Jerry's Willyzuk Project |
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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Posted: 06 Sep. 2018 at 4:16pm |
An Abomination to All that is Good and Sacred
I’ve
wanted a flatfender for a long time. I’m not sure how this project is going to
turn out because I imagine dozens of pictures in my head of what I think a cool
flatfender is supposed to be. Is it going to be like Jpet’s Bam Bam? Metcalf’s Flatty?
Mike Garner’s, Rick? Stan? Jeep Fever? John Cappa? Soni Honegger? Pewe? Well, I
guess the answer is Yes! And No! Back in 1988 I was 20 years old and bought my first new car,
a shiny red 1988.5 Samurai, fresh off the dealer floor for $6500. I got $2000
off thanks to Ralph Nader’s roll-over scare and a Suzuki’s corresponding Dealer
Rebate. The first stop on the way home
was the tire store for a new set of wheels and tires. 30x9.50x15s on 15x7
Outlaw II rims. I wanted my Samurai to be just like Ken “Zuk” Francisco’s that
kept popping up in 4WD and Sport Utility
Magazine. Eventually I came pretty close with SPOA suspension, stock
springs, 31” tires, and 4.16-1 RockLobster transfer case gears. I ran open
diffs and stock engine for years. Eventually, I “upgraded” to a Jeep YJ
Wrangler and started the build process all over again. The Samurai became the
favorite fun car for my Mom and Dad and after 15 years or so, it found a
parking spot out behind the barn where it has sat for more than a decade since
the last time it was started. My early neglect and exuberance had taken its
toll on the poor thing. Rust and decay
are killers. A few years ago I bought a new frame with the intent to spruce it
up and get back on the road. The amount of body-rust was intimidating along
with the thin-ness of the sheet metal. The more I thought about it, the more I
decided to do something “drastic”. I found you guys thanks to Jpet’s videos on Youtube. I have
been seeing your jeeps pop up on Facebook over the last few years and all of
your’ videos are the inspiration for this build. I had looked around (and still
look) for the right jeep to start this project. I think I will eventually build
3 Flatfenders to nearly the same specs. One for me and the wife, one for the
son (14) and one for the daughter (10). I would love to trail ride together. I had held a thought in the back of my mind to put a Willys
body on the Samurai chassis for a long time. I eventually found several
examples online to show I wasn’t alone.
Multiple guys have done a very nice job mating Willys to Zuk and
confirmed that this isn’t a terrible idea.
The reactions they get range from cool to cruel. Hence, the Abomination. One major difference in the frame between the Willys and the
Zuk is the exaggerated dip in the belly of the Zuk. This is barely noticeable
under Samurai sheetmetal but becomes, in my mind, a terrible eye-sore for the
Willys. I have brainstormed lots of ideas to remedy this. Everything from
boatside skidplates to a totally custom frame ala. Metcalf. The relatively poor condition of my CJ2A body
made my decision a little easier. I am going to section the body over the frame
to keep the belly tight to the floor of the tub. I will rebuild the floor of
the tub to fit as needed. The rear floor will be raised about 3 inches in the
rear. I will move the little step down to the front about 6 inches forward to
allow the main crossmember of the samurai frame to tuck into the Jeep body. I found my donor body about 20 minutes from my house near
Cincinnati on Craigslist. The seller was rebuilding his 1948 CJ2a and felt that
the body was just too far gone. He had all new sheetmetal and tub and wanted
this one out of his garage. I was too
late in arriving to pick up the front fenders, hood and windshield but the tub
was still there. He really wanted to
just get it out of his garage. $40 and it was mine!!! I had looked at several
old jeeps for sale in the under $1000 price range and all had tubs in
significantly worse condition than this one. I was stoked. I will be updating this thread as the build progresses. I am currently removing axles from the samurai to swap over to the new frame. This will allow me to get the Willys body aligned properly over the axles. |
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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Has the original toolbox in good condition. Missing the lid. Floors have been repaired. The body will likely sit about here. I can trim off this section of frame to make a cleaner installation.
