Features Research Archives

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“Boom Jeep” @ The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis

• CATEGORIES: Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Tracy spotted this jeep that’s helping the restoration at The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. The photos appear on the church’s Facebook page. The jeep was there through the end of last week (ending July 14th).

It appears the fronts springs have been removed. And, it looks like the front end is a Dana 25 or 27. That’s about all I can make from it.
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Video Reviving a 1965 CJ-5

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Mike shared this video of Davin and Jeff working to revive this 1966 CJ-5 with a Meyer Cab. Made in Canada, the serial number places the production of this jeep at the end of December.

 
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Ogelsby Jeep on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, toys This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

The buy-it-now price is $50 and shipping is only $15. The gold appears to be added over the original red. But, looks like a fine buy.

View all the information on eBay

“This is a oglesby jeep selling as is do not know any thing about them cast aluminum”

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The Trado Offroad Idea

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Bill shared this interesting story from Hemmings about a pre-war dual rear wheel semi-independent drive system that allowed for a relatively inexpensive way to modify consumer vehicles for wartime.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/daf-trado-ford-articulation/

trado-system-hemmings

 
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Perkins Willys Conversion Brochure

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jan out of the Netherlands shared this unique Perkins Brochure that highlights. I don’t have a date for it. I found one of these brochures for sale out of the UK and another one here, though it is priced higher. And, here is an M-38 for sale in the UK with that conversion.

perkins-conversion-brochure1 perkins-conversion-brochure2

 
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Out West Adventures Tour Jeep Wagon

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Tom Rives posted the below photo on Facebook of an extended Willys Wagon used by the “Adventures Out West” as part of their jeep tours out of Colorado Springs. It looks like they may have several different types of jeeps in service.

adventures-out-west-extended-wagon

 
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Wagon @ Magnolia Silos in Waco, TX

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos, Willys Wagons This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Mike shared this photo with me a few weeks ago during this trip through Texas. The wagon looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it, so I’d planned to circle back when I had some time for research.

I finally discovered why I recognized it. Tim Evans and his wife had their photos taken in front of it during their visit in 2017, which I posted at that time. Tim noted in his email to me that Magnolia Silos had been featured on HGTV, and those folks who know of the Silos are also familiar with ChIp and Jo Gaines (my mother was a big fan). The wagon is a popular photo op and you can see some of those photos here. Given we were in Waco in 2017, I’m not sure how we missed doing our own photo op there.

waco-wagon-mike-lores

I also found a video online:

 
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1959 Santa Jeep Salt and Pepper Shakers **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: **SOLD** These sold for $137! I seriously underestimated how high the bidding would go.

This is an unusual jeep-related item. Santa (the salt shaker) sits on his sleigh (the pepper shaker).

“Vintage 1959 NAPCO SANTA CLAUS JEEP Salt & Pepper Shakers Set Japan In BOX RARE . Both Shakers Are In Very Good Condition, They May Have Been Displayed For A Short Time, But Have Not Been Filled For Use. National Potteries Co.”

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1959-salt-pepper-jeep-santa7-lores Continue reading

 
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Body Progress

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

With the roof repaired, I was able to return to the body on Wednesday. From sanding the body, I can see this isn’t the first time it’s been repaired (fiberglass patches and some bondo). Below are pics after applying the fiberglass filler and applying some sandable primer, but before any bondo. I’ve since applied some bondo to fill in some holes, nicks, and cracks.

2023-07-12-parkette-body-primer-filler1 2023-07-12-parkette-body-primer-filler2 2023-07-12-parkette-body-primer-filler3

 
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If Not For The Mosquitos …

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

2023-07-11-fixing-leak1
After several days of near 100 temps, on Monday morning we had a storm blow through that brought a refreshing rain storm, during which I opened the sliding glass door in our bedroom, but neglected to close the screen door …

On Monday night we went to bed. Before falling asleep, I read some news on my phone. Strangely, a mosquito began buzzing me. I swiped at it and it went away, but soon followed by another mosquito.

