Dan shared some images updates on the progress of rebuilding his grandfather’s CJ-5.  Truly, I don’t know how he finds the time as he always seems to have nightly craigslist links to share with readers (many thanks for those!).  See some past posts about Dan’s project here.

As you can see, Dan has rebuilt the Hudson steering column, painted the front end, and readied the front end for an updated disc braking system.  NICE!  This will should look great when finished.  Thanks for sharing …

Dave forwarded this to me.  I know it’s not a jeep, and I haven’t called to see if this ad is for real, but it’s so funny, I don’t care.

2002 Focus – good reliable first car – $2000 (Cape Girardeau)

“Looking for a first car for a teen? This car is absolutely brilliant. It’s got low mileage (68k), has been super reliable, and is excellent on gas. Since you’re likely paying for the gas, this will make things much cheaper on you. I average like 37MPG to a tank. And with such low mileage, it’ll work great for a long long time.

But you wanna know the best reason to buy this car for your kid?

It’s slow as shit. You don’t have to worry about speeding tickets or accidents in this baby. Your kid could have a 1 mile run and hit a brick wall not wearing a seatbelt and not be going fast enough to do shit. And there won’t be any sense in him getting some shitty ass fart can off of eBay – this car has the super slow SPI engine, no sense in trying to make it any faster. It’s a 4-door, so your kid won’t try to put gay ass Lambo doors on it. It is still possible to fit this with a body kit, but if you’d like, for an extra $200, I can stab him in the face if he does this.

It’s a 5-speed, so your kid can’t talk on his cell phone while playing Gameboy and smoking pot – he’ll have to actually pay attention. It also means you won’t have to pay for an automatic transmission when your kid beats the hell out of it. It’s got a new clutch and new tires, so you’ll know if he does burnouts. After all, I’m sure YOU’RE the one paying for tires, right? It’s got an aftermarket head unit in it, so your kid won’t fuck it up when him and his buddies try to wire in a “phat ass system”. It’s already had the speakers replaced too, so he won’t have to tear the door cards on and then look like a retard when he can’t get them back on. It’s got manual windows too, so he can’t fuck up the window motors when he rolls one of his friends heads up in it as a joke. A new battery means when he leaves his headlights on, it won’t leave you totally stranded.

But really though, one of the best parts is that, because it is a 4 door, it will be somewhat embarrassing for him to be seen in. I’m sure you get pissed at him from time to time. Hell, you’re probably mad at him for harassing you into buying him a first car. So get this one. It has no A/C, so you’ll know he’s suffering every time you get mad at him. Pretty satisfying. It’ll bring a smile to your face too, to know he’s rolling around looking like a faggot in a Ford Focus.

So buy this car for your kid. You won’t regret it ”

http://semo.craigslist.org/cto/1672654758.html

Good News!  I found myself a set of professionally rebuilt heads for a great price (thanks Greg!).  Greg Berheim dropped me a line after I posted my craigslist Ad (wanted: engine heads).  He wrote that he had acquired a set of heads as part of an engine/parts buyout and didn’t have any use for them.

So, I drove over and met with Greg.  It turns out, Greg operates the Berheim Engine Machine Shop, a local engine shop in Meridian (208-870-1464), Idaho.  This information was especially interesting to me as Bob’s Mechanical had been bought out and most of the services moved about an hour away from me.

So, after spending time with Greg and him generously providing some advice and thoughts on my engine issues, I now know who to turn to if I need any additional work done (which I really hope I don’t need soon!!).  So, if you are in the Boise area and need some engine work done, check out Greg.

Tonight, I pulled the passenger-side head and will get the covers and intake cleaned up tomorrow.  I also carefully cleaned the surface of the heads, as the block facing surfaces had some light surface residue that needed to be removed. Saturday, I’ll put everything together and see if everything works!

You are likely unfamiliar with the Willys Jeep WWII J-8.  Constructed in an underground bunker in Los Alamos by the same scientists who constructed the Atomic Bombs (they needed something to do on their days off) during WWII, this unique piece of WWII history wasn’t released until decades later by the folks at Chrysler.  (ok, so I made that last bit up — hey, it will be April Fools on Thursday — but I didn’t make up this Ad).

“Custom World War II Willy’s Jeep Army Edition J-8 Lookalike. Why shell out over $50K+ for an authentic Military J8 that you cant drive on the road when u can get this 4 door version for tens of thousands less? ….”

http://providence.craigslist.org/ctd/1670239708.html

UPDATE: I called Steve (see below) and he had a perfect engine for me, a 1985 Buick 3.8L for only $199.  Unfortunately, I waited until Saturday to go see the engine and it was sold by then!  However, someone else responded to my Ad.  As part of a parts liquidation they bought, they have a pair of rebuilt heads that are exactly what I need.  So, this should work out perfectly (I should have them by Tuesday and will provide an update then). Hopefully, this resolves the issues with my engine!

(03/25/2010) I placed a I-need-heads-for-my-buick-v6 ad on Craigslist tonight.  I got responses right away. I also located an engine (and tranny) for $125, a brand new rebuild engine in Kennewick for $500, and a running engine in Tacoma for $100.  It’s been a good day for parts hunting!

Steve contacted me. He’s local (actually lives in Eagle, Id).  He’s liquidating a bunch of rebuild motors with new re-manufactured blocks.  They are all being sold for $199.  You can read more about these motors here: http://boise.craigslist.org/pts/1650718277.html
If you like something you see in that list, let me know and I’ll check it out.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $550.

The seller has this as a ’46 and a military Jeep.  I think not.

“NICE OLD PROJECT. 1946 WILLYS MILITARY JEEP.SOME RUST IN BODY.DOESN’T RUN. CHEVY 4 CYL.4 WHEEL DRIVE. DUAL SHIFTERS. MILITARY TIRES.3 SPEED. NO TITLE. GOOD PROJECT. $550.00”