Restoration, repair, upgrade log - all that stuff

2009
14 Jan - first looked and test drove - it was dark and COLD! - 10 degrees - it started right up - good sign

4 Feb - checked VIN - bogus, not a Willys serial number - made up by some DMV

10 Feb - took to mechanic for once-over (see Condition at purchase)
- found brake light connector loose on Master Cylinder
- I drove it up York road with no brake lights - yikes!

11 Feb - purchase

15 Feb - looked for Serial Number on frame - none

16 Feb - discovered gas gauge lies (don't ask) - reads half full all the time

25 Feb - warm day

26 Feb - closed deal to buy steering gear box from forum member

4 Mar - ordered 5 STA 6.50x16 Super Traxions w/ tubes from Universal Vintage Tire
- will sell the 6.00x16 NDTs

9 Mar - bought Dualmatic locking hubs from forum member - thanks, Jeff

12 Mar - ordered steering parts (drag link, tie rods, bell crank), master cylinder and turn signal kit from Walck's

mid March - took to favorite mechanic to install steering & brake parts - too cold to do it myself

late Mar, early Apr - influenza knocked me down for three weeks - no loss, as it was still too cold to work outside on the 3B

late April-early May - after several weeks of pounding on UPS, we've given up. The steering box is gone forever - gone into a black hole at UPS. Now I have to find another to buy.

3 May - brought it home from mechanic with master cylinder, tires and new steering parts (except a gear box) installed.

5 May - discovered back of Bestop sagging - the index tabs jumped out of their holes and let the rear bow drop. Stuck them back in - it looks to me like they're upsidedown. The tab should point down into the index hole. They're pointing up. Perhaps the uprights were assembled wrong by a PO.

Memorial Day weekend

4 Jun - ordered rear springs, shackles, hangers - also shackles and hangers for front springs - rim for spare and a shift knob.

11 Jun - all but springs arrived - springs back ordered

17 Jun - begin rewiring taillights - start with left rear - about 8" of good wire leaving the light - crimp and shrink tube new home run wire - route to barrier strip on firewall (ran cable for RR at same time - what a rat's nest underneath! - wires dangling off the frame, draped over the exhaust pipe, hanging loose around the brake and clutch mechanisms - disaster waiting to happen
Worked into the evening and discovered an interesting feature I hadn't noticed in daylight - when you hit the brakes, the headlights come on! Some PO really hosed up the wiring.

23 Jun - more prep work for turn sig wiring

30 Jun - several hours tracing and fixing wiring hosed up by POs - traced headlight circuit from battery to dimmer switch to junction block to headlights - now the headlights don't light up with the brakes, both headlights are together for Hi or Lo beam - found and reconnected wire from Hi beam indicator on dash, using 50 Ohm 10W resistor to drop 12V to 6V for the bulb (the housing is rusted solid so can't replace the bulb)
Finished wiring in the turn signal switch using the barrier strip on the firewall - still patched and spliced into parts of the old wiring. Got turn sigs, 4-way flashers and no headlights with the brakes. Cool.

14 July - began rear spring replacement

17-18 July - replaced right spring