Ann was still awake and as annoyed at the buzzing as I was. So, I turned on the lights. Looking up to our sloped, vaulted white ceiling, it was clear that there were more than two mosquitos, more like 20+. Thus began 20 minutes of me hopping on the bed and furniture attempting to kill as many mosquitos as I could.

During the process, I spotted a mosquito against the outside wall above the door. That’s when I saw it. Not the mosquito, but a bulge in the paint near the ceiling, like an upside down hotdog half. I gently pressed on the bulge and it felt like bulging paint, but not drywall. Ugh … given no rain was expected and many mosquitos were dispensed, I went to sleep knowing what the morning project would be … find the leak!

I was on the roof by 6:30am, but the source of the leak wasn’t readily visible. I started at roof peak, then worked my way down the roof. It wasn’t until I was right over it that I saw a broken branch barely protruding from the roof. In fact, it was almost even with roof, which is why I hadn’t ‘t seen it. I reached down to pull it out and the piece as about 3″ in diameter, but only 4″ long. My guess is that the branch got blown off our back trees, impaled the roof, then broke off, leaving the embedded piece. The fix isn’t difficult, but it’s still time consuming.

Next, I was about to go inside to investigate the wall damage when Ann called me over to examine our Polaris Ranger’s spray motor. It had stopped working. One multi-meter later, I tracked the problem down to a blown fuse.

As Ann went to go spray, I went inside to make some Dutch Babies, prep some lamb for the Trager. I was just finished with all that when Ann called me on the phone. “Quick,” she said, “get out to the pasture, two calves have caught them selves up in the hotwire!” .

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By the time I made it to the pasture, the calves were freed. So, we removed the wire (and will upgrade to larger wire).

Some mornings just aren’t easy! The good news is that I tore out some of the dry wall and it appears there wasn’t too much damage. The pierced-roof must have happened recently, I saw no indications of long-term moisture damage nor any mold. We’ll let it dry/air out for a few days before I patch it up.

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Funny thing is, if not for the annoying mosquitos, we might not have spotted the damage!

 
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Odd Jeep Printers Block on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Artists/Drawings, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This block depicts an oddly shaped jeep (?). It almost looks like a jeepney.

View all the information on eBay

“Vintage Printing Letterpress Block
The block of wood is approximately 4 inches by 1.6 inches. 0.9 inch thick wood.
If you need exact measurements, please let me know.
Subject matter is:
Jeep or similar vehicle with things on the roof.
There is a sign also that shows which way Canada is.
I haven’t tried to polish this up or anything but it probably could become shinier if somebody decided to do that.
Some of the pictures where it’s clearer or shinier is because of how I positioned the lighting in the room.”

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No updates Tuesday

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Well, I’d planned to do updates, but the weather was perfect for sanding and patching the race body’s big holes with fiberglass (and smaller holes with fiberglass putty), so that took priority. I might be able to have all the body prep done by tomorrow evening.

With the highs around 90 degrees, it’s not too hot, so this week is perfect for prepping and painting the body and front clip.

 

 
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Initial Color: Kubota Orange

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

After one of the nicest April, May and June I think I’ve ever experienced, our summer highs in the 90s have finally arrived. However, work goes on when it can.

We have settled on a temporary color, Kubota Orange. It’s the rattle can color that we think looked the best. I don’t want to do a nicer paint job just yet, because I don’t want to take the time right now to get the body and front clip completely smooth (in case I want to do the mounts differently). Instead, I want to get the jeep running, so that I can test the anchor points to make sure they hold like I hope they will and that the front clip doesn’t rub on the body.

Yesterday I made four of the six front clip mounts, with the final ones to be made today. Here’s the orange on the fender (only two coats). It’s a little darker in person.

