Well, I have had this link here for quite some time and I know that many of you have followed this dead link to no avail. I suppose it’s about time I put some of my useless ramblings here.

Since this website is woefully incomplete, I field a lot of questions from people that are just starting on their projects and need additional advice. Frequently, these inquiries come from people that have just acquired a Willys and have virtually no prior background in the wonderful World of Willys. Each question is always slightly different but I have noticed that my responses are almost always the same. As soon as I began to notice this pattern, I came to realize that I have developed a Willys Ideology (WI) that guides all my Willys related decisions. "A Willys Ideology?" you may ask. Yep, I am that weird but don’t hold that against me, I’m actually a fairly decent person.

Keep in mind that I am a one Willys owner (limited only by my wife, of course) and that everything you read here or on the rest of my website should not be followed without a little of your own common sense (is that still common?). I have made a lot of mistakes during the buildup of my Willys and have had to learn the hard way (i.e. the expensive way). I can only hope that this website can help save you and your Willys a lot of grief.

Where to begin?

For those of you that are just starting on your project and need as much information as you can possibly get, I highly recommend that you join the WillysTech (WT) mailing list. The WT list is the premiere source of Willys information on the internet. The focus of the list is mainly post-WWII civilian model Willys but you military folk are encouraged to join. The WT email list is part of Yahoo Groups, which means that you must register for a free user account with Yahoo. If you have never joined an email list before, you’re in for a real surprise. The email list works by members submitting questions and answers to a single email address, those messages are then forwarded to every member of the list (including the authors of those messages). The WT membership has grown considerably over the years and now generates over 50 messages a day! So now you must be thinking, "I don’t want to read that many messages." Don’t start whining about it just yet. Most of the members are pretty good about using descriptive subject lines in the emails they send to the list. This makes it relatively easy to delete messages that do not apply to you. Also, the WT list provides each member the ability to have the messages sent to any email address you choose. This means that you do not have to log into your Yahoo account to read or send messages. Also, for those of you that are familiar with email “message rules”, each message sent to the list has [WT] included in the subject line. This makes it very easy to set up a message rule to divert your WT mail to a separate folder thus preventing your regular email from getting mixed up with your WT mail.

The WI

Now that you’re a WT member, I suppose I should also get around to explaining that Willys Ideology I mentioned earlier. It’s actually quite simple so I think I can keep this short.

As I’m sure you are well aware, these vehicles are OLD and finding a Willys in stock condition is getting really difficult. Conversely, a fully bastardized Willys (like mine) is quite easy to find.

So, if you have your heart set on building a totally impractical beast (like mine), I suggest that you start with a vehicle like the one I started with. Specifically, look for a Willys that already has some or all of the major drive-train components swapped out or missing. There are many people that have a great deal of respect for a stock Willys and there are also a large number of people that are looking for a stock Willys to restore. When you swap out the original engine (or transmission, t-case, etc.) on a stock Willys you are effectively killing a family member. Well, maybe it’s not that serious but it’s pretty darn serious to some people.

However, if you want a project to restore (assuming you understand what the word "restore" means), I suggest you attempt to find a Willys that is in stock or almost stock condition. While attempting to restore a bastardized Willys is truly a noble idea, it may prove to be more difficult than you had planned. Especially if you don’t know what parts are missing, where the original parts are supposed to go, or where to get original parts.

This pretty much sums it up. From this, along with that common sense I mentioned, you should be able to come to a conclusion on the path you want to take with your project.  If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.

Best Willys Wishes,

Bill