Willy's 6 cyl owner!!

G

goinbroke2

Well-known member
I was looking at a local buy and sell and a guy had a "lighting 6" to get rid of or he was going to scrap it. No room to store must go! Of course I thought to myself, scrap an old flathead? Not a chance pal! I offered him 5 bucks and he said sure! So now I have a 2.4L flathead 6.....for....ah....something! :LOL:

Wife asked what it was for, I said, for the t-bucket. "what t-bucket"?
The one I'm going to build someday I said.


Gotta love inlines! And yes it is running, (and has a new foot operated starter)

Now for the question; does anybody know of any sites I can get some info? I know it's a 48-50 willy's 2.4L 75hp but that's about it. I'd like to tap into the oil gallery and put a filter on, but I need blueprints etc.
 
I have a 1950 Chilton's Flat Rate and Service Manual that has a very small section on the Willys. Most of the drawings are for the flathead four and the F-head four. One drawing shows a crank assembly and states "typical of most models".

It does list an inline six Model 663 and 663VJ having a 3" bore by 3.5" stroke for about 127 cubic inches. It gives basic tune-up data and crank sizes, etc. but that's about it.

I'd have grabbed that engine in a heartbeat! 8) 8) 8)
Joe
 
Lazy JW":207k84rc said:
... It does list an inline six Model 663 and 663VJ having a 3" bore by 3.5" stroke for about 127 cubic inches. ...
Click to expand...

Actually that would make an engine of a smidge over 148 cubic inches if the spreadsheet I created to perform those kinds of calculations is correct, but who cares? Either way it's a darned interesting find.

:)
 
:oops: :oops: :oops:
I stand most humbly corrected :oops: I re-checked my calcs and I must have entered the stroke length at 3" which gave me the incorrect displacement. Good catch!

I've never seen one of those tiny sixes, it must be a cute little thing.
Joe
 
I've been pondering this a bit. It seems to me that if you plan to do any machine work like tapping into an oil galley to add a filter you'll first need to tear the engine down to the bare block.

And that means you'll need to reassemble it afterwards.

And that means you'll need gaskets, seals, perhaps bearings, and such, but I might have found a supplier for at least some of that stuff. Here are some links.

Gasket Set, engine overhaul, complete w/rope rear main oil seal, 663, 673, 675

Gasket Set of (2), valve spring side cover, 663, 673, 675, 685

Gasket Set, manifold, (3) pcs, 663, 673, 675

Gasket, cylinder head, 663, 673, 675

Gasket, oil pan, 663, 673, 675, 685

Gasket, timing cover, front, 663, 673, 675, 685

Kit, heat riser, exhaust manifold, 663, 673, 675


Oil Seal, rear main, neoprene, 663, 673, 675, 685

Oil Seal, timing cover, front, 463, 473, 475, 663, 673, 675, 685 = CR>17284

There's more on that same web site including bearings, oil pumps, water pumps, fuel pumps, starters and some more. Search for 148 or 161 or 663 and you should find most of it.

:)
 
Thanks all for the replies!!
Yes it is a "cute little thing" (but heavy)
It has a holley carb which I found out is wrong, should be a carter.
Quite expensive parts eh?
How much hp is it anyway, I thought 75 but I guess that's the 4 cyl.

Tomorrow I'll steam clean it at work so I can at least see what I got.
3" boreX3.5" stroke eh? Definately not a rpm monster huh? :LOL:

Would look cool in a front motor digger.... ;)
Anyway, thanks for the link. I'll get it running then see how good/bad it is. 2.4L shouldn't be too hard on fuel if I put it in a light t-bucket or something.
 
When engines of that vintage had an oil filter it was usually a bypass type. The only thing I would even consider for that engine would be a MotorGuard bypass filter using a toilet paper element. This would require a minimum of work to install and would look appropriate for the vintage.

My sister owned a 59 Studebaker Lark with the 170 flathead; 3" bore, 4" stroke. That was a torquey little motor, I wish I had never let it escape :cry:
Joe
 
goinbroke2":1rejbuwi said:
Thanks all for the replies!!
Yes it is a "cute little thing" (but heavy)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'll bet when you move it around it makes ya go "OOF!"

:)

goinbroke2":1rejbuwi said:
... Tomorrow I'll steam clean it at work so I can at least see what I got.
3" boreX3.5" stroke eh? Definately not a rpm monster huh? :LOL:
Click to expand...

Yeah, more like a mini-tractor motor.

** ka-CHUFF, ka-CHUFF, ka-CHUFF, ka-CHUFF, ka-CHUFF! **

:D

goinbroke2":1rejbuwi said:
Would look cool in a front motor digger.... ;)
Anyway, thanks for the link. I'll get it running then see how good/bad it is. 2.4L shouldn't be too hard on fuel if I put it in a light t-bucket or something.
Click to expand...

