Texas Willys Meet 2000

First and foremost, a special thanks goes out to Joe and Jody Van Slyke. Without their help with finding the perfect spot, and helping to coordinate, this meet would not have been possible. 

Wow!  What a wonderful way to start a new millenium.  The first annual Texas Willys Meet was held on 10 November 2000 at Bull Creek District Park in Austin TX. Here's a list of who attended:

Oh that's right, you want to know the people that attended. That would be:

Rick Gray from Copperas Cove TX showed with his 1956 Willys Pickup.  His chromed wagon bumper was the envy of the Meet.  Rick, you might want to put a padlock on that bumper.  Rick's truck has a 327 Chevy engine that he brought home in a Chevy with the roof chopped off.  It still has a T-90 and model 18 t-case that he is practicing to rebuild.  He says the old one rattles.  :-)  The coolest part of his truck is the old logo on the doors from when it was used as a county pest control truck.  Nice truck Rick, keep up the good work.

Rick and Patty Stivers from San Antonio TX.  That would be me and mine. :-)   I took my wife and my 62 Pickup to the meet and we had a marvelous time.  I gave a few rides to folks that wanted to see what a truck with a 350 drives like.  I think I might have sold Ross Cook on getting one.  My wife deemed my truck the ugliest vehicle at the meet so I have to paint it before next year's meet.  I was able to find a home for some old parts I had laying around and I was able to pick up a set of dualomatic hubs to use for my next hub web page.  In addition I was loaned a Borg Warner OD to pull apart and develop a rebuild guide for.  My final acquisition for the evening was a Ramsey PTO for a model 18 T-case.  I was grinning from ear to ear all the way home. 

Chris and Melissa Ring from Austin TX appeared with the what was the flashiest Willys at the meet.  Their 1950 Willys 2 wheel drive wagon was a beauty to behold.  It has an AMC straight 6 cylinder, with the world's largest and strongest motor mounts.  

Joe and Jody Van Slyke from Austin TX rolled in with their little CJ for the beach.   This little CJ it well set up for a wonderful day of beach cruising.  The first thing most folks noticed was the tool notch on the right hand side of the body.   That's right, I said the right side.  Joe added his own custom notch to the tub to accommodate the shovel.  He used original hardware from and MB to mount the shovel.  His CJ is powered by an L-134 that looks so much more at home under the hood than our big brute motors.  When he started it up the heads would turn to watch it move.  Joe has also added a Willys pickup to his stable and maybe he can have it ready by next year.

Merl Hollowell from Dallas TX powered in with the USS Enterprise being flat towed to the meet.  He is a very patient man.  He came over and introduced himself to everyone before he unhooked his M-38A1 and added it to the line.  Since I have monitored his progress on this Jeep from the beginning it was very nice to see it in the completed form.  The earlier referance to the USS Enterprise comes from the flag ship markings on the hood.

  Very nicely done Merl.  It is powered by an odd fire Buick 231 V-6.  After looking at V-8s for so long I had just one thing to say about the little V-6.  It's cute!  Sorry Merl I couldn't help it.  It's just so darn cute sitting in there.  :-)  That said, I've got to go back now and read up on all the post I deleted over the years about that engine and see about getting one for myself.   If my L-134 turns out to be bad in my CJ, I might very well drop one of those cute motors in mine.  As for power, Merl took me me for a quick run in it and I very pleased with the results.

Gary Hershberger from Forth Worth TX arrived with his CJ-3A on a trailer.  I don't don't understand why he didn't want to drive that CJ all the way down from Forth Worth.  :-)   Gary's is a fine example of a mostly stock CJ that it in good condition and ready to take for a run in the woods.  He has the origninal L-134 engine and like I said before, when one of those little babies fires up all heads turn to watch.  Nice rig Gary.

Mike and Donna Harris from Austin TX arrived to visit with us for a few hours but they were unable to bring their Willys this year.  Hopefully it will be ready enough for next year's meet.

Dan Breaux from Houston TX, I'm sorry to say had to arrive without his 63 Willys Pickup.  A rather severe oil leak about one hour out from Houston put it to the side of the road.  It was either that or risk his freshly rebuilt engine to get it there and felt that wouldn't be the prudent thing to do.  I agree with his decision to park the truck.  Those 230 engines are getting hard to find.  I'm sure the oil leak will be fixed and the truck can make it to next years meet.

