[size=12]January 24, 2018
Progress kind of slowed down due to the cold winter this year. But, in December I finally had a go at registering the Jeep in my name. I was quite nervous about it since I had no paperwork or previous owner registrations which is normally required. A VIN search by the DMV showed it indeed has been been "off grid" for decades...so it was then a matter of filling out an affidavit, getting a VIN inspection, and making a visit to the DMV where I got a registration in my name. No titles are issued in CT for vehicles older than 1981. It's a big relief to get it legal in my name.
I kept the Jeep in one piece during all the inspection shenanigans but now that it's all set I'm still reluctant to take the Jeep apart. To stave off that moment, I decided to spend some time with the engine: there was some "white fog" issues from the tailpipe, and a check of the oil indicated a pint of green coolant in the oil pan. I obtained a new Best Gasket copper/graphite head gasket, performed a couple "tweaks" to optimize fit, and got it all back together. So far it's back to running smooth with no signs of coolant leaks.
In fact, during testing, for the first time, I took the Jeep for a spin out of my neighborhood despite my better judgement. (The tires have something like half inch deep cracks that probably render them dangerously deadly.) Also I have no windshield glass. I got a few hairy eyeball looks, but it sure was fun. (It ran great by the way.)
During the head gasket job, I took the opportunity to blast, clean and paint some more stuff like the air tube and carb air horn, as well as finally paint the head black. I had hoped to finish up by procurring a proper CJ3a Donaldson oil bath air cleaner, but those do seem to be as rare as hens teeth. I've given up finding one for now and simply purchased a super cheapo 12 dollar 3 inch air cleaner. I wanted to keep the air tube over the top of the engine, so I fabricated a mount for the paper filter to attach it to the oil bath air cleaner brackets on the firewall. I can easily swap in a stock oil bath cleaner when I find one. The custom dry element mount was fun to make though. I used exhaust tubing to adapt the 3 inch filter to a 2-1/8" upturned pipe from which a factory style air duct hose will attach. I could not, after extensive searching, locally find 2.125" air hose, so I will just get a piece of hose from Walcks; hopefully their supply is 2.125".
During a particularly low point in the winter lull, I made a "tag topper" which I have only just realized existed (from the old days). I think they're cool so I set about making my own "Willys Jeep Go Devil 4" topper. I found an old Willys ad touting the Go-Devil 4 and tried to duplicate the font as much as possible. I made it from 6061 aluminum. I'm not sure what color to paint it, but I like it alot.
So that's about it. I'm fixin' to take the Jeep apart because it's just about paint time now. I ordered a gallon of Summit Racing "Merlot" single stage paint (it is re-branded Kirker paint, which I've had good results with on other projects.) The Merlot color matches very close to the original Luzon Red color patch on my cowl (see last picture).[/size]
