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Paul is back in the Garage — Year 25 …

November 18, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, Reader Stories • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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passenger_sideWith winter descending on Alaska, the time has come for Paul to direct his focus back on his beloved, shiny, stainless steel M-38.  One exciting difference between this year and the previous 24 years is that he is almost done — But no pressure Paul! Click on the pic to see the original post and followups.

Last spring, Paul reported that after some investigation, he discovered a M-151 radiator would fit perfectly into his engine compartment.  Recently, he took over an auto parts store (ok, maybe just a hose booklet in the store) to figure out a hose solution.  With that problem solved (it took 2 different hoses and a tube to link them), he now must figure out a fan solution.

With that background, take it away Paul …..

The Fan and Shroud

Paul writes, “After talking with the folks at Spal concerning their electric fans I ordered a 13 inch puller fan with straight blades along with a fan relay/installation kit.  The crazy part about this deal is when the Spal people wouldn’t sell me a fan over the phone, I would have to hang up and order on the internet and best of all I would pay over $50 dollars more for the fan and temp sensor/wiring kit than a Spal dealer in California was charging for the exact same items.  For some unknown reason The Fan Man (California dealer) sells lots of these fans at quite a discount and these are brand new fans.  No factory seconds, returns, or rebuilt units.

Anyway, the fan arrived last night undamaged and it looks great.  Thank you Fan Man!  The total fan thickness is slightly under two and a half inches and I have a little over three inches between the aft side of the radiator and the waterpump shaft.  Sweet!

The shroud on the M151 radiator has a 16 inch diameter circle for the fan so I bought a ten dollar piece of thin sheet steel, cut out a 16 inch diameter circle and tack welded this piece to the shroud.  After finishing with the tack welds I rough cut a 12 inch diameter slightly offset circle to allow for the correct placement of the new fan.  I didn’t have a compass large enough to layout a 12 inch diameter circle so I used a stir stick for paint and drilled a pivot hole in one end and another hole 6 inches away and large enough to hold the tip of a sharpie marker.  It worked slick.  Tomorrow I’ll finish welding the insert to the shroud, clean up the welds and trim the inner circle for a more precise fit to the fan assembly before I attach the fan to the shroud.

Things are looking good.  I really didn’t need the relay kit since I’d wired in a fan relay in the electrical box behind the passenger seat but it was cheaper to get the kit with the temp sensor and I could doublecheck the Willys wiring against the Spal wiring so I could identify any potential problems before mean old Mr. Electricity messes something up.

The Fuel Line

Today I received a 25 foot coil of copper/nickel 5/16th fuel line along with the needed fittings to attach the fuel line to the carb.  This is the same tubing I used on the brake and clutch systems (just a different size) and it’s a pleasure to work with.  The 3/16th tubing is flexible enough to be bent back to back 180 degree bends (with a one inch bend diameter so the tube now looks like the letter S) with no kinking, flattening or any defects at all.  Jeeze, I really like working with this stuff.  Check out the fedhillusa.com website, it’s amazing.    This latest batch of tubing should be more than enough to do all the fuel delivery and return lines with enough left over to cover any mistakes I might make along the way.

Modifying the Skid Plates

The local metal fabrication shop cut and bent an eighth inch thick skidplate for the V6 oil pan.  After drilling a one inch diameter hole for the drain plug (that’s the only size hole saw I have) I hand filed the hole to one and a half inch diameter before welding the skid plate to the pan.

I had to do a little work on the transmission/transfercase skid plate also.  When I welded up the exhaust assembly I included a joint below the tranny so the right exhaust pipe could be removed without touching the left side or the rest of the exhaust system.  What I forgot to figure in was the thickness of the clamp holding the exhaust pipes together at this joint so the skid plate had to be slotted to allow the clamp to protrude slightly.  To prevent rock damage (like I’m going to go bashing this thing thru boulders) I welded up a small deflector from eighth inch steel and welded this to the skid plate over the slot.  Just another little OOPSIE which needed to be worked around.

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Police CJ-3B in Ocean’s Eleven

November 18, 2010 • CATEGORIES: CJ-3B, Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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I have to say, I’m really enjoying my DVR.  It used to be that I would just channel surf during commericals just to see what is play.  Now, being the sophisticated DVRer that I am,  I can channel surf forward in time (which exponentially increases the time I can waste channel surfing) and then record shows that I might want to watch.