Tom and Kathleen Jacoby from Houston TX arrived with Dan.  Fortunately for Dan and Tom, they had been able to talk Kathleen into driving the support chase truck.  When Dan's truck was parked, they piled in and came on in anyway.  I'm so glad they were able to make it and Tom says his Panel Delivery will be ready by next year.

Ross Cook from near Houston (Ross send me the town and I'll fix it.) arrived in a late model jeep but we didn't throw rocks at him.  Especially when he started showing off the parts he brought.  I got the PTO form him and Rick Gray scored a heater for his truck as well.  Since Ross has a stock of CJs but need a truck, and Rick Gray has a wealth of pickups  and wants a CJ maybe they can work out a  trade. :-)

There were two other visitors to the Meet but for the life of me I can't remember your names.  One was from Ohio and has a vast knowledge of Willys and the other was a new owner of a Willys Jeepster that lives in Austin.  If someone can supply me with names I will update this.

  To help you put names to the face here they are from left to right: Ross Cook, Mike Harris, Rick Stivers, Melissa Ring, Patty Stivers, Dan Breaux Rick Gray (head only), Jody and Joe Van Slyke.  The vehicles in the photo where Rick Gray's 56 pickup, my 62 and Chris Ring's 50 Wagon.

And here we have Kathleen and Tom Jacoby, Merl Hollowell, ?, Gary Hershberger, Donna Harris, Ross Cook, Mike Harris (mostly behind Ross), Bell (the dog) Rick Stivers, Melissa Ring, Dan Breaux, Patty Stivers, Jody and Joe Van Slyke.

Merl, Ross, Dan, Rick S, Patty, Mike, Donna (head only) and Melissa.  You will note that most of us didn't know their were pictures being taken.  See that pretty bumper on Rick Gray's truck. 

What a fine looking group of folks.

Standing in front of such fine vehicles. 

Here we have Mike, Donna, Bell, Melissa and Rick G.  Note the cool logo on the door of Rick's truck.

This is me with my wonderful wife Patty posing with my ugly truck.  Maybe I can call it "our" truck after it gets painted.  :-)

Here is Rick Gray posing with his 56.  The steps on this truck, though not original, are in very good condition.

Here is Melissa, Bell, Rick Gray and a slightly smaller Hershberger.

As the day wore on some of the folks decided it was time to play with out toys a bit.   Here are the results of that play. 

Rick Stivers gets things started.

Merl decided to play too.

  I originally had this down as  Joe with the biggest splash but as Joe pointed out to me, if you look real close you can see Merl's front tow bar.  That means that Merl got the biggest recorded splash.

Here was Joe making his splash on the world.

I'm afraid Rick Gray didn't want to get his truck all wet

Here are some thoughts on the day.

Rick Stivers wrote: First let me say thanks to all of you that came today. I had a wonderful time. That would not have been possible without your participation. For  those of you that missed the Meet I hope you can make it next year. How does the first Saturday in Oct 01 sound to all of you?

For everyone that took pictures today please sent them to me as soon as possible so that I can update the web page.

The trip home had its own bit of excitement. I stopped at a service station to use the facilities and top off the tank. When I climbed back in and turned the key I just got a "click". Truck was completely dead. A quick R & R of the battery cable and we were back on the road. It did add a small bit of stress to an otherwise great trip but that's the joy of having a Willys.

Gary Hershberger wrote: After a long, thankfully uneventful trip back to DFW, I do want to say how much I enjoyed meeting all you guys, and the ladies, and how much I enjoyed the Willys Day. Seeing all the work you guys put into your trucks makes me only want to spend more time and money on my collection ( an idea which might not be taken kindly here at home, especially with Christmas approaching). The food was an extra treat, and delicious. Thanks to everyone who worked to put this Event together. See ya next year, or sooner.

Chris Ring wrote: Thanks for organizing such a great event. Melissa and I had a great time and we are looking forward to next years meet.

Rick Gray wrote: I too would like to thank everyone who was able to attend the meet, I really enjoyed meeting you all. And
thankyou Rick and Pat Stivers for all your organizational skills and efforts which made the whole affair possible. And 10 Oct is good for me...

