I am happy to report that rumors of my imminent demise were grossly exaggerated, though said rumors likely evolved from my own posts. So, you can place your pall-bearer suits (or jeans and t-shirts) and your mourning outfits back on their hangers. It looks like I will be around for a little while longer!

Of course, God, with a sense of humor unmatched, plucked me off that frying pan (the first bed they gave me seemed hard as one) and dropped me into the fire, that being the record heat we had around here. For all my Arizona brethren, you can have your crazy 115+ temps! Though, I will say the hot temps made it very easy to stay inside and get well.

Back on the fateful day when I checked myself into the emergency room, and once they determined my near death seemed avoidable, I had plenty of time to kill and a full charge on my phone: dangerous bedfellows!  Yet, I didn’t know if I was out-of-the-woods totally, so I figured I might as well let folks know that, as my father used to say in his understated manner, ‘there’s a problem’. Thankfully, I now feel reassured enough to say that, there is currently no longer a problem (knuckles meet wood).

But, that doesn’t mean eWillys will be back anytime soon. I’m enjoying this extended break. It may be that eWillys never returns to its original format. Instead, I’ll take this time to figure out a way that the site can be of use without the time demands of the past.

Before I go, I once again have to thank everyone who shared their stories about eWillys. It is always gratifying and humbling to see strange idea of mine evolved into something worthwhile.

Finally, I will leave you with two posts below, both oddities deserving of attention.

Dave

I’m sure you are as shocked as I am that this post is about yours truly working on a jeep! It’s truly a miracle!

This all started because this weekend and into the early part of next week, we will have record hot temperatures, the hottest of which seem to be centered on ol’ little Prosser, Washington! (See the Axios story here) … records are going to fall.

Because things are supposed to heat up, I wanted to clear room in the shop so we could move a couple more vehicles in there. To do that, I wanted to move the racing jeep underneath Patterson (which would be lifted up on the hoist). But, to drive the racer within the hoist stands, I wanted to remove the wheel spacers to reduce the width.

Sounds simple enough, right? So, I jacked up the rear, pulled one rear tire. That’s when I saw this mess: several of the Allen bolts have been stripped. Ugh. WTF?

I figured I had a minimum of 2 solutions:

1. I can weld Allen wrenches on each of the stripped bolts, then (hopefully) spin them off.
2. I can drill out the Allen bolts.

Thankfully, I don’t want the spacers anyway; if they get ruined in the process, so be it.

But, before I started, I figured I would throw my dilemma out to you folks to see if there are any other ideas floating around?

Joe-in-Mesa was kind enough to donate an FC-150 sign he won a few years ago while attending the FC-Roundup to eWillys HQ. It will have a ‘most excellent’ place of honor in the shop. Thanks Joe!

To keep it safe for the moment, I put it on the fireplace mantle. It is covering a lithograph my great grandfather bought in the UK in 1924.

In case you are curious, this is how it normally looks. Upon his return from Britain in 1924, my great grandfather Karl Eilers gave it to the Engineer’s Club (this was shortly after the club built their golf course and country club near Roslyn, NY, on Long Island), where Karl was a member. At some point, my grandfather, who was also a member of the club (and President in 1930) was given the lithograph back. Subsequently, the lithograph hung for years at my grandparents house over their fireplace, which was a done floor to ceiling in rock.

You can just see the edge of it in this mid-1960s Christmas time photo of their house on Hayden Lake. It’s interesting how much lighter the matte looks in this photo. It must just be the light, as I doubt the matte was ever changed.

Grandfather Eilers on the left. My aunt Martha on the swivel chair. My grandmother Eilers standing. That place looks smaller than my the way my child-self remembers it, lol. 

Maury kindly documented this story while on Vacation in Michigan:

My family and I are staying at a beautiful classic lodge on Lake Michigan near Leland, MI. It’s called Jolli Lodge ( https://www.jollilodger.com/ ), and has been run by the same family since 1956. Greg Jolliffe and his wife Lisa currently own and manage the century old lodge.

When Greg’s father bought the Lodge in 1956, a 1947 CJ-2a came with it. A retired mechanic who lives nearby remembers this Jeep coming off the trailer when it was brand new. It was apparently the first four wheel drive vehicle in Leelanau county.

When Greg (pictured below in the drivers seat) was 12, his dad taught him to drive the Jeep so he could push vehicles up the sloping driveway after they’d get stuck in the snow. He said he got a lot of funny looks, but just told them this was the only way they were going to get un-stuck.

At some point the floor starter button was replaced with a button in the dash. One time, Greg couldn’t get it to turn over, and he hit the steering wheel in disgust – which had the unexpected effect of starting the engine. For quite awhile afterwards, the only method of starting it was to turn the key, press the start button, then hit the steering wheel.

The engine was rebuilt at some point by a guy who lived nearby and loved to work on it. This Jeep is extremely original in the sense of having had remarkably few, ah, intentional modifications made to it over the years other than the addition of a hydraulic plow. Greg continued to use it for plowing the driveway until about 10 years ago.

As the photos show, this CJ-2a has had a long, hard life of service. However, at 74 years old, it’s still a much-loved and dependable vehicle that starts right up and is driven often.

Continue reading →

Just this one update today. Happy Father’s Day to all you father’s out there! Since all my kids are far from me, I’ll be spending the day working on the shop and maybe even working on the racer a little bit.

Speaking of father (or minister or pastor), yesterday I received my official documents from the Universal Life Church. I now have the rather dubious and dangerous authority to marry people. I’m bonafide!!

My wife’s son will be getting married in August and they asked me to officiate, so now I’m an official officiate. I get to check off another life experience

All good things must end and the FC Roundup is no exception. Sadly, Craig announced yesterday that Jesse and Andrea have decided to retire from hosting the Roundup.

The FC Roundup was always a super way (for us) to start the ‘jeep’ year. It was a great reason to head south for warmer environs. Always generous hosts, they always made us feel welcome, as did everyone who attended. Not only did we always have a great time down there, but we also used it as a springboard to travel east, west, north, and south.

So, to the Ybarra’s we say thanks for all your efforts over the years! We wish you the best in the future!

These pics are from 2013 (see many more pics from over the years at the FC Connection):

Maury pointed me to this Four Wheeler article on a stock CJ-6 with some neat options. One of those options was a “factory-installed AM radio option”. It’s not the cleanest factory install, but does the job. Anyone know whether 1) this was a factory install or a dealer install and 2) what years the optional radio was offered?