I wish the healing would be faster than 4 months, and counting.
Well regardless... the leaf springs are getting picked out for me in the next few days. I'm REALLY looking forward to getting this jeep back at its original height and ride. It's literally painful to drive right now!
Hang in there Mark, it will heal. No bouncing in the Jeep for a while.
Welcome back ...er. Back to the forum life! Hope you take it easy, don't be pulling out any screws in the human, only the jeep
You saw signs!!! Riders on the Storm! Into this world they're thrown...No, wrong song. Ghost Riders in the sky? "Cowboy change your ways or with us you will ride..." Let's count the blessings everybody's got their head on straight. I will say this, Mark J picked an interesting year to have it done. On the one hand, everybody was pandemic'ing out, which means we were all waylaid for a year in some ways so maybe felt sympatico, and, on the other hand, he didn't have to pandemic out since he was already laid up, so maybe that makes him normal? Upside down year for sure. My brother jerked his screws out being silly and had to go back for a tightening, 6 more weeks of a head and neck container, so hopefully you avoid that. Maybe to avoid the bmorgil situation you could park yourself next to your Jeep or the other way around and just look at each other. Then again, some of us might be guilty of doing that anyway. Feel better, man!
Thanks for those good words too!Originally Posted by 5JeepsAz
It was something I had considered for years. And I already had c6/c7 discectomy fusion 4 years earlier. So, why not do the entire neck?!! This was now "revision" at c7, and then discectomy/fusion up to c3... fun fun fun. Still waiting for pain relief...
Funny, when I realized this "little" pandemic was going to go on (and on and on and on) I did start numerous projects regardless of my neck pain. I did restorations to another antique slot machine, a 30's wall telephone, and an old metal Lionel train bridge. Then I set up a ham station (Kenwood HF rig) in the garage, and made a long wire antenna for the roof and put up a 20' 2 meter antenna for my local communication radio.
But during all this time THAT Jeep was in the garage. It had been in the garage so long (1995) that I had forgotten it was there. It just became part of the garage, like a large yellow shelf, or a yellow water heater. It also had become a storage bin of sorts. I had sh*t in bags sitting in the back and on the floor areas. First thing I did was move that crap out. And about two years earlier, I removed the top and roll bar... sold 'em both on Craigslist. I thought if I ever got it working, I just want a stock looking jeep. There will be no more off-roading, or driving regularly in rain. It never rains in California, right? When September rolled in, I had seen the surgeon, and made my decision for this major surgery, finally setting a date for Nov 9th.
And the pandemic rolled on... and there was my jeep, NOT rolling on; not rolling at all. I knew I couldn't do everything to restore this to a daily drive yet but that I could at least, maybe, make it run. One battery, carburetor, fuel tank, fuel pump, hoses later - it started and ran, very rough at first. Still have a cracked exhaust valve but it ran. It actually ran better each time!
It ran, but didn't stop. However, with that low gear, who needs brakes? The surgery date was looming on me so I did get most of the brake overhaul started. In a way, it WAS the pandemic that pushed me to do something NOW or it may never get done. It definitely was a year never like any in my life, or anyone others as well. Following surgery, the only thing I really could do was park myself next to the jeep and look at it, imagining me driving it again like I did when I was barely 16 years old.
Fast forward to two months after surgery, when I'm "cleared" for most everything, I resumed and finished the brakes. I had a few times where I strained my neck too much being underneath, lifting my head to tighten up hoses, etc.
Without writing pages more (which I could), I'll summarize this with the fact that, even though this year was awful, for all of us, it did give me time to reflect in ways I had never before. And I made tremendous progress (I think) in getting this jeep to a point of driving. It's even insured now. Registration is another story...and I'll start a new post for that.
So being laid up with a pandemic, made me actually think differently in terms of time and being able to take "baby steps" in working on the 3B. I had plenty of time to just wait (for parts) and start something else while waiting. Multi-tasking is not something I'm good at, but I certainly learned it in 2020. And, suddenly things came together: I can get in the jeep, start it up, and drive away now... and stop too!
Now as 2021 rolls in, like a bucking bronco, I'm certain to get that damn Rancho suspension off and the cushy new/old leaves in, for a painless ride, or a less pain ride! Thanks again to everyone here. It's nice having this jeep family to share things with.
Last edited by Mark J; 03-12-2021 at 12:11 PM.
I'm sorry to say this, but. From reading your timeline there, it appears the catastrophic mistake was parking the jeep in the first place. Let me recap. You had a cool jeep. You parked it. You actually started parting it out. Decades of calamity followed. You finally came to your senses (I am so glad we all had a chance to reset our mental gears during this pandemic, some of us just went plum crazy for a time). Now that you started working on the jeep, caring for it, suddenly life makes sense again. I'm the same way. When the buzzer of insanity in my life is buzzing, I just take solace in my old jeep. Now what is bizarre is, in this age of side effects, is people love it as much as I do. My walk of life takes me here, there, near, far. I like seeing all kinds of people from all places, variants I guess on the walk of life. This universal jeep feeling? It's awesome! Everybody loves it. Now you know I'm teasing, but that doesn't make me wrong. Restoring a jeep is a process that brings out the best in all of us. Really glad you're fixed up, even if the pain is still there. At least you took steps, and now pain free existence is more likely. Fix the damn jeep brother!!!
Ok that was a good one, again!
The funny thing is that I really started "parting it in" by storing that crap inside, making it a CJ3B "wheeled storage container."
Only thing in it now is my jacket, sunglasses, all in a small plastic basket (under the original upholstery back seat) with the proof of insurance and temp driving papers.
I have a crank start for it, but that stays out! It's from a WWII jeep and I don't want that thing stolen.
Appreciate where you are in the process! Since you've been here some years now, it's good to know a newer person like me has so much to look forward to. Interested to see you have little parts and pieces lined up. I have same. The original house phone for mine. Going to convert to modern guts so it'll be a hands free device. Soon as I get to it... Hope you are feeling better day by day
Thought I'd post something relevant to the topic I started!
Since the jeep is "running" now, I'm back to dealing with my bucking bronco Rancho suspension that I hate now. Funny, when I was 17 it was fun to bounce and jerk around while driving: it seemed to get attention too, as if I was the bull rider being watched by an audience of regular drivers. And I just reviewed this thread, re-reading bmorgil's post:
"...Bull Riders, their heads snapping back and forth and back and forth, slow motion back and forth. Their heads snapping chin to chest back of their head to their shoulders..."
So anyway... I got a decent set (I hope) of old leaf springs, hand picked just for me by a jeep restoration guy in Oregon - Toledo Oregon, of all cities. The irony! I'm to use the "more arched" ones on the drivers side, I was told.
I've brushed and buffed them and they're ready for paint. I had already bought a can of decent (works on rust) paint. Last night I decided to just spray one just to get started but ran into a problem before I even began.
You know those damn "secure" paint can caps that just refuse to pop off? Well this one was being stubborn.
I gave it some slight force at the prying point. Not only did it NOT come off, but it somehow stayed on, still stuck, but managed to push the valve forward. So I'm hearing this "SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS" sound and, one second later, there's my paint... running out from under the cap and all over my hands. Another shoe drop?
After clean up (my hands are still black at the finger tips) I did spray one side. I'll get to the rest tomorrow.
Unfortunately I still can't install them because the shackles I need are back ordered, by everyone. They're on eBay but I'm not paying $34 each!
I'll just work on other things... squeaks, clicks, whirrs, etc...
Last edited by Mark J; 07-18-2021 at 11:11 AM.
The gremlins are throwing shoes!
Hahaha, no "bull riding" after neck surgery!
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