News Research Archives

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Bantam Jeep Festival: The Joys & Hazards of Buying a Vintage Jeep

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

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The folks at the Bantam Jeep Festival have asked me to participate in this year’s history series.  I will be presenting “The Joys & Hazards of Buying a Vintage Jeep”,  appearing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with an official book(s) signing following each event. I don’t know the times just yet.

I shared this news with Paul and he responded with some words of wisdom for potential buyers of vintage jeeps. He wrote:

Please remember that sometimes a free Jeep is still too expensive. Normal people just don’t realize how much money, time and space a disassembled Jeep can suck up. Many clueless males have sadly discovered just how quickly Breaking Up Is Easy (not hard) To Do after becoming the owner of a project Jeep. Don’t even get me started on relationship problems after the Jeep is finished, just be ready for the “Why can’t my car be parked in the garage” vintage whine which is soon followed the always popular “I’m cold and rain soaked, why doesn’t this thing have a top” snivel. For a single guy taking a date out in a vintage Jeep will become an educational experience so long as no police are involved. Many women simply don’t understand that a Jeep really does have shock absorbers, it’s just that they are called passengers. Also a women with a sense of humor and adventure is mandatory to make it thru those events that seem like a good idea at the time and will provide many hours of crazy stories in the future for the grandkids but only if everyone survives.

I simply can’t argue with any of that!

On the BOOK 2 front, after writing all day I completed Draft 2 this evening. The book is approx 450 pages, when properly formatted. Ann is sitting next to me gleefully and busily bruising this draft with a red pen. She’s on page 22 already and hasn’t fallen asleep yet, so I take that as a good sign 🙂  My goal is to have it published in time for the Bantam Festival.

draft-2-amber-panels-of-konigsberg

 

 
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XL T-Shirt with photo of wagon in Hawaii on eBay

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

This was just too odd to pass up.

“Wagoneer wood-sided Station Wagon
Brand – Jeep
Color – Orange
Size – XL XLarge
Measurements in inches and centimeters, measured flat:
Chest – 23″ (58,4cm)
Length – 29″ (73,6cm)
The shirt is short sleeve, 100% preshrunk cotton.

Wood-sided Jeep vehicle on the front of the shirt.
In used, not abused condition.
No rips, holes or stains.”

View all the information on eBay

wagon-t-shirt-hawaii-lores wagon-t-shirt-hawaii-lores2

 
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1946 Ad for the Jeep Wagon on eBay

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

I like this ad.

“This collectible magazine advertisement is original, not a reprint or photocopy. It measures apprx. 10 1/2″ wide by 13 1/2″ tall and is in good condition ready to mat and frame. Due to the nature of vintage paper, most advertisements will show some minor signs of aging and wear. All of our ads are packaged in plastic sleeves with a cardboard backing inside of a mylar mailer.”

View all the information on eBay

1946-mb-cj2a-wagon-ad-lores

 
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New Server

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

eWillys is live on the new server. Now that I’m on the new server, I can finally complete the changes and updates to the site, as well as add some new features. I have also set up a twitter feed which I’ll use to send out updates or announce problems or more.

I will re run a few posts tomorrow. New posts will start Monday.  Enjoy your weekend!

 
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It’s gonna be an oolie Weekend

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

Ann’s family is arriving this weekend to celebrate Oolie Christmas. Yes, it is Christmas in February. Why Christmas in February? Because her family (large family) was too busy to gather at Christmas. What’s an oolie Christmas? It’s a family celebration of Christmas started by Ann’s grandmother, who suffered a brain injury in a car wreck. After the wreck, she couldn’t do a lot, but one thing she could do was go to thrift stores. So, she’d go to thrift stores all year around until she had a huge collection of pretty bizarre presents (they’d fill half a bedroom). The presents weren’t addressed to anyone; instead, they were passed out until everybody had one. Then, everyone shouted OOLIE and opened the presents all at once. Then they would hand out another round of presents, yelling ‘oolie’ together again and unwrapping commenced once more. The goal is to have ten rounds.

After Ann’s grandmother passed away the tradition died. However, last year the family decided to restart it. Everyone bought ten thrift store items or made presents from scratch. We all have so much fun, we thought we’d repeat it. This year, as I mentioned, we put it off until February. In fact, we still have the christmas lights on the house, the tree still stands, and decorations still line the banisters. I admit it is strange having christmas decorations up so long you have to dust them. 🙂

Because of all the activity, I’ll be rerunning some old posts and maybe a couple new ones during some down time.

