With the weather being so nice, I decided to take Ike out for a run around the desert. The clouds kept going in front of the sun, so the colors and shadows are a little weird looking. I only had my iPhone on me and not the big camera so I did what I could to make them look a little less odd. The NDT tires made a really cool pattern in the soft sand. Overall, Ike continues to impress me with it’s ability to run both on and off the road with his old age and inconsistent mechanical soundness.…
2 CommentsMonth: August 2010
Our long national nightmare is over, I have finally completed the restoration of my side view mirror. I originally took the arm off back in April, and slowly (very slowly) restored it as I found time. I must say, for the one restored component externally visible, it looks damn good for being 60 years old. So the arm went from this: To this: And finally this: It may not look like much, but I’m pretty proud of it. Came out much better than I had originally thought it would 🙂
2 CommentsIt seems like I have been working on this stupid side view mirror forever. I guess that is what happens though when there aren’t any other pressing matters. It also helps that the side mirror doesn’t make the thing un-drivable, especially since the repro one was so useless, not having it seems to be an improvement. Today I was finally able to get all the bracket pieces primed and painted. The 100º weather certainly helped speed drying times along. Hopefully tomorrow all the pieces will be nicely hardened and ready for installation. While waiting for paint to dry, and activity…
1 CommentWell, I had some pretty high hopes for Ike this weekend. While I didn’t accomplish nearly as much as I was hoping to get done, I did fill the weekend pretty successfully. My weekend offroading adventure ended up getting cut out completely. Saturday went from being a offroading day with some sand blasting, to being a day of relaxation with some sand blasting thrown in. Due to the high heat this weekend, inside with the AC on was really the only tolerable place to be. Sunday I went down to the Pomona Antique Auto Swap Meet, which was a total…
2 CommentsIn a bit of a change of pace, rather than say what I have done with Ike, here is what I plan to do with Ike this weekend. Due to a slight change of plans for Saturday, I should have some time in the morning to not only give the new air compressor a good run, but to get the bracket for the side-view mirror cleaned up, primed, and painted. Aside from that, I want to take Ike out for at least one run through the desert. After doing the two very quick runs through the field, I want to…
2 CommentsOld vehicles have a lot going for them. They have loads of character, idiosyncrasies that sometimes aren’t readily apparent, and more times then not, they have ways of “talking” to their owners. Ike has a way of doing just that. One of the not-so-great side effects of getting a new job was my “Jeeping” time has been cut drastically. Before, if the weather was cooperating and it wasn’t 115º outside, I could drive Ike to and from work. This brought with it some challenges as that is how I found out the gas gauge isn’t working, my radiator was plugged, and…
2 CommentsWow, has it really been more than a month since my last post? Part of the problem with having a Jeep pending restoration is that finding tasks that don’t keep it out of commission completely is rather difficult. After all the work I have done to this point, Ike is roadworthy and isn’t in dire need of much of anything right now. That lack of need came at just the right time. One of the things that has kept me from enjoying Ike is the start of a new job. This new job has a very good point and a…
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