Paul’s been eagerly awaiting the completion of his frame’s powder coating.  I told him that it was too pretty to put under the jeep.  Instead, he ought to hand it in the house.  No response to that idea so far . . .

Paul writes, “Early this morning (to retired folks it seemed real early) I traded a fist full of cash to a local businessman and in return I received a beautiful black powdercoated Willys frame fresh from the curing oven complete with that new frame smell. Quickly hauling it home I positioned the frame inside the connex slightly ahead of the body while leaving enough room to safely install the springs and axles. I needed to somehow support the frame high enough to allow the axles to fit underneath while not damaging the new coating and still allow the frame to be easily raised and lowered. Did I mention this proposed support structure had to be cheap?

While the connex is incredibly strong the metal roof is way weaker than the weight of the snow we receive during a normal winter so years ago (to prevent the roof from collapsing) I reinforced the roof structure with full length headers bolted to the connex sides and 2X4 doublers positioned right below the original roof bows. With all this structure just waiting for me to use I attached the ends of four ratchet straps to the headers and hooked the opposite ends to the Willys frame. By adjusting the tension of the straps I was able to position the frame level and at the height necessary for clearance of the wheel and axle combination. I normally carry four ratchet straps in the truck (you never know when you’ll run across something that’s just too good to pass up so I’m ready to load it up, cinch it down and head for home at a high rate of speed before anyone changes their mind) they were quickly removed and became the Poor Folk Deluxe Adjustable Lift. This worked GREAT! Total cost…nothing!”