Summary

Hand-built aluminum Willys body. Powered by a blown Hilborn mechanically injected 392ci HEMI V8 engine backed by a 3-speed automatic transmission. June 2020 Hot Rod magazine cover car. Sold on Bonded Title. Title in transit.

Details

One-of-one custom all-aluminum Willys took approximately five years and 15,000 man-hours to complete. It was Hot Rod Magazine's cover car with a 10-page feature in the June 2020 issue, and is featured in August, September and October. This entire car was hand-built from scratch, including the body, chassis, interior, electrical and glass. Some of the best parts money can buy were used. This custom aluminum Willys is powered by a 1957 392ci V8 full roller HEMI engine that was designed and built by Hankins Garage. The block was bored, decked, line bored and fully balanced. It's equipped with the 'A1' 392 block, Milodon gear drive, Milodon billet steel 4-bolt main caps, forged steel crank, Molnar billet steel H-beam rods, KING XP bearings, custom forged J&E 7.4:1 blower pistons with 1.094 pins, Speed Pro Moly rings and a Fluidamper SFI balancer. It has '55 'Triple Nickel' GOODE professionally ported heads, surfaced and O-ringed with SCE solid copper gaskets, Manley stainless 2.100 intakes valves and 2.060 exhausts with new guides and hardened seats. The engine is also equipped with Billet Specialties valvetrain, purple roller rocker arms and stands, Stein & Sons solid roller lifters, Manton Series Five, 3/8-inch-diameter .120-wall custom pushrods, Lunati dual springs, Crane titanium retainers and locks, Herbert Cams custom-ground billet steel roller cam, Donovan valve covers and breathers, a Joe Hunt custom magneto packing 3 amps and Taylor 8mm plug wires. Additionally, the engine features a Hot Heads blower intake with pop-off valve and Rudy Petra 871 blower with hard anodized rotors, Teflon stripped with air locks running 49T(bottom) and 50T(top), black anodized 8mm GT pulleys, an RCD 8mm blower belt running at -2% underdrive, Hilborn custom mechanical 4-port fuel-injection with bigger throttle shaft and butterflies, and was custom machined for the shaft return spring, with custom primer system for easy starting. It also has an Enderle 80A mechanical fuel pump, all Jones Racing black accessory drive, belts, pulleys, black braided hose, black fittings and fuel filter; custom Hankins Garage funny car-style Fender Zoomies, billet exhaust tips and a 26-gallon fuel cell. A Wilcap adapter kit adapts the HEMI engine to the custom-built TH400 automatic transmission, which has a forward-pattern manual valve body and a PTC 2600-2800 stall converter as well as a B&M Stealth Series Pro ratchet shifter and a Derale remote fan-controlled cooler and pan with braided hose and fittings. A Billet 1-inch-thick mid plate, FAB 9 housing with 4-link bars, Strange Pro HD billet 9-inch center section with bolt-through main caps, Strange 3.89 gears, Strange billet helical posi-traction unit with chromoly yolk and custom Strange 35-spline hardened axles. The chassis is a Chris Alston Chassisworks 7456 Eliminator II, heavily customized to fit the project. The suspension features Chris Alston Chassisworks tubular upper and lower control arms and spindles, and Chassisworks Varishock double adjustable coilovers and springs all the way around. Steering is provided by a Chassisworks rack & pinion setup with Pinto-style box and Flaming River tilt column. Wilwood Dynalite 12-inch discs at all four corners provide stopping power for the Weld V-Series rims wrapped in Mickey Thompson street radial tires, 31x18.50-15 rear and 17x4.5 front. The interior was custom-built from aluminum with sheet metal floor and double firewall and features custom-made Classic Instruments gauges and a Ron Francis wiring kit. Dynamat was used on the doors and both firewalls. This Willys' color scheme is machined and brushed aluminum and black, and all the trim, headlights, emblems, handles and gauge trim rings are authentic black chrome. The car runs on 89-octane pump gas and sounds like a Top Fuel car. With nozzle changes, it can be cackled on nitromethane. With nozzle, fuel pump and oil pump changes it could be run on nitromethane. **SOLD ON BONDED TITLE** **TITLE IN TRANSIT**