"Happy Decoration Day"

So, last year thehorsefarmer and his gorgeous wife, thebarngoddess, relocated to the Nation's Oldest City, this olelongrooffan thinks thehorsefarmer just wanted to be closer to the Fountain of Youth. Anyway, they have taken to the Florida lifestyle very nicely. thebarngoddess loves the beach and thehorsefarmer rides his bike all around even in the depths of winter.

We get to see each other often and they always treat me to a rare restaurant meal. thebarngoddess always tells me that I cannot order fish, "You need to eat something that will put meat on your bones." I love her for that and so much more.

Well anyway, this olelongrooffan really thought they were going to make some d*mn fine representatives of the Sunshine State until yesterday.



You see, down here in the southeast we have these little things called tropical depressions and hurricanes to deal with. It's okay though, those of us who have been here for a while know to just stock up on hurricane supplies and ride the storm out.

Well, Tropical Storm Beryl is threatening the southeast coast this weekend and what does thehorsefarmer do?



Well the scaredy cat that he is, he hooks up his big*ssed truck to his



big*ssed trailer and scoots it on out of town under the disguise of "I need to go the Ozarks to pick up thelittleprincess so she can spend a few weeks down here." Yeah, right horsefarmer. This olelongrooffan believes ya. Seriously I do.

However, I am certain those of you Counting Along With Me know that this olelongrooffan has properly



stocked up on the necessary hurricane supplies and I am ready to share aps and tales with Beryl.

And know this weekend we all will

Celebrate Life.

And remember Those Who Gave Everything for all of us.

The Price Is Right

So, a whiles back I did a post about thejeepjunkie and this olelongrooffan doing a little long distance shopping for a windshield frame for his CJ2A. At the end of that post, I posted that if any of my fellow Hoons happened to stumble across a door for a 1973 Jeepster Commando, the "Charles Barrett Special", to let me know about it. Well, early on Saturday morning my massive communications system in my Taj Mahal wakes me up.



 It turns out it was my brother, thejeepjunkie, on the other end of the line.

"Whatca doing longroof?"

"Sleeping in on a rare Saturday off. What are you doing jeepjunkie?"

"Just got off the phone with a guy down in Orange City who has a pair of Commando doors. His number is 555-1212."

"I'm on way" was my response.

So this olelongrooffan drags my sorry ass out of bed and climbs into my Comanche and head down that ass beating warped as hell concrete Highway 92 towards Orange City, Florida.

I arrive and this is what I see as soon as thejunkjeepdude and his kid, thejunkjeepson of course, let me in their back gate. That M38 in the foreground is thejunkjeepson's daily driver. He proudly started it up for me and trust me my fellow Hoons, it purred. Well as only a Hurricane motor can.



thejunkjeepdude had more parts and pieces of old Willys and early Kaiser Jeeps than you could shake a stick at. I mean that is a rare half cab (although my brother Bus-Plunge has one on his 2A) leaning up against what little remains of a 69 Commando. Just beyond that German Shepherd, a thoroughly well behaved pup, is the CJ it came off of. Now that CJ is currently drivetrain deprived but thejunkjeepdude and thejunkjeepson certainly tried to convince this olelongrooffan that the Hurricane Kaiser era motor they had installed in an even worse condition CJ adjacent would work in this one as well. Even though the motor in that old Jeep wouldn't crank and the battery tender they had needed charging so it wasn't of any help. Although that didn't stop us from trying.



Just beyond that sans drivetrain old CJ was the shed as shown above. Sorry for the blurry image, unlike our Finnish Hoon friend who has a camera that makes night time look like high noon, this olelongrooffan is still sporting my elcheapo ebay camera. But know this my fellow Hoons, that shed was filled with all things Willys and Jeep. Seat frames, new mud tires, suicide gas tanks, flat fenders, radiators, grilles, windshield frames (no 2A ones though) and I don't know what all. Just a bunch of shit that this olelongrooffan is certain thejeepjunkie will kick himself for not cruising down here with me to check out.


Out yonder, just past the stall of that shed was this cancer free frame for a '58 Willys station wagon. As this olelongrooffan is now in search for four brake drums for the "Charles Barrett Special" (yeah, that's a whole nother story) I was tempted to buy it but I wasn't sure if it possessed the 11" drums needed. But thejunkjeepdude sure tempted me with his Buy It Now price of Fifty Bucks. With a little research, it may ultimately be mine. But, as always, where to store it?


So, thejunkjeepdude and thejunkjeepson escorted this olelongrooffan around the corner to the next stall of that backyard shed and, lo and behold, there is a damn straight Jeep CJ6 with a full steel top. Hoons, this 6 is even more desirable than any other Jeep or Willys known to exist. Well, maybe with the exception of this one or maybe this one.  Alas, thejunkjeepdude and thejunkjeepson remarked that this one is slated for restoration later this year and it's not available for consumption by thejeepjunkie or this olelongrooffan. Too bad cuz the roof is just long enough for me.



