neohic

No fiberglass bodies… ever. That was a “solution” from years past and I’ve got zero interest. Body mounts on the frame look fine but the hat channels on the tub side are gone. I could deal with character rust if it was wearing factory paint and everything in the surface was honest. Who knows how many gallons of filler is waiting to fall off. This is my ideal solution. My little CJ is considered is an “intermediate” from after AMC bought the Jeep name. ‘72-‘75 are the only years thought would physically bolt to my frame and have everything line up. ‘76 came along and they changed everything. Finding a good 47+ year old donors is proving to be difficult.

Winter soon? Hu… could’ve sworn I was going to do something about an engine this year. Maybe I’ll clean up the paint again. Yup… that’ll fix everything. Some serious decisions need to be made on the body too. If an engine swap is happening, then the front clip will come off to get to everything. After that it’s a few more bolts and the tub is off. Body work? Tub swap? Thoughts?

Still a very cool truck. Thanks for the update and all the best with the trans swap.

I mean… HOW prerunner are you thinking? Welcome aboard!

I get a real Wrenches Gone Wild vibe with this truck lately. We’ll done, sir.

I was thinking the same thing. Why drill all kinds of holes in a GOOD bedside?

Indoor. It’ll be parked in the shop all winter. The plan is to park it closer to the north wall in there and as close to the big doors as possible. When it’s parked for winter, that’s where it’ll stay.

Yup… but I’m hoping to just find something that I don’t need to put a bunch of effort or cash into.

Started a sink project today. I don’t have plumbing in the shop so this little sink will drain into a future bucket that lives in the cabinet. Water will be a container that lives on the counter and gravity will run the whole operation. Don’t have a water container figured yet. I’ll cruise the local Goodwill to see what could work.

New plate day. Truck pretty much got the equivalent of an AARP card.

Few changes today. I’ve decided to get rid of a two drawer tool cart I have in favor of one less thing on the floor. Hammers needed to move… … and the miter saw cart needed an additional work space. It’s not somewhere to sit or anything real heavy, but it is somewhere to put something to sand or set tools on. I also had a go-to spot on the old tool cart for common bits, glue bottles, and lacquer thinner. Best part is it forces me to put away tools so the new top can fold down. There’s still the same back corner a drill press will eventually go. I smoked a drill using a 4” hole saw this week so a drill press took a good jump on the priority list.

It went off the property today! Made a bench out of leftover stuff and delivered it to a neighbor’s place. Just around the block, but on the road is on the road. Guess it deserves a wash finally. … dirt trap is nearly full! Anyone have a good recommendation for a car cover to keep the dust off through the winter?

Stock shafts to the axle or something fancy?

Desk is done minus drawer pulls. Went a little overboard with utilizing plywood scraps I’ve been saving. Then I let the dust settle down to put a few coats of polyurethane on. There… now I’m ready to work remotely.

Nope. The old panel went into the spare parts bin that the blank panel came out of. I like the blank in the dash better.

You’ll need to pay attention to the center bore too with the axles you’ve got. Factory locking hubs? Ford used a smaller diameter than Jeep did on their front axles. That’ll help some.

Colorado. PM sent.

Maybe look for Suzuki Grand Vitara 16x7s? 1999-2004 are the years.

Sweet! What seems like about 57,000 years ago, I started with the violin when I was in 5th grade. Playing, performing, or just enjoying… music is a wonderful thing that everyone should have in their lives. Edit: guess I didn’t get into pedals. Some of them are old and used. Most have been repaired to some extent. They all found a home together recently on a leftover piece of 11 ply birch plywood and some Velcro.

Just checked on things. Had to rearrange the lights for better distribution.

