Well, Its Moab thrash season AGAIN!

Every spring, I go to Moab with a whole bunch of friends and family…..This has been going on since the early ’80s when some friends and family explored Salt Creek in the Canyonlands Needles district….been hooked ever since. That first trip to Peekaboo Spring and a few subsequent trips to Needles Over Elephant Hill and into the backcountry over the years have always proved to be among the most stunning places on earth…. But, one part of Canyonlands National Park has always eluded me…. The Maze. Its remoteness from anything makes it more challenging to get to and to survive going across….I have looked longingly from vantage points in the Needles to the territory just across the river…..so close…. I sit there on the rocks with much jealousy of the crows that glide effortlessly along on the thermals….for they could be in the maze in 5 minutes…. Anyhow, I’m now pretty determined to cross the Maze District….in a Jeep….Shouldn’t be too difficult after all… there is a Jeep road that traverses the area. Now fuel mileage is gonna be a concern so a diesel is going to be involved… Yep… the Diesel Wagoneer has got to come together… I have all the parts to pull this off, just been lacking the time to pull this off…there are always so many other things going on. Work keeps me busy and for this I am truly blessed. Many unemployed people would love to be in my shoes I’m sure… Nonetheless, I shall make this happen anyhow….details should soon follow I’ll try to get Marge to upload photos of the process…. Something I’m still at her mercy for…She has a crazy workload too….so photos for my blog don’t top her list of fires to put out… more soon…

Willys Wagon Fun

So, I been playing with the Willys utility wagon again….still need to install a working front axle in this one…. seems it blew up in the distant past, knocked a big chunk out of the bottom of the diff, was brazed back together but never reassembled with new parts…  Is currently gutted…probly gonna toss another whole axle into it soon as I decide which gears to run. The engine, a 226 Hurricane , is gonna stay as long as it stays running….sounds decent enough so it can stay…just gonna putt it around anyhow…now contemplating colors for it…..the white part is gonna be cream color… the green part…. might stay green but not the Waste Management dumpster green it is now….tryin to decide whether to do light green or a darker green…. Then, some tires will be in order since the vintage recaps will probly fly apart even at the speeds this thing is capable of….

Current Project List is Crazy! Like me!

Currently, I have a ton of projects on the list…. Been collecting engine bits and drivetrain stuff for the  ’66 J truck… Been building a Flatrod out of a pile of random flatfender jeep stuff lyin around…. Have helped my friends with their Jeep projects. Need to build a rear axle for my 2000 jeep wrangler as the Dana 35 aint gonna hold forever with those 35 inch mudders…. I want to build a diesel wagoneer…..before christmas…. The crew cab willys truck project is still plugging up a big chunk of space in the workshop….havn’t touched it in months… The m715 still needs a front Dana 60 swap…then i can have disc brakes and hubs that will tolerate Cummins torque… Marge wants her Jeep Betty P to have a fuel injected engine by next spring…. My CJ2A Frankie needs a head gasket…..as i have bubbles in the radiator….even when cold… The Cherokee recently got 4.88- 1 gears which brought the driveline buzz that existed above 75 mph down around 60… I guess im gettin a slip yoke eliminator kit for that one… love the gears tho… Two Willys wagons and  the  mercedes  diesel powered Willys truck await more lovin…. Got a Volkswagen Golf  GTI that I owned years ago back….. no idea what im  gonna do with it…. The motorhome still needs a diesel transplant and I need to do it… just been puttin it off….always somethin that needs done around the ol homestead too….at least I still got my optimism!

Contemplating another Diesel Wagoneer Project 6BT Cummins

In the garage sits a ’95 Cummins 6 bt 12 valve P 7100 pump motor…..my neighbor has a lifted 4 door fullsize cherokee… basically the same as a wagoneer…..and its mine for the taking…. Now I’ve been crazy busy lately with work and keeping up with all sorts of other responsibility but I really want this to happen. This FSJ (fullsize jeep) is a original paint minimal rust unit that has not been driven in at least 6 years…. It’s been in the same spot since I moved to this neighborhood… It has aftermarket gauges, a 4 inch lift, 33 inch BFG mud tires      ( all dry rotted I’m sure) , and a truetrac limited slip in the rear dana 44. It’s also totally lacking motor, trans and transfercase….. so much the better I figure…. saves me the trouble of pullin it all out…. In the place of the original stuff I figure the Cummins hooked up to a Ford ZF 5 speed with a 4bt breadtruck adapter from a Ford chassis truck…. then use a np208 from a 80′s Dodge with a Ford 208 input gear. The same combo of stuff has managed to hold up to the 6BT in the m715 for over 50,000 brutal miles now and has held up amazingly well since the pump is VERY tweeked…governor spring and all! I do have to go easy on the clutch since the single disc clutch is barely able to hold it all….A buddy of mine with a  ’06 Dodge with a programmed common rail was able to beat me by a fender length……but I was towing a trailer… Now I think I need this kind of silliness in a 4 doored package….so the FSJ seems like the ticket as I’m feeling like the Cherokee XJ that I have now is a bit small for all i ask of it and its certainly not up to pulling a trailer or anything… I’ll try and post some pics as this happens…. Whaddya think?

