Finally got some time today to work on the Jeep. The goal today was to get the grille, radiator, fan shroud, and the fenders and attached hardware off. Unfortunately, the cold and the need to prepare the other Jeep for transport to storage cut me just short of being able to free up the fenders. Once I get the fenders off, I’ll work on getting the rest of the body ready for removal. The goal is to get the down to a frame that I can take to get blasted by the end of the month. Hopefully a doable goal…
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Ike got his Christmas gift a bit early this year. Joining him in the garage for the time being (until I can figure out where else to put it) is another 1950 CJ-3A! Now, it’s not exactly a “finished” gift and instead is more of a parts donor. With two axles for backup, newly rebuilt transfer case, good transmission, great looking grille, hood, and tailgate, it’d got plenty of good source parts. Among other things, I also got a very good pair of dual vacuum wipers, a new pushrod and a second starter, a good spare radiator, era-correct replacement speedometer,…
Comments closedToday is a big day for Ike and myself. The rain finally stopped yesterday, and with a whole day (so far) without a drop falling from the sky, I figured I might try and get Ike running again for a quick tromp through the desert. Unfortunately, Ike had other plans for me. Aside from the dead battery (again), the thermostat housing had leaked enough coolant to completely fill (and overfill) the number two spark plug well. I drained it by wicking up the fluid with a paper towel and began checking other areas of the engine. After about an hour…
Comments closedAfter a great deal of pondering and plotting, I decided to start my restoration early. So much so that I actually went and changed my restoration countdown on the right hand side to show December 17th as the day for starting. The plan was simple, I would get the thing started and running for a fun day of driving on my day off, go running through the desert, driving around town, and generally just having fun. Then, Saturday would be a day of draining fluids and starting to pull off some of the easy accessories into Sunday. That would have…
1 Comment…to bring you a possible change to the time frame. That’s right, I’m getting restless. Ike is a fantastic and fun Jeep. I am consistently impressed with what he can do, even in his 60-year-old, rusted-through, leaking every possible fluid including gas state. He’s like the old man that just won’t give up his independence. Either that, or he’s the old man yelling “I’m not dead yet” when the body cart comes rolling through town. In any event, I’m starting to rethink my time frame for striping Ike down to the frame (you see what I did there?). The only…
2 CommentsYesterday the desert was graced with a nice little rain storm. The first thought that crossed my mind: Ugh the dogs are going to get covered in mud. The second thought that crossed my mind: Jeeps like mud! So early this morning, after cleaning up the dogs following their morning constitutional, I went out to the garage, fired Ike up with a single press of the starter(yay for proper ground straps), and went out to the desert. The sand shoulders and worn away areas near the street were less the promising. I went further in to a natural storm wash…
1 CommentAfter way too many weeks, I finally finished the latest batch of small parts. The master cylinder inspection plate, transmission inspection plate, and both the transmission and transfer case shift boot retention rings have been sand blasted, primed, and painted. I also got brand new shift boots since the ones that were “there” for the most part where all but destroyed. Poor Ike started out with this on the floorboard: Under all that old metal was a little bit or rubber and a very torn transmission shift boot: Then after sand blasting: And now reinstalled: Unfortunately I found out the…
2 CommentsI’m still a ways away from even starting the tear down, but I think I’ve come up with the color that I’ll use for Ike when it comes to doing the body work. Drumroll please…. Potomac Grey! With it not only being a color I was considering, but also the original color of the Jeep, I think it was all but destined to be grey again. Below is a picture of an accurately restored color scheme I found on the CJ-3A page of Mark Struhsacker’s 1949 CJ-3A. Ike’s wheels were definitely red in the past, but I don’t think I’ll…
2 CommentsWith the weather being nice and with the transmission cover already off the Jeep, I decided to do a little cleanup on some of the smaller pieces attached to the body. Along with the transmission cover, I removed the shift boot retaining rings for the transmission shifter as well as the transfer case shifting rods. While I was at it, I took off the master cylinder inspection plate, and then the eyelets and body-side door rails for the canvas top. On the passenger side, this proved especially problematic. The semi-veritcle rail on the left is mirrored on the passenger side.…
3 CommentsIke’s first oil change, they grow up so fast 🙁 Well, maybe not the first oil change, but certainly the first oil change in a long while. After owning Ike for only a few months, it was time to give him a good old fashioned oil change. Some observations: the drain plug is HUGE compared to what I am used to. The bolt head is over an inch across, and needless to say I didn’t have any proper tools to get the bolt off. I ended up having to use a pair of channel locks to get around the large…
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