A shot I took of the Truck while a steam train came past near my house was selected by the Old Willys Forum for one of this years calendar months. :) The symmetry of the front has always bothered me due to the number plate being offset. Some details get worse over time and others don't bother you at all as time passes, this was the former!
Thought maybe it would look better mounted in the centre, but to what? Idea came to me to repurpose a stainless grab handle and picked one where the mounting flanges unbolted. Can then use the threaded bung to mount it to the Willys from underneath. Just the bar on its own actually looks quite good! I thought the tube size might be too large, but think it suits the proportions of the front end.
Mocked up to see if it would look any good. Also thought that the next size up in length might be better, so offset it to see where one side would end up. It would be the same width as the grille.
But one day I would like to change the plate for a slimline and then the extra length didn't look as good. Stated getting too crowded around the recovery hook. The shorter one looks good with the slimline which is the size of the cardboard mock-up piece.
Rather than welding it on, decided to use nutserts so the backing plate can be changed for the smaller size later on and also leave a small gap for the water to drain out. Countersunk stainless screws hold the backing plate in place.
Plate fits right over the screws and the mounting holes were drilled and tapped for the screws. Just a small detail but already looks better with the standard sized plate.
New plates! I was not allowed to get a slimline version of my plates, so bought a set that I could! Order them in the new liquid metal finish. Will run the new full sized plate on the rear. Much better balanced now and not competing with the grille. Think the Willys script in the bumper is a bit much though directly underneath it.
Easy fix to remove the black from the Willys bumper script. A few minutes work with some acetone and it is nice and subtle now. Another thing that came to light, that was not unexpected as happens to these stock as well, is bonnet flutter. Starts to appear at around 100kph/60mph and worse when hitting a headwind or a passing truck. So fitted some external bonnet latches.
I like them where they where they were installed in the factory position on CJ's from 1955 on and punched a dimple die access hole where I needed to get to one of the retaining nuts when I made the bonnet support. I used polished stainless steel ones, RT-Offroad #RT34011, rather than factory chrome so don't have to worry about rust. I bought them from this seller.
Photo I came across a photographer took of my Truck when attending an event by the beach.
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