Willys Coupe - All Steel

This is an all steel Willys coupe. It is a very nice car and I have a lot of money and time into it. I do not want to make any trades. I am only interested in selling because I found a done Willys coupe that I have wanted for a long time and I have decided to step up and buy it.

I had a vision for this car that is different than most other WIllys coupes. I invisioned a completely stock looking WIllys coupe with most of its original exterior trim. stock seat. stock steering wheel and even stock radio that is converted to XM. stock appearing bench seat that has foam and contoured for better support instead of the springs that crunch when you sit on it and modern drivetrain and suspension. This car would also have fit and finish better than original without destrying the Willys look - don't want it to be smooth and look like a glass car.

I think I achieved most of this. The car started with a set of Willys Unlimited frame rails. The chassis was then built in a local chassis shop. The frame rails have had a completely custom tubular x member. triangulated four link rear. 9 in Ford rearend with 3. 50 gears and aluminum third member. The front has tubular upper and lower a arms like a Mustang II style. Strange single adjustable coil over shocks and springs were used front and rear. Custom sway bars were made for front and rear.  An aluminum Denny's driveshaft is custom made. A 2006 very low mileage 6. 0 liter LS2 motor is fitted in front of the stock firewall and connected to a 2002 4L60e 4 speed automatic transmission. A Street and Performance transmission adaptor is used to convert the speedometer to a mechanical drive so the stock looking gagaes can be used. Hooker stainless headers connect to a custom 2 1/4" all stainless exhaust and stainless mufflers from Stainless Specialties. All of the exhuast is tucked up in the x member and full tail pipes go over the rearend and exit at rear of car - nothing hanging down.

Custom 16" WheelSmith wheels use stock NOS hub caps and have large inside clearance to fit the polished Wilwood disk breaks that are on the front and rear. The rear also incorporates a drum style emergency break contianed under the rotor. The chassis is almost complete.

The body was a good start but has had some metal work. The left front fender is NOS. The hood and trunklid are near perfect and so is the left front fender. The center section has custom inner fender wells to clear the tubular a-arms and looks really great - almost factory appearing but musch cleaner. The doors had door bottoms and I wanted the gap to be better than original so I adjusted as needed. The stock pakage tray and x member behind the seat is retained. The bumper brackets were modified to move the bumpers close to the body so they don't look like a plow truck. The car has all garnish molding. window regulators. latches. stock hood support. headlight buckets. tail lights. rubber kit. glass kit. I have NOS outside door handles. all deluxe trim completely polished. NOS right side grille half that has been chromed and a very nice used left grille half that has been chromed. chromed deluxe front bumper and rear bumper. perfect deluxe horn button. original radio. '41 Willys rearview mirror (cleaner looking than a '40 mirror). all outside Willys emblems. glovebox handle and inside deluxe emblem. All chrome was completed by Johns' Custom Chrome in Ohio. The trunk handle is near perfect. The trim and bumpers shown in pictures are just my mock up parts but are nice originals - don't want to scratch my rechromed perfect parts. I have new headlight bezels and lenses. The car has original trunk supports and most of its original floors - any floor pieces that have been changed look original. I had to make a new trunk floor that still appears stock to clear the rear suspension to get the car so low.  I made a special die to mimmick the stock beads in the floor. I even used the original spare tire mount. I invisioned having a stock appearing trunk and using a rubber mat like original to mess with people when the trunk is open. Again I wanted a stock looking car other than being slammed to the ground.  I have a polsihed manual rack and Flamming River stainless u joints. The stock style toe supports are used and the stock tranny cover cover is used with slight modifications. Two Wilwood master cylinders mounted on the firewall are used. - two small ones look better than a single large one. These are short and don't hang far off the firewall.

The rear fenders are very good but not perfect. I am taking the car to Randy Fergouson's next week to custom make rear fenders. I want fit and finish better than original and I don't want to use fender welting. The thin gage rear fenders "flatten" out between mounting bolts and the gaps are not uniform. This stands out when no fender welt is used. I could use a metal plate on inside but I want a heavier gage fender to fit better and improve stone damage resistance. We will also finish up any other metal work to make everything just right. I will continue with this plan and if the car sells. the new owner will get these fenders. Like I said. I am only selling to buy another car - if this car doesn' sell. I am continueing to build and I don't plan on taking any shortcuts.

I have all headliner bows. dome light. glovebox doors. sunvisors. heater. original radio plate etc etc. I feel this is a top notch car and when finsihed will compete with the best of them. I would love to keep it and buy the other car but I have too many things going on to afford everything. I know I am forgeting other things. I purposely did not post a bunch of pictures - if the car doesn't sell I don't want others copying some of the things I did until I get the car out first. If you are serious. come look at car or I will send pictures. I don't expect anyone to buy without seeing what they are getting and I will provide whatever pictures are needed to a serious buyer. Thanks for understanding. This car won't take much to finish from this point and the new owner can paint car to his color choice and finish interior to his tastes. As you can see. I planned to paint like the original buckeye red used on '41 models so I had the wheels powder coated to match. Thanks for looking. Please only serious buyers call me at 716-622-3594.

Also published at eBay.com

Want to buy this car?