The Volvo-powered Willys CJ3a

[itlksez]

I had a small thread elsewhere on here, but Photobucket tanked it. Rather than try to fix that one, I'll start over here.

I'm 12 years deep into a build that is taking a 1949 Willys Jeep



and a 1987 Volvo 740



to end with a very street and dirt friendly rig.



Almost every part of this has been hand built. The following will be a story through pictures, since I don't have enough patience to sit and type the whole story. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

[itlksez]

Body work



Joining the M45 to a Dana 300 transfer case















Fitting the shifter

[itlksez]

I toyed with the idea of adding turbo. Ultimately decided against it, but left room for it if I go that route in the future.



New engine mounts



Engine cradle



Crossmember. Round hole for exhaust, other hole for wiring. Front driveshaft utilizes the support bearing from Volvo





Transfer case mount will allow the exhaust to pass through



Radius arm links for the front coil suspension are from the rear of an 850





Front axle is from a Toyota truck

[itlksez]

Rear axle is from an Isuzu Rodeo. I had to buy the whole truck for $100 just for the rear axle.



That was a lot of mounts to remove.



I sent the shaft off to Moser to shorten it by 7 1/2"





Cage work up in the engine bay included a sway bar up over the engine because I had nowhere else to fit it. The links go down through the coil springs.



Radiator mount. Rad is an aftermarket 3-core unit for a Honda Civic.







Working on the alternator/air compressor mount

[Chumley360]

Sweet! Reminds me of the B230FT I saw in a Samurai twenty years ago.

[itlksez]

Power steering pump mount on the other side



Gas tank fabrication incorporating the 740 in-tank pump and sender









Rear shock mounts



Pedal assembly using Volvo booster and pedal pads.





Cage work between the firewall and dash



Building the cage

[itlksez]

Upgraded fuel pump mount



And I just got finished with the exhaust. I had to build the muffler from scratch due to space restraints. It is surprisingly quiet.



And that catches me up to today. Next up is thinning the wiring harness down to a manageable clump.

[oldschoolvolvo]

cool project and nice fab work!

[itlksez]

Originally Posted by oldschoolvolvo

cool project and nice fab work!

Thanks! I’m finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

[itlksez]

After 15 hours of tracing wires, this...



...turned to this.





It needs one relay and three fuses to run. I’ll go back and add the wiring for the lighting later.

The original firewall grommets are getting re-used. I threw the body back on to start to figure out placement.





I’m re-proposing the original location of the jeep’s hand brake for the Volvo ignition switch.

[Hank Scorpio]

I absolutely love this!

[2turbotoys]

Very cool! Way to gloss over an incredible amount of hard work haha, dam.

[itlksez]

Thanks guys.

Hey @2turbotoys, I’m from your neck of the woods! Boyertown HS, class of ‘93

[2turbotoys]

No sh$$, I am currently working at a Jeep specialist there...stop by and say hi at MPG if your in the area, Manifest Performance Group might help Google. '93...we know some of the same people, bet
Love your ideas and build.

[itlksez]

Originally Posted by 2turbotoys

stop by and say hi

I’m *originally from that area. I moved to Idaho 16 years ago and miss nothing but the... well, nothing really.

[Harlard]

I read through a thread about this some years ago in some forum that I can't remember. Glad it's still moving along.

[2turbotoys]

Hahaha

[itlksez]

I’ve been working on figuring out where to route the air intake. The engine bay is getting so crowded, I have no choice but to go inside the cab with it. I was able to turn the stock air horn 180° and run the bellows through the firewall between the cage and the brake booster.





This moves the air mass sensor inside the cab. I’ll need to cut the wires, add a connector and about 2’ of length to get it to reach.

I dug through my supply of junkyard parts and was able to piece together the elbows and tubes I need from stock replacement parts for a turbo 940. These get me up and over the steering column and behind the gauges. I’ll build an air box behind the dash on the passenger’s side with the air intake possibly dumping into the wheel well, à la Project Binky, if anyone here is following that built.

[patrickstar]

You're in Post Falls? My old neck of the woods. I'd love to check this out some time when I'm home

[itlksez]

Originally Posted by patrickstar

You're in Post Falls? My old neck of the woods. I'd love to check this out some time when I'm home

You bet! Any time.

[itlksez]

Picked up a filter and made the template for the air box.
More to come.

[propav8r]

This is hilarious and amazing.

[itlksez]

Originally Posted by propav8r

This is hilarious and amazing.

Thanks! I think?

[itlksez]

My daily two hour allowance towards this just flies by.

I got the pieces for this air box cut out. After I traced the pattern, I re-assembled the cardboard templates and measured the angles so I could write the numbers on the corresponding bend marks.





With the air cleaner in place:



Now that the corners are tacked and the inner frame is in place, I can massage the bends a little to fine-tune the joints before welding it up.

[6thousandths]

this is awesome, looks like quality fabrication work!