I tackled the head unit bracket issue this weekend.  There’s not a lot room in the glove box compartment area and the windshield wiper mechanism runs right behind it.  That kind of knocks out tying everything to the firewall and there is not much else left to work with.  I thought about it some and came up with this:

These two brackets screw into mounting points on each side of the radio and into existing holes on the bottom of the glove box opening.  Sure it kills ever putting in the plastic replacement box, but I could fab up something to fit in there.

I had already cut out the mess of wiring and was left with the 4 bare essentials for wiring a stereo, Red for ignition, Black for ground, Orange for illumination and yellow for the battery. Several splices later I had this:

It sounds pretty good for a simple 2 speaker setup.  The door speakers are 3-way with some decent bass.  The truck is pretty loud still so you have to turn it up a bit but its not ear-splitting or anything.  I have a few issues left now to sort out:

1. clean up the wiring
2. mount the ipod holder somewhere
3. finish out the renaming glove box space some way
4. replace the door panels

Somehow this was powering the JVC head unit. Oh and here’s the funny part, none of the wires connected to the unit had any electrical tape covering the splices. Plus this must be the second or third radio installed because there are 2 clusters of wires daisy chained together that look like some kind of previous wiring harness setups.

I could no longer take the sound of silence, or what passes as silence in the truck, any longer.  I decided to finish up the stereo and speaker installation I started a few months ago.  I finished replacing the automatic window tracks and had mounted the speakers so it was time to remove the Reagan era JVC head unit.

Dis-assembly was pretty straight forward, remove the knobs and face plate and slide the unit forward…

The older installation style 3 hole setup obviously won’t work with a DIN head unit, so it was time to break out the jigsaw and put a hurt onto this dash.  I first needed to figure out how to get the radio out though.  I inspected the glove box (which is 25 year old card board)  and figured out how the previous monkey installer had got it in there, he simple tore the cardboard and pushed it through. Nice and clean.

I marked what needed to be removed and started to cut.  The jigsaw only proved useful on the bottom.  I was kind of stuck so I phoned a friend for other cutting ideas.  Vince suggested using a cutoff wheel on a Dremal multi-tool which worked OK but I still ran into clearance issues with the bottom of the dash.  Time to breakout the my jewelers saw.

Why would I have such a pain in the ass tool? Lets just say that a degree in metals somehow translates into working in the information technology field. The above saw brings back memories of college, sawing silver sheet at 3:00 AM, fingers raw with blisters cursing the blades that break if you look at them wrong.   This is always my last resort when I work on a project that requires tedious cutting but you know what? It always works, even if its laughing at you while you do it.

I did make one mistake, when I marked the area to cut I used the inside of the sleeve that the unit slides into. As a result I had to do a bunch of grinding and filling to get the sleeve in.  I have a bit of concern about how well its going to stay in,  there are no supports on the bottom and this dash is literally only about 10 inches deep with the windshield wiper mechanism right behind it.  There is some ducting that needs to be avoided as well that is made of paper and let me tell you, 25 year old paper does not like to be touched.  I’ll have to give it some thought today but for now lets see what the test fit looks like:

If you will recall I started a 2 fold project a while back, the driver side window had suddenly stopped operating properly and I figured that since I needed to get into the door to fix it I might as well replace the crappy speakers in the doors. (part 1)

I hit the interwebs and found a site called www.teamgrandwagoneer.com where they sell all sorts of replacement parts for J Trucks, Wagoneers etc and I ordered 2 tracks, if one was broke the other was not too far behind.

While waiting for the new tracks to arrive, I started working on and completed the passenger speaker. When tracks finally arrived and I opened up the driver side door to figure out how to replace the track. I pushed the bits of broken track off the slider and could see now why the window would not work.

Well there’s yer problem 

 

 

The track was snapped in 3 places and had really only been working because of gravity until some of the teeth gave out. What I couldn’t figure out was how to get the track back on the slider in one piece. There just wasn’t enough room inside the door cavity to get it back on, it had only come off easy because it was in pieces.

I always forget that I have the complete shop manuals which cover such details. I opened up the book and saw how it easy it was to remove the track and motor:

After removing 5 torx screws, the whole assembly slides out the bottom through an opening in the door cavity. Lube up the track, slide it on and Done!

Well that was easy

I put the assembly back in the door and reattached it to the window and a quick test of the rocker switch confirmed that the window traveled properly up and down. Easy money, I guess I can quickly do the other one just to be safe, wait didn’t I just mount a speaker in the opening that the assembly has to slide through, Doh!

cart before horse anyone?

See ya next time.

