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Jessie The Jeep

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Everything posted by Jessie The Jeep

  1. My Set. 1958 Hotchkiss M201, bought in April 2005. 1944 Dodge WC51, bought in August 2010. It was repainted in September 2021. Lastly, my 1943 Ford GPW, bought in 2012 as a wreck and returned to the road in 2014. All together.
  2. You could strap it under the passenger seat, using the stowage straps under there. Here's my straps.
  3. 19 years ago today, the 18th of February 2005, we went up to Scotland for a long weekend break. While there, we also planned to check out a Hotchkiss Jeep for sale at WHB Jeeps. At the time, it wasn't registered and was still in French army three tone camouflage. We placed a deposit before the weekend was out. Before we collected it ( in April ), I'd asked for new roof and seat canvasses to replace the French vinyl and a respray into olive drab. It would then be immediately presentable for the various events planned for the 60th anniversary of VE Day. That was the beginning of Jessie the Jeep.
  4. First Run Out of the Year - February 3rd, 2024 The Dodge hasn't run or moved since the Historic Quay event at the end of September. While it felt mild today, it wasn't warm. As with the Jeep in the morning, I began with a fan heater under the sump to pre-heat the oil. After that, I turned the engine over several times, to get some oil moving around the engine. Once I felt I'd moved enough oil, the carb was primed and I went for the start. Oil pressure was up straight away. I pulled out of the garage and let the Dodge warm up on the drive before going for a drive. There wasn't much fuel in the Dodge, so this drive was only a couple of miles around a lane that loops around the village. I stopped a couple of times for some photos, then returned home and tucked it back up in the garage again. Springtime servicing can wait until the weather warms up.
  5. I took the Jeep for a 5 mile local drive and shot a few photos around the route. I just followed my usual route out of the bottom of the village and to sun set lane. When I got back, it didn't go back in the garage straight away, as I had some work to do on Lynne's Juke. That was parked in the garage out of the wind, for a sensor and electrical plug change. An RAC man managed to mangle the plug during a call out after the sensor failed. Fixing that took until noon, then the Jeep was put away and I had lunch. The Dodge was out in the afternoon, but I'll post that in the Dodge thread.
  6. First Run Out of the Year - February 3rd, 2024 The Dodge hasn't run or moved since the Historic Quay event at the end of September and the Jeep was last out for Remembrance Day. I wanted to get two of the three vehicles on the road to stretch all their joints and splash some oil around the engines. The GPW needs a head gasket change when the weather warms up. While it felt mild today, it wasn't warm, I began with a fan heater under the Jeep sump to pre-heat the oil. After that, I turned the engine over several times with the starting handle, to get some oil moving around the engine. Once I felt I'd moved enough oil, the carb was primed and I went for the start. Oil pressure was up straight away. I pulled out of the garage, locked up and went for a short drive.
  7. This year, for a different look to normal, I tried it with the canvas on, but the back folded up. At almost every show I go to, everyone else has the canvas off and screen down ( because they think it looks cooler, despite the fact that driving a Jeep in any configuration is cool ). I usually have the screen up and canvas on, just to make my Jeep stand out as different. Nothing worse than looking around a show and seeing 20 identical Jeeps, screen down, baseball bat and mit, camo net etc! That was one of the reasons I have the Flying Control look too.
  8. 2023 Season Review As we head into mid December, it's time for my annual season review. With salt on the roads and a hacking cough ( a plague brought home from school by my daughter ), I'm probably not going to be out in my green vehicles during the remaining couple of weeks of the year. Normally I post a composition of one or two pictures from each event, but this year I've put them all into a short video. We've done ten public events, nine local runs and the Dodge has done nine sessions of moving materials around the garden for my landscaping and garden railway feature. We also did a couple of weeks around the Normandy beaches and museums in the Summer, but sadly without the vehicles.
  9. An 'A' Frame tow bar. UK towing rules are complicated with regards to 'A' frames and braking, particularly in case of a breakaway.
  10. I took a few more pictures of the Jeep amongst the trees before making my way back home.
  11. From there, I made my way to St Laurence's Church yard, near Hallgarth Manor for the last memorial on my trip.
  12. A bit further down the hill, I entered Sherburn village, a separate village to Sherburn Hill, with its own memorial.
  13. I originally planned to head home after Ludworth, but made a slight change of plan and headed for Sherburn Hill instead. I've been here before too. There's no parking right next to the memorial, so I had to chock the Jeep further up the bank.
  14. North again to Ludworth, a memorial I've visited before. I was here for the two minutes silence last year.
  15. Heading North, the next stop was Thornley village. This was quite a large memorial wall, but in front of it, was a separate memorial to 2nd Lt John Scott Youll V.C. He served in the 11th Service Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers. He was killed in Italy on the 27th of October 1918, age 21. He's the second local soldier I've discovered who was awarded the Victoria Cross.
  16. From there, I headed West to the cemetary at Wheatley Hill, where the next memorial was located. It was just inside the entrance. Five columns of names were from WW1, one column from WW2 and one name from the Korean War.
