What, no updates yet? Yep. Add to that list, no showers, little sleep and no decent food since . . . well, I can’t really remember. My tooth brush is feeling hurt and ignored, wondering why I bothered bringing it along. The good news is that we should reach the Tacoma, WA, early this evening.

We are just passing through northern Cali right now (Corning, CA, to be specific). I will do updates as soon as (or if) the-power-that-be see fit to provide me with both a smooth road AND connectivity. It turns out the truck’s suspension is rough enough to make updates more of a challenge they normally are on the road.

Don’t let the palm trees i this photo from Barstow, CA, confuse you. It’s not much of a ‘vacation’. But, it is nice to spend some time with my sister.

You probably noticed the website was down for a while. I would like to blame aliens or the government or anybody else for the problem. Even as I type this, which I am doing on my phone, I can still not view the site on my computer. The cause of the problem is partly self-inflicted. It was misunderstanding between me and my former web host. I’m sure by Friday this will all be taken care of.

My kids will be spending time with us for the next few days. I am thankful for that!

I’ll update posts during our drive to Seattle mid-day on today (Wednesday).

Going out in a blaze of glory, Kevin’s wagon suffered some fatal damage last week on “Spirit Trail”. He writes:

Even at the time of death she looked gracious….apart of me is gone – it represented me… plus made me feel young. I have mourned now for three days and wait for the insurance adjuster to show up…I hate to give her up. I suspect a small fuel line leak, that I had been chasing because of smell…either the distributor or plug wire ignited the gas. The fact I was headed down hill only fed the fire with more gas. One fire ext. wasn’t enough….so carry two folks!
Well, here is part of me and who I was. It’s sad to say… she even looked great on fire…but very sad. I suspect a small fuel leak that we had smelled but hadn’t found and a short from the ditributor or right side plug wire. I’ve been in mourning for three days. I will not be replacing her.

I have a few updates ready for Saturday morning. I’ll be doing some more around noon today.

Paul forwarded these pics and information about a military surplus yard that is liquidating. Looks like you’ll need an axe to get some of those trucks out of the woods.

He wrote, “The local military surplus yard (E A Patson Parts and Equipment) is closing after 60 years and everything is for sale. I spent the last three days digging thru various piles of parts searching for items I might need in the future for my Willys and I’ve had an incredible time. Their stock of Jeep parts consist of mainly running gear items but even those have been picked over pretty good. Their supply of body items were sold long ago. What’s left is stuff for Dodge M37’s, some M151 parts and parts for the larger military trucks. I was looking for a new burner can for my Southwind M978 gas heater and I had a selection of over 30 new cans to choose from. These cans were stacked in a pile outdoors between a tree and the damaged cab of a semi. The cans are stainless steel so the years of outdoor storage didn’t harm them in the least.

Lots of parts are stored in an unheated building in 55 gallon drums with the tops cut off and positioned upright. Many of these drums are full of parts (I have now idea what vehicle they’re for) and a second layer of full 55 gallon drums are stacked on top of the first layer of drums. There’s also a partial third layer of drums with parts on top of the second layer….. this place is incredible!”

Continue reading →

I’m taking the weekend off and won’t be answering emails until Sunday night. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

I got invited over to the neighbor’s house to play Dominion Saturday night, so didn’t have time for updates. I’ll have time during the Seahawk’s game, so look for some updates by halftime and continuing for a while afterwards.

No pics provided.

“Two jeeps $500.00 for all 360-401-5731”

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/pts/4083296165.html

Some good parts.

“Mike- 973-653-6921

Willys MB/Early CJ2A pedal assembly: $75
Large Fram Oil filter bracket: $10
Torque Reaction Spring inner shackle N.O.S(Willys MB): $20
Willys MB pully (L134): inner pully damaged(still servicable) $10
Oil breather L134: $5
(2) window brackets to frame for M-38: $20
Carter YF carberator, upper and lower halves: $10
Engine Mounts (New): $10
Willys MB Body handles, After Market: $75
M-38 Front and rear drive shafts, For T-90 Trans, splines are not missing teeth: $10 each
Bellhousing L134. EarlyWillys MB: Sold
L134 Coolant elbow(top of motor): $20
Rear drive shaft Knuckle assemby, Willys MB: $50
Stearing Column bracket: $10

Take all for $200 dollars (firm)”

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/pts/4074467709.html

It’s not one-of-a-kind, but looks in good shape.