Just outside of that everything Jeep desired shed was this 1973 Jeepster Commando, nearly identical to the "Charles Barrett Special" this olelongrooffan owns. I was lusting after it from the moment it was sighted. It has everything I need the most, that specifically being a passenger door and the hood and hood springs. Yes, I was nearly in nirvana over it.


While was a bit more rodded than my tastes tend to be, it did have the correct tailgate and I surely wanted the door, hood and tailgate for my ride. Unfortunately, thejunkjeepdude informed me it was unavailable as it belonged to a buddy who is in the process of fixing it up. No parts available off it but there are doors for a different Commando available, Now this olelongrooffan gets this idea but the last time this buggy was licensed here in the Sunshine State was 2000. Me thinks I'll be giving this dude a call in a few months to check on the status of that 6 as well as this "Charles Barrett Special" wannabe.

So, anyway, this olelongrooffan got to haggling with thejunkjeepdude and thejunkjeepson about that door needed for the "Special". Turns out they had both the driver's and passenger's side doors and really wanted to move them both. As all I needed was the passenger door, I was reluctant to purchase both until they mentioned what they wanted for the pair. 75 bucks. Yeah, my fellow Hoons, what are the chances of finding a door for a '73 Commando anywhere close to me down here in the World Center of Racing? So this olelongrooffan snagged both of them but I did have thejunkjeepson load them in my oldbeaterpickemuptruck. And on the way out of their backyard, I snagged this image


of thejunkjeepdude's cool assed M725 Kaiser Jeep military ambulance as I headed out. It is much like the pickup the Bus-Plunge owned around 20 or so years ago when he was in his military vehicle phase. Just after the Volkwagens and just before old stovebolt trucks and airstream trailers and S10 pickups and pontoon boats.



 So anyway, this olelongrooffan now possesses the rust free replacement door for the passenger side of the "Charles Barrett Special" and it is now one step closer to a meeting with thepaintdude. 

So....anybody needing a driver's side door for a 1973 Jeepster Commando, just let me know. I got one.

Oh yeah, between my Taj Mahal and thejunkjeepdudes house are two u-pull-it junkyards. Guess how this olelongrooffan spent my Saturday afternoon?

Long Distance Parts Shopping With This olelongrooffan And thejeepjunkie

So my brother, affectionately known as thejeepjunkie around these here parts, has this sweet ole 1946 Willys CJ2A that he absolutely loves.  But as this olelongrooffan has related to on numerous occasions, living near the Atlantic Ocean takes its toll on steel vehicles and his Willys is no exception to this.



As can seen in these images, the windshield frame on his baby has been rotting away for some time and thejeepjunkie has been searching for its replacement but has had absolutely no luck.



There is a single wiper on it but no motor on the "inside" of this windshield frame.  That hole in the second image is the location of the nonexistent passenger side wiper assembly.

Well a funny thing happened.  thejeepjunkie finally got around to reading Hooniverse for the first time in some time and read the post I did a couple Friday's ago about my stroll around that junkyard up in Indiana a few weeks ago.



In that post was this image of that old CJ3B.  Friday at lunch the boss provided barbequed burgers and dogs in celebration of a co workers birthday and I was shooting the shit with the guys and we got to talking about my travels with the boss that week.  thejeepjunkie piped in with the fact that this olelongrooffan had walked by his elusive windshield frame and the least I could have done was remember the name of that junkyard.  I knew and told him the name.

Well  thejeepjunkie got in contact with Steve up in Indiana and mentioned what he was looking for.  Steve commented he didn't know if he had it.  thejeepjunkie buzzed me and asked where it was located in that junkyard.  Of course, I remembered "down near the south property line about 3/4's the way back" and thejeepjunkie hangs up and tells Steve, from 1,100 miles away where something is in his junkyard less than a 1,000 feet from him!  Steve mentions he'll go check on it and call thejeepjunkie back.

Well, that windshield frame was located and Steve calls back and mentions yeah he's got it.  You can pull it off yourself and save some money.  thejeepjunkie mentions his driver (the boss) will be up in Indiana on Tuesday and would Steve mind pulling it off and have it ready to be picked up.

Well, Steve hymned and hollered and finally said yeah but he would have to charge thejeepjunkie for it. thejeepjunkie agreed and the deal was sealed.

Now for the best part of the story.

A new windshield frame is around $500 plus the shipping to get it here to the World Center of Racing.  thejeepjunkie has the Kid in college and the Kid's sister is a 15 year old softball playing fanatic so 500 smackers is a bit difficult to come by, hence the rusty windshield frame.

While thejeepjunkie and Steve were negotiating, Steve mentioned he'd have to get $75 for it.  He also said he would need another $25 to remove it and have it ready to be picked up by the boss.  Not only that Steve related, there are two wiper motors on it that go with the deal.

So, thejeepjunkie gets a newish non rusty windshield frame and two previously unthoughtof wiper motors to boot  and delivered for free..

Now he just needs a top.

By the way, if any of my junkyard friendly brethren come across a passenger door for a 1973 Jeepster Commando this olelongrooffan sure would like to know about it.