I took the truck out for stretch on Sunday and I guess it was kind of mad at me for neglecting it. It’s been cold here in El Chuco, we had 2 snow events in the same week and we’ve just been busy this holiday season. Needless to say I haven’t driven it in about 3 weeks. It was kind of warm on this particular Sunday so I powered down the driver side window and it moved about 2 inches and then just made a weird whirling noise. I reversed it and it went back up, curious. I tried down again and again it got stuck after traveling only 2 inches. Maybe it’s just sticking because of the cold, so I pushed the glass slightly down and plop! It slid all the way down 😦 Reversing it wouldn’t bring it back up but I can still hear the motor working so all is not lost. I guess its time to do some work on the truck.

Not content to just start one project, since I would be need to open up the door panel now is as good a time as any to replace the speakers. Only one worked and it didn’t sound that great. I had picked up some 3-way pioneers on sale a while back and dove in.

I needed a frame of reference for a working window so I removed the passenger door panel first.

All that was holding it on was the screws at the top, the door pull, door opener and the arm rest. The bottom had become detached at some point in its life and the previous owner did not fix it. After removing the screws and components the panel came free a little to easy.

The speaker magnet was the only thing holding it in and came free once I removed the panel so its not included in the above shot. It was located in the leftish area of the bottom rectangular opening. Interestingly it was not the OEM speaker, it was Pioneer 2-way from about 91. Somebody’s been in here before which explains the poor condition of the panel. The previous installer (ha!) only used 2 screws and wedged it in there in a weird way so that it was higher than the opening. It probably never sounded good. I shall endeavor to do better. I needed some materials, time for a trip to Best Buy and Lowes for some new aluminum flat stock, sheet metal screws and Dynamat.

It’s Chip Foost approved, BONUS!

Now I wasn’t going to go all nut-so and Dynamat the entire door but the large cavern where the speaker sits is not conducive to good sound. I’ll fabb up new brackets and make a speaker baffle out of the Dyanmat. Plus it would protect it from any water that might seep down the window.

New brackets in place 

Dynamat applied

Speaker installed

 

 

Not to shabby. In Part 2 I’ll wrangle the panel back into place and start the second door hopefully getting to the bottom of why the window has failed.

The parts for round 2 have arrived:

Aluminum overflow container

I also have a new radiator and fuel sending unit for the gas tank. It will be nice to know how much gas I have in the tank. Time for another trip to Guthries:

For Part 1 go here and for Part 2 go here

This time around I felt I had a pretty good shot at winning the auction for Charles’s truck. My bid sat at the top right up until the last day and only one other person had bid prior. As the hours dwindled to minutes I began to grow nervous every time I clicked refresh to check the status. At the 5 minute mark the other bidder out bid me by 50 bucks. I wasn’t going to let this escalate into a bidding war so I kept my cool and waited. I would place my final bid in the last 30 seconds and hope he hadn’t set a higher autobid amount. Tick, tick, tick, click place bid , refresh, refresh, refresh nothin’, refresh, OUTBID!

WTF! I quickly placed a bid in the final milliseconds and then it was over. Wow, I had just won a truck on eBay, that’s not something you do everyday. I called Charles and we discussed the transaction. I would fly out to Ft. Worth, pay and drive the truck back, simple. We set a date and I jumped on Southwest Airlines website and luckily got a cheap ticket for $59. I then called Paul and secured a ride from Love field. Every thing was set except one thing:

The devil is in the details
 

I had forgot to ask Charles about the progress with the transfer case. I called him back and got assurances that when I came on Saturday all would be swell. Saturday morning rolled around and my wife and kids dropped me at the airport expecting me back the next day with the truck. Upon arriving at Love field it was time for some lunch so Paul, Alison and I headed out to one of my favorite places in Grapevine, Big Buck Brewery: 

You should always have some beer before buying a vehicle.

As we sat down, I sent Charles a text message that I had landed and that we would be at the hangar by 2:00. He responded with a “everything looking OK” and we settled into some lunch. About 45 minutes later I got a message from Charles “there’s a problem, give me call”

Oh great, me with a one way ticket and no vehicle to drive back, I could feel it. I called Charles and he laid out my fears, he found another problem in the transfer case and while it may be drivable he didn’t feel good selling it to me that way. Well at least he has scruples. We would still meet so I could look at the truck and see the title. Time to drown my sorrows.

Transfer case? What transfer case?

Meeting Charles in person was an interesting experience. Charles’s hangar was quite a sight. Imagine broken down vehicles, busts of pregnant women, random tools, airplane parts, composite glues and bolts of carbon fiber crammed in a dark metal shed. When Paul had originally told me about the torso’s I thought there would be a couple or so but no. There was like 10! He also had a broke down El Camino outside and in another space was the truck and a Subaru Brat on blocks.

