::My FC-170 ::
::Bruce's 1959 Willys Jeep FC 170 Project ::
1959 FC-170 in Dodge City, KS
1959 FC-170 headed for new home in Lubbock, TX
Home
In my drive just about to see if it will crank!!
Did not start, but did fire and try to start.  Realized carb was leaking bad.  Ordered new carb from Advance Auto for 126.00 (Cheap!). Order was cancelled
because no more from factory. So, ordered carb kit from
http://walcks4wd.com. So I am waiting.      UPDATE!!-- Today (April 12), after having rebuilt the carb and
installing it a couple of days ago, I was able to get the truck started!!   Woo hoo! Ok, so it ran a little rough at first but then began to run decent! Re-started it a
couple of times with no problems, so I decided to take it down the block and as soon as I put it in gear, even with clutch pushed in, it tried to take off and died.
So, after further evaluation, the clutch disc was rusted to  the plate!...still working on it, but it is in good shape beneath the rust and dirt. I am so excited! More to
come!
UPDATE: April 16, today, and
we got the clutch back in and tranny and transfer case back in with only minor probs (typical)! Tried out the clutch and problem
seems to be taken care of! Will give more details later.
UPDATE: May 1. Got my new fuel tank delivered today.  This past Monday, finally got to do a compression check and found that cylinder #3 has no compression
at all! So
we pulled the head and found that the exhaust valve is sticking open. So now we are probably gonna have to pull the intake/exhaust manifolds off to
take a look at the valve....unless it frees up after letting it soak a few days.  I am also having to do some bathroom remodeling so I am not getting to work on the
Truck as often as I would like. More to come ....soon, I hope!
UPDATE: Ok, after deciding it was necessary to remove intake/exhaust manifolds to get to the valve cover, it was clear that all parts to the sticking exhaust
valve were in great shape, as were all the others. Unfortunately, the valve was still sticking-possibly due to a bent stem,
we guessed. I sprayed penetrating oil
and Marvel Mystery oil on the valve and with it in the open position, I began to move it with a pair of channel locks and after several tries and a couple of hours it
finally quit sticking! And it is still working properly today! Just waiting for all the replacement gaskets to come in so I can put it back together and see how it
runs now. From there, I will finish up my "to do" list and move on to the body and interior!. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the broken exhaust manifold. And they
are not readily available! There is a guy here in Lubbock who can fix it, I am told. Hopefully I can take it to him tomorrow and find out! More updates to come!
UPDATE: Well, I struck out with the welder. He said he could weld it but it probably wouldn't last and he didn't want to waste my money...so I am still looking for
one. May have found one at
Midwest Willys. Will know in a week or so.
UPDATE: Thanks to Jesse Ybarra for fixing me up with Intake/exhaust manifolds. And the shifter plate. Will put them on when they come in. I did get the fuel
tank mounted. Now just need to hook up fuel lines, etc.
UPDATE: Memorial Day Weekend for me was spent working on my FC.  Finally got the manifolds in (by myself...
help was gone) whew! What a chore for one guy
(the engine is still in the truck.)  Today, Memorial Day, I was able to get the head back on. So now I am taking a break and enjoying the rest of the day.  This
week I will begin process of hooking everything back up.  Then see how it runs! Still plenty more to do, but I feel like I am making some headway (no pun
intended!)
UPDATE: Just about have everything connected. I am now waiting on a new coil. The old one has a crack down one side of it and another on the bottom of it.
None of the parts stores here in Lubbock had one in stock that was 12 volt. They have plenty of 6 volt ones.  So I had to order one. Can't wait to get it started
again! More to come.
UPDATE: Got the
shifter positioning plate installed. Man, what a difference that makes in shifting the transmission!...even when it is not running! Got the surge
tank in after being repaired...looks really good...lots cheaper than a new one! Now hoping the coil comes in soon....ready to get it running again! More to come!
UPDATE: Yesterday, June 12, I put the old coil back on (tired of waiting for new one to get here) and started the truck! And it ran really well! I also DROVE it for
the first time since I have had it! What a blast. Oh and notice the picture below; it is parked frontwards in the driveway because it runs! I have a video that I will
link to soon, so keep checking back!
UPDATE: Click here for
VIDEO

UPDATE: Ok, so after driving it a couple of times, the fuel pump decided to start leaking....bad! So I installed a universal in-line electric fuel pump. Made a plate
to cover the slot for the mechanical fuel pump. It works great. So I was able to drive it to the store and get gas in it! See the pics below. More to come.






















UPDATE: Having a blast with this old truck! I take it for a drive almost every morning. I finally received the new coil! When I bought it off of E-bay, I did not see
that it was coming from Istanbul, Turkiye! I had Glass Tech from here in Lubbock come by and measure for new windows.  Also, I ordered a new wind shield
from
Southern States Glass in Virginia. I have ordered and received door rubber molding and I will begin putting that in tomorrow (July 3rd).  I now have all the
lights working! A few days ago, my
neighbor brought over a bottle of "Super Gloss" polish and said I should try it out on the old FC. So I did! See the results
below!
























