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Nice work April!

Did you use Electrical Metallic Tubing (EMT) on those corners?

Where's the YT edition?

Not electrical conduit. I got a 1" steel tube from home depot.

Today I put it in another coat of epoxy early this AM.







By afternoon, I was coating in lusterless grey just like my jeep.

Here you can see the difference in the grey epoxy vus the lusterless.
Lusterless has more of a greenish tint to it. This is only way I ever can tell. I was not blessed with the woman skill of determining different shades of color!




Will be getting a storm in the afternoon Saturday.

Still have the wheels and a few bolt ons that need to be painted. My dogs were getting upset with me I was an hour past dinner time. So more in AM.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but I put truck bed liner in.




Put top coar of lusterless on.




Touch up on frame paint done.







Need to paint tail lights, some hand brake brackets, instal wiring, instal hand brake cable.

Got home from shipyard/training trip and of course we couldnt stay out long enough.

Home tinkering.

Haf this placard from my last ships Steering system when it was upgraded 4 years ago. THey were going too throw it away so I snagged it.

I like the plate, fits right in...

in that picture I noticed you have leather boots on your shifters, you really should consider putting on the rubber ones with hose clamps on the trans tower/lever. The transmissions are not water proof without the boot and any water on the lever will run right into the trans...that's what destroys them when the are left out in the elements unprotected.

Mike B

Catch you up with whats happening. Took the long weekend off. Spending time with dad before i send him home. Hes been here the past 4 months taking care of the dogs while i was with the ship. Of course the 40 year old ship is broken down still. The lube oil cooler of an engine failed. Allowed oil to invade the coolant system. Was so thick like peanut butter when we flushed it out. Will get a new cooler in a few weeks (we've repaired it 5 times since 2021). On home front, I lost my old man Diesel dawg in July. He was almost 16.

While I've been off the last few days
messing with the winch plate. It's designed for a larger type winch. I just bought a universal winch plate and it filled the gap on the front frame very well.
Modifying the fairlead from the large one down to the smaller. This is a 5500 lb winch. Thr cashier at HF gave me a 25% discount on it- not sure why- maybe he was sweet on me and I had no clue.





Still a little smoothing out to do. I do intend to fill the unused holes on the plate today.


Not much left to tinker with on the jeep as it is now. Time to start putting miles on it.

Finished welding the holes up, I did paint it black, but didn't get a photo.

I installed a small lock on the tool box. Not overly secure, you can bend if you give it a hard pull, but I put it on anyway. He'll a dumb dumb probably couldn't figure out how to raise the seat with the barrel lock on.



Not that some would care for what I did. I put a motorcycle dash cam (waterproof front and rear cameras) on the jeep. The dvr is in the tool box ( it's also water proof)

I can pull the images up on my phone and save video or photos.

With the view of the toolbox, the dvr is well hidden.


Took salty for a few miles around the neighborhood. Backing out of garage, tight fit.


Took my dad for his first ever ride in a jeep.
He hasn't stopped smiling and was excited to tell family on Facebook.


95* and I was pouring buckets of sweat.

Engine and floor board definitely get hot!
Drove about 6 miles around the neighborhood at nmt 35mph.

Parking break does not work! Need to adjust that. For now I toss a wheel chock out at the front wheel because my driveway has a slight incline.

Till next time.

CoastieReid wrote:f Time to start putting miles on it.

now yer talkin!

Sorry about your pup. Chloe was 19 when she passed. It’s hard, more so when they have that much time to snuggle down into your heart.

Took Salty out to the local park for a quick drive/shakedown longer than a mile. I spent about 10 miles driving through the park (which turns into a golf course).

I've got a brake leak at the master cylinder brake light and have to get that heat shield to get to it. That is a future me problem as I am down to only 3 weekends left before I move to Hawaii till April. I may dig in next weekend though- I have a lot of deployment preps to do.



The story behind this= and I will change the sticker soon.
My Grandpa Doug used to work at a shipyard in Boston just before WW2. He was considered an essential worker and was not allowed to go join the USAAF like he wanted to. Finally, in 1943 he was allowed and went on to be a Navigator on B-24's. While he was in the Air Force, and when he came back to the shipyard after the war, he used to write "Doug was here" on everything. He was 21=24 during his service.








My retirement from the Coast Guard was approved for 01AUG2024. I am going on this deployment till April, and around 17 or 18 April, I start my 104 days of terminal leave and can come home to VA to become a veteran. That will be 25 years, 7 months, 28 days. 6 ships, 1 isolated Loran Station, 1 middle east Iraq war deployment, recruit training duty (drill instructor we call Company Commander), A school (AIT type school) instructor, and even changed lightbulbs on lighthouses. Only job I wasn't super busy was the one year I was recovering from stage 3 head/neck cancer... I sat around and did what ever I could tolerate.

April,
Congratulations on your upcoming retirement. The jeep and trailer look good. I have enjoyed your build posts.
This next weekend my son, grandson and I will be going to the "Fort Hood Historic Military Vehicle Rally". We put on a display for the Fort Cavazos folks at the PX on Friday and Saturday and Sunday we are allowed to take our old green vehicles out onto the tank and other training areas. Put it on your calendar for next year when you are leisurely retired.
Ralph

Congrats on all! I've been in the US Army/ARNG/USAR since 2002. I have a few things left I want to do but I'm ready to move on.
20+ years is a long time...

Jeep looks great and Hawaii doesn't suck for a last tour!

Hi April,
Looks great!
I'm always a sucker for glamour shots.
But I have to ask --- isn't that pond a little small, even for the Coast Guard?

Enjoy the last tour before "retirement".
I bet you're not in home port much, what with the size of that pond called the Pacific Ocean and all......

Take care!

Back home from deployment and on terminal leave till end of July.

Put battery on charge so let's give it a whirl.

Welcome home!