Just catching up…. Livin the dream…

I get to write on here so seldom that an awful lot of stuff transpires in between posts…. I briefly mentioned the Jeep Gladiator pickup…  I  also picked up a 2000 Wrangler TJ…. in bright yellow… My back has been feeling fantastic so I have the tendency to go like a house afire until I drop….sleep awhile and repeat… Had to put a transmission in the diesel Comanche… Seems the other one had all the oil vanish from it….. and I had even checked it before Moab…. Oh well… at least T5 transmissions are cheap n easy to come up with at the local pick n pull yard….. Been messing around with the Willys crew cab project…. mostly enough to make it a royal pain.. as its taking up a lot of space in the toy shop… Been collecting bits n pieces for a couple other Jeep projects gathering dust… Oh yes… totally squandered last weekend racing in a 24 hours of lemons race in a 65 Rambler Marlin…. with a Chevy 454….. and two superchargers…… Look up Rambler Marlin 454 twin superchargers on google to see what sort of silliness my friends and I been up to there… Next time we race the Rambler we are hoping to have a Cummins 6BT stuffed in there… somehow… The Wrangler I had follow me home… always did want one… this one is already built up and has 35 inch tires, 4.88 gears, 4 inch lift and unfortunately, the obligatory Dana 35 rear axle….. soon to be remedied… meanwhile, I have spare shafts on board and enough stuff to change one in the field…. Bought a Ford 7.8 six cylinder  turbo diesel with a mt643 allison attached….. I think im gonna try to squeek it into the RV….I should probly break out a tape measure and see if i’m completely nuts…..That is one big ol motor! Well goodnight! Im crewing a duathlon in the morning…. gotta be up at 4:30…..

1966 Jeep Gladiator Pickup with 230 Tornado!

Well craigslist got me again! A good buddy of mine found a ’66 Jeep Gladiator on craigslist in Pueblo Co…. this is a bit of a drive for me…. but for the sum of $450 I scored a pretty decent ol J truck! There are still some pretty good deals out there if you are still lookin! After getting it home, a brief inspection revealed 4.27 gears and a powr lok rear differential!  Poured some gas into the slightly weepy tank and it actually runs! It has no compression in one cylinder……im guessing a burnt exhaust valve….. the lash isn’t big so its not stuck open…. Darn! Oh well, that would explain why nobody was driving it since 1980….. that’s when the last tag ran out… at 73,000 miles… The silver paint is fried off a significant portion of the truck but the tin has held up amazingly well aside of a few holes in the front floor pan that will be easily fixed. So now i have the usual dilemma…. Fix the stock stuff….or repower it with something a bit newer….. The 230 was not the success story of the era though it is a cool engine design…. I do have a 350 Buick and TH 400 that would go right in there quite nicely! Pics soon!

Willys Trucks Love Me…..

I have been really busy lately.. as usual…but still have somehow managed to collect up 3 more cool old Willys Jeeps in the past month. Wound up with parts from a couple of other peoples projects to build one just from parts… another, a ’50 came with a flathead Ford V8 and has nice solid floors. Im still not even sure what to do with that one yet but I couldn’t say no…. One other cab is now cut up in the garage waiting to have two more doors added to it. Been parting out a crashed wagon for donor parts for that fun little project. And I’ve been working on putting a om617 Mercedes turbo diesel in yet another Willys pickup….. that one is a ’57 that i picked up last year. The engine is installed now and runs good but i still need to do all the wiring for the whole truck. its currently set up with the mercedes automatic as a 2wd but a divorced transfercase will find its way in there at some point. Perhaps i will figure out how to adapt a nv 4500 to that motor at some point in the future… the overdrive would be nifty…mileage probly be pretty good too… More on the diesel Willys and some pics will be coming in a few weeks… maybe… still thrashin for the annual Moab trip so time is hard to come by… but hang in there!

Moab Thrash Time Again!

