6.2L in a Willys wagon

[John Heagy]

I'd like to put a 6.2 in a 1960 Willys wagon. It will go in place of the flathead 6. I was worried about the 6.2 not fitting width wise, turns out the length of the 6.2, with fan, is an issue and not width. The problem is the firewall, there is a little indentation that lets the straight six tuck further back. The 6.2 V8 cannot use this space, hence the problem.

Two solutions present themselves:

One, cut into the firewall to make room for the engine, this would also help move some weight onto the rear axle. However, one of my goals in this project is to do no damage to the Willys body, plus moving the engine closer to the driver won't help when adding noise and heat insulation.

Two - lose the engine driven fan and use one or more electric pusher fans with two or three Optima batteries mounted towards the rear and maybe add a high performance alternator.

An additional problem is the nose of the Willys is much narrower, but taller, than the Jimmy the 6.2 is coming out of. I'm hoping a tall high efficiency aluminum radiator will help overcome this issue, plus the Willys weighs less, I will lose the AC, have a separate trans cooler, and do little towing. I would like the option of towing though. I had thoughts of some sort of secondary radiator, maybe one that cold flip down below the main unit and be engaged when needed.

Thoughts...

John

[john8662]

Can you post some pictures for those of us not really familiar with your vehicle and project? Things to concentrate on, mainly the engine compartment with or without the straight six.

You could cool the engine with fans, but the engine driven fan will work the best at pulling air across the radiator, no electric fan really matches it.

[Robyn]

Be sure you end up with the same square inches of radiator cooling area. The 6.2 has that big radiator for a reason. If you skimp on cooling it will be a real pain in the !@#$ in the summer.
Sounds like fun project.

[John Heagy]

Matching the surface area of the original radiator may be impossible. I had hoped the reason for such a large radiator was due to towing demands. Would driving around in an unloaded lighter vehicle in 90 deg weather really require such a large radiator? I'm hoping I can use a smaller aluminum radiator for non-towing driving and deploy a secondary unit for the rare towing. The only load I would envision towing a car on a car carrier.

Any thoughts on deploying a secondary, highway only, second radiator that could be stowed flat under the main radiator and isolated by valves. This would be rotated into the air flow below the frame an brought into the cooling loop by opening the valves when I need to tow.

Below are some Ebay links of Willys Wagons, the first is with the stock flat 6, the second has a V8 installed. Small block chevys are a common re-power choice for these trucks. I've seen a 454 put in one.

Thanks for any help
John

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1957-Willys-Wagon-in-Colorado_W0QQitemZ4603013629QQcategoryZ6470QQssPag eNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1955-WILLYS-WAGON-NICE-RIG-FUN-TO-DRIVE_W0QQitemZ4603347470QQcategoryZ6470QQssPageNa meZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[DmaxMaverick]

Maintaining frontal area isn't as important as the thermal efficiency. You could keep your demensional requirements with a deeper core. To keep the thermal efficiency, it would still require the same CFM of air, which may be possible if the shroud, fan, and clutch (command engagement or direct drive) were chosen with this in mind. The object is to transfer as much heat as possible from the coolant to the air. Careful design of the engine compartment airflow characteristic is also important to move the heat out. Also consider the late model dual thermostat crossover with a high volume water pump.

[Truck]

I will be limited as well on radiator space in Jeep CJ-8. I also was going to go with a aluminum large core radiator, because there is no way I can get a radiator the size of a full size truck.

Truck

[trbankii]

Originally posted by John Heagy:
Any thoughts on deploying a secondary, highway only, second radiator that could be stowed flat under the main radiator and isolated by valves. This would be rotated into the air flow below the frame an brought into the cooling loop by opening the valves when I need to tow.
To me that sounds like too much to have go wrong. Best to try to get a single radiator that will suit your needs.

I agree. The Willy's is a very narrow front end.

[John Heagy]

Originally posted by Truck:
I will be limited as well on radiator space in Jeep CJ-8. I also was going to go with a aluminum large core radiator, because there is no way I can get a radiator the size of a full size truck.

Truck What was in your CJ-8 originally? Any firewall mods required to fit the 6.2 with stock fan? Which large core radiator will you be using?

If the 6.2 turns out to be too large or hard to keep cool, I may go with a Mercedes 3L TD, but then there goes any towing capability.

John

[john8662]

I second the Mercedes inline 5 Turbo diesel, that would be cool! and would have less problems getting it to fit and stay cool.

[Truck]

Originally posted by John Heagy:
What was in your CJ-8 originally? Any firewall mods required to fit the 6.2 with stock fan? Which large core radiator will you be using?

John [/QUOTE]

I don't have it in yet. I just got it out of the donor. I don't forsee any firewall mods but I won't know for sure until I get it in there. I originally had a 258 in my Scrambler. So a fairly long engine to begin with. I was thinking something along the lines of a BeCool radiator but again haven't gotten that far yet.

Truck

[Nelsoncat]

I had been planning a similar swap into a 48 Willys Pickup but was talked out of it because of the radiator/cooling issues you have been discussing. Instead, I am putting the 6.2 in a mid 70's Ford highboy 4x4. I'm not saying it won't work, in fact I had contacted Be Cool and the person I talked to said they could build a radiator that would cool. The guy from Willys America said the same thing about the engine compartment. Its crucial to get the hot air out of there and the Willys engine compartment isn't very aerodynamic in that regard. I'd say go for it and I'd love to hear how it works out.

Good luck

Craig

[John Heagy]

Originally posted by Nelsoncat:
Its crucial to get the hot air out of there and the Willys engine compartment isn't very aerodynamic in that regard. I'd say go for it and I'd love to hear how it works out.

Good luck

Craig Thanks for the encouragement Nelson. I'm going to try and keep the engine compartment as empty as possible by moving the batteries to the rear, lose the AC and maybe move the brake master cylinder to the frame. After that I may add air directing surfaces inside the engine compartment to direct airflow more precisely. Similar to what is done in aircraft engines, nothing tighter than an aircaft nacelle, and they run at 80% power during cruise. It may end up like a modern engine compartment that is covered top and bottom so air flows straight through without getting caught up in at the nooks and corners of an open compartment.

Did you get far enough to determine if the engine would fit length wise? Doing rough measurements I doubt it'll fit with the engine driven fan. I may need to use electric fans and add plenty of battery power.

John

[John Heagy]

Looks like a tractor radiator may do the trick. Same issue, fitting a diesel in a narrow but tall engine compartment. I found this site for John Deere radiators, some as narrow as 13" with 4 and 5 cores. That should make up for the smaller surface area. Now I need to find a powerful pusher fan, or fans.

Oh sorry, I see your name is Craig not Nelson.

John

http://www.tractorradiators.com/trshop/index.cgi?ID=950BZS&task=show&cat=John+Deere