So far, I have only applied it to the cab. I think it looks pretty good! More to come!
UPDATE: Windshield arrived yesterday (July 9) and I am waiting to hear back from
Glass Tech to get an estimate on them putting it in for me. Got the receiver
hitch installed. Had to do some modifications to it to make it fit. No major issues. I think it looks good. I left town for a few days and I am now getting to get to
some of the other items of work on my "to-do" list. I should have the windows and windshield installed this week. I will post pics as soon as they are installed.
More to come!
UPDATE: Ok, so my windshield installer told me that he needs to remove the windshield and I need to repair some areas of rust underneath the windshield
molding....so that is what I am starting today, July 17th. I also
ordered new tracks, window wipes, etc., for the door windows.  So...gonna take a little longer than
anticipated for getting all new windows in. More to come!
UPDATE: Parts for windows came in. I am beginning to work on repairing rust areas around doors, windows, windshield, etc., before having the new glass
installed. Some of it is pretty bad.  I have not had a chance to work on it for a few days....got the grandkids here so I am having some fun with them. I hope to hit
it hard next week after taking the grandkids back home. More to come!
UPDATE: Ok, so finally got the rust around front windshield and back glass taken care of. Started on the floors now. They are not too bad. I have had to cut out a
small portion of the passenger side and will be welding in new sheet metal this week. I hope to have new glass put in this morning (Thurs, Aug 16th). I will post
pics once it they are installed. I have also began installing insulation in the cab and will decide what upholstery to cover it with soon. More to come!

UPDATE: Ok...here it is with new glass....woohoo....looks good, if I say so myself!
Below is a pic before:                                                                                                           And after:






















UPDATE: Ok, so I have been doing some work on the rusted floors, electrical work, adding new switches, some new wiring, and finding and installing an
electric wiper motor that I could replace the vacuum setup with. Here is what I found and how I made it fit:






















I bought the wiper motor off of ebay and I utilized the spacers and tab that connects to the motor and vehicle wiper mechanism from the original vacuum setup.
I had to cut the motor shaft down and grind the end to make it fit, but it wasn't too difficult. It works well! More to come.

UPDATE: Today, 9-26-2012, the ol' FC officially passed State Inspection! woo hoo! Now I can get it registered and drive it legally!
More to come.
UPDATE: Today, 9-27-201, I got the ol' FC registered! So cool. I still got lots to do to it, but at least, now, I can drive it legally. I think the first time I put it to work, I'll
go buy a load of firewood for the winter. More to come!























UPDATE: Below is a photo of the door panels I made from 1/8th inch hardboard. I still have to cover them, but until then, this is how they look now. Not too bad.
Was really easy to do. Made a pattern from poster board first, then traced it onto the hardboard. Cut it out with a jigsaw and drilled all the holes. More to come!

UPDATE: Ok, so today I found some grey upholstery carpet at BigLots and covered the door panels with it. It looks pretty good. So you may not be able to tell too
much difference in the doors, but I posted a pic anyway! More to come!
























UPDATE: Well, it has been a while since I have given an update. I have been having a lot of fun driving this truck around; I get lots of looks and questions. I have
been invited to join a couple of classic car clubs here in Lubbock, and I probably will. I have not done too much more to it since the last update, however, I did
have an issue with the parking brake. It never really held as good as I thought it should, in fact, it almost did not hold enough to pass inspection. I had to adjust it
even more and I had to pull on it really hard to get it to hold enough to pass inspection. Thus, my issue: I broke it because of pulling so hard on it. It literally broke
at the spot welds underneath the dash. And since I did not really want to take the whole dash apart again and weld on it to try and fix it, I came up with another
solution. I made my own parking brake that utilizes the brake pedal.  I attached it to a hinge that I mounted to the cab in line with the brake pedal.I attached a
spring to it so that when the pedal is depressed further, it releases. I also us a momentary switch (normally "on") that when parking brake is used it will break
the circuit to the brake lights.  It works well and it holds way better than the original. I have pics of it below. More to come!


















































UPDATE:  Ok, I finally got to go get some firewood in the ol' FC and had a ball. We got lots of looks and thumbs-up! Here are some pics to document the
occasion!
























UPDATE: Today, January 9, 2013 I put the FC to work again hauling wood. So I took some pictures of it in use again. After warmer weather arrives again, I hope
to start doing some more work on it. More to come.























UPDATE: Wow, here it is July 20, 2014! It has been way too long since an update.  Due to the poor health of my mom and then her passing, I have had the FC
project on hold. I have still driven it at least a couple of times a week, but no real work on it. I did, however, decide to enter it in a car show this past weekend,
regardless of its current condition. And, I did get lots of questions, thumbs-up, and lookers! Had a ball doing this and will do it again soon! I did get the bed liner
done, even though major work still needs to be done to it; I painted the wheels, and "rattle-can" painted the outside of the bed. I will begin working on the bed
and cab soon. A few pics of the FC taken at the
car show in Slaton, Texas:
Counter
Spring
Attach spring to cab here
Momentary switch
Spring
Released
Engaged
Continue scrolling down for more
updates!
Hinge