Happy OOLIE Christmas!

 
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How to stop a Jeep with a Ping Pong Ball …

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

This was first published July 2, 2010.

A reader named Sam called me today.  He told me he had a great story to share.  Hopefully, I’ve remembered most of it correctly.

For a little background, Sam is retired after a lifetime of building hotrods, drag racing and owning a shop in Sacramento, but now operates a small flattie-oriented shop in Arvada, Colorado, where he fixes, modifies and maintains Willys (and probably a few other vehicles) for fun.  I’ll be explaining more about Sam (and some of his great suggestions) in a future post, but for now you have enough information to understand why a Jeep owner, in some distress, had his Jeep towed to Sam’s shop to investigate a problem.

And now to Sam’s story … The owner of this willys had tried to drive his jeep to work, but the jeep stopped working while driving down the road.  So, the owner pulled to the side of the road, waited a moment, and started it up again.  Sure enough, it fired up and the owner drove onwards.

Another few miles down the road the jeep shutoff again.  So, the owner repeated the process:  pull over, restart, and continue onwards.

At some point, this re-occuring process became too much for the owner to bare, so he called a towing company and had his jeep towed to Sam’s.

So, Sam looks the jeep over.  He starts it up and, sure enough, after a little while it shuts down.  He knows it has an electric fuel pump and suspects that could be causing a problem, so he unhooks the hose from the carb and points it into a gas can.  Then, he turns on the fuel pump.  Sure enough, after a little while, the fuel dribbles to a stop, yet he can hear pump still pumping ….. hmmmm, Sam thinks to himself.

He decides to try an experiment.  He knows the owner only fills the tank to half full, because if the tank gets too full gas leaches out of somewhere (I can’t remember where Sam said  it leaked).

Sam decides to fill up the tank all the way, because he suspects there might be something in the tank.  Sure enough, he fills up the tank and out pops not one, not two, but three ping pong balls.

As Sam explains it,  the sucking power of the fuel pump was pulling the ping pong balls to the outlet area of the tank(where the fuel line connects), stopping the fuel from exiting the tank, which shut down the jeep.

How’d the ping pong balls get there?  Well, that still remains a mystery ….

So, the moral of this story is that even the mightiest jeep can be humbled by an even mightier ping pong ball.  And, a side moral, is that buying a locking gas cap is a pretty good idea.

 
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1957 Farm Journal Ad featured the FC-170

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

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.

The Farm Journals have a variety of interesting Willys/Jeep stories and ads like this, but finding a free or cheap source of them has been difficult.

“This magazine advertisement features the Forwad Control Jeep FC-170 manufactured by Willys Motors, Toledo, OH. The copy boasts that The Newest addition to the 4-wheel-drive ‘Jeep’ family!”. The piece is 8 1/4″ x 11 1/2″ and is in good condition (see photo).”

1957-farmjournal-fc170-ad

 
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Photograph of CJV-35U from Florida Memories

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

I was looking for an interesting jeep photo when I ran across the rarely photographed CJV-35U at Florida Memories.  The photo’s caption reads, “Oklahoma Seminole Indian Webster Talmsey Wise sitting in a Jeep”

http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/164413

seminole-indian-cjv35u-florida-memories

 
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Steve’s Jeep Shirt collection

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

Last month when I share pictures of my ‘jeep’ shirt that horrified my wife, Steve sent me a variety of pictures showing his jeep shirt collection.

1) My most “busy” Jeep shirt.   It actually has several types of 4×4 on it, including Scouts and Broncos. This has to come in a close second place to,  “OMG, are you really going to wear that in public?”

jeep-bronco-other4x4-shirt

2) Here is my favorite FC Roundup Shirt, because it has an FC Wrecker on it. I don’t own a wrecker (yet), but I came close to owning one.

2011-fc-roundup-towtrucks

Continue reading

 
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Karson Joins Fema Corps Tomorrow

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

Pardon the brazen shout out to my nineteen year-old son, Karson.  Tomorrow he begins a ten month stint with Fema Corps.  He will start in Sacramento, where he will go through ‘boot camp’.  Once he completes his training he’ll start working somewhere in the western US.

