neohic

Rob, eh? I heard he was still doing Comanche stuff every once in a while. Any pictures of the Laredo?

Dang! Been a while, eh? Any pictures of said Datsun?... or an update on your Chief for that matter? ... yup, thread high jacked.

So many slow moving projects to tackle. I decided to make my own trim this time around just to break to the steel panels. Everything is based on 2x4s and are just ran through the table saw and routed to get the right contours. The overhang finishes and trues up the wainscoting and the top inch thickness matches the 1/2” OSB I’m using for nailers on the walls. I need to finish up the nailers on the front wall before I can wrap up the trim cap. It’s far enough to get a measurement for the top 2/3 of the walls though. Started on the nailers on the ceiling too. ... more to come. I picked up another little trinket this weekend to get me thinking about things. I think I’ve dated it to 1904 or 1905. Will it end up in the shop?... probably not. It’s got a broken hinge that I’ll fix eventually. A friend of mine was using it as a fence post and he offered it to me a while back. I think I’ve got plans for it?... stay tuned for that hopeful future thread.

The other day I was driving to the hill to my place and then “CLUNK!!!”... my food goes right to the floor. It was still running as well as it does so I figured it was just the throttle cable. Low range/first gear made for a slow idling rest of the way home. Took a closer look and rattled the dice on a 1990 Wrangler cable. Only had to wait a couple days on the local parts store but the fit was perfect!

Hell yeah!

Super slow pitch project today. Got all but the three tiny pieces of wainscoting on the front wall done. Need to make up the trim cap and then get going on the ceiling. Can’t wait to see the reflection of the next project in the wall!

It’d look good with a camper behind it. Such an amazing looking truck.

Ceiling it gonna be BRIGHT!!

Understatement.

Bump. For the last nine months I’ve been working in a shop that builds fossil recreations for museums.

It bugs me to a point when Jeep... Stellantis?... uses older CJs in their ads. I get it that they’re trying to show the soul and the history behind the name. What gets me is they’re doing this after all the lawsuits with Mahindra and the total lack of intention of ever producing another true utilitarian vehicle. Either be what you advertise or start embracing what you’ve become. It’s like selling the sizzle without the steak.

Trying to finish the interior of my shop first so I’m not working around it.

Vapor barrier is done. More cleanup is done. I’m ready to start putting up wainscoting when it comes in. As part of more clean up I was able to downsize how I was keeping material mobile so I could move “the pile” around depending on where I was working. There’s still a cart but it’s now nothing more than a glorified skate board. Feels pretty good to see the majority of the walls.

Well, ya see... The original plan of where the walk door and the windows was a little different from where they ended up. Obviously that piece of conduit was dropped in the ground before the concrete was poured too. I like having exposed conduit in my shop so I can add circuits easier in the future and I like having less outlets per breaker for less load while I’ve got a bunch of stuff going on... this means more conduit. Then there was a big demo job I was a part of that I was careful about pulling all of the (nearly brand new) wire out that’ll cover about all of the 110v in the shop. So now I’m wiring the 110v side of my shop for only the cost of conduit... which is expensive. Long story short: I moved the breaker box location because I thought it’d look funny between the windows, my wire was free, conduit is expensive, and I’d save the cost on conduit if the box is closer to where the majority of the outlets will be. ... I guess it made sense in my head?

I was walking back from getting the mail today and it occurred to me that I’ve never really had a good look at the shop from the “B side”. Hu... feels like when you get your hair cut and they hold up the little mirror and ask “how’s it look form the back?” like it really matters.

Really diggin’ the top!

As stated, it’s a CJ5... no such thing as a Wrangler until ‘87. Depending on where you’re located, there’s salvage yards that only deal with Jeeps. Good used frames are out there and really aren’t that bad to swap if the hardware comes apart. 304 in a CJ is a fun little ride. They make a nice noise but really aren’t that much more power than the 258. If you do pick it up and the engine gives up the ghost, consider a 360. They’s tons of Wagoneer donors out there. Good looking rig!... not sure it’s worth $1000 though.

So rad, BJ!

Digging’ the green.

Bending over is such a young man’s game.

Ready for wainscoting. Going nice and tall with it at 48”. Never broke up the walls in a shop before, but I want to jazz it up this time. All of my outlets will me at the top of the wainscoting because I’m tired to bending over. They’ll all blend in with the bare galvanized panels. Panels for the ceiling and the wainscoting were ordered yesterday. I’ve never trimmed out a shop before outside of J-channel but this one will be a little more fancy. In the past I’ve ran the steel panels all the way down to the floor. This makes sweeping the floor more difficult to do a good job and it gets annoying clanking the broom on the panel ribs. I’m using treated lumber for the base board trim and then regular ol’ 2x4s for everything else. My table saw will be taking lead on making all the trim. I’m definitely making more work for myself but I’m striving for the look of an old service station. Definitely getting to the fun(ish) part of building a shop.

I’ve got a whole bunch of boring stuff to do! Today I finished up the insulation, cleaned up some material scraps by mostly finishing the walls in the compressor closet, cut up and threw out a bunch of small scraps, and I even managed to return three batts of extra insulation. What’s next on the list is running all of the horizontal nailers for the steel siding panels on the interior walls. That’ll be done with all of the good material scraps I still have. At some point I’ll need to go and get more material, but the plan is to see how far I can get with what I’ve got. Along with that, I picked up material for making all the trim. I know I’ve said it before, but hands down one of the best tools one can pick up before tackling a project like this is a table saw. It’s time consuming but it’ll be a day of processing through material for getting the walls ready for finishing.