Aug 12, 1998- I finished stripping the paint off the hood. [Note: only wire brush lightly next time.] It seems the less the paint was heated by friction the better the stripper worked. I also painted the steering column, the air-cleaner ring holder, the transmission rings, and the steering column holder. I soaked the air cleaner in diesel fuel.
Aug 15-16, 1998- SANDING - I found out that the wiggle sander works well on wood but not so well on metal. I sanded the rust with 80 grit (Sounds heavy but not with a wiggle sander.) Then I used 150 grit, then 320 grit, but with poor results. I took a flat, square piece of 320 grit sandpaper, cut it in a circle, and fastened it with duct tape to the sanding pad on the sander. After using all the 320 and 400 grit I had, I attached a fine wire brush to the drill and went at it with that. After that, I had sanded with the scraps of 400 grit and then tack-ragged it with paint thinner. My daylight had left, so we painted the hood using a trouble light for illumination. Danny painted, and I held the hood in a slightly vertical position. We painted behind the garage so the fumes wouldn't be so bad. I covered the hood with a tarp so as to keep off the dew. The next morning, it rained and the tarp worked well, but the hood was a little wet, which showed us that the new paint beaded water wonderfully. I wiped it off and hurriedly went to work. We used a two-part mixture called DP 40. It was flat gray. I need some type of sander for body work.
Aug 18, 1998 - I finally had the title transferred at AAA in Somerset. It cost 44.50; $10 went to AAA and $34.50 went to the State of PA.
Aug 19, 1998- I painted the other side of the hood, after sanding and cleaning it with wash thinner. When I painted the hood, the extension cord caught on fire and burned. That was not much fun. (I went with Danny in his cj-7 and saw Amanda Kelly, Megan Hoke, Christen Randell and Chris Elm for the last time. It was a great night for star cruising. It made me wish my Jeep was ready for it!)
Aug 20, 1998- I worked more on fixing the heater up. I also found today that the gas tank was not salvageable. Jeeps are notorious for that because the gas tank is sitting on the body just under the seat, which means metal on metal and water just lays between them and rots everything.
Aug 21, 1998- Put the heater back together and decided on no series resistor because of the heater's 30-watt capacity and the displacement of air and so forth. The 6-volt motor will run fine on twelve volts and won't overheat because of the large air current around it. I also painted the dash hooks and cleaned up in here. I started to weld the transmission cover.
Aug 22, 1998- I finished the transmission cover. I put the heater in the box. Then I painted the gas pedal, choke cable, throttle cable, dash windshield latches, and finished the gas tank holder.
Aug 22-23, 1998- I painted the air cleaner and organized stuff.
Aug 24, 1998- I hung the fenders and the grill, and then I jacked the jeep back down.
Sept 12, 1998- I came back from school. We took the body off and were very pleased to find the frame in very good condition. (Dad and I removed the tub.) I jacked the frame up again and moved things around in here. Also I worked and worked and worked on the gas float and can't seem to make it to work right. I decided to move on to mechanical work because it is easier to start and stop.
Sept 13, 1998- I have the float working perfectly but the gauge won't. I painted the float and disassembled and cleaned the carburetor. I painted the lower cast iron parts, and the rest I cleaned with carb/choke cleaner and several small tools. I also cleaned and painted the gasoline linkage.
Sept 20, 1998- I came home for the weekend and painted the other carburetor piece. I cleaned up and painted the top piece on the transmission, cane casting, sliders etc. Then I removed the radiator (it was a pain in the butt). I damaged the surround by twisting a hole in it but this will easily be remedied with a large washer. I took some pictures today. Mom ran some papers off with technical exploded diagrams. Now I return Bill Stripp's book. I found out I need some six point stuff to remove the hood.