Fema Corps is a Fema specific arm of the Americorps NCCC program. The FEMA Corps members focus on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery activities, providing support in areas ranging from working directly with disaster survivors to supporting disaster recovering centers to sharing valuable disaster preparedness and mitigation information with the public.

It should be quite an adventure for him; the start of making his own way in the world. Here’s a pic of him sitting on the bumper from 2011 (remember that time I ran out of gas . . .). Good Luck Karson!

 
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New Desert Dog Tires? West Virginia

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

These look more like Mini Terror tires rather than Desert Dogs. Still, finding brand new, rather than retreads, is unusual.

“new desert dog tires 92.00 free mounting call 1-304-387-2869”

http://wv.craigslist.org/pts/3439164509.html

desert-dog-mini-terror-tire-westvirginia

 
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Hong Family Jeep: Story out of Minnesota

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

I happened across this story by Rob Hardy about a 1942 MB? that was purchased and owned by Howard Hong until 2010, when he passed away. In 2012 it was donated by his son to the Northfield, MN, VFW.

http://northfield.patch.com/articles/wwii-jeep-finds-new-home-at-northfield-vfw#photo-10066780

1942-mb-howard-hong-northfield-vfw

 
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Jim Beam Decanter

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

UPDATE: Was on eBay. **SOLD**

This jim beam decanter includes the antenna.

“ARMY JEEB
JIM BEAM DECANTER
Hard to find one of these in this excellent condition with the rear antenna still attached.
No chips or cracks, empty and no box.”

jim-beam-decanter1

Continue reading

 
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Testing a few thing

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

I plan to do some updates later tonight.  Right now, I’m trying a few different ways of logging in and registering.  So, the registration might appear and disappear.

 
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Operation Switcheroo … 3

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

UPDATE: Hmm … it turns out my default eWillys WP theme was causing some issues. That might just have been the source of a couple problems. Or, I’m just playing whack a mole …. anyhow, I’ll leave up this theme until I fix the other one.

We aren’t too far away (Monday or Tuesday) from being up and running again on a newer, much faster server.  So, why the big delay?

1) SPAM/BOT Traffic: I have reading through log files.  The spam bots/spiders are hitting the site with enough frequency that it is slowing down the site to a crawl (or using up all webhost resources altogether).  I have tried numerous strategies to reduce the strain of these on the webhost, which has helped, but not cured the resource use problem.  Even the back end, which I use to do updates, etc, is nearly unusable due to the busy server.

2) COMMENT SPAM: The amount of comment spam has dramatically increased.  Look at this chart.  It shows approx 3000 spam comments (automated comments that are junk) in September 2012.  By December that number had increased ten fold to 30,000 spam comments.  While there are defenses in place to deal with that, I suspect that is helping cause resource problems as well.

3) SERVER HOSTS: Like Goldilocks, I tried a couple different server hosts (experiences described in posts below). One proved too frustrating, one proved too limiting.  For the third try, I’ve turned to the McDonagh Brothers, web hosts and developers who, as lovers of jeeps, have a bit of self interest in seeing the site succeed.  We should be up and going monday or tuesday.

In the meantime, I’m using Facebook to provide some contact and updates: http://www.facebook.com/pages/EWillys/304123822973935

 
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Operation Switcherooo 2 … in process

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

UPDATE: As part of switcherooo 2 I have decided to do some house cleaning.  Until I make the switch, you can still comment on posts, but you won’t be able to login (there were thousands of spam-created users). 

Imagine you have a mechanic that tells you your jeep is tired and worn.  He tells you that it isn’t safe to run at highway speeds. You tell him that you have to drive it at highway speeds to get to work and make money. He says that your jeep can’t do it and you need to upgrade.

Fine, you say.  If I have to ….

He points out some different places you can get a new jeep. However, there’s a catch, he says.  The new jeeps are 5 to 10 times more expensive a month to operate than your current jeep. Of course, you’ve figured as much. But, since you are paying more, you expect you’ll get the features you already have plus some extras, right?

Oh, so naive . . .

As you shop around, you find promise after promise of better features, more speed, great service, easy to use steering wheel, custom body styles and more. It’s like a street in Tijuana with signs, promises, cajoling, and more, as the shop keeps attempt to get you inside.