Couple that with seeing Charles in his oily overalls and you’d think you had just met a deranged airplane mechanic. Quite the opposite, he was very cordial and talkative. The transfer case was opened up on a work bench and he showed us where some of the bearings were missing. He though he could get some today but the place had closed at noon. He then offered to purchase my return flight since I had only purchased a one way ticket. Very nice.

He discussed at length carbon fiber and its application in kit aircraft, oh and you can also make clothing out of it.

What? It would appear that if you impregnate carbon fiber with silicon it makes a nice substrate that can be sewn into a shirt. It can also be used to make neck collars for the S&M crowd that last longer than leather. Paul and I then spied a picture tacked to the wall of a young lady on all fours on the floor.

“What’s going on here?” asked Paul

‘She wants me to cast her in fiberglass and make 2 copies to make into a living room table.’

“Well of course, everybody should have one of those.”

Time to get out of here. I flew back the next day and over the next month there would be delay after delay. I was starting to think that it wasn’t going to happen and then finally he got the truck together. He must have felt my frustration because he was now willing to make the drive and bring the truck to me. Special delivery. Bonus!

I’ll drive it to you! Will you be ready for it?
 

It was a good thing my life didn’t depend on getting this truck. After 2 stalled attempts to get it here Charles finally set sail. I got text messages through out the day of his progress and at about 4:00 He arrived at my office. I took my first test drive in it, taking it to my house and parked it in my garage. I drove Charles to the airport, gave him his cash and bid him farewell. Meanwhile back in my garage: 

What are those spots forming on my floor?

And so it begins, hand me my shovel so I can scoop up some cash and fill this hole.

If you missed part 1 go here

After losing the blue Phoenix J-10, the eBay listings had thinned out. I searched for a couple of weeks thinking it wasn’t meant to be and then there it was:

Note: Truck is not magical…yet
 

A new listing had appeared for a 83 J-10 in Ft. Worth with 175,000 miles. Man that’s only 10 hours away! This time before I got to excited I formulated a plan of action. Since the truck was located in Ft. Worth I had an opportunity to have a friend who lived close look at it. I then used the power of the Internet to do some research on the individual selling the truck. 

How many warnings do you need before you should give up on something? 

Not only did I find the guy but he had wrote a few articles related to automobile composite body repair. I also found a forum that was related to kit airplanes (???) with several posts from a couple of individuals who were rather dissatisfied with some sort of canopy he was building out of carbon fiber. All the posts centered along monies paid and no products delivered. Humm… not good. 

I also found an add for a J-10 on Jeepbrokers.com . The photos were identical to the eBay listing, the differences being price and mileage. The Jeepbroker add was about $1800 more than the eBay listing and the millage listed was 100,000 less than the eBay listing. What to do, what to do. Oh hell I’ll give him a call.

“They say a fool and his money are soon parted. Here’s a list of fools. Make it happen.”

Charles was a real nice individual, He told me that he worked with composites on airplanes so that explained why the truck was at a hangar. He give the history of the vehicle as he knew it and a few of its faults. He stated that he was only the second owner and in possession of the title. While talking to him I ran the VIN through Carfax and outside of the mileage discrepancy his story was checking out. I asked him about the jeepbrokers add and he said that at the time he posted it he did not realize the odometer had flipped. OK, I’ll go with that.

Being the nice guy I am, I didn’t want to drill him about the negative posts regarding his business. I know, I know, call me crazy but I still had one other card to play in this deal. I called my friend Paul in Euless and asked if he would drive out and see if everything was on the up and up.

That Saturday, Paul and his girlfriend Alison drove out to meet Charles at the hangar. After frustratingly missing him a couple of times they connected. Paul went over a list of things that I wanted him to look at and to just kind of size up Charles. From the hangar he gave me a call:

‘The Jeep looks solid, its built like a brick shithouse, I would buy it’

“But does it run?”

‘Well there is one little detail, Charles has pulled the transfer case. Something about a exploded bearing. Oh and there is something else I need to tell you but I’ll call you later’

No wonder it doesn’t work, there’s no Flux Capacitor! 

Well this deal was starting to not look so good, plus there was the “thing” that Paul needed to tell me. It turns out that Charles really likes fiberglass and having noticed that Alison was pregnant started talking about how he casts pregnant women in fiberglass. Wow, Charles is artistic or somethin’. He would really would like to cast her, if she was interested because… well, he was interested. 

Well, that’s different!

Charles called me later and explained the transfer case situation and that he would have it running by the end of the auction. I still hadn’t even placed a bid yet and there was only one posted with a couple days to go. There was so many variables in the situation, so many ways this could go bad. Click-Place bid.