About that battery...I wonder if something got wet? or just came loose...Must have been a bump in the road... or something...

Joe Van Slyke wrote: What a great time. It was really something to be able to put faces with names. And see all the great Willys vehicles in one spot. We've got a really great bunch of people. Jody and I are both looking forward to next year already. And we're still eating leftover gumbo.

Dan Breaux wrote: I too had a great time at the TXWM and wanted to thank everyone responsible for organizing it. I would have brought my own wagon, but after getting as far as Chapel Hill, I had to take the current oil shortage into consideration and park it there. Many thanks to Tom and Kathleen Jacoby for kindly bringing me along with them and then following me back to Houston, just to be sure I made it. By this time next year, I hope to be way more roadworthy.

Merl Hollowell wrote: Got home a few hours ago. Unhooked and drove the A1 up into the garage, and it was spitting and sputtering with a very poor idle. Wouldn't stay running once I got it into the garage. I'm thinking that the 4 hour pull through the dense fog and rain soaked that exposed paper element air filter that I complained about and choked of the engine's air supply. Time to do something about that!

Thanks to Rick and Joe and the other organizers and participants, had a great time and looking forward to next year! (gotta get me one of those pickups!)

Questions and Answers

I think it would be great if we could get some post from the wives that attended. Here's what I would like to have from you and yours if possible:
1. What you expected to find when they got there.

Strangers :-)
2. What you found when they got there.

WE were the first to arrive..the park was beautiful, it looked like for a short while we would be the only ones there..                     

3. Thoughts and musings about the people and vehicles you saw there.

I thought everyone was super ! I get so much delight in seeing big boys play with their big toys...

4. Your favorite part of the meet

Meeting the WIVES and getting to know them and looking forward to doing it again next year.I love the title that Jody labeled us with:   Willy's Widows...that works for me...I was glad to be included, and it was not just a guy thing.

5. Your least favorite part of the meet

I think it was the weather...and I like cold weather.... But since we have no control of things like that I really did not have any part of the whole time that I was dissatisfied with....as long as MY Rick is happy then I am happy!

6. Things we could do to improve the meet (I know we need to add coffee for the morning)

And maybe Hot Chocolate....if it is cool again...Thanks Jody for being so sweet to go home and bring a thermos of that good chocolate stuff....  :-)  It made a total difference......I think the MEET will be even better next time because some of the wives already know each other...and that of course will be easier and it will be good to see them all once again..and the new ones too if they are able to make it...

7. Favorite vehicle and why

ARE YOU SERIOUS?......why it was that UNPAINTED 62 Willys Jeep....the one that took me there and bought me home..

8. Favorite story told   

We ladies had lots of stories...we did not spend all day talking Willy's...there were other things like SHOPPING! KIDS, PETS. The list could go on but we are not telling all !

If I could get your wive's and yourselves to send in answers to these
questions we can have a great web page of the day's events.

Ross Cook wrote: Well, lets see.
1. I halfway expected to find more parts swapping or for sale and a few more vehicles. ( Maybe a couple of old crabby farts warning you not to get to close to the vehicle and pointing out every flaw in the vehicles.)
2. What I found was a some very nice examples of real peoples projects and a great group of Willys enthusiasts.
3. Everyone was great and very hospitable.
4. My favourite part of the meet was of course getting a ride in Ricks pickup. Not to mention he let me drive it. (Now I gotta get a pickup with a V8).
5. I suppose the weather, but then you can't do much about that.
6. More vehicles. Next year I hope to have something to bring to the meet besides a few parts.
7. I can't really say I have a favourite. They were all great examples of Willys of different vintages. As well as owner dedication and love. I really liked them all. It's a good thing none of them were for sale.
8. I guess that would be Rick Gray's. I won't go into it just in case his wife reads any of this. You know, the one about his buddys Willys that lives at his place. My thanks to all of you. That's been the best Willys road trip I've had in a long while. I can't wait to do it again next year. Ross

Mike and Donna Harris Wrote:

