UPDATE: Tolls and Tolls and Tolls … A third of I-90 is now Tolls.  I can definitely NOT recommend driving I-90.  I didn’t realize just how many Toll booths have been added in illinois alone.

With the car packed with paintings and we left this afternoon bound for Seattle.  Our plan is to take I-90 and our hope is to make it over the Rockies at the Montana/Idaho border on Sunday when the weather is supposed to be good. Otherwise, the forecast is snow before Sunday and after Monday. It is midnight now.  We should be in Madison, Wi by about 9am Eastern time and will be somewhere in Rapid City, South Dakota, by the time we sleep tomorrow night.

If you tried to access eWillys this evening (Tuesday), you likely reached an error screen.  I believe my google xml sitemap plugin was causing problems, so I am hoping removing it has fixed the problem.  I also removed the mapping program in hopes that will also reduce the heavy resource demands of the site.  Hopefully these changes will fix the problem.

Thanks, Dave

Updates Sat AM

Due to the snow along I-80 yesterday we decided to travel northward from Omaha to Washington along I-90.  I mentioned to Ann I had never seen Mt. Rushmore and she said that I have to see it.  So, this morning I will be ‘investigating’ the Rapid City, South Dakota, area for any jeeps.  I will push my investigation as far south as Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, so dedicated I am.  Later today when we get back on the road for the remaining 14 hour drive, I will report on my success (or failure).

I had hoped to do updates tonight, but after a busy and successful day in Denver, I am wiped.  I will do updates tomorrow on the road as we head back to Nebraska.  We hope to make it to Omaha before the snow storm descends upon us.

I did want to thank James for inviting Ann and I to see his project (pictures tomorrow).  I also wanted to thank Guy for his invitation to tour the Pikes Peak International Raceway, which I will have to delay until my next visit to Colorado Springs.

Here are a couple pics from Casa Bonita, which is a fun tourist trap in Denver.  We had a great time.  The first pic is Ann and I and the second one is me doing the Mamba (strangely, I was the only adult doing the Mamba …).  We have pics of the cliff divers, but they came out a bit too dark.

No pics provided.

“1949 Willys. Ready to be restored. Have Title. $1000.00 OBO. Please call (208) 437-2780 with questions.”

http://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/2664631644.html

After a couple days in Omaha, we are cruising to Colorado Springs for the weekend to visit my Ann’s friends.  The weather so far has been perfect, with beautiful blue skies.  We have only had two near misses (cars switching lanes into us — you’d think a bright red mustang would be easy to see against the endless brown fields, but, nope, some drivers just seem intent on making our drive that much more interesting).  I had my first Runza while in Omaha, which is a lot like a Russian Piroshki, but not deep fried.  It won’t be my last.

Thankfully, the mobile broadband is functioning beautifully, hence the updates this afternoon. On Monday we will be in Denver for two meetings I have, then on Tuesday we head back to Omaha.

UPDATE:  Thanks everyone!

Brian asked me if I knew when CJ-5s switched to 12 volts.  I couldn’t find the answer online, so I was hoping someone might know?  He has a 1956 that is 6 volts.

I ran out of steam tonight …

I’m pushing to finish another draft of my book tonight .. so it might be sunday before any updates are posted.

Dave contacted me today about work he is doing with the Rosie the Riveter National Park.  They would like to have a GPW as part of the exhibit.

He wrote, “We’re designing the Rosie the Riveter National Park in Richmond, CA, right next to the Ford plant that outfitted Jeeps for WWII. I’d like to include a 1940-1943 jeep in the exhibit; we could do some restore, but the really only need to have the shell/chassis…might even set it up to be in process of being outfitted (no wheels/tires, seats out, etc. Any leads on an appropriate example or someone you’d suggest contacting? Anyway to know if a vehicle came thru Richmond? Any help or suggestions helpful. Quite frankly, for our needs, it could be a repro shell as well…. not sure if they were painted in Richmond or whether there was a standard primer, etc.”

Based on his request and this link to olive drab, http://www.olive-drab.com/od_mvg_jeeps_overseas_shipping.php, I suggested he buy a non working GPW and dress it as a crated jeep, because, according to Olive Drab, 70% of Richmond’s Jeeps went out in crates.

If anyone knows more info about GPWs at the Richmond plant or knows of a non working GPW near the Bay area who might want to donate/sell to the project, leave a comment or email me and i will hook you up with Dave.

Updates Monday …

Last night, Louis, who lives on Long Island, and I met up for a bite to eat.  He suggested the meeting after hearing I would be on Long Island this week.  Patient with my ever changing schedule, we agreed to meet around 8pm last night and had a fine time talking jeeps and life.  I learned during our meeting that he has a very low mileage FC-150 and a 1965 CJ-5. He promised to share some pics with us.

So, thanks to Louis for taking the time to drive to meet me and for buying me some food!!

I’m exhausted and my broadband is running out of juice, so updates in the morning.

I”m running short on time, so here they are …

1962 Wagon 1 owner: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160653528631+&viewitem=

1947 CJ-2A:  http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140608839333+&viewitem=

MB & GPW and more from the Netherlands: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290611762979+&viewitem=

1946 VEC CJ-2A that I think I’ve seen for sale previously: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300601688039+&viewitem=

No updates tonight. Updates tomorrow.

A reader asked me the following question and i didn’t know the answer.

“Can the the fold down split windshields and solid windshield be interchanged without mods?”

UPDATE: Laundry, lunch, done .. now for  updates.

(from Thursday ) I went jeeping in a ford mustang for a couple days and got stuck on a faraway island with only canadian wireless. It turns out those crazy canadians dont want to share their wireless cheaply. We are talking dollars a minute in international charges. So, while i love you all, i dont love you that much 🙂

Even in this remote, faraway place, my intrepid jeep instincts didnt fail me. I spotted gpw #4484 (or thereabouts) housed in a glass paned garage no less at a house for sale. No one was home so we let ourselves in to take some pics. It even has an interesting winshield mod.

I will return to the real world late tonight with some updates and pics of the gpw i found.

A reader plans to buy a CJ-3A body kit for his 1949 CJ-3A.  He was leaning towards either Morris 4×4 Center or Willys Overland. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with a full body kit purchase?

Updates tomorrow (sat)

I got a few updates done before my FireFox Browser crashed, taking with it the remaining links I was going to post.  So, I’m going to sleep and will try again in the morning!

– D