  17. A bit further South is Wingate village. It was at this village where we had our first 1940s event with the Jeep, back in April 2005. There was a small parking area behind the memorial, which fortunately had spaces, as there were double yellow lines and bollards around the main road.
  18. The next and rather impressive memorial was at Shotton Colliery. This is the one I had passed by the previous week. In addition to the soldier on the plinth, there was a nicely kept memorial garden, benches and shelter.
  19. Remembrance Day Memorial Tour - November 11th About a week before the 11th, I passed through part of a village I don't normally travel through and spotted a rather nice war memorial. This set me off planning my 2023 memorials tour. The whole trip was a little over 19 miles and took about two hours. After a few problems getting the Jeep started, I think due to failing batteries, I headed off to my first stop. Shortly before getting there, I made a quick stop to fit the flag and grab a couple of photos in the sunshine, then on to the first memorial where I planned to keep the two minutes silence at 11am. The first memorial was at Littletown, a small and simple engraved stone, dedicated mostly to those from the village lost during World War 1. One name, Thomas Hopper, dates from World War 2. After the two minutes silence, I set off for the next stop.
  20. September 29th - Dodge Rear Canvas I got a second hand rear canvas for the Dodge earlier in the season. It is meant to be attached to the bow by a spiral of rope, wrapped around the top of the bow. On a normal Dodge, having it permanently fitted isn't a problem. On mine, having the crane fitted and having to dismantle the roof bows to get it in the garage, makes the standard way of attachment a problem. So far this year, I only fitted it if it looked like it was going to rain overnight. I wanted a quicker way of attaching it than threading the rope around the bows and through all the canvas eyelets. The wires that support the crane usually hang a little way below the bow, stopping the canvas from rolling down from the top as on a standard Dodge. When the tailgate is closed, that will support the crane, so the lifting cables can be given a bit of slack. A small chain was added to the bow, to hold the cables up out of the way of the canvas, allowing it to hang below. So after a bit of messing around with ideas, I came up with a new way of attaching the canvas. Small lengths of rope were cut and fed through pairs of eyelets in the canvas, knotted on the outside. They now hook over small dowels on the inside of the bow, without any need for being tied or wrapped around the bow. It is a quick job to unfasten the sides and unhook the ropes from the dowels to remove it. If I need to see out the back to move the truck while at a show, I can just unhook the tops and the whole canvas can drop down to the truck bed, without removing the side ropes. Longer lengths of rope are attached to each side, which do wrap around the sides of the bow to pull it out at the edges. It is now a quick job to fit or remove and the crane lifting wires don't cause a problem. It's quite thin material and could do with painting in a waterproof fabric seal like Nikwax to help keep the rain out.
  21. Photos for both days were a combination of DSLR and phone images. High shots of the vehicles were taken on my phone on a selfie stick, using the timer on the shutter release. HMS Trincomalee was the backdrop for this first 1940s event held by the museum. The Trincomalee is one of two surviving British Leda-class sailing frigate, built shortly after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Work on the Trincomalee began in May 1816 and was launched on 12 October 1817. Trincomalee holds the distinction of being the oldest British warship still afloat, as although HMS Victory is 52 years older, the Victory is displayed in dry dock. This appears to be our last event of the year, ending the season at Hartlepool, very close to Heugh Battery, where we started the 2023 season. More pictures here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2023/royalnavy.htm
  22. National Museum of the Royal Navy ( Hartlepool ) - Sept 30th/Oct 1st While I took the Dodge on day one, it was Jessie out for the second day, parking up with Andy again. Several other vehicles were there for the second day that weren't there on day one. Most of the re-enactor displays were the same, although a couple had gone, to be replaced by the Seatones singers. It was mostly sunny today and quite a bit warmer than Saturday.
  23. The Royal Navy Bomb Disposal display, demonstrated disarming a parachute mine during the show and the Wizz Bangs gave a talk and firing display of various weapons once each day. Another Jeepwas parked near us, with another two in the Wizz Bangs display. The rain held off until mid afternoon, so I got wet on the trip home and while packing the Dodge away into the garage. This appears to be our last event of the year, ending the season at Hartlepool, very close to Heugh Battery, where we started the 2023 season. More pictures here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2023/royalnavy.htm
  24. A number of the usual local groups were set up around the historic quay with HMS Trincomalee as the backdrop. This was the first 1940s event held by the museum. The Trincomalee is one of two surviving British Leda-class sailing frigate, built shortly after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Work on the Trincomalee began in May 1816 and was launched on 12 October 1817. Trincomalee holds the distinction of being the oldest British warship still afloat, as although HMS Victory is 52 years older, the Victory is displayed in dry dock.
  25. National Museum of the Royal Navy ( Hartlepool ) - Sept 30th/Oct 1st The show at the National Museum of the Royal Navy is likely to be my last public show of 2023. While only 16 miles from home, I didn't want to spend a fortune on fuel at the end of the season, so decided to take the Dodge the first day and the Jeep the second. I took the Dodge on the first day because of possible rain during the afternoon, so that I had some cover to hide in. Andy was there with his Jeep, so we set up a maintenance diorama with the Dodge and his Jeep.
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