Progress again . . . after I moved again.

Guess I'm due for my usual two year entry, and now that I've finally got a real shop to work in, maybe I'll start making more entries.  Anyways, to make a long story short, I've finally got both jeeps on site at my new home in Bella Vista, AR.  I'm getting very close finishing the 1947 CJ2A, so most of the posts for a while will be about that.  I want to finish it before I launch back into the M38A1.

Here's new pics, of the new shop & the tear down for painting.  My next move will be to get everything cleaned & prepped for painting.

Disassembly of the grill & front cap so I can paint the components.

Clean (if a bit dusty) engine compartment.

A bit of polish . . . 

More when I have the time!  Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!

New Ride

Just scored my new ride, a 2000 Saab 9-5 turbo sports wagon. Excited about owning my first European car, as well as having a car with all the bells & whistles!

Progress At Last!!! Sort of . . . .

If there's one thing anyone who gets enthralled with restoring an antique vehicle, particularly if you're using most of the original parts (i.e., no reproductions), will learn almost immediately is that when you fix one problem, you generally find the next one. Here's my latest conundrum: I had an issue with the fuel system; debris kept clogging up the line & cutting off the fuel supply to the fuel pump. My father, being the hero that he is, bought me a new fuel tank for my birthday, which I supplemented with a new fuel line. In the process of transferring the the fuel sending unit from the old tank to the new, found the new problem & a major culprit of the debris: the sending unit was a huge crusty, rusty mess. So I order a new unit, wait a few days, then have to go on a bolt search, as the old bolts didn't fit the new tank. That problem solved, I finally get everything hooked up & installed and whaddya know, I have a good fuel supply to the fuel pump & carb, at long last. BUT . . . . . and there's always a but . . . . apparently now I have a problem with my carb, as I can't rev the motor up without it skipping & missing (it idles OK, but could be better). So I check all the plugs & wires, play around with the choke, and still it won't rev appropriately. So, next steps will be to make sure I'm using good gas, run it with some cleaner through, and maybe even take the carb apart & rebuild as a last measure . . . . it is an older carb, & I think the real root of the problem is a sticky float, as sometimes I can tap the sides of it & it will rev a time or too, then go back to choppy running.

Oh, the joys of old vehicles . . . . certainly worth the character building!

Been a while . . .

Been a while since I've made any entries, and truth be told, there's been very little to post on with regards to Jeeps . . . . I've made no progress, having many more activities to fill my time with & all progress on the Flattie on hold. However, for December, some activity has finally surfaced! My Dad did the awesome job of getting me a new fuel tank for the Flattie, as the older one we installed kept pluggin up at the outlet line due to rust & debris. So I pulled the old one & proceeded to install the new one, but low & behold, when I went to transplant the fuel sending unit, I found a major contributor to the rust & debris problem; it was a rust popsicle. So, 3 days later & a new sending unit in hand from Krage Motorsports, I go to install it in the new tank, the last item left to complete the fuel system so I can fill the tank & fire up the motor again . . . . but once again, a another challenge reared its head: the bolts from the old sending unit that I matched up with new bolts for the new unit won't fit in the new tank sending unit location! So now, considering I don't care to keep investing in bolts until I find the right ones, I've got several posts out on forums I participate on & an email out to Krage for an answer to get the right size bolts.

THEN, I can finally fire it up & hopefully have no running issues with it. It's now been almost 4 years & I'm ready to finally get to enjoy driving it, rather than just admiring it in my garage. Stay tuned in for further details . . . once this challenge is overcome, the next big challenge is getting it painted, an adventure in itself, given I have a nonexistent budget to do it with.

Well, the latest news is that we've successfully moved to Jacksonville, Florida. The girls are happy, I'm real happy, & Florida is NICE. Have had to change the plans for the restoration projects, however. After getting the painting done successfully on my M38A1 in Memphis, Dad brought my other project, the '47 CJ2A, over & we made a swap just before the move. Given the cost of homes, neighborhood restrictions, etc., I've had to make a decision about which Jeep I can take with me (due to limited storage & no private back yard to hide it from the neighbors) . . . given that Dad & I have spent around 3 years working on the 2A, and I'm so close to getting it finished, I'm taking it with me to work on.

Key items on the list are getting it registered/licensed, getting the seat cushions attached to the frames, & getting the issue with the fuel system fixed. The tank I have has a bad interior, with some debris (apparently rust) that keeps stopping up the the line. I'm trying to find out which will be cheaper . . . having the inside of the tank cleaned & sealed, or just buying a new tank. After that, I'll be on the hunt for someone to do an economical paint job . . . just need someone who knows what they're doing to shoot the paint for me, as I have the paint I want for it (see previous post for a preview). In the meantime, here's some pics of the M38A1 after I painted & reassembled everything, before sending it to the farm with Dad for storage. The reason for the windshield & grill not getting painted are that I have a replacement grill that's in better shape I just didn't have time to swap, & I'm not sure I'm going to keep the existing windshield, as it is a venting windshield . . . military windshields on A1's were not venting, that was a civvie feature. More to come soon!

Seat Cushions for the Flattie

New seat cushions for the flattie . . . . moving along! Now if we can just get it painted, I got the paint in the other day, a beautiful 'Normandy Blue'.





Imagine this without the stars, numbers & with the tire mounted on the side . . .

A Really Drab Day . . . .

Well, I can't say much other than it was a really drab day, today in Memphis . . . . an Olive Drab day, that is. Finally took the jump & painted the jeep today. Can't say I'll be quitting my day job to pursue a career in auto painting, but at least it's painted, and the right color at that.