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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Benefits of the Samurai Drivetrain
Drivetrain-wise I really like the durability of the Samurai
parts. Especially when tire size is kept reasonable. I like the combination of
65-70 mph capability and compact package. I always got 20-25 mpg out of the
Samurai and I could trail ride all day on 5 gallons of gas. The stock Samurai
convertible weighs in at just over 2000lbs.
I expect this build to be very close to that number, or less, when
completed. Time will tell. The axles provide excellent ground clearance with 31” tires,
especially in the SPOA configuration. I will probably run 32" TSLs. The bottom of the frame is also fairly
smooth with very little hanging down to snag obstacles. There are a few snag
points which I will address. The transmission crossmember and the leaf spring
hangers, primarily. I will be addressing the crossmember by trimming the lower
section and installing a skidplate. Same for the spring hangers. I will be
welding minimal skidplates to the spring hangers to keep them from becoming a
“hook” point. The axles have 3.73 gears from the factory. The transfer
case high range is 1.409-1. This gives an effective stock axle ratio of 5.26. The
RockLobster transfer case gears give a low range ratio of 4.16-1 and 12% (1.58-1)
reduction in high range. Transmission is a 5-speed with a first gear of 3.65-1
and 5th of 0.865-1. Combined
it makes a great combo for street or trail driving. Combinations can be
improved, however, and I have picked up a 1994 Sidekick 5-speed and transfer
case to build a “doubler(1.82-1)” box to give me another low range for even
more options up to 103-1 low/low. The
sidekick transmission also provides the additional benefit of running a larger
clutch and a heavier flywheel. I will also add a ¼” flywheel ring to increase rotational
mass even more. If I decide to go to a larger tire, I have the option of
lowering the axle gears as low as 5.38. Example of Willys body on Suzuki frame. (not mine) Another example. This one with Toyota axles and engine. And another. This one with suzuki drivetrain. |
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Unkamonkey
Member Joined: 23 Mar. 2016 Location: Greeley CO Status: Offline Points: 2093 |
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It's up to you to build what you want to have. Most people will look at my 3B and believe it is stock until they pick up on the PTO winch. Okey dokey, Pipes out of both sides, so it has a V6. Crawl under it and they may notice it has a overdrive. If they sort of know they will see the 11" brakes and you can't see the Powerlock in the rear. Springs? Build it for yourself. My other Jeep is pretty much stock except for the electric winch in the front, I did the power brakes on it and I had to upgrade the rear axle. Other than the winch, It looks stock.
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uncamonkey
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nofender
Member Sponsor Member x 3 Joined: 10 May 2016 Location: Maryland Status: Offline Points: 2018 |
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This is HORRIBLE! you will burn in the deepest depths of hell for such heresy! How dare you!
Okay that was a joke. I've said it many times before. The Jeep is the Model A of the 4WD world. There is no right or wrong. But realize you will get reactions ranging from - kill you and all your offspring....to....that's pretty badass dude. The things I have done to 2A's, last i checked are illegal in 13 states. So you can count me among the run what you brung crowd. I appreciate and will built a correct version some day. But i have little issue with modifying one. I've wheeled with many a Zuk and can attest to their toughness. Go with your plan. I'd love to see it. Go for it!
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46 CJ2a rockcrawler
46 CJ2a - 26819 46 Bantam T3c "4366" 47 Bantam T3C - 11800 68-ish CJ5 |
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NCtoy
Member Joined: 28 Aug. 2005 Location: NC Status: Offline Points: 507 |
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If you’re building one to wheel much it’s going to be modified anyway. If it’s only parts or already modified, there’s no reason to feel bad about it. If done right, the casual observer will never know anyway.
I always liked the Suzuki’s and have thought the willys tub on one would be a good match for a more modern wheeler with the old school look. I had an early cj5 I almost put a set of Toyota axles under, but ended up selling the jeep.
