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1951 Wagon Los Gatos, CA **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Willys Wagons This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Was $4250. **SOLD**

Dan found this ad. It’s a humorous ad.

1951-wagon-losgatos-ca

“Owned this for 30+yrs & reluctantly offering it up, sniffle sniff. I will get you some pix, but know these few things: DOES run, primer gray (seems to often be standard paint for Willys) and complete-price negotiable

Has the common Buick V-6 swap (I’ve installed headers) but somewhere in it’s history, got a rod knock. ‘Lived overseas a couple yrs & every other conversation home, someone wanted my Willys. Got back, pulled top of carb off, all the jets, squirts of WD-40, airhose & reassembly. Then a battery w/plugs pulled, a few crank overs- then plugs back in. Gravity feed gas can from the cowling for a few more crank overs. 12v to the coil & Boom! Just like it was yesterday. Compound low, & out from the trees.

All 14 pieces (2 cracks) glass complete- 2 piece windshield, baby…for those that don’t know..’51 after all. some windlace, weatherstrip and gauges purchased for restoration, but I’m sure long since ‘rerotted’, oops. Pics of interior (sorry, no detailing)have boxes of rubber, parts & manual)


Note: the Buick as it turns out is NOT the common 225 swap- turns out it’s the 198, to my dismay. But further research found there was one other engine that had this same rear bolt pattern: Buick’s ‘Hi-P.O.’ 215 aluminum V-8! Got one…sitting in the back. Waiting.
Now here’s the thing- fully dressed- starter, alt, intake/exhaust manifolds- this whole motor only weighs 300lbs! I really didn’t want to put this 200hp powerplant in 5000lbs o Detroit iron. (I also have a ’74 Opel Manta that I’ve been itching to slip this into) but I could be talked out of it…maybe.

Drove this to Oregon & back over 20yrs ago, so like Woody Allen’s 300yr old Volkswagen in ‘Sleeper’, they’re like a Timex…you know the rest… 10 leaves in the back, 9 in the front, & like GI’s in WWII know, these will go over anything, but I got some longer springs from a ’67 Dodge Polara station wagon to save the kidneys (they go with). Thought I had lost a rear end, and for mileage I put in a 4:10. Turns out I’d just spun a keyway on the axle. So we still have two different ratios, & can’t use the front end, “D’oh”! (figured this out one night while pondering my expense-oh to be young)-but I’ve kept the 5:38.
And speaking of 4wd… One of the coolest charms of this ol’ beast that everyone loved (aside from the “Coca-Cola” bottle opener installed on the dash [probly laws against that now]) the 3 shift knobs are all glass crystal door knobs, which are surely even older than the Willys!

So there you have it, this is the second of 5 cars of mine to go, as I have a ’65 Shelby replica I need space to complete & money to do it with…another long story….

‘Hope you enjoyed the read, thx for your time & think about it. I want this to go from one good home to another; you can tell THIS one had the love… Thx again, Mike—–we’ll be talkin

PS: a couple things I’ve now remembered to add; 1, it Did ha e a new dual exhaust (so it’s At LEAST no worse than ‘an Old one’) and 2) the body is nearly perfectly straight. It is, actually but but for 1 slight crease @ Jerrycan panel front o driver door, and a localized wrinkle right @ rear bumper attachment on left side. Remember, these were the days of ‘true Detroit Iron’. Took a lot to get a dent in this bodywork. ment to get a pic for, but can actually send you a better one from my phone :-O

 

2 Comments on “1951 Wagon Los Gatos, CA **SOLD**

  1. scramboleer

    I’m curious about putting the small lightweight 215 V8 in a Jeep. Anyone have any thoughts or experience on that?

  2. mmdeilers Post author

    Here are a couple links:
    http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?99220-60-CJ5-215-aluminum-V8-swap
    http://www.aluminumv8.com/about/about.htm
    http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?298856-Buick-215-V8-in-1960-CJ5

    I don’t know how these weights were measured, but the Buick V6 (a very light motor compared with all sorts of other motors) isn’t much more than the Aluminum 215 (318 for the V8 vs 375 for the V6) http://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/engineweights.html

    I thought I’d seen an article about this swap in one of my old Four Wheeler magazines. I looked through a few of them, but didn’t have any luck. I’ll keep my eyes open.

    – Dave

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