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Zombie Kittens

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

When we first got the new kittens last March, we couldn’t get them fixed due to both of them having respiratory issues. Unfortunately, once better, we couldn’t book their spay appointments until July 6th. This wasn’t ideal, but what we didn’t know was how unideal it would be, because for the last month one or the other kittens has been in heat, and meowing, and wanting to go outside, and just little terrors in general.

So, we’ve been counting down the days until the spaying would occur. Finally, on Thursday, we took the girls into the vet.

At day’s end, we expected to receive weary cats ready for sleep and rest (we both have had cats in the past). According to the vet, we needed to keep the cats quiet, keep their cones on their heads (so they can lick their sutures), and limit their food. We were even optimistic when picking them up at the vets, because the techs said how loving the two cats were … hmm … yeah … right.

Instead, as soon as we arrived home and let the cats out of their travel, they became little hellions. We struggled, but successfully got the cones on their heads. Immediately, te supposedly docile and “loving” cats began writhing on the floor, which caused the cones to come off in seconds. And, as soon as they got loose, they were running around like they’d never had surgery. There was no “keeping them calm” .. their pupils were dilated, they obsessed over their food (which eventually we had to hide), they became obsessed with a milk bottle plastic ring, which for literal hours they both chewed and knocked around and carried places.

After recognizing that these two felines were high as kites and feeling no pain and obsessively focused on whatever they wanted, it became clear we needed a new plan to protect their sutures. So, I raced to the local Walmart to pick up baby onesies, which Ann then cut and roughly fitted over their bodies.

These two cats wanted nothing to do with the onesies and, moreover, it caused them to walk and fall over like their were super high. We eventually had to put a harness over one of the cats in order to keep the onesie on her body. Still, they attempted to wriggle out, so one of us at to watch them at all times.

Ann ended up sleeping with the cats in the cat room; however, the next morning she told me that the cats didn’t sleep. In fact, it wasn’t until the afternoon on Friday that they finally slept (as seen below).

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‘Get cats’, they say; ‘they will be so fun to have around’ they say … hmmmph.

 
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Vintage Military Jeep Birthday Card on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This children’s card includes a punch out jeep and soldier.

View all the information on eBay

“Vintage Gibson Punch Out Fun Army Jeep & Men Boy Birthday Unused Card & Envelope. Card Is 4 5/8″ X 16″ Opened Up. Gibson Play Card.”

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Photos from the 1970 Ridge Runners Jeep Race

• CATEGORIES: Features, Racing • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Tom just shared this Google view of how the site looks now. The indents of the oval track can still be seen. He added, “The Pin is in the center of the Mud Race Track. The camp ground is in the trees on the right. The view is looking south

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Tom shared these images from the 1970 Ridge Runners Jeep Race. There’s a couple video clips of the 1977 race just below this one.

Tom added a few historical details I didn’t know, “the Ridge runners had a camp ground on the south side of Ahtanum Creek about half way between Wiley City and Tampico. They rented the land from a guy whose last name was Herkey. The Mud races were held there every Memorial day weekend. You had to ford the creek to get there.”

The pack hits the first water hole

Notes: The pack hits the first water hole

The leaders plow through the mud and another splashes in

The leaders plow through the mud and another splashes.

Plowing through the mud

Plowing through the mud

2 jeeps drowned out

2 jeeps drowned out

Spectators on the hill sitting on their jeeps

Spectators on the hill sitting on their jeeps

Spectators

Spectators on the hill

 
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Video Primer on the Mitsubishi Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Bill shared this video overview of the Mitsubishi jeep history.

 
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Roger’s New Howe FC Firetruck

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I HAD planned on doing posts for this morning, but yesterday we discovered water near our water tank, which soon lead to discovering one of our pipes (in a wall) was leaking. So, holes were cut in the wall and leak verified (at copper corner piece joint). Several hours and one trip to Home Depot later, I was able to get everything fixed (thank goodness for push joints). Whew.

