy once upon a time! Toughest job was arriving at a set of headers that would allow the hood to close - I eventually turned to hand bent solder pipes with flattened aluminium tubing collectors. Other than opening the hood bulges and switching the steering to the right hand side, it is pretty much box stock - oh yeah, swapped out the Halibrands for Cragars and steel rims. Hope you all like it. Cheers Alan Edited January 5, 2020 by alan barton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott8950 Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Very nice build.. I like the color!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 3 minutes ago, Scott8950 said: Very nice build.. I like the color!! What he said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 I bought this kit a short time ago and I can only hope mine will look as nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hmann68 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Sharp! I like that color and the stacks look great too. Very nice job ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Coyote Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Great looking build sir. I love the Chevy engine. Very nicely done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul alflen Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 alan barton,This is an extremely nice build. You have now inspired me to Google Australian 1933 Willys Ute for my build style!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Nice looking Willys. I love this kit, and you have made some proper changes to it. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Very nice job on this car. I do love me some Willys cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Thanks guys for the kind words. It was nice to do a straight forward model for a change. I did notice from the photos that I neglected to detail the rear wheels so I will get onto that. I would also like to add C/G class designation and some sort of artwork for the grille insert but just haven't found the right design yet. And Paul, all early Australian Willys had coachbuilt bodies, probably by Holden but perhaps Richards, I'm not certain. In the 33-36 range, we had roadsters, phaetons, roadster utilities and four door sedans also, very rare, a sports coupe. There has been a hot rodded one on the Australian scene for decades now but I know of no others. And that is not that unusual here in Australia. Our market was so small that some bodies were produced in tiny numbers. A good friend of mine has a Holden bodied 39 Willys coupe. It is noticeably different in shape to its American counterpart. According to Holden build statistics, it is either 1 of 1, or 1 of 2 ever made! We are not sure as we don't know which specific body style his is identiefied as. Put it another way, in Australia in 1939, there were exactly THREE Willys coupes manufactured. Makes a 32 roadster look kinda common, eh? Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 On 1/8/2020 at 11:39 PM, slusher said: Looks great! Indeed it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatMan Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 Nice change of pace build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 Man, what an impressive Build, Alan! I like the "just-right" stance and the colour. You've nailed the look perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 Thanks for the kind words Alan. It has been very satisfying to hear that so many others enjoy my build as much as I do. I dragged out two more frames on the weekend, one to start my George Montgomery coupe that I have wanted to build since I was a teenager and another for an unchopped resin coupe body. Gotta get these Willys outa my system! The unchopped coupe will be getting a Revell funnycar blown Hemi for power and I hope to psych myself up to tackling one of those multi-panelled an striped paint jobs that were popular at the end of the gasser era. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nazz Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Not sure how I missed this one, very nice. I love the 327. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustybill1960 Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Beautifully done I like Your use of the parts box Thank You for sharing with Us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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