Wild Willys Soft Top + Pinion Issues

[Exit13 661]

I was told this is a do it yourself mod. 
 

as you can see in this advertisement they give you the measurements  Has anyone done this and if so what are you using for fabric and what’s doing for attaching the fabric to the windshield frame / side rails and tailgate ?  I’m going to give us a shot  

 

[Grumpy pants 3734]

@simensays is the man to ask. 

[simensays 320]

On 4/6/2022 at 12:23 AM, Exit13 said:

I was told this is a do it yourself mod. 
[...]
as you can see in this advertisement they give you the measurements  Has anyone done this and if so what are you using for fabric and what’s doing for attaching the fabric to the windshield frame / side rails and tailgate ?  I’m going to give us a shot  

One of the first and coolest Wild Willys I saw more than 20 years ago here on Tamiyaclub was by fellow member Kaindi - and it had a soft top. That inspired me to make mine back in 2004.

Kaindis soft top Wild Willy



I used the template pictured in the first post, but redrew everything in Illustrator and removed the extra material pictured between the roof panel and the rear wall panel (this part is suppose to wrap around and be sown in around the soft top frame (?) as per the illustration). I bought some thin canvas, as thicker materials will not looks scale. I used some thick clear plastic bag for the rear window, and sewed everything up. Materials (fabric and window) can be found around the house (an old shirt and plastic bag etc), and the actual soft top is very easy to make. I used some heavy duty steel thread to make the rear frame loop. The challenge was fasteing the front of the soft top to the rollbar. I drilled and screwd in some shortened screws into the front roll bar - this was the most complacated job. Attaching the soft top in the rear is pretty straight forward, as it simply slips down between the body and the rear tailgate and secured when the tailgate/spare wheel cover is screwed in. 

I worked everything out from the pictures, and improvised whenever I needed. I have played around with designing a front mount for attaching the soft top and 3D printing it, but have not completed the job as I've not planned on making another soft top WW, and the first one holds up perfectly.

[NWarty 1236]

On 4/5/2022 at 3:23 PM, Exit13 said:

I was told this is a do it yourself mod. 
 

as you can see in this advertisement they give you the measurements  Has anyone done this and if so what are you using for fabric and what’s doing for attaching the fabric to the windshield frame / side rails and tailgate ?  I’m going to give us a shot  

 

I built one based off these dimension and Simensays references

 

[Exit13 661]

2 hours ago, NWarty said:

I built one based off these dimension and Simensays references

 

I’ll be there. How do you attach to tailgate and side rails?

[Exit13 661]

7 hours ago, simensays said:

One of the first and coolest Wild Willys I saw more than 20 years ago here on Tamiyaclub was by fellow member Kaindi - and it had a soft top. That inspired me to make mine back in 2004.

Kaindis soft top Wild Willy



I used the template pictured in the first post, but redrew everything in Illustrator and removed the extra material pictured between the roof panel and the rear wall panel (this part is suppose to wrap around and be sown in around the soft top frame (?) as per the illustration). I bought some thin canvas, as thicker materials will not looks scale. I used some thick clear plastic bag for the rear window, and sewed everything up. Materials (fabric and window) can be found around the house (an old shirt and plastic bag etc), and the actual soft top is very easy to make. I used some heavy duty steel thread to make the rear frame loop. The challenge was fasteing the front of the soft top to the rollbar. I drilled and screwd in some shortened screws into the front roll bar - this was the most complacated job. Attaching the soft top in the rear is pretty straight forward, as it simply slips down between the body and the rear tailgate and secured when the tailgate/spare wheel cover is screwed in. 

I worked everything out from the pictures, and improvised whenever I needed. I have played around with designing a front mount for attaching the soft top and 3D printing it, but have not completed the job as I've not planned on making another soft top WW, and the first one holds up perfectly.

Oh. I think I get it. Thanks 

[simensays 320]

11 hours ago, Exit13 said:

I’ll be there. How do you attach to tailgate and side rails?

