1932 Willys 6-90

[jeffa]

Gerday Marcus...
Well, " here we go again!" Really looking forward to the journey. I hope it takes as long as the Jeep. Why? More enjoyment.
If you use the SRT floor, as you suggested, you could maybe narrow the tunnel? Maybe in the main cabin but widen it where the transmission goes?
Also, if you do use that floor, it will give you a LOT of headroom! Cars of that era had heaps of headroom from the factory. So plenty of room for a chop and maybe channel.
Oh, and by " Hope to have it driving by the time the Willys turns 100" did you mean 100 years from its original manufacture date or from the day you completed it?

[Gojeep]

Gerday Marcus...
Well, " here we go again!" Really looking forward to the journey. I hope it takes as long as the Jeep. Why? More enjoyment.
If you use the SRT floor, as you suggested, you could maybe narrow the tunnel? Maybe in the main cabin but widen it where the transmission goes?
Also, if you do use that floor, it will give you a LOT of headroom! Cars of that era had heaps of headroom from the factory. So plenty of room for a chop and maybe channel.
Oh, and by " Hope to have it driving by the time the Willys turns 100" did you mean 100 years from its original manufacture date or from the day you completed it?

Glad you want to be along for the ride.
8 years is the plan for the build, maybe painted or running in bare metal/patina?
The 6-90 is too low from floor to roof for my height as is, so really need that floor drop to fit in. Can then maybe shave a bit after that.
Can't narrow the tunnel at all as little room underneath as the driveshaft and twin 3" exhaust all runs through there.

[Gojeep]

Wow, another huge task !! But with the previous experience there will be less surprises. My REO Flying Cloud was widened a little and it looked ok, but it was also much longer. Have you considered adding a little to the length, particularly though the front doors ?? If I had my time again in the current project I would add about 5 inches there. The other side of this is that if you gave away the idea of using the floor, firewall and dash from the donor you might have less need to widen it excessively. I have a preference for an older looking interior and dash with all the improvements hidden from view. You could still use the instrument panel and just sacrifice the a/c and ducting, and eliminate the console. That would mean that widening 4 inches would probably be enough. You could dump that airbags and wiring etc and fit a more period steering wheel too.

Just my first impressions and brain farts, but we all do it differently. Whichever way you go it will be fantastic to watch your journey. And as usual, thanks again for sharing in such detail.. And, love the SRT8 donor. My 6.1 was from the earlier version of the SRT8 that was burnt at 38,000 klm.

Plans are still evolving as things get stripped down and compared. The body is only going 4" wider overall at the rear and 4-5" in the front to cover the track width and fit the HEMI in. The firewall width is the biggest problem between the two with the 20" difference, but that would only put the cowl flush with the outside of the frame cover that is on there now along with the 4" wider it is going to be anyway.

Front door will be 6-8" longer for the 2 door conversion, but I still have the option of keeping it a 4 door if I lengthen the body at all. The firewall to the front of the rear wheel arch is 16" longer on the SRT8, so if I used the floor as is to there, I would end up with a 129" wheel base! 9" longer than the SRT8. Must be as long as your limo? Would however be able to leave the stock fuel tank in place and the rear seat as well. With the boot gone it would still be 31.5" (800mm) shorter than the SRT8 overall.

We really like all the comfort and conveniences of steering wheel controls and climate A/C etc. Makes long drives so much better when you arrive refreshed and not worn out. It will be all one style inside and another outside like the truck. I get more wows from the inside than the outside of the truck! I was not expecting that at all as the inside is for the owners to enjoy. I don't even open a window at a show and will not be going to many anyway once the novity wears off.

But as I stated at the start of this, nothing is set in stone yet until I start cutting up the SRT8, which will be pretty soon. The more stock I leave things from the donor, the cheaper the build is. We simply cannot afford to just buy much extra all all. Been already selling what I can from the SRT8 to help the budget, just like I did with the Truck build. Also the more I sell now, the less space I need to store everything. It is so tight for space as you know.

[zuffen]

Whilst the SRT isn't a small car the 6-90 must (by today's standard) quite small.

20"is almost the width of a seat in the Sydney Opera House. That means you almost rub shoulders with the other person in the front seats.

Could you give a comparison on the main dimensions of the two vehicles.

It's hard to imagine a 20"difference. A bit like comparing the MightyBoy to an HQ Holden?

