Fino's 58 Wagon

I like both that tire size and rim....but need a lift to run those tires on my wagon....

 

thanks for the review on the Corsa - One of the budget constraints is I am going to need new tires on my Tacoma within the next few months...Planning go a bit more budget friendly with those and use the savings to help pay for the tires on the Wagon....I am trying squeeze every last bit of budget out this project...and its still hasn't been on the road much...

 

The tires are 235/85/16 on original Willys 5" rims. Stock suspension, shows how they fit quite well. I highly recommend this size if you don't want any issues with rubbing.

 

Yea - Glenn has a nice rig....That is the exact set-up I am looking for, but the 16 rims are impossible to get - you can get 16x4.5 aftermarket rims from KW and the like (think they are Omix), but they are like $140 a piece plus shipping...There is a guy local here selling OEM (claims to be) M38 16x4.5 riveted rims for $90 a piece, but I didn't know if I could ever find 2 more or deal with the rivets....I figure one day I will get some sort of 16" set up with nice tall skinny tires, but its just not in the budget now...the suspension isn't in the budget, nor any interior work...just get it on the road and drive it....

 

I totally understand about the budget. I just wanted you to have a good view of what does fit. When I was 17 I had a '61 wagon with 7.50 x 16 Goodyears XtraGrips, and the fit was basically the same. The ST's are patterned after the XtraGrip. The wagon was identical just different paint.

 

this is the priority...It came with 2 sets of wheels and 1 set of 30 year old tires...I sold all that and bought these wheels....so I am still in the positive cash flow until I buy the tires - its kind of sad, but I am hoping I can sell the oem MC with y-fitting, bracket and junction block for a few bucks to someone who wants one for a true restoration. I want 16 inch rims with 235/85/16 tires, but between the cost of the 16" rims, tires and the brake work I am finishing up (along with the new radiator and ignition system from last fall), its more about getting it on the road...In a couple years I can upgrade the wheels and tires and suspension. I've broken all the basic rules when I bought this: 1) buy something that runs and drives, 2) don't buy a big project, 3) if you buy a project, make sure you don't overpay, 4) if its been modded, make sure they are done well, 5) avoid swaps as that complicates everything, 6) if you can't drive it, it ain't worth it....I have had it for 8 months and barely driven it...it needs to be on the road...then I can really decide what I want to do with it....In reality, I probably should not have started this brake project and used the money for the tires and just driven it for a bit, but I wasn't the brake project to be so slow going, and I thought I could do better with figuring out cost effective wheels and tires.

I live slightly south Denver - east of DU just a bit. I usually drive my cj around town a lot and to work in Littleton a couple days a week, but it hasn't been driven since the new year - its parked at another house (my parents live in Morrison) so I can work on the willys. I didn't want to leave the cj out on the street all winter with the soft top etc....If I can get the willys running, it goes back on the street and the cj comes back to the garage.

 

Don't worry - I save pics of your wagon years ago - it was part of my 'inspiration' to get one! And lets not mention the M37...

 

Yeah, I do remember that now that you mention it.

 

You mean this one?

 

Thank you.

 

I've always been crazy about that color combo.

 

Working on the next step...I pulled the radiator to do the brake line work, as well as work on the radiator shroud (or whatever you want to call it - maybe more of a fan protector) and the positioning of the radiator. One of the issues has been the battery tray, which has been re-located to the right front inner fender as part of the sbc swap, blocks the output radiator hose on that side. The tray is mounted with two bolts to the inner fender, and has a support leg underneath that was welded to the frame that is the problem. Although this pic doesn't quite do it justice, the leg blocks about 1/4 or so of the hose outlet.


My first though was just to cut and move the support leg over toward the passenger side - and that is definitely doable, although it will pinch the fresh air inlet hose (when i get one) just a bit....no big deal. But I am concerned that is mounted both to the body and frame...any major concern with that set-up (that is how its been, but that doesn't make it good). I don't see any way to mount only to the fender - battery and tray are heavy, and no easy way to re-enforce the body mounting...and no obvious way to only mount to the frame with the body still on....here is the mount location: 2 holes in the fender and you can see the front cross member is the basal leg support:


FWIW - Since I pulled the battery tray entirely, it needed a bit of cleanup and paint, and I also made a top half 'hold-down' that will go with it. Up till now the battery has been classically bungee corded in place. This will be way more solid with some threaded hook rods and wing nuts...I made it using only pieces of scrap I had sitting around so its bit goofy but I avoided C19 infection. My welds are not pretty, but they are better than whoever made the bottom tray!...