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The Former Pittle Power

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

I just got some pics from the owner (who shall remain nameless until he sends me his name 🙂 ) of the jeep formerly known as Pittle Power (I remember it as Piddle Power though).   I don't remember the history of the Jeep prior to Jim and Patty Carter purchasing it, but I believe they purchased it so their growing boys, Tim and Steve, wouldn't have to squish themselves into the back of Otis.  They purchased a stock CJ-3A, installed a chev 4cyl and attached desert dogs.   Otherwise (I'm told) they left everything else stock.  Pittle might not have had much power (hence the name), but it could go 99% of the places the modified WWJC jeeps could go.

The Carter's had a habit of naming all their vehicles.  There was Otis (the jeep), tote-us (the jeep trailer), Brutus (their first motorhome) and more.

Our To-Be-Named contributor writes:

"The Jeep I bought was owned by Jim Carter(original member of the WWJC). The race name was Pittle Power. Skip Baird helped me with my first swap with a V-6 and a top loader. Al Hamilton and I became very close infact I still have one of his pups Mandy she is a very stubborn German Shorthair."

Editor's note:  To the right is the only picture I have of Pittle Power from 1983 (and it's only the hind quarter) hidden behind Danny's CJ-5.  While the Pittle Power was never actually raced, I do remember a club trip to Liberty Trail one weekend.  After we made camp, Tim Carter decided he wanted to head down to the store and asked me to ride shotgun (somehow he knew there was a remote store at the bottom of the hill we were camped on). So, he drove me down that hill in Pittle Power, a ride I remember vividly because we were travelling sideways down the constantly turning gravel road for a good portion of it.    Come to think of it, one time Tim took me for a ride in his late 60's camaro and we travelled sideways heading onto the cloverleaf on ramp to I-405.  Maybe Tim always travelled sideways or I just brought it out of him.

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Mitch rolls his CJ-3A on ‘flat’ ground

• CATEGORIES: M-38, News This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

To make me feel better about cutting my brake line, Mitch sent me this series of images of him rolling his jeep last year at Rimrock (Washington State) on 'flat' ground. It kind of looks like Mitch's jeep rolled over and played dead to get out of the mud.  Another way to look at it is that, if you are going to roll over, smarter to do it on flat ground rather than on a steep hill …. but right in front of a no parking sign? (see last pic)

Here's Mitch's take on it:

"Here's the series of pics…..That mud was real thick….In the process of rocking it back and forth I was making good progress of getting out….When the front end finally pulled the rear out of the hole, it immediately slid to the left and dropped the left front tire off the little ledge you can barely see in the pics. I had enough momentum and it was enough of a drop that the jeep just slowly flopped on the left side. No damage at all. The cage and tires were the only things that touched ground."

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Hurricane 6 help wanted in the Troy Idaho area

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

Here's an interesting ad for someone who needs help with their hurricane 6 engine.  Never worked with them myself.

"Looking for assistance with getting a Super Hurricane 6 running right. Seems to be carb.. Carter YF.. putting out too rich mixture so runs on only two or three cylinders with occasional four or five. Ideally, someone might be near with a known good carb to subsitute long enough to drive this gem from Troy to Palouse. Willing to pay for expert help, of course. Thanks, Bob in Palouse 509 878 1471"

http://pullman.craigslist.org/car/752056711.html 

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1975 Mail Jeep Drag Racer — Oregon $15,000

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

Can't say I saw this coming … a Mail Jeep Drag Racer?  For $15k no less!  I'm sure they broke the mold after they build this one.  Note that it is still street legal, which means you can still deliver the mail with it, especially since it is still right hand drive!

