~ Bill Peet’s Willys Wagon was featured as the Willys of the Week: 440. This is his account of the Panama trip.
Before the Panama trip I tried out this configuration which turned out to be too much weight on the front end.
Below, we had just crossed this river in Costa Rica; one of the several river crossings we made on the trip. Except for two nights in motels, we camped the whole 13,400 mile trip. One night we spent on the shore of Lake Nicaragua where my friend saw a freshwater shark during his morning bath. At Chichen Itza we camped right next to the pyramid, El Castillo, and in the morning we had the whole place to ourselves before the tourists arrived. Note the dual wheel adapters which we never used. We didn’t make it to Colombia because the road through the Darien was overgrown with trees.
In the canal zone, we found this poor sloth trying to cross the road so my friend helped it into a tree.
In Turrialba, Costa Rica, we befriended the Chief of Police (below) who was fascinated with my car’s new Warn overdrive.
We also met these guys at a local garage in Turrialba. That night, the guy next to the kid and police chief took us cruising in a school bus to the best nightclubs in town. Note the new NTDs which we got in David, Panama. The original 2 ply snow tires didn’t last long on the unpaved roads.
In 1984 I rebuilt my engine with the help of my son. Note the Frantz toilet paper oil filter.
Below is my son and his daughter, last year, in the Panamint Mountains, CA. He just rebuilt a T98 transmission he wants to put in the Wagon. After breaking rear axle shafts twice and having the wheels fall off, I put in full floating axles. I am currently having my original L6-226 engine rebuilt again.
Willys Jeep Life Story – Bill Peet
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It’s good to see your Willys interests/adventures surviving in your family. We’ve never attempted such a trek but do “toodle around” here in western Canada. If you ever have the time and inclination, Vancouver is a good destination – perhaps not so exciting/dangerous as Central America but scenic at least (and probably calmer but more expensive!). Perhaps a trip up through British Columbia to The Yukon and Alaska might tempt you for a summer in future?
Cheers, Pavel.
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Hey man….
What a great story that continues through your family’s generations and through the Willys.!
It is an adventure I always thought about taking on since I know the south of Mexico quite well and there is so much to see in Central and South America. But things have gotten quite violent and very dangerous in the last decades in Central America especially so my adventure will not happen….. but thanks for taking me through some of the places you went through, at the time you did….! I’ll live that one vicariously through you….
Be well and congrats on your grandkid…..