Bump

Bump

NEW SEATS!!!

February 3, 2014:  Guess what showed up at the front door today!!  New Seats!!!!  Oh, they smell so amazing.  I think I will keep them in the garage unless I also want to be sleeping out there as they are very strong and I know my wife would probably hate it.  New plywood seats pans were cut but the installation will have to wait. 

USMC

January 11, 2014:  So I got the itch tonight to return to the garage and at 1030 I found myself sanding on the hood.  I was determined to find the original painted hood and bumper numbers as that was the only thing keeping the hood in the garage.  And the fact that it was taking up way too much space.  Guess how surprised I was when I uncovered yellow hood markings that spelled out U.S.M.C!  187320 was all I was able to find under that on the hood.  

NEW SEAT CANVAS

January 9, 2014:  With too much other stuff going on right now, I needed to feel a sense of accomplishment with something so I ordered new seat canvas.  I know most people wait until the end of a project like this to order these but I’m not most people and I happen to love the smell of vintage canvas in the morning.  I chose to use Beachwood Canvas Works out of New Jersey due to their superior reviews and quality craftsmanship.

AXLE STAND

January 5, 2014:  Built a dual axle stand this evening that will reduce the garage space taken up by the large axle parts.  Hopefully I will be able to strip, rebuilt, paint and reassemble these parts on this stand but only time will tell.  Couldn’t find exactly what I wanted through Google searches so I built my own.  Pretty solid although the caster wheels will be replaced with a different heavy-duty set I purchased.

AXLES REMOVED

January 4, 2014:  Worked late into the night removing both the front and rear axle assemblies.  After removing all the remaining accessories from the frame, it was time to move her from the garage.  Around 2230, I heard my neighbor Tom outside shoveling snow so I had him help me carry the frame outside.  With the snow coming down like crazy, we dropped the frame into a snowbank on the side of the house where it is out of the way.  It’s now time to get everything to the sandblaster.  Towards the end of the night, I decided to disassemble the transfer/transmission assembly.  This is the first time I am confronted with the rule that you should not attempt any mechanical procedure without first consulting the manual.  I had the assembly attached to the engine hoist and attempted to separate the two.  I loosened the five main bolts holding the two assemblies together and started to separate them.  When they were almost apart (3-4” gap) they would not let loose.  Back to the drawing board to find out what configuration, if any, the transmission gears need to be in if any.  Stupid move= one big mess to clean up.