Thread: 41 Willys Gasser project

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The list of jobs is getting much smaller but I needed a thermostat cover, couldn't buy one as they all go straight up and I need a right angled jobbie, Only thing for it was to make one, dived in the scrap bin and found a bit of 3/8" stainless plate, bit thicker than I wanted but It will do, I had some 1/4" but I hate leaky thermostat covers, the 3/8" won't bend and leak

First job was to put in a 1.5" hole, a holesaw did the job perfectly, next drew around a gasket and roughed it out on the linisher.

Then a quck polish and it was done. A stainless 1.5" bend was trimmed to get the outlet low and welded in place.





























It was all going really well and I then thought about the top hose, this is a little more challenging.

I had to drop the MSD dizzy in to check clearances, this is where I found the cap hits the blower !!!

I can get around this small problem with another plate under the blower to lift it sightly, but I'm hoping MSD will have a side entry blower cap which would save a fair bit of work.

















Anyway on with the top hose, a few 1.5" 90 degree bends and some straight bits were welded together and I had a top hose, it follows a bit of a torterous route as it has to go around the top blower pulley, just need to pickup some straight rubber hose and its done.





















I turned up some rings on the lathe and tig welded them onto the ends to stop the hoses from blowing off.











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I can see where your forward bolt on the cover is a bit of a pain...I've done that with headers, wishing I had smaller fingers Great job

Originally Posted by cffisher

I can see where your forward bolt on the cover is a bit of a pain...I've done that with headers, wishing I had smaller fingers Great job

Couldn't believe it Charlie, looks like MSD don't do a blower cap so looks like I need to make a spacer plate

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Wow, awesome work on your pipe! You can't tell at all where you welded it! I like that a lot!

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Wow, awesome work on your pipe! You can't tell at all where you welded it! I like that a lot!

Thanks for the thumbs up

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Thanks for the thumbs up

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No problem! Did you tig all the elbows together to make the long pipe and then sand the welds smooth, or was that bent with a bender? That stinks about having to make a spacer. An intercooler right there would be sweet though!

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

No problem! Did you tig all the elbows together to make the long pipe and then sand the welds smooth, or was that bent with a bender? That stinks about having to make a spacer. An intercooler right there would be sweet though!

Thanks for asking, It's made from 90 degree mandrel bends some cut in half to make 45's Ryan then tig welded and then the welds smoothed out and polished.

No intercooler though mate as this is a period build.

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Originally Posted by roadster32

No intercooler though mate as this is a period build. .

A period build and you're using that distributor?

I'm speechless is all I can say about the quality of your work man.

Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

I'm speechless is all I can say about the quality of your work man.

I hear that's unusual for you Whip

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Steve,

I was about to ask if you have a mandrel bender to do that pipe, I should have known better. You are the King of Fab. Great weld, grind and polish job.

Jack.

Originally Posted by Jack F

Steve,

I was about to ask if you have a mandrel bender to do that pipe, I should have known better. You are the King of Fab. Great weld, grind and polish job.

Jack.

I do have a bender Jack but on this sort of stuff using pre bent bends is easier.


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Originally Posted by roadster32

I hear that's unusual for you Whip

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Unusual that he's speechless,Steve?? Hmmmmm...that's true...

I've always heard that trying to bend stainless with that short of a radius doesn't work well at all unless you have a high dollar bender. I understand what you mean about no intercooler on the intake. I've seen pics of them in old willys gassers before though. I just don't know how old the pics actually are. Late 60's and 70's I'm guessing. Anyhow, other than time, making a spacer should be cake for you.

Managed to sort my dizzy to blower clearance problem, made up a 3/4" spacer plate from a chunk of 3/4" aluminium plate. Allan is kindly milling the hole in it for me :thanks: Al








Another job i had to do was sort out the blower drive, The blower I have was for a SBC so some bits are not gonna work with the Cadillac, first to get modified was the crank blower hub, the vee belt drive was on the front of the hub between it and the blower pulley, this was too far forward for my needs so the vee pulley was bored out on the lathe to bolt to the rear of the crank hub, then the hub was drilled from the rear to take the pulley bolts, this places the vee pulley close to the block.












Moving on to the top pulley clearance for the blower belt to the water pump was a problem, looked at this several times without coming up with a easy fix, The solution was to go with an Electric water pump, this would also enable me to lose the pump completely and shed a few pounds as well
I sell the Davies Craig electric water pumps so seemed obvious to use this setup as I know they work and are reliable, They come with a digital control box that lets you tailor the pumps workings to your own requirements, It can also be set to run after the engine is switched off to avoid heatsoak.
Normally the pump would be left in place but the impellor removed so the pump ends up as just a transfer station for the water, the thermostat is removed and replaced by a sender that is hooked to the digital controller.










Obviously removing the pump meant some pipework had to be made up, firstly flanges were cut from 1/4" stainless plate.








Next the feed pipe from the pump was made from some 1.5" stainless bends and welded into the left flange.








Heres the completed pipework, The blue -10 fitting is the thermostat bypass and is piped back to enter the system before the pump, It enters the bottom hose via this adaptor. Clearance on the blower belt is tight buts its just enough










Next job is to sort out the short blower snout & top pulley.

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