Yep, tomorrow is September 19, International Talk like a Pirate Day.  How did this great holiday begin?  The story is it began with a couple of guys on a racquetball court when they spontaneously slipped into piratese.  Following the match, having had more fun than ever, they decided there needed to be a ‘Talk like a pirate day’.  So, on June 6, 1995, they arbitrarily decided to make September 19 (a day picked because nothing else happened on that day) the magic day.

All they needed now was a spokesperson, someone to inform the masses.  Who better, they thought, then Dave Barry.  Well, it took 7 years, but they finally got Dave’s attention and he wrote a column about their unique holiday.

There were a few strange quirks to the old comments subscription system so I have installed a new one.

What does this mean to you?

1)  Re-subscribe: You might have to re-subscribe to those posts that you were previously following (sorry about that).  One short cut for that is to sort your incoming emails by ewillys and then click on the post links to get there.

2) No Commenting necessary to subscribe to a comment: You no longer have to comment on a post to subscribe to it.

How does it work?

When you want to follow comments about a post, you scroll to the bottom of the whole post or click on the comments link at the top of a post.  Then you’ll see two options for receiving comments on the post via email.

Either (1) make a comment,  click the “notification box”, and then click the submit button to submit your comment OR don’t make a comment, enter your email address and click on the “subscribe” button.

If you have any questions, email me at d@ewillys.com.

As you can see,  a couple days ago I updated the site design.  I had several reasons for doing this.  (1) the drop down menus were sucking, (2) the drop down menus wouldn’t allow me to do the top sliders like I tested (3)  the previous design was having some problems in Internet Explorer, and (4) the logo design wasn’t well designed for t-shirts, merchandise and an expansion beyond the web.

The next step in the process is to go back through all my posts and reorganize them into new sections, so changes will be ongoing …

– Dave

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $975

This looks like a very good deal on a vintage looking IH.

“1969 IH Travelall 1100 (1/2 ton 2×4). Runs, drives, registered. AC, PS, 392 V8, 4 spd, and limited-slip type differential. Straight and solid. No door mirrors. Will consider parting-out. Trades considered ( willys mb cj jeep ford gpw dodge wc m37 kaiser m715 international scout vw beetle thing buick riviera honda yamaha suzuki kawasaki street bike ).  Email or call Drew at 601.2468. Please make certain to reference the truck so that I can discern legitimate email from spam.”

I spent the day pondering a new design for ewillys.   One goal was to get more of a script for the ewillys brand that I could use to create t-shirts, etc with.  Also, I wanted to reorganize things a bit.  Finally, I want to more tightly incorporate the dynamic areas into the overall design (similar to what I have tested in the current design).  NOTE:  I haven’t filled in anything in the sidebar, but most of the side bar info on the current design would appear in the sidebar of the new design.  click on the pic to get the full effect.

As you probably noticed, I’ve been testing out some different technologies, like the javascript slider on the front page.   Unfortunately, the menus don’t roll over it, so that’s not going to work.  I’ll be mucking with this stuff the next few days, so bear with me.

I’ve also noticed that there’s a number of issues with IE-6 with this design (drop down menu problems and sidebar issues for starters), so I may do a total redesign over labor day weekend.

It’s true that I could use a development site, but what fun would that be.

– Dave

I’ve posted a number of jeeps tonight.  I still have 12 more to post, but I’m going to bed.  I’ll get them up in the AM.

– Dave

The Pacific Northwest 4WD Association’s Summer Convention starts today.  I had hoped to go as it is the Carter’s (long time family friends and jeep cohorts) 40th anniversary of their first summer convention back in 1969.  I think I was there too, which would make it my 40th anniversary as well, because I think it was a Wandering Willys Club Event if I remember what my father told me correctly, however I was only four, so don’t remember a thing.

There will racing all weekend, including barrels, drags, team relay, obstacle course, cross country course, and something called a side by side (?), but I haven’t figured out what the heck that is.  So, if someone could explain that to me, I’d appreciate it.  Thanks!

