neohic

House sitting for my relatives this week. Went out to the barn to give everything a once over and it all still looks great. No sign of mice anywhere. I love that this truck is my go-to for reliability: hook up battery, turn key, and it starts every time. IMG_1689.MOV

Great to see you back!

Sweet! Love this truck.

Good to know. Thanks, Eagle.

I’m on board.

Look for rust in the frame especially from the rear axle back. Also look for rust in the body mounts and the rockers. I see a lot of bedliner and stick on diamond plate... that stuff easily hides everything. Otherwise, I like pink Jeeps.

The saga continues... yes, after two years. This truck has never run perfectly but I was hoping it was carburetor issues. It just sings since the fuel injection went on all the way until it gets to operating temperature. Sensors have gotten moved around, calls have been made, and yet the issues remain. While this should’ve been a weekend project, I’m way too far in to just chalk it up to some kind of old truck quirk. Today the heads came off. These FE engine are goofy in that the intake manifold makes up the top half of the heads and the pushrods go through the upper intake half. Not anymore work to pull apart the top half of the engine... just an annoyance. The internals were squeaky clean under the valve covers. With the heads off the cylinder walls were found to still have cross hatching. At some point the intake was off as evident with the mass amount of red silicon and some old Felpro gaskets. I skipped completely pulling the intake for now as I wanted to keep everything consolidated as much as I can. So what did I find? Gross! The top picture is the right side and the bottom shows the left. It’s obvious which combustion chambers had fouled spark plugs. There wasn’t any obvious signs of head gasket issues so I’m going to circle back to carburetor issues. I think what’s happening is the old toilet mechanism on the intake was dumping fuel at an unsteady rate and as a result the valves started sticking over time. A couple of them are just burnt. With everything apart the plan is a full rebuild for the heads. I’ll clean up the top of the block and put it all back together. Hopefully that’ll be sooner than over the course of the next two years.

Sure was. Went outside to shovel four times today. Apparently this was one too many.

Ugh... finally decided to clear off the CJ so it’s not such a chore tomorrow morning. Then I made the mistake of moving it out into the road so I could clear out the parking spots. I crept forward about 30’... just far enough that the road starts heading down hill. The parking spots look good, the Jeep won’t reverse what with the freezing rain underneath the snow from yesterday morning, so I decide to go around the block. BIG MISTAKE!!! The road up to my place is a bigger hill. “Yeah! I’ll just make a run at it!” I turn to go down the hill and I feel the Jeep turning sideways on me. “Just what I need... a Jeep on its side when I catch a tire on something.” Turns out the only thing I caught was the ditch at the end of the hill. The CJ went in DEEP. First time in my life I’ve ever winched off a stop sign post! So I get myself out of the ditch only to find that the left rear hub must be frozen. I can back up but only break loose the right rear trying to go forward. Fine... backing up... more backing up... then I caught a rut and it pulls me into the NEXT ditch. This was now the SECOND time I winched off a stop sign post. Finally I see headlights in the distance and I flagged down the driver. He’s cool with giving me a tug forward and it broke loose the left rear. We part ways, I can now give the hill a good run, and I made my way back home. Nope... didn’t get any pictures.

DANG!!! Denver airport closed all six runways!

Still coming down. The tree is looking awfully heavy too. Been out shoveling twice already today. Probably head out again soon.

Welcome! Looks like a great base to start with. Looking forward to seeing more!

Weather report says 20” over the past 24 hours.

Things escalated overnight.

I did the math too! It’s been almost five years since we’ve been on Colorado now. Coming up on four years since we bought the house. Feels great to have zero thoughts of moving on! I took a read through this whole thread just now too. Crazy that it took us seven years to get where we are since the decision was made.

Here we go!

Digging up an old thread for an update. Our little house is still kicking @$$! Not much has changed. About half of the trim STILL needs finishing. Otherwise my shop construction has been the main concern on the property for the past two years now. Not really anything else in the house to improve on other than my wife changing jobs and needing a home office space. This probably isn’t a big deal to those living in a more normal sized house, but it’s been a few weeks now and setting up and tearing down on the dining table everyday was getting old. I offered the loft in my shop but until things are more finished and there’s constant heat she just wasn’t on board. So?... up to the loft! She’s 4’10” so it’s a perfect little office for her. I can stand up there, albeit bent over, but it wasn’t originally intended for anything more than indoor storage. This was kind of a fun little project in that it really has the feel of a fort. The ladder is all hickory and the rail isn’t anything more than 1/2” pipe and fittings. Her desk is 1.25” MDF that’s wrapped on the three sides with more hickory. It’s solid and very heavy. I still need to cap the wall up there so the legs are temporary. Maybe I’ll get around to finishing the trim this year? Anyhow, the wife is happy. What else could be better?

