Operation Phoenix

Fixing my bumper...

srimes said:

damn bro you've been hittin it hard but you've gotta take some breaks. Looks like you've aged a decade!

Click to expand...

My 68 year old father in law... nobody but me will hold a camera.

-Mac

So yesterday was cleaning up a bunch of loose ends. Put the Warn tire carrier bumper back on...had to stop my father in law mid weld and tell him we're out of time it's going on.

Fixed the brake switch with a piece of aluminum electrical taped to the pedal rod...needed a spacer. Headlight switch was wonky and found the right spot that made the lights worked. Buckled up for a morning test drive and discovered 99 seatbelt ends don't latch to 97 receiver. Don't have the 99 seats...went to unbolt the 97s... they're pretty shot...driver came out and the passenger lower bolt seized and stripped. No way to get to it so we sawzalled through the roll cage... little piece of my sole died...got it the chunk of cage and belt in a vice and carefully ground off the bolt...about this time we realized the belt was half cut through. And then the retractor fell off. So I cut the 99 seatbelt, slid on the 97 end and stitched it back together with a sewing machine...yeah...not kevlar. It'll do till I get home and order new belts.

Then packing. And a longest trip yet to get celebratory sushi in town.

This morning up at 4 am. Made the 5.5 hr several hundred mile road trip up I-5 at 70-75 mph. Little squirrelly but not bad.

The 1:00 p.m. ferry was full and we're in line now for the 5:00 p.m. and will be in Victoria Island in no time.

-Mac

Found an exhaust shop that can fix my bodgery while folks sleep in this morning...I cut off the hanger on the transmission and welded it back on without the back axle.

Big shout out to Budget Brake and Muffler here in Victoria...owner just bought a pink 97 for $3500 for his daughter and will be swapping in an engine. Jeep people are the best.

Ironically this is the first time my Jeep has been on a lift since forever...gotta get me one.





-Mac

Ok...so yesterday after getting my exhaust successfully fixed and properly tucked behind the rear shock and gas tank I was tasked with my first mission...go to Costco and buy groceries for eight people. 8 days of wrenching for the ignoble task of being a grocery getter.

Everyone else slept. They were cooking breakfast when I got back to our cabin outside Sooke, in the Tugwell area around 11 am.

Edited videos the rest of the day. Here's how we traveled route 5-3 and lost our dog...


Part 2 will be wheeling and cutting our way down ATV trail 6040.

Part 3 will be Finding Willow and Losing Our Jeeps.

Part 4 should be Operation Phoenix.

Editing more this morning... researching trails... thinking of trying some stuff behind Muir Gate a few miles from here or heading to the Frasier ghost town.

-Mac

Lou said:

The brake switch is adjustable. When it’s cocked 45* for removal/install, you can pull the rod out.

Click to expand...

Yeah unless you douse it in spray paint.

Old, brittle plastic and I didn't want to tempt fate.

I'll fix it right when I'm closer to a parts store!

Thanks for the tip though...I fiddled with it for twenty minutes trying to unsnap it and wrapped it in masking tape and painted the pedal box.

-Mac