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Report From the 2017 Southwest Ohio FC Gathering

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

Roger Martin reported on hi Southwest Ohio FC Gathering last weekend.

He wrote, “Over 30 FC’ers and friends spent part of their weekend at the Third Annual FC Gathering, July 14-16. The weather was hot but dry.  There were 6 visiting FC trucks, one of which was a military M677 and one had a trencher.  There was an early jeep pick-up (and even a 1936 MG Police Car…the only one in the US and one of two in existence.  The owner was in Ohio for a show and stopped by to see the FC’s.  He has an FC170 but did not have it with him.)  There were 11 other FC’s on site for a total of 17 FC trucks in all.  A few parts were traded.”

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UPDATE: Operation Pineapple — the 1955 44,000 Mile Trip

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

UPDATE: The world can be such an amazing place sometimes. Last night we got to spend time with Hugo Vidal and his son Fernando. Hugo’s memories of his 1955 trip are very clear, enough so that he’s writing a book about the adventure. His book begins with Operation Pineapple and will end with Alaska Or Rust. 

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Hugo was enjoying looking through the Willys News periodicals from the mid 1950s. He recognized some of people in them.

Originally posted June 23, 2015: The CJ-3B page does a good job covering the history of Operation Pineapple, a 1955 trip by three Sao Paulo Boy Scouts: Hugo Vidal, Charles Downey, and Jan Stekly. You can read everything about it here: http://cj3b.info/Finds/FindsPineapple.html. The Allpar site has additional information and a later photo of Hugo: http://www.allpar.com/racing/road-rally/operation-pineapple.html

Adding to those links, I have found a couple additional photos and more information about the trip. The first photo was published in the September 1955 issue of Willys News:

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Note the missing tire on the spare rim. Hugo says they went through eleven tires. During their trip they had no mechanical issues.

California’s Lodi News-Sentinel published a story about the last leg of their trip on January 18, 1956.

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Day 2: Patterson Arrives in Pasco

• CATEGORIES: Alaska Or Rust Trip, Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

<– Day 1: July 21, Alaska Or Rust Has Begun | Day 3: July 23,  Alaska Updates  –>

UPDATE: To clarify this post, I’d been spending several weeks getting Patterson ready for the trip. Like everyone else, I had to deal with last minute issues, like my front hubs getting too warm. Here’s my efforts to pull our 1956 DJ-3A from Seattle to Pasco, Washington, where we would officially start our leg of the trip with Brazilians Hugo and Fernando Vidal.

Original Post July 22, 2017: Well, folks, we are one step closer to Alaska; I successfully pulled Patterson over to Pasco yesterday. Normally, the drive takes just over three hours. However, I took the scenic, slow route, with some stops along the way to adjust my front wheel bearings. Apparently, I tightened them too tight (I thought I had left some play, but I guess not enough). I suspected this when I finished installing them on Friday, which is why I made a decision to bring along my hub puller.

About 10 minutes into my journey I pulled over and felt both front hubs. They didn’t feel hot. Then, I got stuck in stop-and-go traffic for about an hour heading eastbound on I90 (for those that know the area … from Tiger Mountain on Highway 18 all the way to the first big curve on I90 east of North Bend).

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Traffic was awful!

I climbed the pass on Interstate 90, then pulled off at Snoqualmie and felt the hubs. They were hot to the touch. So, I loosened the bolts, let them cool, and had some delicious BBQ at Webbs. We’ve eaten there twice and everything that we’ve tried — pulled pork, brisket, sausage, potatoes, coleslaw and corner bread — have been excellent and surprisingly affordable!

2017-07-21-snoqualmie-passThere are worse places to hangout and eat.

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Everything was delicious!

The hubs were still feeling hot by the time I reached Indian John Hill east of Cle Elum. So, I readjusted them again. About that time, a father and his sons walked up and asked about the jeep, so I had them sign the right fender.

After Ellensburg, I took the Ellensburg-Selah Canyon Road (not sure what the name is offhand) and stopped to feel the hubs again. Loosening the bolt wasn’t working, so I retrieved my tools and worked on the driver’s hub.