Got a dusting overnight and it’s overcast up in Woodland Park. We like to venture out at odd times to avoid people and Thursday/Friday mornings turned out to be our sweet spot. I didn’t go, but my wife hit the grocery store yesterday morning for nothing more than our usual staples for the week. She was telling me that it was crazy!! Granted, the higher into the mountains from us always gets hit harder with weather and we’re kind of the last major stop for a while. Seriously though?!?! It was odd what the crowds were going after when you think of stocking up to hunker down for a while! Plenty of fresh produce, bakery fresh breads, meats, and even the canned goods looked pretty good. Frozen foods and dairy were stripped clean. People had carts full of milk, eggs, and bread like they live on French toast and nothing else! We’ll be back into 40s by the middle of next week. If we get hit it’ll be nothing more than a messy sidewalk causing memory.

Everything looks great! So good to see the Chief again. I’m a bit of a sucker for first gen Datsuns as well. Thanks for checking in with us! Don’t be a stranger. Nice seeing old familiar faces around here.

I built one years ago that utilized a stock fuel pump assembly in a square box behind the cab. Half was fuel and half was a toolbox. It was right around 30 gallons and used the factory fuel gauge.

NEAT!!! This confirms what the second owner told me that the truck was originally from Washington. Seattle, Minnesota, and then Colorado.

Ceiling panels next.

Christian Hazel of Four Wheeler recently put out an article about five Jeeps that we should all own at some point. Here: https://www.fourwheeler.com/news/features/5-classic-jeeps-you-need-to-own/ Can’t say I totally agree but it totally got me thinking. What would be my list? Do I need to have at least driven everything on it? While I’m not 100% set and I might even regret a decision or two, here’s my list: 1.) Intermediate CJ5 (1972-1975) Yup... I’m absolutely being bias here as this is currently my daily driver. I agree with the article that the intermediates were that magic era where AMC took over and put their engines in them, but also before the build quality fell off the map. The ‘72-‘75s were just modern enough that simple bolt ons or 4.0 swaps are easy enough to really make a good driver out of them. They keep the vintage feel and bare bones vibe of the original Jeep yet still have the option to enjoy driving it everyday. Definitely #1 on my list. 2.) Any Wagoneer I’ve never owned one but I’ve driven a few. These Jeeps are all too easy to make up memories that never actually happened to you! One sit in the driver seat (especially the early models) and all the sudden it’s 1966 and you’ve got the family loaded up on your way to see Mount Rushmore or you’re on your way back home to surprise the family with this years Christmas tree on the roof. These things are just beautiful cruisers regardless of what drivetrain it has and are the purist form of “road sofa” I can imagine. 3.) Willys edition JK two door I’m just as surprised to see a JK on my list as you are. That said, not a Rubicon?... too much hype. The Willys edition was a bit of a throwback for me in terms of stock equipment and options. Sure, they could be completely dripping in all the whiz-bang things but the Willys package was offered as a bit of a stripper model but with the right parts where it counted. They had the later 3.6 engine, the six speed manual, and limited slip 4.10 gears. I think the Rubicon transfer case is overrated behind a manual trans as is the front Dana 44. These little rigs in stock form with the addition of a cheap mechanical locker in the front is easily on my list especially now that JK prices are finally starting to come down. 4.) Any cheap XJ EVERYONE needs to experience a cheap XJ wheeler! Scratches?... pinstripes. Dents?... plungers fix the big ones. It finally died?... get another. I loved my Cherokee before it went off to the Grim Jeepee in the sky. That thing went everywhere it was pointed and I like to think it had a big, dumb smile the whole time getting bounced off rocks and hung in trees. 5.) Any flat fender CJ These things keep you humble. At any point you’re having a rough day you can hop in a flat fender, put the windshield down, and putter along at 45 mph all while feeling at least a smirk creep onto your face. The first run of CJs had more in common with tractors than they did with any other vehicle when they were new and now. Simplicity is key here and I’d take it a step further in saying that I’d rather have a completely original flatty than a restored one just because of how every rust hole, dent, and farm engineered modification tells a story. That’s my list! Suppose I should put the Comanche as at least an honorable mention. They’re odd and now they’re really getting hard to find a good example, but, as far as driving them, I’d put it on par with a first generation XJ. My personal Comanche is full of personal memories but I think I could’ve had those in so many other vehicles just the same. Anyhow... what’s your list?

Got a little snow overnight. ... but today the high is in the mid 40s. So? Doors always come off over 40°! Having somewhere to go on a chilly day is my happy place.