It runs from the today through Sunday at the Straddleline ORV park near Olympia, Washington.

Today I ran across an Harbor Freight Ad for a tubing roller for only $139.  That got me wondering if I could use that for bending too.  So, I went did some searches on the HF tubing roller and read some pretty postive reviews for it in a variety of forums.  That said, the bending radius is too big for rollcage angles and corners in most cases.

So, I did some additional looking around at low priced benders and notchers.  As I went, I recorded some sites that I felt others might be interested in looking at.

One of the more interesting tidbits I found was a Tubing Coping Calculator that creates a 2 dimensional cutout for tracing around a tubing (in place of a notcher).

Building your own — Free plans:

• Classic broncos
• Bender plan from pro tools
• Got Trikes Plans
• Blind Chicken Racing

Tubing benders:

• http://www.lowbucktools.com/hydbender.html
• Various Models from JDSquared
• JD2 Model 3 with home made stand and harbor freight hydraulic
• Pro Tools
• Trick tools
• Baileigh Industrial Video
• TJ Diesel Benders
• Go Fast Parts

Tube Notcher:

• Tube notcher TN-100
• Harbor Freight
• Notch Master
• Baileigh Notchers
• TJ Diesel — scheduled for release in 2009 (click this link and go to bottom of page)
• TD Industrial 0-60 degree from tool planet.com
• Here’s a Link at Pirate 4×4 on how to use a grinder to make the cut
• Tubing Coping Calculator

Here’s a seller who will trade his Gremlin for a Willys Jeep.  Somehow, I just don’t see that happening, but you never know!

“I have for sale a 1972 AMC Gremlin, restoration started, mechanically good condition, has auto transmission and PS, some rust, has patch panels in floor, solid, ill take $2500 cash (firm) or trade for 60s or early 70s jeep (Willys or Kaiser Ph: 615 888 2385, before 10 pm ”

http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/1270860417.html

This FC looks in good condition.

“1959 jeep willys fc-150 pick up rebuilt engine but body has 7900 miles on it. sandblased frame alot of work is done but needs some minor thngs plus a new paint job to make it amazing”

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/cto/1276816421.html

I think the title pretty much says it all.

– Dave

UPDATE:  The guys over at the earlyCJ5.com website have been working diligently to get the website back online.  They’ve updated the software, using wordpress as the new foundation (the same used here).  They have plenty of work left, but I think the results will be worth it!

(from May 8th) I’m sure some of you know that a virus/worm got into the earlyCJ5.com website and chewed up the content (that’s about the best metaphor I could come up with). In the meantime you can access earlyCJ5 regulars at http://www.universal5.com/ or follow the twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/earlycj5. I wish them the best of luck in getting that great resource back online!

To hopefully keep this from happening to eWillys, I have a daily database backup emailed to me.

UPDATE: This is the MPVA Carvan. Read more about it below.

A caravan of 50 or so old flatties (mostly military) with license plates from a variety of states was spotted heading down the new Legacy Highway (the new north/south alternative to I-15) in Utah yesterday.

A reader named George pointed me to the MPVA website to answer the questions of who, what, where and why.

From the MPVA Website, “As part of its mission to honor our country’s military vehicle history, the MVPA has decided to recreate the famous 1919 Convoy in 2009 as a 90th Anniversary celebration of the achievement and in conjunction with the nation’s President Lincoln Bicentennial celebration.

This is a Convoy of historic military vehicles – of all eras, from WWI through to current-issue military vehicles. The vehicle roster currently includes WWI “FWD” cargo trucks, through to Harley Davidson WLA motorcycles, staff cars and jeeps to later model M813 5-ton cargo trucks. ”

Learn more about this ongoing convey from the MPVA website.  The Convoy should be arriving in San Francisco on July 8th.