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Jonny Zuk
Member Joined: 18 Sep. 2015 Location: Tulsa, OK Status: Offline Points: 26 |
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Hi,
Longtime Samurai owner here. The funny thing is that my dad bought our first Samurai over 30 years ago because it reminded him of a CJ2A his friend had in the late 50’s. I became hooked soon after I started driving the Samurai, and I have driven across the US several times. I even shipped a Samurai to/from Germany during my military service. I too have strongly contemplated building a CJ2A hybrid with a Samurai frame and drivetrain and a CJ2A body. I have around 6 running Samurais, along with additional frames and drivetrains. I could easily piece together a running chassis for a CJ2A and then drop a rougher, patched CJ body on the frame. Still looking for a stock CJ2A first though.
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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Thanks for the feedback guys. I’ve been working on it here and there. I placed the grill and hood on the samurai to see what engine placement would look like.
You can see in this pic that engine will need to move back or the front axle needs to go forward. Right now the plan is a little of both. I’ll probably shift the front axle 1-2” forward and the drivetrain 5-6 inches back. |
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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I’ve been working on getting the body placed. I should have the remainder of the tub cut to get it as low as possible in the next few days.
Right now I have about 11.5 inches above the tire to the tub. After the final cut I think it will be closer to 8 inches. This looks really high for a flatfender but much lower overall than my Samurai. I might need to go with different springs. |
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mikec4193
Member Joined: 23 May 2009 Location: Malta NY Status: Offline Points: 1143 |
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Hey JeepN95
I love this build...I would love to know how come the Suzuki can run down the road at 65mph and the ole Willys struggles to do 45mph??? (a white knuckler at that speed too I might add)... So what did those Japanese engineers know that we didn't know back in the day?? I will be watching this build for sure... MikeC
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I am the squirrel....
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jasonbass
Member Joined: 28 Mar. 2018 Location: little rock ark Status: Offline Points: 261 |
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fully agree with you. im working on a simple design now based off of the "sas" one i found, instead of just buying the one i found online. ive been thinking about your idea a few posts ago.
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You have only to believe if you wish to achieve. That rhymed. Unintentional - Rod Kimble
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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It is cold in this old barn but I did get the rear cut so that I could get the body lower on the frame.
Overall the distance between the top of the tire and the bottom of the fender is 8.5". I, of course, have some cleaning up to do on the trim and then I'll weld in new steel for the rear. Once this is finished I plan to locate all the body mounts and attach the body. Next, I'll cut out the front floor and begin work placing the engine and transmission. I think I will be about 4" rearward and 2" down. Pics:
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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Thanks! I think the main difference between the two is the engine. The little zuk engine is comfortable at 4500 all day. 6500 is redline. They are fun, for sure.
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berettajeep
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 03 Feb. 2009 Location: Astoria OR Status: Offline Points: 4304 |
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Very cool. I've always wanted a Samurai, it just never happened although I did look at one probably 20 years ago.
I spy a FSJ! |
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wild1joker
Member Joined: 14 Nov. 2018 Location: Fayetteville N. Status: Offline Points: 83 |
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any updates on this build?
going to follow along, |
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JeepN95YJ
Member Joined: 27 June 2018 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 35 |
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No progress since the last update. The Barn is not heated and it has been pretty cold here.
I will be visiting a friend this weekend to borrow a plasma cutter to cut out a few parts I have in mind. I'd like to have the body position locked down and the engine in place by the end of February. Once I have that finished i will move everything to my home garage for more rapid progress.
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Mark W.
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 09 Nov. 2014 Location: Silverton, OR Status: Offline Points: 7923 |
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Funny you should mention Samuri's rolling over in 1988 -89 I pulled off the freeway at Grant's Pass Oregon on our way to a Mountain man rendezvous and there at a body shop lined up like a kids toy trucks were 3 Samuri's that had all rolled at least once if not multiple times. I guess the locals had done some testing on their own. Be following your project.
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Chug A Lug
1948 2A Body Customized 1949 3A W/S 1957 CJ5 Frame Modified Late 50's 134L 9.25"clutch T90A D18 (1.25") D44/30 flanged E-Locker D25 5.38 Since 1962 |
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