After walking up and down a street of dealers peddling their jeeps, you spot a dealer who will only charge five times what you currently pay per month.  This particularly dealer, we’ll call him VPS.net, was recommended by your mechanic. VPS.net promises you’ll have so much speed, you can break clear of the Earth’s atmosphere, visit the moon, see the stars, and return in a flash.

Wow.  You get the highways, stars and a moon to boot?  This sounds perfect!  I mean, I don’t mind paying more if I am getting more for my money.

But wait. What is the catch? No catch really, says Mr. VPS.net. You even get to choose the engine you want — Ford, Chevy, BMW, Jeep — We support all the different engines. We walk you through the process of installing them. So easy! We even have lots of happy customers.

You look up the customers online. Yes, they seem happy. One even has a smiling avatar. Wow!  Ok, sign me up.

So, you pay them, decide on a jeep, and pick your engine . You are ready to go. But before you leave the lot, you have to build the engine.  That’s how they save you so much money over the other dealers.  OK, fine. You’ve built an engine before, so you can do it again. But, wow, these engines are getting ever more complicated. After looking through the different engines, you find an engine expert online who recommends a Ford engine when buying a VPS.  Then, you build the engine, fasten the seat belt and  reach down for the transmission to shift it into drive.  Wait, what happened to the gear shift? hmmm . . .

Fortunately, your new jeep dealer was so excited to have you aboard, they have already sent you an email. They say if you need anything, just let us know. So, you respond. You write that you do need some help.  There is a transmission missing. You wait for a response.

But all you hear is crickets, nothing but crickets for two days.

But, that’s ok, because you have been working to install the two transmissions they offered. One was free.  We’ll call that the Chinese transmission. The other was extra. We’ll call that the Russian transmission. You, being cheap, decide to try the free one. After spending several hours trying to install the Chinese transmission, you happen run across a disclaimer on a Chinese website that claims they no longer support Ford Engines.

Well DAMN you say.  With I had known that before I tried to make that tranny work. Fine, I’ll pay extra for the Russian transmission.  However, before you get the transmission out of the box, you see another disclaimer that the Russian transmission doesn’t work at all with the Ford engine.

That’s when you realize, to run the transmission, you will have to completely remove the engine, pick another, and spend/waste a bunch more time trying to make it work.

Yes, that was my day yesterday with my new webhost, or shall I say former webhost. I am now working with a new host that specializes in WordPress sites. I have to say that I am stunned at the lack of graceful and reasonable upgrade paths from a shared hosting environment to a mid-tier hosting environment.

 
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Tuesday at Noon (PST) Operation Switcheroo begins

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

At noon Tuesday I plan to switch to my new server.  If everything goes smoothly, you’ll barely notice any differences.  If, it doesn’t go smoothly, you’ll notice that.

The most difficult issue may be email.  If you need to contact me after Noon my time on monday you can use my d@deilers.com email.  It might not be until Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning for the interwebnetether thingy to direct traffic correctly.

As you can see below, I have a plan all worked out … what could go wrong?

BTW … only a few updates tonight. I had the craziest little spasm in it.  My wife cave me a back relaxer early this morning, after which my cognitive functions rapidly declined for most of the day.  The spasm is gone now, and my brain seems to be functioning better. Note to self … no more muscle relaxers!

photo posted on post-gazette.com

 
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1952 M-38 **SCAM** Listed for $2100

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

UPDATE:  This scam has been drifting west on Craigslists.  Bryan, whose eBay ad is the one copied by the scammer, was contacted by a woman who found his phone number in the scam ad.

Bryan wrote and told me, “I talked to a lady today that almost got sucked in. Her husband is in the military and the scammer told her he was overseas fighting and could arrange shipping for the jeep. She said the scammer reeled her in with the his false military fighting for our country story….she said the only thing that stopped her was my eBay ad and my phone number I put on the ad. She called me to confirm it was false.”  Bryan has reported the situation to the FBI.  You can contact the FBI at this phone number (251) 438-3674.

There’s a M-38 craigslist scam that’s been listed on about ten craigslists along the east coast. The text came from a January 5 eBay listing.

This is the pic that’s been included in the ad:

1952-m38-terry-ms

 
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Saturday Update

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

Nothing like some growing pains!

