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  1. #31
    Senior Member TJones's Avatar
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    Yes GMwillys I am using the stock tank,I ordered one from Kaiser Willys and after a couple weeks of hearing nothing I called and they told me the company that made the steel tanks went out of business so I ordered a plastic tank for $40 more.
    I sat on a 5 gallon bucket for a long time trying to come up with a design taking in that with the seats I bought I had to keep them low enough that mine and my brides heads wouldn't stick up above the windsheild but they sat as far back as I could get them so our knees didn't hit the dashboard.
    One has to remember that when these were produced in the 40's and 50's the average height was only 5'2" to 5'6" and me being 6'2" and my bride at 5'11" (Love that,she's got legs clear up to Heaven) there isn't a lot of leg room to start and or play with.
    Got the brackets and seats mounted FINALLY, after I get the brackets all ground down and everything mounted in her I am moving on the the steering column.
    I made a mock up column out of PVC pipe to mount up to get my proper length before I order one.
    I'll send some pictures when we get that far along on the SLOW but Good progress, Slow meaning it's crunch time in NE Ohio and we are going like mad men trying to get all our jobs buttoned up before Ole Man winter sticks his Ugly *** head in and shuts us down for a few months.

  2. #32
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    I figured you would be busy, trying to get through with the open jobs before winter. I remember those days well, and in some ways miss them.

    Not to make excuses for Kaiser Willys, but with all the hurricane cleanup going on around their region, it isn't a surprise that they are having trouble with vendors. They should have communicated that to you. Our member Pelago hasn't had much luck getting back on his feet for waiting on the insurance to pay up.

    Very true about the average height. I have a goatskin leather A2 pilot's jacket from the 50's. My shoulders won't fit into it. I was blessed to be average height, (5'10"), so as long as I don't eat too much, the 2A still fits rather well. One thing you may think about, is modifying the rear wheel wells to give you a little more leg room. There is plenty of room in front of the rear tires. You can gain 4" to 6" inches depending on the size of the tires that you want to use. This also be useful to reduce the amount of hidden spaces for dirt to collect causing the typical Willys rust. When done right, the average person will never know that it isn't original. The steering columns such as the one you included are nice. I used an Ididit tilt column on a friend's 64 El Camino project several years back. It went in perfectly, and functioned well. On our wagon project, the barnyard engineered Wagoneer tilt column worked very well. Now that I have it all apart, I am cleaning up the mounting brackets, but will retain the column. The original 64-65 steering wheel looks and is the right size for the operation. The chrome ring for the horn button looks good. I will have to repair some of the cracks in the plastic, but there are products on the market that are made to repair such cracks.
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  3. #33
    Super Moderator LarrBeard's Avatar
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    Plastic isn't a bad second choice. Pet vehicles sit a lot and even though gas doesn't have a lot of water in it any more, plastic tanks won't rust if they sit and collect atmospheric moisture over time.

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  6. #36
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    Those are some good brackets that you made. With the tilt wheel, you should have sufficient leg room. The only thing that sticks in my mind is closing off access to the tool box. I know how my luck runs, I keep spare points, cap, rotor, old wires, etc wrapped up in a Ziploc bag in mine. I'm a firm believer in having and not needing, then needing and not having. One of my idiosyncrasies. You may have already planned a storage spot for spare items.

  7. #37
    Senior Member TJones's Avatar
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    I took your advice gm about moving the seats back.
    After a couple beers and sitting on a bucket for a couple hours I cut the rear fender wells out to give me about 5-6 more inches.
    Wisdom at its finest Thanks for the idea it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.IMG_0087.jpgIMG_0088.jpgIMG_0089.jpgIMG_0090.jpg
    Last edited by TJones; 11-14-2018 at 07:18 AM.

  8. #38
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    Glad it worked for you. No sense trying to fit within 1940s average person sizes, when the solution is a few drilled spot welds away. It doesn't take away from the Willys look, but gives your knees room to get in and out without banging into the wheel.

  9. #39
    Senior Member TJones's Avatar
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    Making progress on the steering now that we got the seat situation figured out!!!IMG_0126.jpgIMG_0129.jpgIMG_0128.jpgIMG_0127.jpgIMG_0130.jpg

  10. #40
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    Looking good! The seating turned out really well!

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