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James’ newest find …

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

James found this cj-2a with a m38 body on Craigslist for $2,000.  He pounced on it immediately.  I'm not sure how I missed it during my searches!  Just goes to show I can't find them all.

This is an excellent find, especially since the body is in excellent condition reports James.  It's also one of the best California deals I've seen … 

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Reader’s Builds — Brian’s new bumper for his CJ-3B

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

Brian's been busy creating a new bumper for his CJ-3B build. He's says it's nothing fancy, but I think it's pretty nice.  Here's a start-to-finish explanation of the work it took to make his bumper.  Thanks for sharing Brian!

"Because the springs are longer than stock, I had to come up with a way to lengthen the frame a little in the rear. So, I fabricated  a new rear bumper and incorporated a swing out spare tire mount.  In addition, rather than cut holes into the body, I decided to put the tail lights in the bumper. To make the bumper, I only need to use a grinder, drill press, and a Mig welder — it's nothing fancy."

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Jeep Trailers – Signal Corp Trailer in Portland $500

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

One of the ewillys readers asked me about jeep trailers for sale in the northwest.  A quick search yielded a particularly interesting trailer from ww2 — a signal corp trailer.

" WW2 Jeep K38 trailer used by the U.S. army signal corps. This one looks like the one shown in a U.S.M.C manual from 1945."

http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/clt/793426125.html 

Here's some links for some other bantam or bantam-like trailers that vary in price up to $1000:

Here's two in Boise:
http://boise.craigslist.org/rvs/759917596.html
http://boise.craigslist.org/for/746020714.html

Here's two in Seattle area:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/for/786057441.html
http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/787906671.html

Here's some from Colorado:
http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/738018276.html
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/793752045.html
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/791160878.html (very heavy duty trailer)
http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/781431779.html

And Utah:
http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/rvs/763935116.html (modern, but probably looks nice behind a CJ-5)

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Blueprints for Willys

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

Here's an interesting site I found. Blueprints.com  claims to have over 24,000 automobile blueprints online (though they appear more like a single drawing rather than full blueprints), including a variety of jeeps.  To the right is a jeep labeled CJ-4.  The site manager states:

"I do not claim to have made, scanned or drawn all of the blueprints on this website. I did on the other collect, edit and host all of them, free of charge, in my spare time.

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My Build – Fender Update

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

I made good progress over the weekend. As you can see, I was able to mount the fenders and take a few shots of the jeep with the fenders.  It will look good.

In order to fit the fenders, I had to make cutouts in the wheel wells for the headers.  But, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted to fill around the headers.  So, I bought a little bit of stove pipe and used that as a form to wrap fiberglass around the headers.  

The last pic is the fenders with the new covers for the headers.  To match the rest of the underside of the body, I'm going to paint herculiner on the wheelwell of the fenders (which saves a bunch of finish work) and fill in the gaps and paint the top and inside of the headers.

Here are some pics below.

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Reader Pix — David’s Parents at the Sand Dunes

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A, Features, News This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

A reader named David has shared an old picture of his parents racing around the sand dunes in what looks to be a CJ-2A.  This picture is a good reminder that you don't need a fancy jeep to go out and enjoy a day in the sand.  David will be sending a few more pictures along with some background text soon.  Thanks David!

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Why a Roll Cage is a good idea

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

Take one look at this photo and you can see why having a good roll cage is smart.  The driver of this jeep, 63 year old Alvin Baldwin, died in the rollover after being ejected.  The link to the original article no longer exists.  It occurred outside Virginia City.

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Drive Cycles and Emissions

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

Well, I learned something new today:  Drive Cycles …. 

A couple days ago my 1997 BMW 540i failed an emissions test (for the second year in a row).  Last year I had shown enough money spent on the engine to get a waiver.  This year, I was a little nervous because I didn't know whether they'd give me a second waiver or not.  (This vehicle is a blast to drive and a PIA to take care of or work on!!)

Well, I just got done speaking with the head of the Air Quality Testing for ADA County, my new friend Roger (I have to say that it's nice to be able to talk to the head of the department — that's one nice thing about living in a small populated state).  What happened was not that I failed, but that they couldn't read my car's computer.  The reason was that I have not completed a drive cycle since the last time I reset my car's computer codes (Any time I work on it, I reset the codes to see if I have fixed the problem).  I figured anytime I got into the car and drove it that the computer would be on and recording normally.  However, until a drive cycle is complete, none of my monitors (which are really groups of codes) are actually capable of being read.  So, Roger, who said he consulted with the EPA back in 1992, said he had a good deal of insight into what constituted a drive cycle.

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My Build – Operation Fender Length .. cont

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

I made a good deal of progress with the fenders yesterday.  I created a series of mini molds and fiberglassed several times in different sections to successfully capture the right angles.  So, step 1 is complete.

Today I'll be drilling and mounting the fenders so that they fit correctly.  One issue I have to surmount is that the slope on the fenders seems slightly different than the slope on the mount on the body, but I'm sure I can work around this issue.

Once fitted, then I'll have to create the cutouts for the headers and then create the new walls so that the headers are enclosed.  Unlike metal fenders, which wouldn't lose too much strength when cutout for headers, the fiberglass will benefit from having that extra strength.

After the final modifications are made, I will be to run a second coat of resin and cloth along the entire underside of the fenders.  This will create a smoother look and strengthen the fenders considerably.  

The final step will be to use some filler and gel coat to smooth off the top surfaces — then I'll be ready for paint. 

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