"This is a "One of a Kind" 1975 Mail Jeep/Gasser/Ratrod. This is a 10 second "street legal" drag car. It has a full tube chassis: .120 wall steel tubing. Motor: 408 Ford Windsor, 10 to 1 compression, steel crank, 618" roller cam and valve train, Roush heads, 504ftlbs of torque, over 500hp. TCI C4 Tranny and TCI converter w/4200 stall. Ford 9" rearend, 23" drum to drum, spool, after-market axles, 31 spline, 3:89 gears. The body has been chopped 4" and the frontend stretched 3", Ratrod black, Full MSD Ignition, Painless wiring harness. Car weighs 2400lbs. It is still right-hand drive. This car is fun and easy to race – runs straight. For more info please call Mike @ (541)499-8625. $15,000."

http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/car/748834075.html 

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My first build — Old pix emerge

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

I assumed these pictures were lost, but they appeared in a trunk my ex-wife kindly gave back to me.  The first pic is a good shot of my first jeep’s roll cage.  The second pic is a pre-paint job pic of my first jeep stuck in the Rabbit Hole, a small mud pit at the Eastern edge of the Naches Trail.  The third pic should come with a caption “Oh does my nose hurt!”.  The fourth pic is a great shot of the jeep parked at Roche Harbor Resort on San Juan Island (Washington State) while working there in 1987.  The final pic shows the down side of oil pressure problems — broken rod, piston, and other parts.

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1964 M677 Gardner, MA **SOLD**

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

UPDATE: Was on eBay. **SOLD**

“This is a military issue model M677 (Crew Cab FC-170) and is an 11-passenger troop carrier that has the original issue aluminum canopy on the back body. It runs and drives and the brakes work. It has the orignial Cerlist 3-cylinder, 2 stroke diesel/multi-fuel engine. We believe the mileage is original. The sheet metal is in incredibly good shape, minor surface rust on frame, but no heavy rust anywhere. We have the original owner’s and parts manuals. It seems to be 98% complete. It’s just missing the head liner on the roof. It’s a very solid unit and very rare. Only 3,000 military FCs were built and only 60-100 of those FCs had the multi-fuel Cerlist engine. According to Jeep expert, Jim Allen, “it has a five-star investment potential”. There are a few spots where you can see the original Olive Drab color underneath the white paint. Feel free to message me if you have any questions or comments. Happy Bidding!”

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1961 FC-170 Ohio eBay

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

This is the first Stakebed FC-170 I've seen.  Looks good.

"HI You are bidding on a beautiful FC 170 Willys Jeep. This jeep has had a frame off restoration in 1992 and has been garage kept. There is no mud in this turck. It is a 1961 Jeep FC170, 6cyl, 3 speed with overdrive, 4×4, power steering, power brakes, vinyl and cloth interior (custom made), clear title, 235/85/r16 tires and 16 inch rims. The bed is made of appatong wood and it is beautiful. The bed is a dump bed but the hydraulics were never installed. The truck has been undercoated…"

View more pics on eBay 

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Montana Bound for a week

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

Updates will be intermitent for about a week as I'm heading up to Great Falls, Montana, for a commemoration of the new interpretive information at Giant Springs State Park. Apparently, my great great grandfather, Anton Eilers, is considered the father of industry in Great Falls (due to the construction of a smelter).  The park department sent me an invitation to attend the event as the representative for the Eilers clan.  Since I love a good road trip and have never been to Great Falls, how could I resist?  

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My Build — More Engine fun …

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

UPDATE June 21:   My second trip for bearings to the NAPA store was a failure.  They shipped me bearings that were wrong AGAIN!  I got my money back and went online to find bearings.  That was a failure as well as I couldn't get anything to ship sooner than July 7.  Desperate to do the build while the kids are here, I turned to autozone.  Amazingly, not only did they have the bearings in the store and in stock, but they were only $26 (for the same Clevite77 bearings NAPA was charging me $42).  Even better, I had earned $10 on my Autozone store card and  so the final cost for the bearings was only $17. —–

June 20th .. I was all ready to assemble the engine when I discovered the Main bearings didn't fit correctly.  After examining them more carefully, I discovered they didn't work at all.  The 'tang' was in the wrong location as was the oil hole.  

This morning, I took the bearings back to the NAPA store.  After a discovery process of about 20 minutes we finally concluded I got the correct bearing box, but the box had tractor bearings rather than buick v-6 bearings.  So, my new bearings should be here tomorrow morning.  Because of this, the engine build has been delayed until monday (when the kids are back). 

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