AirSociety recently  ran a piece on Joshua Joyce of Village Customs and his latest project. This welder from Virginia Beach took an old military issue vehicle and threw a bit of custom attitude into the body. Read on for a quick look at this heavy duty rat and how it came to be.

The Roots

The original body is off a 47’ Willys Jeep Truck which was introduced in ’47 and ran until ’65. These trucks were equipped with a 134 cubic-inch “Go-Devil” flathead four-cylinder and featured a three speed Borg-Warner T-90 manual transmission taken from the CJ-2A (Willys-Overland’s first full-production Civilian Jeep).

The Build

The original motor was swapped out for a more fuel efficient 1966 Volkswagen AHU TDI. Joshua forged engine mounts and cut the engine bay to size in order to house the new motor.

In order to increase power output, stage 2 cams, Kerma K03/K04 Turbo and Kerma 764 Nozzles were added. Head porting and an upgraded intercooler topped off Joshua’s engine work–the end result was higher fuel efficiency and an exponential boost in power.

The stance of this war wagon is mean to say the least. The roof chop is aggressive and the body drop is merciless. The old leaf springs were thrown out and exchanged for a more heavy duty system. The front features hand made ladder bar suspension and the rear is a two-link.

The ’47 was re-worked from the ground up but Joshua chose to outfit his ride with factory/period correct wheels and tires. After all, what else could possibly be fitting for this rat to wear than a wheel/tire combo built for war? The front wheels are 16×4 inches and the rear wheels are 16×8”–a set of skates not built for show but fording through mountainous terrain.

Joshua’s car is beautifully straight to the point. He knew what he wanted to do when he set out to build this project. He took a time period, customized its stance and reworked the bones and heart to cater to his driving style. His custom handy work is by no means an easy feet, but his efficient design focusing on key buffs while brushing off bells and whistles is an inspiration to those who want to build for building’s sake.