My 1939 Coupe.
I have owned the same hot rod since 1973. It is a 1939 Willys coupe with an Australian dicky seat body. I bought it with my first pay packet. For a princely sum of $30 I was the proud owner of a rust bucket that no-one else wanted. My mate Frank the Plank, who was building a ‘33 Ford roadster, towed it a whole half mile to the hot rod club shed, where I was to fix it up and rod it over the next seven years.
My 1939 Willys coupe in 1982.Why wouldn’t any one want a Willys Coupe located so close? Back then, if you knew where they were, you could get a much better condition vehicle to start a hot rod project with. These whereabouts of these treasures were kept secret from newcomers like myself. The other reason why no one wanted it, was because it wasn’t a Ford. The only hot rods in the early seventies were pre-1940 Fords.After persisting with the Willys I have become a martyr of the non-Ford cause for over three decades and regularly push the cause in the my club’s “Klaxon” magazine.Of course, non Fords are common place these days and Willys are keenly sought after.When first rebuilt the Willys had a 283 CID Chev engine with a Powerglide auto gearbox and 1961 Chev differential.The motor was stock except for triple carbies sitting on an Edelbrock manifold. Suspension was standard with a mid 1930’s Dodge front axle that gave the “gasser: drag racing look. The front brakes were discs from an HQ model Holden, an Australian General Motors product. This gave the same wheel bolt pattern as the Chev drum brakes on the rear. The interior was fitted out with a full set of Smiths gauges and home made shifter. The steering box was from a Ford Transit van, used in a push-pull fashion on the pitman arm. This was a popular local setup back then. The front axle and idea for the steering box came from a local hot rodding icon, Neville “Lars” Anderson, who had and still has the same ‘34 Ford 5 window coupe. (below).
My Willys is nearing the finish of a complete rebuild and should see sunlight again in a few months time. See below.
This time the coupe will will have a 350 CID Chev with Turbo 350 auto and a Ford disc brake 9 inch diff. The rod is set up for constant long distance use with 2.75 diff gears and running an LPGas conversion. The gasser stance has gone in favour of an early Holden independant front suspension that has lowered thje front end significantly, to suit the 70’s style rod appearance that I am working for. Steering now is Holden Commodore rack and pinion.Keep tuned for more stories on the coupes rebuild in later blogs.Eric. rodder@cyberhotrodders.com
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