Well its that time of year again…. the Moab pre trip thrashfest…..as usual, i’m not sure what to take out there to wheel…. Last year I took the Cherokee….it still runs perfectly, wheels nice, drives down the highway and hauls everything that we need it to….but….i’m a sucker for a new project…so i might take the Willys wagon… or perhaps the old reliable CJ2A we call Frankie…. The GPW is always a possiblilty….as is the M715….which has the added bonus of being one of the most highway friendly jeeps in the fleet….( DISCLAIMER: M715 TRUCKS ARE NOT HIGHWAY FRIENDLY IN STOCK TRIM. NOT EVEN SLIGHTLY.) With near 300hp and 600 lb-ft on tap it goes astoundingly well….even gets around 25 mpg….has power loks in both diffs and it gets lots of looks…. I suppose I will figure it out pretty soon. I also need to put a engine in the RV as the current 454 chevy is toast…so that’s another whole huge project also….Its gettin a 6bt cummins from a city bus and a allison at545 automatic…. and a spicer over/under auxillary gearbox that should make the RV really work nice. There are some big hills ( EISENHOWER TUNNEL 11,000 FT)  between here and Moab. I  always wish for more gears anytime I have to go over those mountains so, this should do the trick… not gonna be very fun tho…. I gotta do it outside…. and I have been working crazy hours so its gonna be an interesting spring for sure!

 

 

Crud. I Have so Many Projects….

So, I’m a habitual project collector for sure…..or possibly they are collecting me….i’m not really sure…It’s not like it matters…. The current list reads something like this….

A fresh engine for Frankie, My 48 CJ2A…. Is getting a long deserved 134 L head to replace the tired F head engine….

The new willys wagon project… dubbed Harvey… needs plenty more rust repairs and both axles replaced….brakes….tuneup bits… plus more…

The M715 really needs a modern dana 60 with disc brakes….and hubs that work….as the vintage selectro units won’t tolerate cummins torque….. one bit…

The Comanche diesel pickup still runs like a champ… but does need a motor mount, a couple u joints and some random details…

I have a willys truck cab in the garage that is turning into a 4 door crew cab…..

A pile of parts to build another flatfender with ( this would be #5 in the collection)…..With pto winch stuff…  L 134 motor. A nice solid body tub….two hoods…six fenders…. vintage rancho springs…. A primo 3A frame… Dana44 axle…. Just gotta screw it all together…..sigh….

Two model T trucks…..one, in process of restoration….the other a totally original C cab with factory box. Vintage… right down to the paint….no, im not touching that one….well….I might wash that 50 year old barn dust off it one of these days….hey, at least it does get to cruise the neighborhood….. ( It really does have 50 year old barn dust on it ) It’s too dang cool to mess with….

The diesel wagoneer project went to a good friend who has done nothing with it for months……

The 50 chevy pickup i’ve had for years is still around and i drove it 120 miles last weekend….just cause…. There is nothing quite like the music  that a babbit pounding chevy 216 makes through a set of fenton manifolds with a set of burned out glasspacks…….ahhh the simple joys….

There are plenty other toys here, but i’d bore ya  with all of em…. so goodnight……

 

 

Willys Wagon Quarter Panel Repair Part 1

Ok, so this is the new Willys project…. it has the obligatory rust issues…. and some D.S.P.O. caused issues…. Like this nifty gash and crash damage in the front end of the quarter panel…..
Now, I could just buy some new quarter panels and weld em on….. but we all know im much too cheap to make that happen….so, instead how bout a bit of old fashioned metal working…..

Boy, this looks bad don’t it?  But all the metal was still there… just curled around inside the gash area… I’m welding and shaping in little increments here…note the original paint isn’t even melting…. Yes i cleaned the welded spots… That’s the welder ground in the lower left. Lots of hammer n dolly work to get this to lay back flat….plus a body indent area to reshape… oh, and a body brace behind this area to work around….

Adjacent to the damaged area is this rust hole I have trimmed out to prepare for a new piece of metal… The chipped up paint from the hammer and dolly work make this look MUCH worse than it actually is….all the rusty stuff is inside the trimmed out area.

Here is the new piece of metal  inserted into the cut hole ready for welding…..This is a a one little spot of weld at a time kinda thing…..then re tap n nudge to try to keep the piece flat….It will try to warp up out of the hole….Don’t for a second think that you can weld this in one pass around the patch….It’ll warp all to hell and almost certainly burn through…. Easy does it…

Then carefully grind smooth, keeping the grinder moving around so as to not heat up the metal too much….If you leave blue spots the metal is getting hot and probably thin too… At this point I cleaned up the old paint and primered the area to keep it from rusting…..

This still needs a bit more work before paint is gonna happen but, a smidge of filler will finish this area up pretty well….Next time, the rear part of the quarter panel will get some attention….. This blog took much longer to write than it took to do this repair…..Get out in that garage and get those old Willys runnin!