My kids and I were visiting my Aunt in Seattle yesterday where she owns a houseboat (in this case, defined as literally a house built on floating logs or concrete blocks with trapped air) on Lake Union in Seattle.  My son wanted to go rowing, so we climbed into a row boat and checked out some of the local scenery. We hadn’t gone more than two docks of boats when I spotted this boat named JEEP tied up to a local houseboat.  How could I resist taking a picture of it?

For those movie fans who liked Sleepless in Seattle, it is a couple houseboats to the left of this picture (it is not pictured).

The Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union is sponsoring a 2009 Woodward Dream Cruise Calender Contest, along with the Oakland Press, The Macomb Daily and Daily Tribune.  As a part of this contest, the group has developed a website where readers can vote for the cars they want to see on the new Calendar.

A reader pointed to this contest out to me via a craigslist ad.  The Ad shows a Willys Jeep and asks people to vote for the jeep.  So far, so good.  I’m into it.

I’m ready to launch a grassroots campaign.  I’ll encourage, prod and poke people to cast their votes for the jeep.  We can do it.  We can get it on the calendar.

My hopes high, I go to the actual contest.  I view the approved list of 72 vehicles.  Cool, lots of nice vehicles.

But then, I spot the jeep.  It’s listed as a 1948 M-38A1.  It’s such a classic, that it was never produced!  How can this be?  Oh the horror!  I mean, this isn’t just some kind of incorrect listing of a jeep for sale; instead, it is supposed to be a list of classic cars.

Well, I just can’t support that.  So, until the correct model gets listed, I can’t vote for it.

As a part of Jim’s effort to meet the parts needs for early jeep owners, I’m planning on building a section that highlights various smaller vendors who create useful products for jeeps.

Examples of these include:

• Jim’s Seat Covers (along with his expanding product selection as it grows)
• Rod Shaver’s MV Dataplates (http://www.mvdataplates.com/)
• Jeep Books (http://www.jeepbooksales.com/jeepbooks.html)
• Stainless Steel Parts (Brian & Troy)
• Fiberglass bodys

If anyone has any other suggestions, send them my way.

Thanks,

– Dave

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $800

“Willy’s 1952 jeep, low Hood Flat Fender Jeep.  Buick small block V8 300 cub, power steering and full roll cage”

The ad makes it sounds like a lot of parts, but the pictures don’t suggest a lot of parts.  Still, it might be worth a peek if you are nearby.

“lots of Jeep parts, Grills, radiators, wheels, transmissions, engine, manifolds, starters and more. $250.00 takes it all! 719-337-9088”

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/pts/1209549329.html

It appears the rolling chassis has been thoroughly cleaned and painted.  I can’t tell how much work is left on the body.

“Needs put together have all psrts call 352 895 2563 can deliver”

http://maine.craigslist.org/cto/1203040230.html

A reader noted that according to Novak, a GM 4.3 Liter V-6 is too tall to easily fit into a low hood flatfender without modifying the hood.  Now, I know this isn’t true as I’ve seen flatties with the engine installed.

Does anyone have any experience or advice about installing a GM V-6 into a flattie?  I have not done it myself.

Here’s some additional information I dug up on the web:

• According to this thread, someone else read the same thing (that novak says the 4.3 liters won’t fit) http://www.greatlakes4×4.com/showthread.php?p=1567991.
• Here’s a builder who swapped a 3.8l buick for a 4.3liter, having to rework the steering in the process .. http://www.4×4wire.com/jeep/tech/steer/pieces02/

I always love maps.  I even use them once in a while.  The maps at this blog, Strangemaps, are, well, all over the map in their purposes, usefulness, and creativity.

The other day I ran across this ‘Best Beer‘ map.  Having lived in Utah, and still fond of the state, I was sure it would rank as pretty dry state, but given it’s population, the map suggests it holds its own pretty well (though there are some good beers there, producers are limited to beers with 3.2% alcohol).  Despite this hurdle, companies like Wasatch Beers, with slogans like ‘bring some home to the wives’ and beers such as ‘Polygamy Porter‘ (Why just have one?), are popular around the Salt Lake Valley.