1956 Willys willys wagon

Willys wagon Wagon

6 - Cyl.

Manual

54168

Gasoline

Here is a great candidate for restoration. It is a 1956 Willys red and white wagon with the stock super hurricane 6 with factory two barrel carburation which I think is real plus over the single barrel engines, a little more power and just smoother. It had been setting for a lot of years before I got it so the first thing I did before trying to start it was completly drain an flush the fuel system. I then put in fresh gas and added a bottle of Marvell Mystery oil to five gallons of gas, a very rich mixture. I then pulled the plugs and sprayed Marine fogging oil into the cylinders. The next morning I first turned it over by hand and then started it. As you can imagine she smoked like a freight train, I ran it for about a half hour and the smoke cleaned up some. I left at that point for a few days then dumped more gas in it to delute the Mystery oil some and took it around the block a few times. After that the exhaust cleaned up to where there is hardly any visible smoke at all. The motor runs real quite and smooth --so I believe the motor is in pretty good shape. It has been converted to 12 volt and starts the first couple of turns. The original 6 volt generator goes with the car. About $650 was recently spend in rebuilding the brakes. The tires look good but are old bias ply with flat spots from sitting for years, they are junk. I think most of the lights and gauges work but just figure on having to do some work here and there on the whole system. I believe the tranny is good, I experienced no popping out of gear when backing off the gas in 2nd gear which is so common with the t-90 trans. I think it needs a new pressure plate/clutch assembly. The clutch doesn't slip but the pedal feels funky at the bottom of the travel and doesn't fully disengage making it hard to shift gears. It needs steering work. The steering wheel crossbar sets straight up and down while driving straight ahead and the front end feels loose. That being said, yes, you can take out on the country roads and drive around some but NO you can't fly in from Florida and drive it home. Body condition/ cosmetics; I believe this wagon has most of the original paint on it or at least a very old paint job back to the original color. The lower part of the tailgate amazingly has no rust bubbles or holes popping threw the very old, red paint. I've can't remember seeing one with the stainless moulding on the tailgate that had not seeped water in through the trim mounting hole and ruined the bottom of the tailgate unless it was a freshly restored vehicle. Both rear wheel opening are rusted out around the top. There is surface rust around the roof drip rail but not rotted out. The rest of the exterior shows very little evidence of of rust and given how old the paint is, I doubt there could be very much rust or poor body work that would not have raised it's ugly head by now. I can only see one cancerous problem under the car and that is right where the driver's heal rests on the floor.( see in the 1st undercarriage picture). The rest of the undercarriage is solid with no other holes in the floor, mounts or braces that I can see. I can only load 24 pics in the ad so I only concentrated on the most problemed areas. The driver's door lost it's retaining strap that keeps it from swinging open and it has bent the leading edge of the door and panel in front of the door (see pic) The drivers outside door handle needs repaired or replaced. It has no headliner, the hoops are there, front seats have been recovered some years ago and are in good shape the back seat looks to be original and useable. Still has the Willys horn button, sought after front bumper guard and Willys script rear bumper. I really like to see some of the original vynil left in these old wagons because it gives them a smell inside that is particular to Willys. I can shut my eyes and that particular smells takes me back to the early sixties when my Dad and I were off beating through the countryside in his old willys wagon. I wish I could restore them all but I enjoy getting ahold of the ones that I feel are worthy of restoration and hope I can sell them to someone who appreciates them and puts them back on the road. I think these early Willys wagons and pickups were a classic the day they were built. Give me a call at 208-308-5036 or email if you have any questions. Please give me your email address if you want more pics, I don't think I can send pictures back through ebays message bar. Thanks Harvey