Jalopy's Redemption: The slow moving revival of a slow moving BJ44

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Awesome, I'm jealous of how tidy your one is haha

It's a 30 footer.
Some one earlier in its life was "kind" enough to put a thick spray of yellow over all the different colored body part and the rust and bondo.Those pics are a bit old now. As it's gotten a few more years on it, that yellow has begun to crack in some places and the rust has begun to blister through from underneath in others.
I suspect when it comes time to strip the paint away, it will look pretty similar to what you found with your. Time will tell...

 

[ontherxs]

Subscribed relative to another brother who now knows the struggle. And thanks for the props on the Shasta build.

 

[emoto]

Alright Red, How's it going? I'm with you in spirit as I just picked up a BJ44 myself and an finding all sorts of things underneath this pretty paint...

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Alright Red, How's it going? I'm with you in spirit as I just picked up a BJ44 myself and an finding all sorts of things underneath this pretty paint...

GAH!!! I've been called out on my slacking!
I've recently been feeling like I need to get my arse in gear and update this thread. Man, I'm going to need to read back through it just to remember where I left off.
I will say, I just took it on a camping trip with the boys this past weekend. 1 1/2 drive in either direction and it ran like a champ. It would have been nice to have a top and doors, and heat though. It was 28*F when we got up in the morning. A bit warmer when we headed out.

Thats Seamus bundled up in the back. The lump under a sleeping bag in the other seat is Aaron.
They were champs. Not a word of complaint about the wind or noise or cold either way, and they took great pride in schooling the other Scouts and a few dads on the finer points of 44 ownership.

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Wow. I knew it had been some time, but that last picture really made the time lapse sink in.
A lot of life has come and gone since that last post. The family moved back north seven years ago. About 5 1/2 years ago the old girl’s rod knock got too bad to ignore. She’s been sitting beside the driveway through snow, sleet, rain and backing sun. Tires went flat. Chipmunks and mice moved. Great sheets of Bondo have cracked and fallen away. It is in sad state.
Now the boys are 16. Suddenly, one of them is very interested in getting this thing back on the road. This weekend we pumped up the tires and dragged the old girl out. We hit her with the pressure washer to get all the accumulated fifth and neglect off the outside. We vacuumed all the turds, acorns, and spiders out of the interior.
Time to get this project rolling again…

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

 

[angerhater]

The gas chamber…glad to see resurrected

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Three stories I’ll need to add that occurred between the Cub Scout trip and dragging it out.
1) Losing 4wd in Uhwarrie
2) Gassing the boys and me when we lost the exhaust exactly 1/2 way into a 4 hour trip
3) losing headlights on a road trip before we ultimately blew a fuel line.

Some in the ONSC crew are familiar with these events, but when I have some more time, I’ll add them here for posterity and a complete history.

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

The gas chamber…glad to see resurrected

Haha! Yes! Story #2 to add.

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Forward progress

 

[izzyandsue]

Wowzer! There are some men messing with your truck!

 

[NCFJ]

I remember a couple 9 year olds hanging out waiting for the AAA roll back. That was a fun trip.

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

I remember a couple 9 year olds hanging out waiting for the AAA roll back. That was a fun trip.

Haha!
Yeah, it’s funny, I look back and think how they always took it all in stride. I think I just had so many breakdowns they just thought Thea’s what road trips were all about.

I think that was the same trip where Izzy’s wheel ended up on the hood of an Eastbound Lexus on I40

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Well slow moving is right in the thread title.
The boy and I didn’t touch her for all of August.
Back to it today and multi tasking a bit.