1. What you expected to find when they got there.
    (Mike) It was about what I expected.
    (Donna) I expected a lot more Willys, until I realized it was the very first meet.
2. What you found when they got there.
    (Mike) It was great seeing not necessarily "show quality" but various works in progress.
    (Donna) I was surprised at how far some people drove to get there.
3. Thoughts and musings about the people and vehicles you saw there.
    (Mike) It was fun putting faces to the names. Until now, I'd met Joe VS before, and  recognized Merl from pics on his site. I liked being able to look at things such as OD lever placement which I will be installing, to see how it's "supposed" to look.
    (Donna) Nice people. I was surprised at how "hands on" people were, and how willing they were to tackle large jobs (like painting) that I would not have considered could be done "at home."
4. Your favorite part of the meet
    (Mike) It was all good. Great people, great food, great trucks. I was especially impressed that, even with relatively few vehicles there we had a pretty good representation of Willys models/years.
    (Donna) I liked being able to look and ask questions of the owners about how they did things.
5. Your least favorite part of the meet
    (Mike & Donna) None.
6. Things we could do to improve the meet (I know we need to add coffee for the morning)
    (Mike) The informality was nice but I had some problems at work that caused me to waste my Saturday AM there and so could not make the meet an "all day" thing. Maybe next time we could set it up "7AM until everyone goes
home, but if you can't spend the whole day, try to be there between 11AM-1PM."
    (Donna) Name tags, maybe with where everyone was from and what truck they brought. I  had a hard time figuring out which truck belonged to whom. A small sign on each truck would have been nice also.
7. Favorite vehicle and why
    (Mike) I liked 'em all. If I had to choose a favorite I'd pick Merl's M38A1 - I especially liked the "ammo can radio." Chris & Melissa Ring's 2wd wagon sure was pretty (Hey Chris if     you don't point out the paint flaws, no one will notice!) Ric's V8 pickup was an inspiration to get my own V8 powered wagon on the road again.
    (Donna) I liked the three-toned wagon (the Rings..MH). It shows how nice our own wagon could look. I can't believe he painted it himself.
8. Favorite story told
    (Mike & Donna) Ric's hood-painting fiasco!

Rick Gray wrote: Here are my throughts about the meet

1. I have never been to a thing like this so my expectations were pretty open. I might have expected more part swapping and
stuff like that. Mostly, I just expected to meet some of the people from WT and be able to look at other willys.

2. Pretty much as expected, and as more people filtered in the better it got.

3. Great bunch of people. I was able to get there early and thats best because, as each Willys/Member/Family arrived it was time to meet some more people and check out another Willys. I sure had some wrong faces attached to a lot of e-mails over the last couple years.

4. My favorite part of the meet was the fellowship with other Willys people and going over some of thier willys with them to learn how they fixed or modified problems in an attempt to make the Willys more servicable/compatible with todays world in reference to the way they use them. The best was Rick Stevers instructions on the installation of seat belts/ shoulder belts on the pickups and Cris Rings' informative discussion on heat/sound insulation.

5. Leaving. it was just to short. I would have been happier if we could have had a couple more hours or so. But I guess with many people having a long drive home, thats just the way it is.

6. I don't know. But I would suggest not making great changes to what we done this year, because I had a great time. Maybe being in Oct, before the time change, will help some. And I don't know if I'd add coffee to the menu, because now that I know where to get it I'll be quicker next year.

7. Favorite Vehicle? Thats tough. Every Willys there was great in its own way, and when I really consider each Willys and its owner, it seems reasonable that the owners and Willys matched up pretty well. I guess if I had to pick one, it would be Cris Rings' beautiful wagon. Its great looking with all the modern modifications to bring it up to date while preserving the charm of its day.

8. I guess my favorite story was by Rick Stevers about painting his hood on pickup. I can relate to stories like this because I have a lot of days like this. Its funny now, but you can bet it wasn't funny at the time. I have a couple saying concerning these type days:  

1) If it ain't broke,don't fix it. and 2) The only people who never mess up anything are people who don't do anything.

Merl wrote:

6. Things we could do to improve the meet

Name tags are a good idea. I'd also like to do at least a little mild off-road if we could find somewhere to do it. If not off-road,
maybe just a group drive for a few miles around the area. 

7. Favorite vehicle and why

Rick Gray's Pickup. A good solid looking truck. Not flashy (except for that bumper) and satisfies my need to see unconventional wording somewhere on a vehicle. ;-)

Joe and Jody VanSlykes wrote:
1. What you expected to find when they got there.
Jody: Possibly no one, because the weather had turned cold and wet.
Joe: Knowing it was the first meet, it seemed about right, a good turn out for a first time event, especially with the weather so "iffy".

