Another step forward...
 

Well guys, I made some progress today. I have a '54 Willys Wagon that I bought for $500 and I started to play with it the other week. I had replaced the battery in my Crown Vic and the old one fit in the Willys. Using a jumper I got it to crank. I pulled a 12 volt coil off a garden tractor and bolted it in next to the 6 volt coil, moved the col wire over and tried it.

After filing the points and fiddling with it for a bit I got spark. A slosh of gas down the carb and a shot of ether and it fired up!!! Guess I have a new toy to mess with....

Those are so cool. I've always wondered how they'd be with a 4bt, but as this thread indicates, it'd probably be too much for the undercarriage. They swapped it onto a J20 frame.

I had given a passing thought to the 4BT, weight would be a major concern though. Then I thought about maybe a 3BT or perhaps a 1.6 or 1.9 VW diesel, something lighter. I'm not sure if the small three cylinder diesel tractor engines would have the oomph to get up to highway speeds. For now I'll just play with it as is, maybe wheel it a little and then restore it to "Parade Princess" status.