1942 Willys MB rock crawler build

rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
First off, this will be a long term build. Basically, finances/research will determine the timeline.

History: I bought this 42 MB for $200 as a non-runner next to a barn. After getting it home I realized that the tub/fenders/hood/grill were the only things not GPW. Most of the bolts even had the F script. The grill was an early slat grill. I took all the GPW parts and the restoration valuable parts and sold them to the resto crowd. The floor was beyond shot so I chopped it all out knowing I'd design the entire floor around the drivetrain. I first started building it with a 4.3 and typical parts then got the v8 bug and tried to put a Bronco 302 in it, had 60's and 38s ready to throw under it. Well life happened and I had to sell all the parts off, I refused to sell the body.
Once that happened and we moved, I bought a CJ5 and got it wheelable and damn near daily driveable. So now that I've got a working rig I've decided to pursue my dream rig.

Plan: I'll be putting a 2000 ALH in it with a t176 4 speed transmission and an np231/dana300 doubler. This should put my final drive ratio around 150:1 with the 4:10 gears in the axles. It will also put the motor in the correct rpm range at 70mph for highway use. Axles will be 44/9 combo, full hydro steering, street legal, 4 link and 3 link suspension on 36's.

Well as it is right now, I've built a new frame, acquired the axles and drivetrain. I'm waiting on my HPA AX15 kit so I can get things positioned to make the motor mounts. I'll have to go through all my pics and get them loaded on photobucket so I can update the thread with the good stuff....pics.
 

rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
More info on the motor plans. I removed the entire wiring harness from the beetle and plan to reuse almost all of it in the willys. Just makes sense to me to use a harness with fuses/relays/layout already done. I also kept the pedals, seats (heated seats in a topless jeep...SCORE), column and gauge cluster. All to be reused, hopefully.

The intake will be modified by whitbread to be shorter and still retain the ASV. I can't wait for the used one I got from here to come in so I can get it shipped off to him. It's gonna have to be modified for hood clearance.

I have asked here several questions with images but will repost images just to have all the tech in one place.

I just organized most of my pics, enough to hit the high points and hopefully get everyone caught up. Now I need to get to the house so I can upload them to photobucket and post them all here.
 
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rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
These pics are basically in order. If you have any questions feel free to ask. There are too many pics to make comments on all of them.






 

rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
And that pretty much catches you. As I said, I'm still waiting on the HPA kit to be able to move forward with engine mounting but I've got some other odds and ends I need to be working on. Like getting the doubler done.
 

RonJitsu

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Location
Central NJ
TDI
2005 Mercedes Benz E320 CDI, 1/2 of a 1985 Jetta 1.6 Diesel
Thanks for posting this up! The pics all look great and give us a good idea of how to get started. You make it look easy!
 

rooney77

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Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
So very cool. Subscribed.

So you've changed directions on your mounts and aren't going to fab them yourself?
If I could find prefab side mounts that would work, I'd be all over them. I plan on using 300D bushings and fabbing the rest. I found a waterjet place here in town (middle of nowhere East Texas) so that gives me a little more freedom on shapes....it'll have to do until I get my plasma cutter.

Thanks for posting this up! The pics all look great and give us a good idea of how to get started. You make it look easy!
I really appreciate that. I've been dreaming about this build forever but it wasn't until right after xmas that I really got going on it. Well the TDI part. I started everything else back in the summer before my shop got built. Sooooo much nicer working in a shop as opposed to a 2 car garage.

For what it's worth, this is my first major project. Most everything else I've done has been small projects and resto's.
 

rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
Yes it is. Especially when you throw in the fuel mileage aspect. I'll get my rock crawler and hope to get 30+ mpg.

When it's all said and done I'm hoping to be below 3k on weight but would live with anything less than 3500lbs. That would help a bunch.
 

Alchemist

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Location
Lethbridge, Alberta
TDI
'04 ALH Golf
This is looking great, keep up the good work.

One point to consider is alternator drive. If I understand the diagram correctly, you are planning on running the alternator CCW. This could cause problems due to the one way drive pulley. Changing to a solid pulley is possible, but it may stress the tensioner. It is one of the little details that make any swapper crazy.

Paul
 

greengeeker

Vendor
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Location
Cambridge, MN
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS
An answer you didn't get in your pirate thread : you can't delete the small coolant line coming off the back of the head. Just connect it to the hard line (return to the water pump) and you'll be fine. Also, you just need to find a 15psi rad cap and you'll be fine to remove the vw coolant globe.
 

rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
This is looking great, keep up the good work.

One point to consider is alternator drive. If I understand the diagram correctly, you are planning on running the alternator CCW. This could cause problems due to the one way drive pulley. Changing to a solid pulley is possible, but it may stress the tensioner. It is one of the little details that make any swapper crazy.

Paul
Ya I had discovered that the pulley was one way. I'm not sure what I will do to keep the power steering up high yet eliminate the compressor. As you can see in one of the pics, the compressor is basically trying to live in the same space as the front axle. I've been toying with adding an idler pulley out to the side to take up the slack but I want to get the shorter "non-AC" belt so that the idler can be tucked in as much as possible. Still gotta find a source for an idler I can make a bracket for.

