1942 Willys MB - Future Mods

Just a short list of some things I still want to do to the Willys:

Hand Throttle: This would come in handy. A couple of times recently I've found myself stopped on a hill wishing I could throttle up a little bit by hand while my feet are juggling between the clutch, brake and gas pedal. Done; 2009 I've played around with it on some hills the last couple of trips to get the feel of it. It works great!

On Board Air: I'm still on the fence about this one. I'm considering installing a York compressor and a small air tank, but room is really limited under the hood and below the tub. For now I'm using either a scuba tank or a cheapo 12v portable compressor depending on who's riding along.

Steering Box Brace: Okay, I've had the clamp that goes over the bottom of the power steering box sitting on my work bench for about a year now. I just need to make the rod and bracket that connects to the opposite frame rail and get it bolted up. Geez Mike what's the hold up? Done; 2009 I need one of these braces for my Wagon now.

Spare Parts: I've got a pretty good arsenal of trail fix tools and parts in the Jeep, but I'd like to find a cheap, old Scout axle to get some spare axle shafts. I'd wrap them up in plastic and zip tie them to the frame. Done - sort of. I've aquired spare front and rear axle shafts, but due to a custom configuration of my rear axle and the Ford Explorer disc brakes, the spare rear shafts I have are not trail ready yet. More on this later.

Rear Seats: My youngest son (Collin) will be old enough to ride along with us soon so it's time to start thinking about a way to add another seat to the back. The MB is 33" wide from wheel well to wheel well; 3" more narrow than CJs, YJs so it's tight. I'm probably going to have my oldest son (Caidan) use an Empi Race-Trim child's suspension seat. It looks like he'll fit in one of those for a couple more years. That will hopefully leave enough room for a regular car seat next to him for Collin. In any case both with definately have the protection of a full harness. We stay on pretty mellow trails when kids are on board, but mishaps can happen at any time when your off roading. March, 2010 Instead of the Empi seat I went with two Radian XT car seats. They're very narrow compared to the average car seat, so I can fit two side by side. They're also good up to 80 pounds so that will easily hold Caidan for a couple more years. He'll run out of leg room back there well before he outgrows the car seat. See the CJ6B? page for my solution for a larger trail rig down the road.