2. What you found when they got there.
Jody: Several people all happy to be there.
Joe: Second that, didn't see one sour face. Didn't recongnize anyone but Rick at first, but that's one of the reason's we had the meet.

3. Thoughts and musings about the people and vehicles you saw there.
Jody: Very nice people and vehicles that obviously had taken many hours of hard work.
Joe: A very good cross section of Willys vehicles. More next year I hope!

4. Your favorite part of the meet
Jody: Meeting all the other "Willys Widows".
Joe: Finally putting faces to names, of course now I got faces, can't remember names. CRS only allows so much...

5. Your least favorite part of the meet
Jody: I didn't take time to ride in any of the other vehicles.
Joe: Packing it up for the day. Wish we'd had more time and better weather.

6. Things we could do to improve the meet (I know we need to add coffee for the morning)
Joe :Early October should take care of the weather, and that will probably make for more time.

7. Favorite vehicle and why
Jody: Chris and Melissa'a Station Wagon. Because it looked so good and yet real.
Joe: I'd have to say Merl's M38-A1, that V6 swap was really good. Putting it in a jeep is more of a challenge than putting one in a truck. Hmmm, now that's a thought.

8. Favorite story told
Jody: Rick Gray's fence story.
Joe: Same here. Of course since Jody's heard it, it won't work for me :-(

Rick & Patty Stivers wrote:

1. Rick: I was hoping to meet some nice folks but was worried that some of the jerk type folks that I've met in my Willys travels would attend.  I've put together many projects like this in the past and gotten burned by folks that showed up, made a mess and left me to clean it up.  I was excited but reserved.
Patty: Strangers :-)

2. Rick: I was happy to see a group of the most wonderful people that I've had the pleasure of meeting.  They all pitched in to assist and they were marvelously open to letting admirers druel over their trucks, wagons, and Jeeps.  Nobody minded repeating the stories they had already told over and over for the previous 6 hours.  It fact it was one of the finist days I've had in a long time.
Patty: We were the first to arrive..the park was beautiful, it looked like for a short while we would be the only ones there..  

3. Patty:  I thought everyone was super!  I get so much delight in seeing big boys play with their big toys...

4.  Rick:  My favorite part of the meet was taking folks out for drives in my truck and splashing around in the water.
Patty:  Meeting the WIVES and getting to know them and looking forward to doing it again next year.I love the title that Jody labeled us with:   Willy's Widows...that works for me...I was glad to be included, and it was not just a guy thing.

5.  Rick: My least favorite part was waiting the first hour with just me, my wife and Rick Gray wondering if we were going to be it.  That cleared up as soon as the third vehicle arrived.
Patty:  I think it was the weather...and I like cold weather.... But since we have no control of things like that I really did not have any part of the whole time that I was dissatisfied with....as long as MY Rick is happy then I am happy!

6.  Rick: Coffee and hot choclate are a must for the morning.  Having the little fire going in the pit was nice and I'll try to make sure that happens again next year.   A trip in the Willys should be added.  Even if we can't go off roading.
Patty:  And maybe Hot Chocolate....if it is cool again...Thanks Jody for being so sweet to go home and bring a thermos of that good chocolate stuff....  :-)  It made a total difference......I think the MEET will be even better next time because some of the wives already know each other...and that of course will be easier and it will be good to see them all once again..and the new ones too if they are able to make it...

7.  Rick:  Favorite vehicles would have to go like this.
    Prettiest award would go to Chris Ring's Wagon
    Most original goes to Gary Hershberger for his little red Willys Jeep
    Most funtional goes to Joe and his shovel totting Jeep
   Coolest goes to Merl's M-38A1
   Nostagia award would go to Rick Gray's 56 Willys Pickup
If you haven't figured it out yet, I loved them all.  :-)
Patty:  ARE YOU SERIOUS?......why it was that UNPAINTED 62 Willys Jeep....the one that took me there and bought me home..

8. Rick:  My favorite story was Rick Gray's topless Chevy story.  I still can't believe he told her he bought it.  :-)
Patty:  We ladies had lots of stories...we did not spend all day talking Willy's...there were other things like SHOPPING! KIDS, PETS. The list could go on but we are not telling all !