This morning my host took down the site due to resource overage.  Something was causing my server usage to spike. I made a few changes, which seems to have resolved the issue temporarily.  So, the site is live again, but it’s really time to move it to a host that can handle more bandwidth/resources/visitors.  I’ve spent the last few hours reviewing all sorts of VPS and Dedicated hosting options, with different pricing and hosting structures.  It turns out that website hosting companies pay reviewers up to $150 each to refer customers to their hosting packages (depending on the package), so finding unbiased reports turns out to be a challenge.

If I don’t get to updates tonight, I’ll do some during the Seahawks/Falcons game tomorrow.

And, if it goes down again, know I’m working on it 🙂

– Dave

 
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Updates Saturday Mid-day

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

No updates tonight. Having a nice evening with Ann. Updates tomorrow by mid-day.

 
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My New Ford GP Bull Shirt

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

I saw this silk shirt from Phat Farm on eBay.  When I showed it to Ann, she was so horrified by it she screamed.  Ok, I may be exaggerating a little.  There was no screaming; but, she was slightly horrified by it.

I tried to explain that it had the Prototype Ford GP printed on it.  How cool is that?  But, she was unimpressed.  To her credit, she liked the jeep.  It was the rest she didn’t like.

Seeing her reaction to this unique shirt was all I needed to bid on this.  I thoroughly enjoyed appearing in the kitchen wearing it and seeing her reaction.

Not surprising, I was the only person to bid on it . . .

2013-01-10-david-ford-gp-bull-shirt2

2013-01-10-david-ford-gp-bull-shirt-lores

 

 
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1948 CJ-2A Tub Santa Fe, NM **SOLD**

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

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $450.

This looks liek a good price.

“I have a 1948 Steel Jeep Tub and Hood (needs hood hinge) for sale. It will need the Front Floor Panel and Rear Center Floor Panel replaced do to year of vehicle.. The body is in good condition.”

1948-cj2a-tub-santafe-nm

 
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Updates Later Today (Sunday)

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

Our normal three hour drive on Saturday from Pasco to Seattle took seven; in an attempt to avoid snow on Snoqualmie Pass we ran right into it on Sutan Pass.  The modern Ford Mustang, not know for its snow handling and sporting the wrong tires, was all kinds of fun inching over snowy, icey and remote Sutan Pass.  Wby did we taken Sutan Pass (which turns out to also be higher than Snoqualmie)?  Because my wife thought I knew the pass was there, even though I said I’d never driven over state highway 97 through Goldendale (we were heading south to I-84).

As I carefully steered up the pass, hoping not to slow down and lose traction,  I asked why she thought this route was a good idea.  She said she thought I had scoped out the pass. I said I had told her I didn’t know there was a pass at all!  Well, this back and forth conversation lasted until we crested the pass and slid/drove our way down the other side.

Despite her cool exterior and her positive confirmation of my driving skills, she was very busy snapping pictures with her phone and posting on Facebook pictures of the snowy road with comments like “we are gonna die” and “if we don’t make it, we love you all”.  She does have a sense of humor 🙂

So, after our long drive, we crashed in bed and have slept the night away.  Updates later.

2013-01-05-sutan-pass-snow

 
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Search for Grandfather’s Jeep

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

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/10/search_for_grandfathers_world.html

 
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1976 Levi Edition CJ-5 Portland, OR **SOLD**

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

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay

Here’s a Levi edition CJ-5 in pretty good condition.

“Up for Auction is a 1976 Jeep CJ5 Renegade Levi Edition 2-Owner equipped with a AMC 360 5.9 Liter V-8 2-Barrel with only 20k miles on a remanufactured engine, Rebuilt 3-Speed Manual Transmission, and rear end. Front Disc Brakes, Power Steering, Tilt Steering Wheel, Factory Tachometer and Clock, Wiper Delay, and a Warn 8000xi Winch. I have the paperwork for the engine and reciepts for all work performed. All work performed was done back in 2000 by Dexter Clarke Jeep Service in Hillsboro Oregon. The Jeep has 145k original documented miles with approximately altogether 20k Miles on engine, transmission, rear end. Just about everything has been rebuilt or replaced. West Coast Rust Free Jeep.”

1976-cj5-levi-edition-portland-or