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Steering Parts Gathered

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

The 60 to 70 degree highs the past few days made for some optimal outside work weather, so there was lots of recovering from winter (picking up branches), to restocking with hay for the next month, to spraying fence lines, among other tasks, so there was no time for eWillys. I did get a little work done on the FC, but not much.

Below is a pic showing how the steering column goes from the rack and pinion’s stock connector (2000 Ford Explorer), switching from the Ford V connection on the R&P to the 3/4 DD shaft (not shown is the 1″DD to 3/4″ DD Borgensen joint that will over the joint). A 3/4″ Heim Joint will help keep the shaft in place, but the mount is yet to be built.

The 3/4 DD shaft enters a 3/4″ DD / 3/4: 36-spline U-Joint, which connects to the VDog 90 degree joint. The V-Dog has an aluminum block mount that will bolt to a yet-to-be made mount to the frame. The V-Dog will also bolt to the bottom of the floor access cover.

Here is the pic from a below. Atop the VDog is a temp plate for testing how it will fit. It’s a close fit between the frame and cab, but everything clears with room to spare.

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From the top of the V-Dog another 3/4″ DD / 3/4: 36-spline u Joint connects to the column. The column itself is a IDIDIT 28″ tilt column with hazards and turn signals.  As it sits, it’s a couple inches higher than stock, but it’s at more of an angle, so it looks in the pic like it is sticking up higher than that.

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Before I can mount the column, I need to finalize the pedal. I made a prototype today, but it’s pretty ugly. I hope to have a final version in the next couple of days.

The column is larger around (2″) than a stock column, so I might not use the stock column mount as I’d planned to do.

Again, this is all rough work to make sure things fit.

 
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Original Meyer Snow Plow Poster

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

A big thanks to Barney Goodwin for sending me this original Meyer Snow Plow poster. I doubt there are many of these around anymore.

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1966 Jeep News Volume 12 Number 4

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

Well folks, this is the last issue of the big batch of Willys News and Jeep News periodicals that I purchased back in December. From my perspective, it was great to have dependable, easy to produce, interesting content available to post for such a long period. I also am glad to be documenting this type of stuff, as it hasn’t been well-documented (to my knowledge) on the internet to-date. I don’t really have much else in the queue document-wise, but obviously there *should* be ongoing updates about the FC rebuild.

Coinciding with this last issue, the weather here has warmed with highs in the low 60s, which gives me much better weather to work on the FC; it also forces me to juggle that effort with the need to work on the pasture, ready the irrigation systems, and prep the lawn and garden for the growing seasons. Given Ann is still slowly getting better, but still has setbacks physically, this will mostly fall on me. So, updates may slow like they did this time last year.

The eight-page 1966 Jeep News Volume 12 Number 4 announces on page one that KJC would be sponsoring two major golf games. This continues the KJC’s movements into shifting the jeep vehicles away from their utilitarian and agrarian roots, towards family, luxury and fun. That doesn’t mean there was no utilitarian promotion, as page two reported that KJC officials contacted one thousand mosquito abatement administrators to promote the jeeps. Curiously, next to that utilitarian article are three photos of jeeps on the beach with young adults and surfboards.

Page three goes international, with announcements from Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and India. Page four and five provide stories of travel. Page four published a travel piece to Alaska in a Wagoneer by Bill Thomas, who was a travel editor for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Page five showcases a report by Charles R. Meyer, a freelance writer from New York, who took his family on a trip to Nova Scotia in a camper-equipped Gladiator.

Pages six and seven contain a variety of photos and captions, including the announcement of the Rat Patrol series. Page eight highlighted a different show, noting the success of Daktari.
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Roberto Flores’ Latest Work: FC-170

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

Roberto recently completed this commissioned FC-170 illustration. Here’s his website.

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You can view some of his illustrative processes in this accompanying video:

 
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September 1965 Jeep Service and Parts News

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

This four-page September 1965 Jeep Service and Parts News includes, on the last page, a list of all models and their Vehicle prefix, which is handy given the scarcity of records for this time period. There’s also a short blurb on page three about how the cross pieces under the hood of a Wagoneer could short out the alternator!

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