[Gojeep]

Whilst the SRT isn't a small car the 6-90 must (by today's standard) quite small.

20"is almost the width of a seat in the Sydney Opera House. That means you almost rub shoulders with the other person in the front seats.

Could you give a comparison on the main dimensions of the two vehicles.

It's hard to imagine a 20"difference. A bit like comparing the MightyBoy to an HQ Holden?

It is actually wide for its time in the B and C pillars and cabin length. More like a 33-34 Ford, with even a inch longer wheel base than those. It just has a severe taper from the B pillar forward because it only ever ran a straight flat head 6, not a V8 option like the Fords. So the B and C pillar width is about 5" narrower inside than the SRT8, but 20" narrower at the firewall!

[zuffen]

That's a massive difference.

It will take a lot to keep the proportions right.

Narrowed dashboards just never work quite right.

I know in our MightyBoy is works but we lost the air vents on each end plus the ability to defrost the side windows. Not the end of the world but in the SRT situation you would be cutting huge amounts out.

I guess its time for photoshop or photo chop to see what it will look like.

You would have some interesting patch panels for the roof..

[Gojeep]

Thanks Rod. I have been thinking prior to Robs comment too about proportions to make the extra width look better, but had been resistant as hard to make a 4 door sedan look as cool as a 2 door one. The extra space would be a bonus though and my wife has always wanted it to be a 4 door sedan to make loading anything on the back seat easier. I think I will have to relent as did promise her that if I made it longer, it would stay a 4 door with the stock rear suicide doors. It is for her after all.

[zuffen]

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I'm glad it's for you to decide, obviously with Lisa's input, because I wouldn't want to be given the task of getting the proportions right.

[robtus]

Here is a link to a widened 32 coupe which I think does not look good at all.

It has Bentley running gear

wide 32

[Gojeep]

I remember watching the build of that on here I thought.

It is the grille that kills it rather than the firewall width. I wont proceed if I don't like the looks of it without making the changes needed to make it look right. Truck looks fine was made wider than that coupe at 9".

[robtus]

Agree Marcus, your truck does look great because it kinda blends the older style with a current Jeep look. Your Jeep already looked a bit too narrow originally so it makes a hell of an improvement. The difficulty with the early stuff is that the guards drop down to the chassis and meet the bonnet at the chassis rail.

Here is a side shot of a 6-90 4 door.


In my opinion it is screaming out for a chop, and if lengthened at the same time those windows would go from nearly square (and ugly) to nice long slots.. I know headroom is an issue, I can recommend a good spinal surgeon..

Myself I would rather have a chop with the seat down at floor level than drive a phone booth. Being an auto it would be ok to drive if you got the B pillar back a little for some legroom. I spent a lot of time making dummy seating and pedals etc before I got it how I like it. I have dropped my floor level 40 mm below the top of the chassis rail and took to foot-board part away from the driver. That required adding a little to the bottom of the firewall but it is hidden by a small setback..

As for the big engine, I reckon that some nice bulges in the bonnet sides would hint at some horsepower and add to the look rather than detract. Just the same, looking at the pic from this angle widening it 4 inches probably would not be noticed.

Anyway, have fun planning..

Cheers

[robtus]

This is the area where I altered the foot board. You can see at the bottom of the firewall on each side there is a step down of about 80 mm before the floor starts to angle. This gave me a lot of extra foot room.

[Gojeep]

Don't worry, there wont be any square windows that it for sure. The Australian Holden bodies are different to what is pictured and already have a lowered roof by comparison. I'm looking at dropping the floor 125-150mm if I can get that approved. That is how much the SRT is lower than the 6-90 floor. The bottom of the floor is level with the bottom of the frame. The will be lengthening the whole body as well and many other mods.
I need the extra body width anyway just to fit the whole interior from the SRT in, not just the dash, and cover the wheel track. I always hated the tall narrow look of the front of the 6-90 and why I didn't consider them earlier in my searching. But widening will fix that problem and the others mentioned.

[zuffen]

Good point on the interior.

I had thought of the dash, but forgot you need to fit the seats as well as a centre console.

So the car needs to almost be parallel from the rear to the front?

[Gojeep]

Good point on the interior.

I had thought of the dash, but forgot you need to fit the seats as well as a centre console.

So the car needs to almost be parallel from the rear to the front?

Yes, that is right. Looking at it today I might be able to start tapering from the door opening forward, the width of the 6-90 cowl, a couple of inches each side.