My Willys 3A and 3B Community
3A, 3B, DJ Technical Knowledge Base => "Original"-- Technical Questions, Answers, Observations => Topic started by: SteveW on January 22, 2014, 08:51:34 PM
-
Not sure about right place but seems many of us have had a point where project looked like a hopeless mess but we kept going either because we didn't know better (about 75% for me) and we just wanted to see if we could do it (about 25%). Cleaning up some stuff on computer and found this pic of probably the worst part of my project.Sure wasn't much to work with but what the heck.
(http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/data/500/medium/tub_resto_pic_11.jpg)
Put your best moment at it's worst here.
-
I think I should have been committed years ago, if you ask my friends. I still look at tubs like that and think, a few sheets of metal and it is like new..... ;D
Not to hijack,, what's the tandem?
-
That is an old Sears bike from the 70's that my wife and I used to ride in the mornings after breakfast. We live on a lake and it's 1/2 mile around so we would do 2 or 3 laps just to have some quiet time and get a little exercise. It belonged to her sister and we brought it home because she couldn't take it on a move. I couldn't stand the darn thing and just left it out to rot but then decided to fix it up and got to liking it. It's named the Bee. We had a hard time riding last year with all the crazy hot rainy weather so it's been hard to get going again. Notice I left what part of commited I was referring to. The project or the restorer ;)
-
Here's a shot of me leaving the "body shop" with what used to be a reasonably complete 3A tub now hacked to pieces by a maniac with a torch. Picture taken three months after the original estimated "completion date" when I was finally fed up enough I had to go repo it. I could have killed the guy. Cops got involved, it was a mess. Not surprisingly, my down payment was long gone.� Live and learn.
-
This was fun too. My inferior home built engine hoist system failed and nearly sent the motor crashing to the ground.
(http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z403/rmurdock2121/51%20Willys%20Jeep%20CJ3A%20Rehab/SANY8076.jpg)
The come-a-long jammed and broke and would not let any cable out, leaving the motor dangling in the air sideways. I tried desperately to scoop it up with the wheel barrow - no luck. I finally forced some cable to spool out with some help from a prying screwdriver. The come-a-long eventually snapped completely the motor dropped the last 2 inches onto the floor. Could have been better...also could have been a whole lot worse. I borrowed a real engine crane for the reinstallation process� :D
(http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z403/rmurdock2121/51%20Willys%20Jeep%20CJ3A%20Rehab/SANY8078.jpg)
-
Yikes Ryan!
-
;D ;D ;D
Sometimes we can save more money by spending it to buy the right tools.
I can't participate to this post yet but as soon as I will start my DJ-6 project, I'm sure I will hit this point!
-
Yikes! The couple hundred I spent on a shop crane really seem well spent now. Not that I ever thought they weren't well spent. I'm a firm believer in having the right tool for the job, whether it's bought or rented (and I usually lean towards bought).
-Paul
-
One of my favorite saying is "good judgement comes from experience and most experience comes from bad judgement" Ryan got a PHD in that one.
-
Some of these crazy ideas actually work. If not for great design than by sheer luck. However, the ones that fail tend to be much more entertaining. ;D
-
Well Ryan, I'm glad you are still here to tell us about it...and that you still have all your digits to type with!
-
Here is where I thought that maybe I'd be part of the 6 O'clock news..
-
I like it Randy. This stuff often looks better on paper than in action, doesn't it? Improvisation on the fly can be critical. Good health and life insurance is a plus too.
-
On the news for having the only jeep in the county with a floor?
Is that one of those storage places?? Lucky you had a beam to lift from there....
-
It is a storage unit, and there is a beam, but it was made of pretty thin material, more for appearance I think...
I could only work in there a couple of hours in the Summer mornings..It'd get up to about 120 degrees by noon....baked the primer on nicely though!
-
I like it Randy. This stuff often looks better on paper than in action, doesn't it? Improvisation on the fly can be critical.� Good health and life insurance is a plus too.
At the last minute I strung an extra piece of rope through the little block-and-tackle and the wood frame...figured if it fell, it may do it in stages, and I might just be able to get out of the way.....
-
Actually getting to the original post; point of being commited. This is when you first take the money out of your pocket to pay for it...or when you accept it for free to take home. ::)
-
The day I paid for it and towed it home, with the radiator and cylinder head in the cab, along with the carb and air cleaner, I was on top of the world...
It was only later that the dream faded....
and I began to wonder whether or not I was crazy...
-
I don't think there is any doubt that we as a group look at pile of rusting 3A scrap much differently than the common man, and certainly much different then our wives. We simply have to thank god for this unique gift that we have been given to see beauty that so many are blind too. We have a duty to history to keep the 3A alive, if not us...Who?
-
My wife would say that I should have been committed years ago....
Being mid-stream in the project I would agree that the commitment occurred when I forked over the cash in the first place. Big step number two was purchasing the body kit. So far, I haven't wanted to quit.
-
When I was having so much trouble with engine builds, 3x, I really started thinking a match and a gallon of gas was the right answer. Now I'm back on my meds, its a lot better.....
-
I was in the process of bolting on the exhaust manifold when a stud broke. I decided to drill out the broken stud and thats about the time I realized that the studs go directly into the water jacket. It was so frustrating that I could only laugh.�
(http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a527/RealOpOverlord/DSC03368_zps7cda7e67.jpg) (http://s1282.photobucket.com/user/RealOpOverlord/media/DSC03368_zps7cda7e67.jpg.html)
-
Coolant looks fresh.