Thread: 1928 Willys Whippet and a blown V12

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I started this project about 2 years ago. I saw the project on craigslist in portland. it looked interesting so I decided to take a road trip. The car is a 28 Willys Whippet 6 chopped down to make a 5 window extended cab truck. Looked like a decent start so I bought it and dragged it home.







The rust was minimal and it was different enought to save, so we made a deal and loaded it up. Looks kinda like a Model A except the doors are 7" longer and the cowl is 4" narrower. The bed is from a 40's Willys truck and now has flowers growing in it in San Jose.

On the other side of the garage I had a 8V71 Blower with dual Holley 390 Carbs. I sat back and drank a few beers and thought to myself I can make this work. This is the progress so far

lets start with the body.
The top was a little too tall so a 4" chop was the first order of business

Before


Off comes the top


and back on it goes

We flush mounted the doors and added a little suicide action, shaved the handles and hinges, then cleand up the rust at the bottom of the doors.





More rust repair around the front window, shaving the Cowl vent and starting the flange for the new recess firewall.

Ok now that we are up to date with the body, lets move on to the motor.

1991 BMW 850I 5.0liter V12 stock hp is about 315 and 332torque, 8.8 to 1 compression so it is just screaming for a supercharger.
The stock 850 weighed in at 4300 pounds. My truck will weigh under 3000 way way under.


The first thig I did was ditch all electronics and convert the motor to run 2 MSD boxes.
I made some lake headers and the intake for the blower.

The motor went from this


To this


and finally this


blower is set up at 20%underdriven for a target of 6 pounds of boost

and now this

Made a little progress on the front of the roof section this weekend.









My son grabbed a fender trim I had in the shop and put it on the top of the truck, he told me since I was using a hood for the roof section I had to use a hood ornament too...

Finally a little bit of progress, I have been so busy with work I havent had any time to work on her. This weekend got some more work done on the roof and the visor found its home again.









made some progress this weekend, We started the cab corners and back wall. Next week we will finish the back wall and start on the rockers.

Made a little progress on the floor bracing, back wall and the rocker support. We had to put the body back on the frame to check clearence for the headers.









Work has been crazy but I finally got a little work on the front suspension.

Firewall is finally done,,,, Started the rockers as well. The truck actually made progress this weekend









one side is looking better

and now the passenger side takes shape





The truck is really long, it turned out longer than I expected. You dont realize how large the cab is until you are next to it. Just the doors are about 7" longer than a Model A.

Today we cut the rear window to center it, when I bought the project the rear window was 3" to the left......

one window down,,,,one to go

Finished on side this weekend the top corner was a pain but I found a steel mixing bowl in my kitchen that had the right shape.

Today was a happy day,,,all of the missing bady panels are now welded in place
WOO HOO. Cut the doors back off now for the floor and door hinges. I need to take some photos of the frame, one more shock mount and the frame is ready for paint.








I actuall made it to the shop on a wednesday. Cab came off of the dolly to meet with the frame for body mounts and the start of the floor.

ok guys so I took your advice and shortened up the front end a bit.......7 inches..

before


AND AFTER





and here is a sneak peek at the dash, its starting to take shape. it started as a 59 impala dash shortened 24 inches to fit. Still needs a shit ton more work to look right.







Made alot of progress the last couple of weeks

I finally made my door hinges. I read all the tech threads on suicide door hinges and didnt like any of them. I wanted my doors level and straight I didnt want to angle the doors so they would stay open. So I robed a early 70's ford truck of its door hinges. THey have the spring on the top hinge to keep the doors open.

Door closed

and now for the engine I painted it

I will get better photo tomorrow if the sun coomes out.

I'm glad you rescued that from being just another piece of garden art. I take it then that you managed to obtain another pickup bed if your wife is now using the old one as a garded feature. That is going to be and unusual rod but that is what makes this hobby unique.