Thread: 41 Willys

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I love these!

Garstein, nice pics, and things look tidy. Have you had any difficulties with Street Beasts? Just curious, as many have complained about them in the past (mostly for their Cobra Kits).

I have looked at Streetbeasts for years....They had a bad rap a few years back...but when their Willys came out last year....I took a look....It looked so good that I bought it! They have come a long way! I am having a ball building this car and it is built by Streetbeasts very nice....I would recommend to anyone looking for a Willys Project.....I actually have another Streetbeasts Willys kit that I am looking to sell cheap, if anyone is interested...

I have an update on Cutting Edge Willys package.
I have been working on mine for several months
now and Have some new observations.
1. Body panels are very nice, composite material
is straight and strong, and light.
2. Kent Stauffer Racing frame itself is a high
quality piece, very strong, with very nice
tig welds throughout.
3. Ford 9" rear is a little rough. Some rust,
very gunky, Needs to be hot-tanked. I will
put in a new currie 3rd member.
4. Door hinging is a little weak, and rough.
5. Cowl area and above widshield needs additional
bracing.
6. Door hardware install was rough. Missing pieces,
lots of nuts,washers etc, jammed down into the
bottom of the door. Not complete.
7. Passenger door was cracked at the hinge, and
outer skin seperated from inner pannel.
8. Dash mount must be fabricated. Comes attached
with drywall screws.
9. Still havent received items that were paid for
in february.
10. The US distributor in Ohio has been very
difficult to deal with.
11. Car was delivered on an open trailer in the
rain, when it was agreed that the car would
be shipped in a closed trailer. Needless to
say, the car was full of water and full of
surface rust.

I went to the NSRA Nationals in kentucky, where most of the body manufacturers had there bodies on display, and I have to say that Nothing I've seen comes close to the quality of the Outlaw package.
If I had it to do over, I would wait for the Outlaw. No competition.

Jon.

I love willys! How is everyone making out with their projects?

Well, the first thing I had to do was find a buyer for the 55.. only room here for one hot rod at a time & I required the $$$ from the 55 to get started on a Willys. I happened to run into a local guy that runs a chassis shop (really does great work). I talked to him about my Willys plan & selling the 55.. he suggested I think about keeping the 55 & completely redoing it. After some serious soul searching & drawing up some ideas.. I've decided to keep the 55 & rebuild her. I would still like a Willys some day though.

Don,

Good move I love your 55 but dont worry you will have a 41 someday!

Thats tuff question... That '55 has such a classic looking body style to work with and yours is already looking sooo good. But I can just visualize that engine from the '55 sticking outta the hood of a mean looking Willys coupe too....

Hmmm, I wish I had your problem in having to make that decission

Larry

Good to see you posting again Don.

Thanks for sharing that mental struggle. I'm not sure we talk about the hard decisions we wrassle with enough to let others know they're not alone. (No, I'm not going to call for a group hug here! ) But as a guy with a long list of "cars I'd like to have some day", I know what you mean. Sold my '64 Savoy SS clone three years ago in a snit and have been kicking myself since. Even tried to buy another one last week to duplicate that car, but got aced out. Probably just as well, don't need (yeah, like that really matters!!) another project at this point.

Thanks guys, this decision was not easy for me. I bought the 55 in pretty much the condition you can see in the pics posted. Like most things, the longer & closer you look at it. the more things you find that were done wrong I've found that redoing someone else's work is usually much harder than doing it right the first time. We first plan to to replace the frame rails & change the 4-link (installed wrong) to a 4-bar, replace the bed floor & re-tub with aluminum. Lots of other things to change/replace over the next year or so. I'll keep you posted. Don

Hey guys, any color on Bob Ida stuff? Wondering how his stuff compares to the outlaw stuff.

Thanks,
Jordan

(willys is on my ever lengthening list of cars to own

From the information I was able to obtain, the Outlaw package is superior.

Originally posted by JIMT
Take a look at Antique & Collectibles-they recently began offerring a Willys. They recently had a car on the cover of Kit Car. I just finished one of their Cobras and I'm thrilled with the quality of the car and the customer support. They also give you two years to pay the car off. WWW.ACAUTOS.COM check them out, I'm glad I did.

I am thinking about buying a cobra kit car, everything I need to build one except the motor and transmission. How much will it costs for the body and chassis, unassembled, including the wiring, gauges, lights, etc.

Originally posted by polarbear
I am thinking about buying a cobra kit car, everything I need to build one except the motor and transmission. How much will it costs for the body and chassis, unassembled, including the wiring, gauges, lights, etc.

bear, you'd be better off with that question on the sister site; www.clubcobra.com . The answer is all over the board, depending on what you value. If low price is your objective you sacrifice quality, market value, and esteem. If you're a value shopper then you'll pay more but also get more. And when the day comes around to unload the car, and that day WILL come, you won't lose as much money. (and you WILL lose money)

Hi,
I have an Antique and Collectable 41 Willys and it is top quality. There are no seams to fill anywhere. As noted all plastic cars have a few massage areas true. The fenders bolted right on and fit perfectly, the front end fit very well with only a small amount of planned trimming.. The alignment was a no sweat operation. The body and fenders and front end including making blind nut plates took only 6 hours to assembl. The motor bolted right in. Since I have their pro street frame the frame fit perfectly. I changed the rear end mount from a parallel 4 link to a true 4 link and there were some fit issues but nothing I couldn't work out and not unexpected. I just prefer the adjustability. Even the glass fit. I have power window that I installed and they were not a big problem. Saved a couple hundred doing it myself. The car will be left unpainted for the first go around as it looks just fine gloss black now. It will take only a buff job to remove the scratches I put in.
A & C service is # 1. I call and they have the answer no bull. They are real down to earth people.
The body and frame were shipped the exact day promised and arrived totally undamaged (excellent carrier too) on the day promised almost to the hour.
If you are going to build a Willys...be prepared to have a black hole money pit in your shop. I had a carefully prepared Excell spread sheet 6 months inthe making which I threw out with the first order of parts.
If anyone wants more info try the e mail thing here or post a request for more inf. I'll tell y'all how it really is from real life experience no bull or dreaming or 2nd hand BS.
I just recovered from a major computer problem so my pictures are still in storage on some cd someplace

Outlaw and Dennis Taylor bodies cannot be beat for quality. The Cutting Edge Willy's body I saw several years ago looked pretty rough by comparison, but they may have improved the quality of their product over the years. I can only respond to the one I saw. Even though Outlaw and Dennis Taylor bodies are more expensive, you will have a lot less body shop time in getting the panels straight and the door and trunk alignment correct.