In lieu of updates, we’ll celebrate Roger Martin’s newest acquisition: A 1960 Howe-modified FC that was formerly in the Toledo Firefighters Museum. It run and drives and is in great shape! Congrats Roger!

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Body Mounted, Front Clip in Progress

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I am typing this while recovering from a wasp sting that caused my right hand to swell (it’s been an odd health year for me!), which sent us to the local doc-in-a-box to get some steroids, which in turn helped reduce the swelling (after 24 hours). I’ve never had a reaction to a stinger like that, so it’s a bit of a surprise!

Last week I finalized the body mounts. Hinges attach the body to the back of the frame in two places. Two single bolts with large washers hold the mid section of the body to a plate on the roll bar. And, two bolts through angled aluminum hold the bottom front portion of the cowl to an angle piece on either side of the body. On the upper portion of the sides of the cowl some rubber taped to the inside of a bracket keep the cowl from shifting back and forth.

The front clip is proving a bigger challenge than the body. First, I had to cut out part of the the driver’s rear-side portion of the front clip because it was too narrow and hit the side of the body. So, I am creating a form and will lay some new glass down (along with patching a few other places).

Then, once the hood fits properly, I will have have to build special mounts for the front clip. The goal is to reduce the stress on the hood, as these things are often mounted with quick release setups that allow the body to flex, making it more prone to breaking and cracking and/or rubbing on the body.

Here are a few pics:

I decided to to throw a couple blocks (made from some of my grandfather’s wood) onto the hood that are a nod to the original hood blocks, but will also tie in a frame underneath the hood to help support and mount the front of the hood.

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You can see part of where the hood is cut out. The form will allow for the new portion of the hood also down fender to flare outward more (or that’s the plan). 2023-07-02-racing-body4

 
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UFO JeepRod in Roswell, NM

• CATEGORIES: Features, Jeep Rods • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

During a roadtrip with family, Mike spotted this unusual jeeprod with a UFO topper on it, cruising in Roswell, New Mexico. The plates indicate the rig is from Texas.

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March 1962 Hatari Jeep Brochure

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

After failing several times, I finally won a copy of this Hatari-themed jeep brochure. It is from number DM 62-03. Learn more about Hatari and Jeep at the CJ-3B page.

Here’s the front page of the brochure:

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It opens horizontally to show this two page Hatari announcement:1962-03-hatari-jeep-brochure2

It agains open up horizontally, both to the left and to the right, to reveal several different vehicles that appear in the movie, including a truck, a CJ-6, a wagon, and an FC-170.1962-03-hatari-jeep-brochure3

On the back side of the brochure are some of the actors that appear in the movie:

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Continue reading

 
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Newest Al-toy CJ-2A

• CATEGORIES: Features, Models, toys This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I won this Al-toy on eBay recanted for only $39. It has a slightly broken bumper on the passenger side, but otherwise seems in good shape.

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Value Range of a Ramsey 50R Winch?

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I have someone interested in selling this 50R winch (more info on the winches in general here). It lacks cable, but does spin. I know when these are complete they used to sell for upwards of several thousand, but I have no idea where the market on an incomplete winch like this might be. The seller isn’t worried about getting top dollar; but still wants a reasonable amount for it.

My *guess* would be in the $1500-$2000 range?

Also, any other details that would affect the value of this?

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The winch does include the bracket. Here are two pics of it when it was in the bracket (and before he cleaned it up):
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Odd Flatfender Creation/Art

• CATEGORIES: Artists/Drawings, Features, Unusual This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Darin Rolf posted these two photos to Facebook. It is an oddity for sure! It appears to be somewhere in Colorado.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/247270289549336/permalink/1320563978886623/

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GoKart Jeep Muncie, IN $200

• CATEGORIES: Features, Models, toys This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Roger Martin spotted this jeep-themed go kart.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/726123902854535

“4hp engine. Runs great. Has golf cart subframe the Jeep bodY is of wood. Only thing wrong with it is the chain pops off once in a while. Other then that you can ride it today.”

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