willy's wagon engine upgrades

[Eric S.]

I've been looking at a few willy's wagons for sale in my area, all without engines.

Vehicle 1: One is a '47 with the flat grille. Will this engine compartment take a hurricane 6 cylinder? If so, how much modification is required?

Vehicle 2: The other is a '60's era wagon that already had a hurricane six in it. What can i use in that one (with limited modification of course)? Did the wagoneers ever use the hurricane six? and are there any running ones for sale in Florida?

I know this is a lot to ask, and I know people are going to say "go Chevy." But even though I intend on bastardizing the poor wagon, i would like to stay somewhat willy's.

[64Trvlr]

Originally posted by Eric S.:
I know this is a lot to ask, and I know people are going to say "go Chevy." But even though I intend on bastardizing the poor wagon, i would like to stay somewhat willy's.So what exactly are you asking? The Superhurricane 6 will fit either as will the F-head 4 and flat head 4. If it was me I'd go with a SBC. But since it will be yours do what you want.
:cool:

[Tad]

You have a decent amount of room up there to deal with, like 64, my 51 truck was set up for a SBC, fit without any problems. It went through many incarnations from T90 to TH400 all with the chevy engine. Creativity and fabrication skills are your only limitations.
If it was me I would go for the one with the best sheetmetal and not worry too much about the years.

[andy d]

some of the willys wags used a 2 piece axle. i wouldnt go too wild on the re-engine unless you up grade the axles. a buddy of mine has a 302 powered one. but he does nothing extreme with it. main problem with the engines is that the in block valves (flatheads and f-heads) are expensive to up grade to run on un-leaded. how 'bout a 300 inch ford or a 258 amc? im envious.the willys wags have character that is absent in most more modern rigs.

[Oso]

Say "Go Chevy"? Not me.

"FORD"

[John V]

THINK MOPAR!! :D :cool:

[willysworker]

Eric, good honest question. But this might be the wrong place to be asking it. Not many Willys people here. Here's my 2 cents. If you are going to use it and drive it off road or on, you will never be happy with only changing the motor. If you are going to build your own. Get the best body you can and junk the rest and do your thing. I have 3 Willys and 15 yrs. experience with them and know what I'm talking about. The best advise I can give you is do lot's of research first and then find one already repowered and complete. Repowered Willys sell cheap and somebody is always losing alot of money. Save some of yours.
If you haven't found Richard Grover's web site, go to it,lot'a good info. Email some owners and ask questions. www.public.asu.edu./~grover/willys/ (http://www.public.asu.edu./~grover/willys/) my rigs are in the gallery c9, c19 and my flat fender was in JP mag nov.'01 I tell you this because alot of guys will tell you about what they have read or think. Others will tell you about what I know. West Coast Willys club member #634

[The PIG Smith]

Do you guys ever watch TRUCKS on TNN?
These fellows built a Willy's with a Mopar 360 Crate engine.

Check out http://www.truckstv.com

Click on Show Schedule, then scroll down to Saturday, March 9th, 2002 for pics of their finshed rig. I liked it!

[Eric S.]

Ben,

Thanks for the advice. I hadn't looked through that site yet.

To my advantage, I have found a couple wagons that are in being sold in the mid-project phase. The bodies are 90% ready for paint and lots of new goodies have already been purchased for them. I'd really prefer to keep a stock engine in it now and upgrade later. That way with a little body work, paint, and reassembly i can be on the road with relatively minor expense right now. Then i can save up and splurge on a better egine when the need arises.

Do you know if I will have to move motor mounts if I intend to swap a four cyl for a six? And did all the 6-cylinder engines use the same motor mount configuration?

Have a good weekend.

[mdill]

From what I remember, it has been a while.

The 6 used a different radiator mount, for the four the radiator
mounted farther back. I beleive if you try in put the 6 where
a four was you will need to hack up the radiator mount on the
grill (grill rad mount is all one piece) the four would have 5.38
gears so top speed would still be 55 mph give or take, a satern
overdrive would help some. The T90 trans is some what weak
even behind the six. The old transfer case tends to be pretty
noisy at speed due to the way the intermitiate gears were cut.
My opinion is if you want a driver pick the best body/frame
and swap axles engine-trans-transfer from a newer rig.
Say a trail blazer I6 with a set of Scout dana 44 axels
(That would be nice)
If you want to restore a rig pick the best body/frame and
rebuild it the way it came. Most of the origional drivetrain
is still avalable.

Mike D.
Had at one time
53 Willys wagon
57 Willys wagon
61 Willys wagon
51 Willys pickup

(My mom was not happy)