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Nice evening and view for working on the hubs. This passenger side hub was particularly difficult.

It wasn’t easy, but I finally got one stubborn hub to give. The second hub (passenger side) was more difficult and, after breaking an older torque wrench (it was already in bad shape) I decided to leave the nut a little loose AND try some rougher back roads. It took several hours at 30-40 mph, but finally the bearing was pushed out a little. After that, I was able to up my speed to 60 mph without any heat buildup.

I made it back to Pasco about midnight feeling victorious!

<– Day 1: July 21, Alaska Or Rust Has Begun | Day 3: July 23,  Alaska Updates  –>

 
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Day 1: Alaska Or Rust Has Begun!

• CATEGORIES: Alaska Or Rust Trip, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Day 2: July 22, Patterson Arrives in Pasco –>

UPDATE: The following series of posts details the Alaska Or Rust crew’s adventures (view crew and jeeps here), starting with our separate trips to Dawson Creek, BC, Canada, the official start of the Alaska Or Rust adventure (see overview and why we did the trip here).

There were 11 jeeps and 25 people that headed to the starting line. Our goal was for everyone to meet in Dawson Creek on July 27th, 2017. 

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After centuries of planning, or maybe it just feels that way, the first intrepid jeepers are on their way. Scott Gilbert, Rick Pacholski, and Bob Christy are leaving Cincinnati, Ohio, in Scott’s wagon, bound for Paris, Illinois.

Meanwhile, Bill Reiss is about ready to leave Pennsylvania in his updated former Dually Trencher CJ-5 and custom trailer.:

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Merlin and Britt will be leaving soon in their WWII Willys MB, now that his tow rig has a new tranny (these things have to come at the worst time!), along with Joe and Emily in their CJ-3B.

Hugo and Fernando Vidal are flying out late tonight and will be arriving in Portland early Saturday morning. They’ll be driving up to Seattle to pick up their Wrangler (thanks to Jeep’s parent company FCA) and then driving to meet us in Pasco. We plan to leave on the 24th. However, the western fires in British Columbia have led to change our route north slightly.

Day 2 – July 22, Patterson Arrives in Pasco –>

 
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FJ-3 Restoration by Fantomworks Next Week

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

Ron and Valerie Patton’s FJ-3 will appear on the Fantomworks reality tv show next Tuesday on Velocity. Read more here: http://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/lawrence-county-native-hits-reality-tv-with-jeep-restoration/article_b9f30e1a-6c02-11e7-a70b-f313d391a204.html

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Wagon Photo from the Grunwald Center

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

Steve passed along this interesting photo of Willys wagon printed in a Summer 2017 periodical. The text seems to be unrelated to the photo and offers not information about it.

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Brake Cleaning & Axle Swap

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

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I spent a long time in the garage and now it’s the wee hours of the morning, so just a few posts today. This isn’t much of a post, but you get the idea …

I pulled the brakes and wheel cylinders off the front. The front wheel cylinders were full of crud, but the cylinders themselves, along with the rubber, were still in good shape, so I honed the cylinders, cleaned the parts, and reassembled them.

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Since I have everything apart, I decided to installed a different axle. It’s clean and I’m not sure it’s every been used.

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1956 Photo of Jack Moore

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

Jack’s son-in-law David Watson shared this photo of Jack when he was Staff Sergeant Jack L. Moore, USAF, pulling guard duty with his M-38 jeep, M-1 carbine and .45 pistol. The photo was taken at Aviano Air Base, Italy, circa 1956. Jack was a member of the 614th Fighter Squadron, a F-84 unit, at the time. Jack’s not 85 and doing well!

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The Ultimate Jeep-Golf-Cart? $5900

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

Paul assures me that this would be perfect for the person who has everything. I guess I’m a LONG ways from getting this.

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/cto/d/brand-new-custom-jeep/6223262941.html

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2017 PA Jeeps’ Show

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

Don shared these pics from 2017 PA Jeeps Show in Pennsylvania. Thanks!
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