Here we go again… (Stay tuned for part 3)

I get asked occasionally where I got my truck from. “Funny story” I say and I proceed to detail probably one of the most convoluted accounts for purchasing a vehicle ever told.

Why a J-Truck? That’s easy:

Stomper 4x4s were the bomb in the early 80’s

The Stomper Honcho was my favorite as a kid. I played with this thing till the wheels got nubbed off and I had to replace them. When one of the lights broke, I re-wired it and finally I had to switch chassis with another one when the motor gave out. The memories of digging tracks for it to run in, having it crush Hot Wheels and racing it against friends at school I will remember forever.

Now I was never much of a car person. My first car was a 81 Ford Fairmont POS followed by a 83 Chevy Malibu. The Malibu I tried to fix up but really there is not much you can do to a 4 door Chevy from the 80’s to make it cool. I put air shocks, dual exhaust and chrome wheels on it and succeeded in looking more gangsta than anything. In collage I bought my first new vehicle, a green Ford Ranger. Outside of new wheels, CD-Player and camper shell it was stock and I ran it for 12 years. Great truck.

The Ranger was getting a little long in the tooth and I started shopping around for new vehicles. At first I was set on getting a new 05 Mustang but it was early 04 and they were not going to be out for a few more months. I then saw this:

Electric lime green? Hell Yeah!

On the color alone I was sold. Most dealerships at the time were running 0% financing, so I bit. I ordered it in March of 94 and had it 3 months later. I kept the Ranger for a couple of years using it lightly but for the most part it just sat. I finally sold it to my boss and every time I needed to get something from Lowes I regretted parting with the Ranger.

Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten that last sheet of plywood.

Once you get a Jeep you want to do everything to it. You start browsing Jeep forums, reading magazines, researching the history etc., That’s how I stumbled across the IFSJA , a site dedicated to full size Jeeps: Cherokee Chiefs, Grand Wagoners and J- Trucks. The Stomper Honcho had returned.

I started searching and found out quickly that the J-trucks are kind of rare. They did not have high production runs compared to Fords and Chevy and were discontinued in 86. I hadn’t seen one in El Paso and they never showed up in the classifieds. Ebay here I come.

Wow! no bed, rattle can camo and a flat to boot? Where do I send my money?

Searching on Ebay yielded all sorts of finds but most were rusted out hulks tagged with “ran when I last parked it”. There were a few well kept ones but they were above my budget and in faraway places like Missoula Montana. The shipping price alone would have been murder. About ready to give up I then found my first reasonable find a Blue 78 J-10 in Phoenix, minimal rust, runs, $1000. “I could drive it back in a day” I thought. I placed a bid.

WTF did I just do? Bidding for a car on Ebay violates every used car buying rule: Sight unseen, no test drive, trusting the printed word of some anonymous seller. But with little blue Stompers driving around in my head I followed the auction for 7 days with no other bidders bidding. It was mine!

Not really. Ebay is funny, if you have never bid on Ebay for something, you should. You will experience the Agony Victory:

“Crap! I just won that auction. Now I actually have to pay for a dear antler lamp.“ 

and the Thrill of Defeat: 

“WTF, how could I be outbid in the last 2 seconds for a dear antler lamp!” 

The truck auction did not see any action till the last day and then I only had to escalate 2 times, holding the winning bid right up until the last 2 seconds, click-refresh and YOU LOSE. I had just lost my lamp. 

Blast! The one that got away.

For a few days I searched Ebay again with no luck. Hits included parts for trucks and rusty J-10’s that had served as snow plows in Maine for 20 years but no solid finds. Enter Charles and his fiberglass breasts (to be continued tomorrow)

“Are you pregnant? Can I cast your body in fiberglass? Its not weird or anything.”

 

Back in January of 08 when I originally got Eugene he was quite the leaky jeep. They say that old AMC jeeps mark their territory, well mine dropped about a quart of oil and transmission fluid the first night in my garage. Front, rear main and oil pan seals later and all was good. I was really amazed that this thing drove all the way from Ft. Worth and still had any fluids in it.

Once all the big leaks were buttoned up I took it in to get inspected and hopefully get a sticker. Stopping was a frightful experience at times and it always helps to give the inspection places some “real” work in addition to emissions testing. The break pads were in good shape but the master cylinder was flaky so I had them replace it.

After about 2 hours Goodyear called and I had myself a inspection sticker! At the time they did tell me that the radiator was leaking and should be replaced but their quote was off the charts expensive and it wasn’t a leak that was begging to be fixed so I left it alone.

Fast forward 1 year and now the green ooze is starting to collect on the bottom of the water pump quite regularly. Might as well replace the 20 some odd year old water pump.  Time to source some parts.