I count 5. It’s a Cort Curbow and I’ve had it since 1999. Not my first bass, but it’s been my go-to for years! The thing is a regular Swiss Army knife when it comes to sounding like different basses. I’ve played all over with this thing and it’s just plain awesome! The used instrument store I got my first bass from had this hanging behind the counter and it was more than I had to spend. I would’ve been pushing carts at a grocery store and when I was ready to up my music game, I went back to find out that the weird blue bass had been stolen! Months past, the bass was recovered and now at a lower price, I bought it, and we sailed off into the sunset together. Since I’m telling stories, on the left is a modified 1974 Fender Precision bass. It was my father-in-law’s but the cool factor goes way deep. See, when I first started playing I hung around all the cool old guys at the local music store. One such guys was Rick Leech. Rick’s wife worked with my mom at a bank back in the ‘80s which was shortly after he was a part of opening the first music store in town. Fast forward to junior high (1997) when I’d be at the music store wanting Rick to build me a custom instrument. The stars just never aligned as he’d always tell me to come back over winter when he was slow. Years went by, I tried staying in contact, but eventually life got in the way and I finally moved out of Minnesota. Three months later, I got word that my friend had died. Fast forward again to Christmas of 2020. My wife and I are back up in Minnesota spending time with her dad who also grew up playing guitars. I had known about the bass for years but didn’t know the back story until it was given to me that Christmas. More story?… yes. He would’ve known Rick all the way back in the early ‘70s when he first came to town, needed a bass, and got word of this cool little store that had just opened. This bass was bought, toured around with my father-in-law into the ‘80s where it wasn’t performing the way he wanted anymore. So, the bass goes back to Rick because he wanted to get into custom building guitars and was trying to get his name out there as a luthier. Rick did his thing with it (albeit a bit crudely as it was the first he’d ever done) and then it went back to playing gigs. Years pass, it gets the bag beaten out of it, got put away for years until I come along to start dating his daughter in 2001, then I get very taken back in 2020 with the surprise that not only do I now own this very cool bass but it’s also the custom guitar that I never got from my friend Rick before he passed. The ukulele in the middle is just a cheap baritone uke that my parents bought me when I was in high school. I love it for noodling around on. Finally, the butcher block looking thing on the right is all kinds of parts put together. The body was made by me in high school and it’s mostly maple with walnut and white oak mid stripes. Its shape is based off of a Fender Jazz bass which is what the neck is from. Electronics are a mix of a high dollar Music Man humbucker pickup and cheap RadioShack potentiometers. It’s heavy. It’s a little rough. It has tone and rings out for days. The little amp in the middle is an Ampeg BA112. Late in high school I bought an Ampeg BA115 (from Rick) and it followed me all over. The rock back feature on the early version of these amps was a real game changer because, for whatever reason, I rarely got my own monitor when I got serious(ish) about playing around 15 years ago. We moved out to Colorado, it got put into storage for a while, then I sold it when it just didn’t fit in our tiny house. Last year we took a day drive out to a little touristy mountain town. We’re walking around and there’s this little guitar shop that I had to “just have a look”. This BA112 was sitting there and I had to have it! These are much smaller than the 115s which is great! I ran the serial number and it turned out that it was manufactured the same month and year as my old amp from high school! Anyhow… I really love all my guitars for different reasons. They all have wildly different sounds and personalities.

Few shop things today. Made my compressor way more user friendly by adding a flange and remote fitting. Everything was parts I had on hand. Finally found a use for these terrible hoses! Then I took the time to give the shop a good cleaning. It was definitely due. Sat down with a bass for a bit afterward. Very nice to just grab an instrument when I feel the need! Not sure if I’ve ever posted a picture of the whole gang.

New house number day. Out with the dumpy hardware store garbage… … and in with utilizing the post I put up at the road. I put a couple solar lights behind it too. We’ll see how that goes tonight. As for the finish… there isn’t any. I rubbed it down with vinegar, then a wet and salted paper towel. Going rustic with this one.

Done!… for this year. I’m going to let things settle through the next winter and then do some planting in the spring. The remainder of the dirt piles have been spread around the yard. The tall post will be the future home of the house numbers. Still had a half dozen timbers left so I added a couple more steps down from the patio. This lines me up for a height of the retaining wall that’ll replace the current one that’s falling apart. Thinking about a small deck/platform extending out from the bottom step too. Next year…