One of the shows I found, and recorded, was the original Ocean’s Eleven, which played recently on the Turner Classic Movie Channel.  I have to say that I thought it was a pretty good movie; it was also a great look at the Vegas of the 1950s.

Near the end of the movie, I spotted the Police CJ-3B shown below.  Unfortunately, the CJ-3B was a background piece, so there weren’t any really good shots of it.  I tried to figure out what the wording was along the hood — I don’t think it says “Las Vegas Police Force”.

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At a Walmart Parking Lot in Garden City, Id

November 18, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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No doubt most of you have seen the people of Walmart series:  inexplicable photos of Walmart Customers in all kinds of dress that leave you wondering what people are thinking.

Well, the other day I was visiting my local Walmart in Garden City.  I walked by this vehicle, stopped, did a double take, and muttered something like “seriously?”

Then, I came to my senses; Because, really, what do you do when the cardboard separating your bumper from your headlights no longer provides adequate support?  Of course, the natural solution is to slip a crescent wrench into the space.  After all, how much damage could a crescent wrench do if it were to get loose and bounce into the car next to you or behind you ….

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Nate has some ideas to share

November 15, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Features, Idea Factory • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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As part of his CJ-3A restoration Nate left his unique mark on his build with a variety of creative solutions.  You’ll enjoy these.

1. “I mounted my body with hockey pucks and valve springs. I did this to my offroad beater too, and they seem to work quite well.”

2. “I made some doors on my harrison heater to get some more heat to the driver’s side.”

3. “I made a removable jerry can holder that bolts to the rear draw bar. This works really well. I carry about 3 gallons in it, and haven’t had any problems.”

4. “To put turn signals in the 3A grille, I made 8 of these spacers (4 per side) to space out the lens to fit the bigger bulb.”

5. “Instead of having a switch on the dash to turn the reverse light on, I made this bracket with a push switch (one that doesn’t click and locks in the “on” position) to turn it on. The plunger is what activates it. This is a really handy mod.”

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Fish and Chips 2010

November 15, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Features, Trips This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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It is winter time and that means only one thing:  time for the Wandering Willys Jeep Club to complete their annual Winter run over the Naches Trail in search of Fish & Chips (You might remember their 2009 trip report here).  The restaurant of choice was a local favorite called Gold Creek Station Restaurant.

I’ve snagged a few pics from their website.  You can see pics of the entire trip here.

Of course, you gotta have the initial line up …

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Ready to go Camping ….

November 13, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Camping, CJ-3B, Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE:  I did a little more research and finally found this photo at the CJ-3B Page.  There is a complete discussion of the history of the CJ-3B, including a note that the CJ-3B has a custom body extension and a Sears top was purchased that was also custom extended. It’s a good story to read.

I’m not sure where this image might have originated, but I spotted it at expeditionportal.com.

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Egon’s recently restored CJ-3A

November 13, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Features, International This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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When I last heard from Egon in early 2010, he was considering mounting a flat fender body onto his CJ-5.  However, during the intervening months he had the opportunity to purchase a mostly restored CJ-3A, which was originally brought to Europe for the Swiss Army.

The body on this flattie was replaced about 12 years ago, while the transmission and engine are original to the Jeep.  He spent time this year finishing the project, adding a roll bar, new rims and new tires.   He plans to use his new toy to hunt and explore in and around his Liechtenstein countryside.

I’ve also included a couple pics Egon sent me about a recent hunting trip to Russia where he spent time with some friends.  In his email about the trip, he mentions the All-Wheel-Drive Niva, about which I was unfamiliar;  So, I researched the Niva, which lead to this post.  He notes that the Niva functions well on the Russian terrain of Kirov, however it is a little small for a hunter and all his gear.

After Restoration

Continue reading →

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Rat Patrol and another tipped Jeep

November 12, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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As part of the ongoing series on jeeps tipped on their sides for repair, a reader named Warren reports that the first episode, season 1, 14:51 minutes into the show of the Rat Patrol features a brief view of one of the characters working on a Jeep on its side.  I don’t have a copy of the video, but here is a snapshot courtesy of Warren.

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