1951 willys pu

Just bought a 1951 Willys P/U. Good running Flat head 6cyl motor, good frame, nice sheetmetal, good glass...found it on CL 4 towns away for $500...she's a project, previous owner removed motor & had it rebuilt, but never bolted it all back together.....it'll be a fun winter project for me & my son, will take pics tomorrow & post....I've always liked the style, anyone ever had one of these???...did you have good luck w/it?....we'll likely use it about town for chores & maybe give it to my son for his 1st car....(at least we know he won't be speeding)..

You got a steal--those puppies are hard to find and usually pretty rusty. Great project, I did a 64 Ford for my oldest, we still talk about it!

My dad and I bought a 48 2WD 4 cylinder when I was a senior in HS. He kept it after I went off to tech school and got married. We sold it at mom's auction in 1993 after his death. Built like a tank, would outperform most modern 4x4s. Brokethe crank in the engine (very long stroke) burned a valve one other time. We put modern UV joints in the drive shaft to limit vibration (original needle bearings shook bad). These trucks are front heavy. Make sure king pins and springs are safe. Top speed on the 48 was approximately 52 MPH.

If i remember what that looks like those are neat.

I saw one done one day with a straight axle up front with a big block chevy on slicks.

I bought a 53 Willys 4WD pickup off a car lot in Witchita Falls, TX in 1968 when I was stationed at Ft Sill, OK and towed it home for my dad to use on the farm. He fed hogs out of it and used it on the farm every day for over 20 years because it sits low and is real easy to hop in and out of. It is geared low enough to pull a barge wagon load of ear corn in six inches of mud when it has been chained up front and rear. Ours won't run over 45 on public roads, a real blessing when you find out how poor the brakes are. It will get around better in mud and snow in 2WD better than the '49 Dodge Power Wagon or several more modern 4WD we have had would in 4WD, possibly because ours is a short bed and the others were long wheel base.

Make sure your brakes are 100%, don't plan on cruising over 35mph. I was going to transfer the
body on ours to a 76 Jeep Cherokee running gear to have a more modern running gear, but haven't gotten to it yet.

Ya and just think it will run not matter what the weather is or how hot or cold it is. May not brake any speed records but will run no matter what. Not like those new cars/trucks that have so much as far as electronics that it takes a computer to tell you why it will not run. Ya I prefer old school stuff because you can depend on it where as this new junk will cost you $250 just to have it plugged in to tell you you need a $500 part that might fix it

I had a 1962 Willys pickup, same body style. I
put a Chevy 283 in it and did a ground up restoration. It was a fun ride and could really
push some snow.

I just got a 64 Kaiser -Jeep pickup not too bad of rust ... traded a 89 Dodge 4 wheler ,

My brother has two of them. One has a 302 in it, and the other was a custom crew-cab job with a 454 in it that he bought off e-bay. It really moves down the road and get"s quite a bit of attention. He also has a jeepster to round out the collection.

I had a 1948 4 cylinder pickup years ago. It ran very well off road and I took it to some places I almost couldn't believe it would reach. Unfortunately on the road, it was kind of slow. I think it would do 50, but that was really running the rpm's up there. I was afraid I might blow up the little flathead 4. I drove it to work some in the Winter, and it never left me stranded. Finally a guy came along and offered me twice what I paid for it, so I sold it. And regretted doing so ever since.

A couple of friends of mine had a Jeep pickup with a Ford OHV 6 cylinder that they drove to high school. It was geared higher than the pickup I later had, and was a decent highway rig. Another friend had one that had been extensively modified, with a 350 Chevy, Muncie 4 speed, a more modern transfer case and different axles front and rear. It was a real hot rod, that did well in sand drags and on a regular drag strip, it would get into the 12's. The way he built it, he had very little problems with breakage, and we had a lot of fun with it.

I considered swapping engines in my pickup, but never did. I always thought a Pinto 4 cylinder would work well with the original drivetrain, since they could be revved pretty high. Or there would have been plenty of room to install most any of the small block V-8's, although I doubt that much of the original drivetrain would have held up well to that much power.

The only real negative thing I remember about my Jeep pickup was that the door latches didn't work just right, and occasionally I had the driver's door open unexpectedly. They were probably just worn out, and maybe it is possible to get new parts to repair them. But you might consider checking your Jeep for that problem. It is flat scary to have a door suddenly fly open when you are going around a corner kind of fast! Luckily I was using my seat belt.

Have fun with your old Jeep!