What are the side rails you mention? If this is the rear frame/loop, see the illustration - it is attached under the rear roll bar loop.
Pull the rear flap of the soft top down and sandwich it between the body and tailgate. Attach the tailgate as you would without the soft top. You will need to punch a small hole in the fabric where the mounting screw for the tailgate and the spare goes, but do this after things are placed (use an awl or similar).

[bRIBEGuy 1872]

Love these soft tops!

[Exit13 661]

7 hours ago, simensays said:

What are the side rails you mention? If this is the rear frame/loop, see the illustration - it is attached under the rear roll bar loop.
Pull the rear flap of the soft top down and sandwich it between the body and tailgate. Attach the tailgate as you would without the soft top. You will need to punch a small hole in the fabric where the mounting screw for the tailgate and the spare goes, but do this after things are placed (use an awl or similar).

I’m a Jeep guy (1:1) and I thought I was building side windows too. I see now that this soft top is “safari style”. It just attaches in the front and the back. Now on to my real problem. The Willy’s motor is smoked and the pinion is pressed on. All the other pinions I have appear to be way differ pitch?

[simensays 320]

Yup, the WW motor has a pressed on pinion different from most other models. Plenty of questions touching on this in these forums, but not really any good solutions or answers, and probably why WW motors sell for big bucks. It is hard to tell why this has happened to your WW, as this is not really a common problem. Accurate assembly and good gear mesh is key to prevent this.

[Exit13 661]

1 hour ago, simensays said:

Yup, the WW motor has a pressed on pinion different from most other models. Plenty of questions touching on this in these forums, but not really any good solutions or answers, and probably why WW motors sell for big bucks. It is hard to tell why this has happened to your WW, as this is not really a common problem. Accurate assembly and good gear mesh is key to prevent this.

Thanks. I will assume a replacement WW motor is the optimum  solution and I will plan accordingly.

[simensays 320]

Double check if the motor is wrecked, or if the problem is something else. I can't see how you can wreck the motor. What batteries/electronics are you running?

I'm continuously looking for WW motors myself, but have not found any (worth buying) the last few years... 

[Exit13 661]

My equipment is as follows and shown below 

speed control : Tamiya TBLE02S 

battery: VP RACING  3700 NiMH 

radio: flysky GT3C

the current issue with my motor is the non pinion side has tons of slop. The sounds coming from the spinning motor is Horrendous

[Exit13 661]

note the center of ww motor non pinion side. Note a typical 80’s Tamiya motor. I believe the typically motor is from sonic fighter but I could be wrong. 

[Exit13 661]

Harvest-able motors (with similar traits) in my arsenal include 

grass hoppers’s 540 

thunder shot’s 540

are my choices should I decide to pull something apart to attempt a fix for my issue. 

[Grumpy pants 3734]

@KEV THE REV might be able to help on this as well @jonboy1

[Exit13 661]

Going in. 

[Exit13 661]

Thundershot will be the donor 

Wow. Old Willy’s motor insides in way better shape. 

Willy’s top. T shot bottom 

 

[Exit13 661]

 

let’s get it soldered up

this might just work out. 

[Exit13 661]

Ok. Here goes 

[Exit13 661]

Yeah Party!!

[NWarty 1236]

On 4/7/2022 at 6:20 PM, Exit13 said:

I’ll be there. How do you attach to tailgate and side rails?

Hey Exit,

Sorry for the late reply, but the rear flap is screwed down, the side flaps are heavy enough to where they will stay in place without being glued/or affixed to the sides.

The canvas that I used for the top came from a genuine US Army-issue A-frame shelter half tent.

[Exit13 661]

Future problems solved 

new old stock wild willys motor!!

[Juggular 4541]

On 4/18/2022 at 5:43 PM, Exit13 said:

new old stock wild willys motor!!

May I ask where you got that from?

 

[Exit13 661]

On 4/21/2022 at 2:21 PM, Juggular said:

May I ask where you got that from?

 

Sure it was from eBay seller Victor101s RC Car Shop