Easing into my 70s

Fixing My Jeeps

Working on cars has always been part of my life. My first “legal” car was a two seat dune buggy that I built in high school with my best friend Charlie. It was based on a shortened Volkswagen bug chassis that I bought for $25. I paid a welder named Ernie to put the frame and floorboards together. I can’t remember what I paid him. The roll bar was made using two 4″ pieces of electrical conduit pipe. A local electrical shop made the bends. Ernie welded the two pieces together, it looked like an upside down U. The engine was bought for another $25, I think. And then seats from Beach Auto’s junkyard, rims, recapped tires and a rebuilt battery and I was on the road. Oh, I forgot. In South Carolina you need a device to signal other vehicles, like a horn. Our solution was a bike horn that you squeeze the little bulb. It was chrome with a black ball and it was attached to the gear shift. It got me by the state inspection. All in all I probably had $300 in it. Most of the othrer parts like lights, wiring and switches were purchased from Kenny’s Auto. Kenneth Hooks, Kenny’s Auto founder passed away in 2013. He was always so nice to me. Nowadays cars are more complicated.

My first Jeep was a 1985 Chreokee. It was a 4 cylinder, auto transmission with sunroof. Since then I’ve had three Liberties and two Grand cherokees. Once you have a Jeep you have to keep one in your stable.