Yeah, a T-bucket, a "track T" or something that looks a bit like a vintage dirt tracker might be just the ticket for that thing.

One thing for sure. Even fairly knowledgeable people will stare at it and wonder what the heck kind of motor that is, especially if you're mean and remove all the badging.

:)

"Uh, yeah, man, it's the engine out of a pre-war Dutch canal boat and with a few carb adjustments it can run on gasoline, deisel, kerosene or cooking oil."

:devilish:
 
Theres a site out there about Willys' - can't recall the name, but when I was deciding which interesting car to get I looked at the BinderNews (IHC) and other oddball sites as well. I finally settled on the peregrine (Falcon to us) because of fond memories from my mispent youth. Keep looking - you'll find info on the web
 
Schmoozo, too funny! There is a data plate on top of the head but with the exception of faded "lightning" it can't be read.

I could put an elbow and updraft carb on it...it was used in pre-war dutch canal boats and Sri-Lankin army observer aircraft...as late as '55! :LOL:

Pup motor for a steam engine?

South American cement mixer?

I kill me!
 
Lazy, that bypass type, is that the type that you draw oil from a pressure point (like a T in the sending unit hole) and feed the filter then drain it back to the pan?
 
Hey, "Broke," is that six a flathead or an F-head? My first car was a '51 Willys 2WD wagon with the F-head four. Entirely adequate to my needs at that time, although it eventually spun the bearings. That was a common occurance with the old Willys engines, and you need to talk with the experts on upgrading the oiling. The only F-head six I ever saw was in, if memory serves, a Woodhill Wildfire, a limited production fiberglass sports car of the early Fifties.
(edited later) No, it was a Kaiser Darrin. Lime green, gorgeous!

I think your intention to put that engine in a T-bucket is astoundingly cool!!! If I see another T-bucket with an SBC, I'm going to scream! Amazingly, there actually was some aftermarket speed equipment for those engines. The three-speed trannies often had overdrive; my wagon had it, and it wasn't hard to get it working again. It might be that the guys to ask about that old stuff are not in the regular Jeep clubs, but the two Jeepster sites (now THERE was a cool car!!).
 
Any chance you could post some pictures of the thing, Lazy? That would be very cool.

:)

I have a vague mental image of this thing with some sort of twin carb intake and old-school style open zoomie headers sticking out from under the hood of a track roadster or a T-bucket belching fire when you stomp the vegetable oil pedal.

:)
 
I wonder if we can adapt one of those babies that uses a spool of TP as a filter element? Look for that in Mustang Monthly.
 
ludwig":1wodoa97 said:
I wonder if we can adapt one of those babies that uses a spool of TP as a filter element? Look for that in Mustang Monthly.
Click to expand...

That's what these use. Supposedly the best oil filtration media available.
Joe
 
Sorry to be behind the power curve here, but I checked out the Willys section in my 1935-1950 Motors Manual. It lists the 6-63 Station Wagon 6 for 1948-50 and the VJ3-6 Jeepster 6 for 1949-50. Both model designations are listed as having a 3" Bore & a 3.5" Stroke for 148.5 cubic inches of displacement. All are shown having a standard compression ratio of 6.42 to 1 with a maximum Brake HP of 70 @4000 RPM. Firing order is listed as 153624. Engine number location is on the upper right front of the cylinder block. Serial numbers per year are listed as:

1948 Model 6-63 starting with 10001
1949 Model 6-63 starting with 13119
1950 Model 6-63 starting with 22769
1949 Model VJ3-6 starting with 10001
1950 Model VJ3-6 starting with 10654

Hope this helps out some and that's a really cool idea!

Darrell
 
Thanks Darrell! Yeah I read 70hp on one site and 75hp on another. Put that in a 1500-2000lb T or rail and it will scream to a mind bending 15+ second pass. But man would it be FUN!!!
I certainly wouldn't want to blow it up though so 3800-4000 would be max rpm, maybe put a c-3 from a pinto behind it to make it consistent?
I've got a digital camera so I'll take pic's, but someone will have to post them as I'm somewhat computer challanged! LOL!
Now if computers had points and carbs.... :LOL:
 
That's funny. I had one of those filter canisters that takes a roll of toilet paper when I was young . . . on my F-head Willys!!!

. . . which was before it spun the bearing.

Now, I can't say that the filter had anythiing to do with the spun bearing, because as I said, this was a chronic problem for both the flathead and F-head Willys. But I read a story later about filters that said that the toilet paper types worked poorly because the oil would make channels through the roll, and oil would then flow through the channels essentially unfiltered. This is in fact what I saw when I opened up my filter. I would never use that filter again, though I think I have it around somewhere.
 
Smitty, yes it is a flat head. How did you spin the bearings? was it from revving it or lugging, oil level??
Or was this a common thing for them?

I took some pic's, I'll try to get on photobucket or something..
 
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