An answer you didn't get in your pirate thread : you can't delete the small coolant line coming off the back of the head. Just connect it to the hard line (return to the water pump) and you'll be fine. Also, you just need to find a 15psi rad cap and you'll be fine to remove the vw coolant globe.
I had pretty much planned on doing that anyway since I wasn't sure of the water paths through the head. I figured better safe than sorry. Adapting all those different size and material hoses is going to be interesting to say the least.
 

Bczuk

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2012
Location
Mission, BC
TDI
LWB Samurai - 2001 Jetta
Glad to see you started a thread over here. I can take a pic of the non ac bracket for you if you want. It puts the ps pump pretty close to the oil pan which looks like it might help you. How much room are you working with between the frame rails?
 

rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
Glad to see you started a thread over here. I can take a pic of the non ac bracket for you if you want. It puts the ps pump pretty close to the oil pan which looks like it might help you. How much room are you working with between the frame rails?
I've got a whopping 26" between the rails. :D

I'm not super concerned about uptravel at the center of the axle. I had planned on limiting the uptravel to 4" max anyway. And that's at the end of the axles. I'm setting up for droop. Speed bumps here I come.

I'd love to see the bracket. The belt setup is one of those, always in the back of my mind concerns.
 

Bczuk

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Joined
May 21, 2012
Location
Mission, BC
TDI
LWB Samurai - 2001 Jetta
The pump sticks out about 5" from the block where the oil pan flange mates up. Another inch or so up from the bottom of my steel oil pan. I'll grab a pic for you after dinner
 

rooney77

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Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
The pump sticks out about 5" from the block where the oil pan flange mates up. Another inch or so up from the bottom of my steel oil pan. I'll grab a pic for you after dinner
I appreciate it. I've tried contacting PSC to see if they had any pumps that would bolt in for a full hydro setup but I haven't heard anything back. Not shocking I guess. I need to call them and see what my options are before I go modding the belt setup because I may have to make a mount for the pump as it is.
 

Bczuk

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2012
Location
Mission, BC
TDI
LWB Samurai - 2001 Jetta
Interested to see what you end up with. I ran a heavy duty Trail Gear pump on my 22re but am goin to try the factory vw pump now. Hopefully it will power 37s with hydro assist.

I'll take a pic of the Mercedes mounts I bought with some measurement as well. They were priced pretty good on rockauto
 

greengeeker

Vendor
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Location
Cambridge, MN
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS
I've been toying with adding an idler pulley out to the side to take up the slack but I want to get the shorter "non-AC" belt so that the idler can be tucked in as much as possible. Still gotta find a source for an idler I can make a bracket for.
Smooth: ALH accessory idler
Ribbed: 24v VR6 accessory tensioner

Here's a picture of my setup as I was mocking up the pulley brackets. Now keep in mind I had a width contraint which basically dictated this location but you can swing it upwards if you want more clearance to your axle's pumpkin.



And here are the details of how I had to modify the accessory bracket: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3910451&postcount=111

You can do lots of different things if you order up a custom belt length...move the location of the stock idler up towards the PS pump which will allow you to move the ribbed idler further upward but will reduce your alt pulley wrap.
HTH
 
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rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
Smooth: ALH accessory idler
Ribbed: 24v VR6 accessory tensioner

Here's a picture of my setup as I was mocking up the pulley brackets. Now keep in mind I had a width contraint which basically dictated this location but you can swing it upwards if you want more clearance to your axle's pumpkin.



And here are the details of how I had to modify the accessory bracket: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3910451&postcount=111

You can do lots of different things if you order up a custom belt length...move the location of the stock idler up towards the PS pump which will allow you to move the ribbed idler further upward but will reduce your alt pulley wrap.
HTH
Awesome, thanks a ton for that.
 

Bczuk

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2012
Location
Mission, BC
TDI
LWB Samurai - 2001 Jetta
Here is a pic of the ac delete bracket. Part # 038 903 143 A



Motor mounts I am trying. They are hydraulic and about 4" x 4" with threaded inserts centered top and bottom

DEA Part # A7062 from Rockauto

After having annoying vibes with my tube and spring bushing mounts before with a gas motor I am hoping that these will atleast not make it any worse.

 

rooney77

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
Texas
TDI
2000 Beetle
That bracket may be perfect with an idler. I'm hoping the parts store near by has the non-ac belt I can pick up to mock up some ideas and get a feel for things. That bracket just may be the ticket.

A quick google search leads me to believe that bracket may be harder to find than I thought. Either way, greengeeker's idler has me pointed in the right direction.
 
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Growler

Got Soot Vendor
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Location
Millersport, Ohio
TDI
Schmutz, 2015 Golf Sportwagen DSG & Schnurren, 2001 Golf GL 2 door 5M
this is more like what you may be looking for to keep your PS pump up high and delete the AC compressor.





as seen in this post in Alhpawerks tacoma v6 swap thread.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=4017115&postcount=11

The bracket is made with slots which the alt bolts go through. The belt is tensioned by sliding the aluminum bracket which holds the idler pulley down and then tightening the bolts. In practice the belt goes on easily and tensions quite smoothly.
Seems to work pretty well!

Ryan
Best of luck.
 

Growler

Got Soot Vendor
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Location
Millersport, Ohio
TDI
Schmutz, 2015 Golf Sportwagen DSG & Schnurren, 2001 Golf GL 2 door 5M
must post pics of what you make :) looking forward to it.
 
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