Jessie The Jeep

June 4th The Jeep was brought out of the garage and taken on a short drive to fill up with fuel. We had the Jubilee event on June 5th and needed fuel for that, plus it would leave it ready for other events coming over the next few weeks. The fuel trip and Jubilee event were only the second and third outings for the Jeep this year. While the Jeep was out of the garage, it gave me the opportunity to do some tinkering with the trailer. Later this month, we'll be taking the Dodge to an event where we are camping for the weekend. For that, I wanted to tow the trailer behind the Dodge. Getting the trailer out wasn't quite so easy as normal. With the GPW up on axle stands, it was in the way and wouldn't roll, to allow the trailer hitch to clear the rear body. I had to drop the GPW down off the stands and move the back end over towards the Dodge to give me the space I needed.

Plantinum Jubilee Street Party - June 5th This outing wasn't one originally planned for the Jeep. We'd been invited to a friend's house for a Plantinum Jubilee celebration street party. Our friends had decided on a 1950s theme to tie in with the original coronation. We were intending to go in the normal car, but the street was holding a competition for the best decorations and garden display, so we thought the Jeep would add to the overall effect. The British forces were still using Jeeps at the time and National Service was in force, so I'd put the RAF markings back on the Jeep and would go in my RAF gear. Wanting to out-do their neighbours, our friends asked if we had any bunting we could bring. "Yes, of course we do, left over from our VE Day celebrations. But why don't we bring our big Union Flag and 15 feet flagpole too?" So after a chilly 15 mile drive to our friend's house, we set to work with the additional bunting and flagpole. With that done, it was time for the tables and chairs and then checking out the competition elsewhere in the street. Several houses along the street had made an effort to decorate their gardens, but our friends ( with a little help from us ) took joint first place for best decorative effort and display.

It would have been nice if the council had required vintage signs above all the shops in the market place to keep the character of the place, but time moves on and we are being left further behind each day.

The Durham Light Infantry Memorial. I don't know when this was installed, but it may have been after the DLI Museum was closed by the council a few years ago to save money. This was pre-covid. They now plan to open it again. Other than the cold and my grudge against the BBC weather forecasters, it was a nice day catching up with people and getting back out to events again. Unfortunately, no more events for us until June. More pictures here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/durham.htm

Even though I'm a Jeep owner, row upon row of just Jeeps can be a little dull, despite each owner trying to make their vehicle stand out from the rest with various period canvas and steel bling! The vehicles were spread around the marketplace, though more concentrated towards the top end. It's a shame the sun wasn't out as forecast, but at least it did dry up and there were some good coffee shops and food outlets near by to take a break from the cold.

The rain didn't last too long, but the cold and damp remained for most of the day. It didn't prevent a good turnout of vehicles, re-enactors and dioramas. There were also lots of public who took a genuine interest, some having their own family stories of WW2. There was also a nice variety of vehicles on show, with three Dodges, a number of Jeeps, but also civilian and staff cars, a bike, plus an Austin Firetruck.

Durham Marketplace Nostalgia Day - May 2nd We had the Dodge out again today, at our second event of the year at the Durham Marketplace Nostalgia Day. Sadly, we've now got 25% of the 2022 events behind us. There's not many events to attend this year around our area, with several cancelled for various reasons. Some are still short on money following two years lost to covid. Being on the doorstep, it didn't take us long to get there and we hadn't been set up long before the rain arrived. Now that wasn't in the forecast that I saw just before we left. Wish I'd had my flying jacket, but I foolishly believed the BBC's "Sunny Intervals" for the morning.

We all caught the sun today and my daughter was so exhausted ( both from the day and a sleepover two days ago ), that she slept all the way home!

Heugh Battery was one of three erected in 1860 to protect the fast-growing port of Hartlepool. Heugh Battery is the only WW1 battlefield in the United Kingdom, after the German Navy attacked the battery on December 16th 1914, trying to provoke small naval engagements to whittle down the British fleet.

Not too long after we got there, the sun broke through and it ended up being a really hot day and a great first event of the season. There was a good turnout of vehicles and re-enactors and a great turnout of public.

Heugh Battery - April 16th It was a misty and damp start to the drive to Heugh Battery in Hartlepool for our first event of 2022. It was a 38 mile round trip, cutting cross country on the slower roads, but we almost got to the point where we could see the battery and then discovered a road close sign. The diversion signs weren't great, but Google maps came to the rescue.

So this afternoon, I decided to do a test drive combined with the school run. The Jeep was running nice and smooth in the garage, so a longer run was then next step. This would be the first drive in 2022 and the first since December 30th, when it wasn't quite running right. I pulled it out of the garage for a picture about ten minutes before I needed to go. My daughter's "Street Cred" will be running high tomorrow! A number of friends and a couple of teachers saw her strapped in the back. All was well during the drive, apart from a little light rain on the way home. We just got the Jeep back in the garage and it really chucked it down, immediately followed by bright sun ( English weather likes to do that! ), and got a nice rainbow to finish the afternoon.

April 6th 2022 I did get the Jeep out for the Dodge photoshoot on December 30th using the old dizzy cap. I also managed to fit a new brush into the "JMP" dizzy cap, back in early January, so it was a pretty cheap fix. Since then, nothing much has happened with the vehicles, bar one trip out in the Dodge before an event next week. Over the first three months of the year, it's been tool cold in the garage to mess around with spanners. By April, the weather was warming up, so I spent some of this morning doing a little tinkering on the Jeep engine. Old plugs out, new plugs gapped and put in, PCV stripped and cleaned and carb idle adjusted as it was running rich and the old plugs were very sooty. They still look in fairly good condition, so will be cleaned up and kept in a locker as spares. There's still the starter to strip and overhaul as the starter dog keeps sticking when I hit the starter button and the commutator often gets quite scruffy. I'll do that when it's a bit warmer still and I can work outside with a bit more space. Three vehicles and a trailer in the garage is quite crowded!

