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Paint, Parts and Persistence
It
has been a year of incredible change; the birth of Evan’s daughter
Madeline and the death of Barry’s father seemed to leave little
time for jeep work. Ole Blue has been waiting patiently, and Ole Yeller
has gone about the work of a farm jeep, needing only a brake fluid refill.
But with the spring weather came the strong urge to “turn a wrench”
and get the projects back on track – or on wheels in our case.
Paint
Paint
on old jeep parts is like mulch on an untended garden. It is almost
like magic to see the shabby and neglected turn to neat and newly alive.
We have spent a number of hours using a power washer, wire brushes and
old fashion elbow grease to remove 58 years of mud and grime. With each
piece, we have stood back and marveled at clean, if rusty bits that
transform to lovely jeep parts with just a little paint.
Tires
on axles
We
have come to love our engine hoist, as a true multi-function tool. Once
we had the axles painted, we thought having the wheels mounted would
make moving things around simpler. So we lifted the axles with the hoist
and mounted the wheels.
Axles
on frame
Seeing
the axles under the frame was pretty exciting. It took a little time
to get both axles attached with new hardware. We temporarily replaced
the steering linkage and added new shocks. This was the simplest shock
job ever. And our guess is that this is the first new set in decades.
Rolling
Chassis!
We
did just that – rolled it back into the garage. And with the help
of a pair of car dollies, we parked the once more mobile frame back
in the garage. We might actually get this jeep back together!
Barry’s Notes:
Evan
has been the driving force behind the return to the project. It has
felt really good to be working on the project again. This is good therapy.
Evan’s
Notes:
Spending a few days working on the Jeep reminds me that I need to play
the lottery so I can do this full-time.
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