“One of a Kind Mitsubishi Right hand drive. This Jeep was made in Japan, street legal, good shape, 4 cylinder, 3 speded transmission, runs great.
Send me a text or give me a call with any questions or offers. I am open to trades and negotiating the price.
Price: $10,000
City: Calexico
State: CA”

http://www.sellajeep.com/jss/sale/adj068/adj068.html

I just received a large shipment of books and am busy signing/preparing them for mailing. So, no updates Friday morning.

For some reason my search mechanisms aren’t working. I’m going to blame the storm that blew through an hour ago. Guess I’ll take the night off and try again Friday night.

Ann re-proofed the book over the last couple days and found a handful of minor errors. Rather than push the book with those errors, I’m uploading the new version, which will delay the launch. So, I will formally announce it next week once Createspace approves the PDF file. Thanks for your patience1

Anybody catch the latest episode of Top Gear called Worst Car in the History of the World? (Well, at least the latest one in the States). It was put out in the UK sometime in late 2012 I believe. Anyway, they entered a Mahindra CJ-5-40 into their ‘worst car in the history of the world’ contest. Of course, they tested it on pavement and in a drag race, but neglected to remind readers it was built as an Offroad vehicle. Now, I know the producers were probably just having some fun, but, still . . .

Here is a brief clip (only a preview — can’t find the full video on the net yet).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nenQI4HrUhk#t=21

Thanks to Dennis Decklever for locating a much, much nice picture from a CJ-3B Page article about John Carroll’s ‘Beer Truck’. The folks at Top Gear called it a CJ-540 (which, to be frank, I thought they’d made up as I’d never heard of that model). Sure enough, the body and chassis is from that vehicle.  The remainder is a mix of parts.

The CJ3B Page photo was shot on the beach at Weston Super Mare in England by Derek Goard. Ros Woodham was driving.

It is Saturday night and I have a bunch of great stuff to post for Sunday morning, but I hear my wife calling me to the bedroom . . . so, goodnight!

Some posts in the morning.

UPDATE:  The event date has been changed to August 28th!

Bob forwarded this on a request from the communications coordinator for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. There will be a vintage-jeep related event on August 28th from 10:30am to 12:30pm. Food will be available.

I’ve caught up on a few things, but am still behind on eWillys. So, just a few posts tonight. More tomorrow. Also, I ordered the book proofs AND purchased www.amberpanels.com (not sure why I didn’t think to purchase that domain name sooner).

We had two blue-sky days of camping at Ohanapecosh and ZERO cell reception! The second night was a little noisy, thanks to a visit by the local Boys and Girls Club at two nearby camping spots. Oh well, at least it was pretty! Here are a few photos.

This photo op was taken on the west side of White Pass heading toward Rainier. That’s Zollie (aka Mr. Personality) in my arms. He’s 1/2 dog and 1/2 . . . cat?

Here’s our campsite with all of the National Park behind us (plus a few bears, too). I married into that bed . . . yes, we may camp, but we sleep comfortably!

I was having some fun taking pictures. No shortage of trees to shoot. I liked the way this tree fell perfectly straight, but bent with the uneven ground.

I was looking up from my camp chair and thought this would be a great shot. 30 photos later and I think I got it :-)

Zollie is pretending to be a dog, but that didn’t last long. He got to the beach and warmed himself. He didn’t like the idea of swimming. The river is crystal clear at this point . . . beautiful!

There used to be a bridge that spanned from the top of the bare spot on the right to an unseen spot to my left. It was washed out in 2006 and never replaced. It used to be a great trout spot, but they don’t stock it any more I was told.

Here I am strumming my six string . . . my attempt to keep the bears away . . . and drown out the noise from the G&B Club kids.

Well, I’d planned to do updates for Sunday, but an unexpected dinner of Thai food with Ann’s grandfather put me into a food coma, which led to some sound sleeping.

Today I expect to complete the last full edit review of the new book. Forty pages have been slashed, some logic improved, a little back history added, errors corrected, and explanations clarified. I expect to order a proof version monday morning and, if all is correct, announce it is ready for sale by mid-next week.

I arrived back in Pasco today after a week+ absence, so I’m spending some time with my honey. No updates Wednesday.

On a side note, just a few miles outside of Renton an early Parkway Conversion drove by me. Not a sight i see every day! It had an early grille.