The box was painted with an olive drab I mixed myself from left over emulsion tester pots. I mixed the paint with waterproof PVA glue to strengthen the wood, as some of the planks were quite a low density. The glue helped to toughen up the outer fibres and waterproof the box for those less than ideal show days! I still had the stencils I cut for the original boxes. They'd been printed on paper, onto which I applied 2 inch Sellotape. This toughened up the paper for the small cuts in the lettering and makes them last longer when painted over. The paint was applied with both a stippling brush and sponge, used quite dry to minimise paint creep under the stencil. A couple of coats of yellow Humbrol modelling enamel was enough to give a reasonable coverage, without tooking too perfect up close. The new .50 Cal crate, seen in a slightly lighter green with some of my other boxes, will be a useful addition to my Dodge.

Once they were done, the box sides and ends were assembled onto the base. The holes in the lid were marked up and the inner diameter of the tapered hole cut with a hole saw. The centre piece was broken out with a chisel and the outer taper carved out with a scalpel and finished with a mini sanding drum.

April 1st ~ 3rd - Battery Pallet to .50 Cal Ammo Crate When the new Dodge battery arrived, it came on a nice big wooden pallet. I didn't need a pallet, but there was a decent amount of wood in it that I saw as potentially useful. It took some dismantling as the nails were all barbed, but eventually I got all the planks separated. The plan was to make another .50 Cal ammo crate. I'd made two a couple of years ago to carry some of the camping accessories and with the new look Dodge, another as an accessory would be a useful display item as well as being able to store and carry stuff. The curved inset handle on each end was cut from a strip of wood on my bandsaw. This strip was then glued back into the end panel.

Neither of the Jeeps have been out yet this year, as I've been waiting for the weather to warm up before doing any maintenance. However, there's hail and sleet forecast this week, so that may have to wait a little longer. We finished the trip at a road we call sunset lane, after a Jeep photoshoot there last year. It's a nice spot without too many modern distractions in the background. I did have a starting problem after one stop, possibly a vapour lock as it was quite hot. So I think I'll treat the Dodge to some new plugs and possibly a condenser before the next run out.

I planned a 16 mile route around Durham, via the petrol station in the early part of the trip. It was such a warm day, even while on the move, I was warm enough in a shirt, though I'd taken a fleece just in case - this is England after all! With the warm day and blue sky, we got some nice pictures of the Dodge and lovely views of County Durham. At one point, following a single lane track, we climbed to quite a height over the surrounding countryside.

Dodge Pre-Season Drive - March 27th With an unusual mild spell in the weather and a nice weather forecast, we decided to have a topless, pre-season run out in the Dodge. This would be our first run out of 2022 and a shakedown trip prior to events starting next month. We got around 10 gallons fuel on the way out, enough for the next couple of events in April and May. It's worrying when you think £1.66.9 per litre isn't a bad price!! The Dodge looked quite different with the canvas off, but I think I prefer it on. Next time, I'll fit the canvas, but might try folding the rear half forwards to leave the crane more visible.

My Dodge one was 15+ years old ( at least that I know of ) and was still getting by, but not holding charge as well. That was also cracking around the terminals, leaking fluid and forming crystals. If it hadn't been leaking, I might have tried to keep it going another year!! Tayna seem to have no problem sending the battery with acid. Mine was pre-filled, so was one bought by a friend recently.

I just got a 6volt, 140Ah battery yesterday from Tayna ( https://www.tayna.co.uk ). It came with acid already in it, on a pallet to stop it being tipped over, all wrapped up in plastic. Ordered late on Sunday, arrived Tuesday. Perfect fit in my Dodge WC51.

March 23rd - New 6 volt Battery Fitted On Tuesday 22nd, the new battery arrived. I think the pallet was just to make sure it couldn't be tipped over. Once removed, it was taken to my workshop and put on a slow charge, for the rest of the day, ready for fitting the next day. It was fitted on the morning of the 23rd, after a little modification to the battery clamp and then test run. I may take a mould from the lead bars on top of the old battery and cast some resin ones for this battery. I couldn't justify the cost of a rubber cased, period looking battery.

Both cushions were fitted into the seat for a photograph and then removed again. The paint on the seat was touched up around the welds and other scratches and it was left out in the sun to bake for a while. Later in the afternoon, it was bolted back in the Dodge, ready for the first show of the year in the middle of next month. I've also got a new battery on order. Despite being kept on a maintenance charger, the old one is showing signs of not being as healthy as it should be. I can't complain too much, as the current battery is at least 15 years old that I know of! The new battery should be here in the next few days.

Since my daughter has grown quite a bit since the pilot's seat was first made, the openings in the backrest for the seat belts were now too low. To fix this, I welded two loops onto the back of the seat at the top for the belts to pass through. They pass over the top of the seat cushion and down over the shoulders. I also cut off the Isofix loop fittings on the inside of the seat bucket, as they would interfere with the new seat cushion.

The seat base was completed on the evening of Saturday 19th. The rest was left for the following day. On Sunday morning, the foam backrest was cut on my bandsaw and then handed over to Lynne for the sewing. Since the back was thinner and a less complicated shape, she made a tube of fabric which was then machine sewn across the curved top and hand sewed on the bottom. A strip of Velcro was used to keep the back rest in place on the cushion.