I dropped off the Willys the other day at James Koden's new shop. James has been doing custom rod work for a few years now.
I got started on the body work during the summer, but busy led to busier and it got stopped. I tried to put on the fiberglass hood that I got but the contours did not fit the tub. So I cut out the raised portion of the hood, with plans to cut out the metal hood and put this on. There it sat...
I purchased a new windshield frame, got it mounted but the frame is twisted. Second, the windshield brackets were different from the original and they hit on the cage. So, there it sat.
I knew James had his new shop and I've watched some of his custom rod builds. Mostly chopped rigs but some very nice work. So he's going to do the hood scoop for me, tweak the windshield frame so that it sits straight, mount all the glass and rubber, swap out the frame mounts from the old frame to the new one so that they won't hit the cage.
James also used to do custom lights and wiring for unmarked police cars and such in a former job. Knowing that he had access and knowledge of the market, I asked him to look into some stock looking LED lighting systems for the Willys. If he comes up with some good ideas, I'll have him get some LEDs to handle all the lighting needs and figure out a way to mount a signal lever and a high/low beam switch. I don't really have a steering column...
PS Crash, Jackson is almost bigger than me. When you see this again, we are going to have to find a way to move the seats back further. I think he'll be able to sit on the rear wheels to drive... The kid is going to be HUGE by the time he gets to drive it. I don't thing either of our butts is going to fit in a bucket seat. Time to see what there is for a flat or bench style seat. Just think about a 6'2" 310lb offensive lineman driving this Willys... That'll be little Jackson by the time he's 16.
James saw him for the first time in years. First thing he said was, "Holy crap, that's Jackson???"