Russ sent along an update on this years Willys Rally, which takes place May 30th & 31st.
2025 Willys Jeep Rally
February 22, 2025 • CATEGORIES: Event, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Event Research Archives
Salt Lake Off-Road and Outdoor Expo 2025
February 21, 2025 • CATEGORIES: Event This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Ran across this event, 10th annual Salt Lake Off-Road and Outdoor Expo. Might be some Willys stuff here.
Feb 28th – March 1st
Volunteer opportunities are available.
It was posted on OWF as a cross post from ECJ5 about Novaks NovaDrive unit will be on display. It’s an overdrive for select transmissions, don’t have a ton of info on it, but seems like a coming soon deal.
But Novak is a great vendor to our Willys community providing some really slick transmission and powertrain swap products. They also have a great research area and library of information on all sorts of stuff.
No skin in the game here for eWillys, not associated with the event just sharing what looks to be a quality event if your in the Salt Lake area looking for something to do maybe check it out.
Fun Racing, But Bad Eyes
This weekend we tried pulling the trailer and jeep with the Alpine; I could rarely feel back there. I expect it will pull the tour jeep well also (when the time comes).
We spent part of this Labor Day weekend at the OverBored race, which is always a fun time. Unfortunately, the poor cell reception meant I couldn’t do updates while there, hence the delay in them.
While the jeep performed well, especially the power steering, thanks to the modifications I made to the pump, my deteriorating eye sight proved to be an insurmountable obstacle to success.
A year ago I had the detached retina. Prior to surgery in late August of 2023 I was warned that the surgery could cause the quick onset of a cataract. Following the surgery, everything seemed fine, but by Feb 2024 my left eye’s vision changed (cloudier with poor vision clarity) enough that I needed a new prescription. By May of 2024, the cataract rose to a 3 on a scale of 1-4, necessitating a new prescription, again. By late July, my eye sight declined further, so the eye-doc set me up with a Cataract clinic consult, but that won’t be until the end of October.
Nonetheless, I decided to try racing this weekend, as the jeep (and the Alpine coach) needed another shakedown, even though I figured the poor sight in the left eye might play into slow times. Sure enough, during my obstacle course run, while the jeep was raring to go, I hesitated quite a bit, as my glasses, which fit snuggly in my helmet, still vibrated slightly, leading me a few times to momentarily be unable to see where the course led. Though I completed the first race without making a mistake, I also knew I didn’t go as fast as I thought the jeep was capable of going.
For the second run, this time on the Cross Country course, I decided to be more aggressive. For example, I wanted to see how well the rear end kicked out around barrels, so I was more liberal with my sharp turns and gunning it, which, indeed, caused the jeep to spin nicely around the curves at time. Unfortunately, the speed caused me to make two mistakes. The first time I started to turn where there wasn’t a turn, but that time I just backed up, then got back on course. The second time I rocketed out into the open, only to lose track of which direction to go (it wasn’t well marked, but it’s still my fault). As a result, I ended up going around the outside of the course for about 50ft rather than staying in the correct lane. Basically, I guessed wrong.
For those times I could see, I was having a blast. I could feel what Leftovers was capable of doing and that felt great.
Rob Stafford and I talking while I waited my turn at the Cross Country course.
So, for me, that’s the end of the racing season this year. Hopefully, the cataract surgery occurs without issue (lots of folks report that it’s the best thing they’ve had done) and I can return next May with more success and more aggressive runs.
Anyway, here are some photos from this past weekend, thanks to Ann. We’ll start with a few valve-cover racing photos. Overbored runs this event each year. As the name implies, you build a rolling car from a valve cover. The valve car weight limit is 10lbs. The kids run their cars first, followed later by the adults. Here are some of the kid photos. The first shows Rob and Diana Stafford setting up the track.
The 2024 PNW4WDA Convention
August 19, 2024 • CATEGORIES: Event, Features • TAGS: Leftovers-racer. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Here I am Wednesday finishing up the lettering Ann made using her Cricut machine. We’ll see if they hold up!
On Thursday we loaded up for our six-hour drive to the west side of the state for Summer Convention. This weekend was very much a test weekend, for the motorhome, for the race jeep, for the trailer carrying the race jeep, etc. And, it didn’t take long for us to run into a problem. When I attempted to hook the trailer to the back of the motorhome, I discovered the hitch and ball did not sit low enough, so when I hooked up the trailer, it was sitting at too much of an angle. Arghhhh! Since we planned to take the truck anyway (just in case we had a problem), we just hooked the trailer to the truck, which Ann drove.
Race jeep loaded and ready for the road.
We arrived early to get a good camping spot and to get through the tech inspection. An old jeep friend Mike Julsrud was manning the clipboard, so it was great to catch up with him. Many ears ago we raced against each other in the 20 and under class, called the “Under the Hill Gang”; these days, we are “way over the Hill Gang”, lol.
On Friday morning, following the 8am driver’s meeting, Ann accompanied me and other racers on a parade lap of the obstacle and cross country courses. It’s a nice way for folks to tour the courses together, get a sense of where to drive, and a great community event. One concern bubbled up during our drive, the engine got a little hotter than it should have. One suggestion was that the timing might need to shift slightly, so I’ll give that a try. The good news is that, during my first run, the temp stayed where it should.
Me at the driver’s meeting with Betty Page and Lizzy in tow. The dogs came with us this weekend and, to our surprise and relief, were really well behaved!
As we waited for the parade lap to begin, Diana Stafford photo bombed us in the Stafford’s race jeep.
Here we are starting the parade lap on the obstacle course. This course was more wide open than the cross country course, which is where the jeeps went next. That truck in front of us wasn’t racing; it was just taking the opportunity to tour the track.
In this first video that Ann took, we were on the obstacle course, I was puttering along in 2nd gear, low range, but the video makes it seem like I was going faster:
Here’s a second video Ann shot just a few seconds later: Continue reading
2024 Southwest Ohio FC Gathering July 26-28
UPDATE: Next weekend is the 10th Annual Southwest Ohio Jeep FC Gathering & Swap Meet. If you aren’t attending, but want to order a T-shirt, you can use this link to do that.
https://www.designsnow.biz/product-page/jeep-fc-gathering-tshirt-2024
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If you are interested in attending, contact Roger or Sharon for more info:
Roger and Sharon Martin’s Place
1905 Roxanna New Burlington Road Waynesville, OH 45068
937-477-5270 rogerjm55 @gmail.com
Saturday Morning Bantam Festival Photos
Thanks to Roger Martin for sharing these Saturday morning photos from the Bantam Festival’s jeep history display. You can see Roger’s M-677 and his FC Fire Truck in a couple photos.
Bantam Jeep Festival Photos
Roger Martin shared these photos he took today (Friday) at this year’s Bantam Jeep Festival.
Chris @ Bantam Jeep Festival
Chris, aka thegrilleguy, is selling a variety of things at this year’s Bantam Jeep Festival, so drop by and say hello.
Great Willys Picnic and Bantam Fest This Weekend
This weekend is the Great Willys Picnic (in Kempton, PA) and Bantam Fest (in Butler, PA).
2024 Willys Rally
I was going to post many more updates, but a hay baler breaking down put a stop to that (long story). More updates Sunday morning.
This weekend is the Willys Rally at Heuston Woods. Tom was kind enough to take some pics for us.
