Build Thread 194? Bantam trailer build

[Petescj]

As alot of you know I bought a Bantam trailer awhile back to tote the camping gear around. Well I'm finally getting around to repairing it now. Here it is when I first got it.

 

[Petescj]

 

[Petescj]

Originally I was going to sand it down and paint and repair it so I added lights and a new wiring harness

 

[Petescj]

Then I decided I'd be better served sandblasting the whole thing.



Now that quickly morphed into having to buy this shed to help contain the mess.

 

[Petescj]

Vader has been taking up all of my time these days so I haven't had a chance to sandblast it yet but that should change soon. I really want to outfit this trailer so we can go anywhere and have everything we need. I decided to get a solar power supply for us to charge phones , run a fan and listen to a little music.

 

[Petescj]

The floor was the rustiest area and I found a place that does reproductions for $400. With the money I was sinking into Vader funds were stretched a little thin and I had to get creative.



Luckily my step son was home from college. He works at a place that does all sorts of metal fab. I gave him the measurements and he came home with exactly what I needed. Best of all it was free.

 

[Petescj]

I had planned on getting a lock box to put on the tongue of the trailer to keep firewood in. My Mother in law moved in with Vicki's sister and needed to downsize and I got this large trunk I'm thinking of using. I plan on wrapping the whole trunk in sheet metal.

 

[Petescj]

The 2nd aluminum trunk is where this project takes an interesting turn. It was my Mother in Laws brothers who went MIA in WWII. My Mother was taken from me way too early and Vicki's Mom helped me fill a good part of the void that was created by my Mom's early passing.



Im going to have it repainted olive drab but I'm going to add tribute pictures painted on it as well. I'll share some of these pics next time I'm at my Mother in laws. One in particular has him being photographed from another plane on the opened cargo ramp ready for a jump. It is totally bad A BAD WORD to say the least.



Here's a pic I have of the bad A BAD WORD himself. I'm going to use this one as well as a pic of my Mother and my Mother in law all in this tribute.

 

[Petescj]

Since I started this project you'll note there is a kayak in my shed. That's my daughter's and she loves it. She convinced me to get one so we can go out together. Add a rack to carry two kayaks to the to do list.

I'll also add two jerry cans , one for water and one for fuel. I'm working 12 hour shifts this week but hopefully I can get it blasted soon now that it's not going to be as humid as it has been.

 

[Belizean]

Looking forward to seeing the trunk with pictures

 

[Petescj]

Looking forward to seeing the trunk with pictures

Vicki is supposed to be going to her Mom's on Monday. I'll get her to take a pic of the pic on the ramp of the plane. It's really what pointed me in the direction I'm going. To me it's an amazingly powerful picture. I hope to get the trunk done for Christmas.

 

[Petescj]

Vacation day for Monday granted. With a high of 63 and low humidity I'm hopeful I can get it done in a day.

 

[Petescj]

Well I thought I'd be 1/2 way through the sandblasting by now but it wasn't meant to be. I was working on the dash in Vader to get everything ready for inspection and that bled over into Monday instead of being finished on Sunday like I planned. It did make for a comical little story I'll share with you all.

So it's already noon and I still haven't dropped Vader off for the inspection appointment. After getting all my dash lights working I was ready to go. I climb in and hit the key to get an endless cranking , not firing Jeep. Since I had the carb rebuilt the Jeep started at two pumps of the accelerator every time. This time nothing.

After some thought I realized it had run out of gas right when I parked it in the garage. Gone through this plenty of times before with Cjs and inoperable fuel gauges. I'm in a hurry and grab my big bulky 5 gallon gas can to prime the carb. Usually I take the whole air cleaner assembly off but I just removed the lid this time to save some time. This turned out to be a pretty foolish mistake.

I stand on a milk crate to pour in the gas which got a little wobbly and I ended up with more gas in the carb than I wanted. Well instead of patiently cleaning up the mess I decided to see if it would fire and it did , figuratively and literally.

So I immediately run back and turn off the ignition. Seems I got gas on the filter element as well and all it reminds me of is Johnny Cash , Ring of Fire. I finally gather myself and put on some gloves and grab the air filter assembly. Not the greatest gloves and dang it got hot quick so I drop it on the garage floor. Well my ring of fire rolls right out onto the floor where I finally kick what's left out into the driveway.

Everyone have a laugh at my expense. I did

 

[Petescj]

Funnier yet is I had been adjusting the carb a few months ago and it got really rich. I decided to leave it go and take it to a shop and closed the garage door. Hours later the fire department arrives cause their carbon monoxide detector is going off. Long story short the Fire Department now knows my Jeep.

Now while my little fire is going on I know Vicki is downstairs doing laundry right on the opposite side of the wall. She says nothing about smell. My next door neighbor pulls in next to me a little after the event happened and also says nothing. Awesome I'm in the clear. I proceed upstairs to wash my hands.

I get up there and Vicki has also come upstairs. First thing she says is "What the hell smelled down there"? My reply was "Just tell the neighbors to turn off their Carbon monoxide detector now and I'll explain."

 

[Belizean]

Glad you didn't burn down the place and the jeep. I learned a long time ago to just have a small jar with lid with about 1 or 2 oz. total. When I get my engine back in and finished I probably will never need to do that again. EFI !

 

[Petescj]

Glad you didn't burn down the place and the jeep. I learned a long time ago to just have a small jar with lid with about 1 or 2 oz. total. When I get my engine back in and finished I probably will never need to do that again. EFI !

Definitely could've had a worse outcome. All I lost was a vacuum line and a cap for one port. I post my pho-pahs for a bit of levity but also hopefully for someone else to learn from my mistakes. This one was mainly due to rushing around and not thinking things through.
A. Should've had a smaller container of gas.

B. Why at 50 years old am I still climbing on milk crates to access the engine compartment?

C. 30 seconds to remove the air cleaner assembly probably would've prevented the whole thing.

D. Even though I probably wouldn't have used it in this instance I should have at least a small extinguisher handy which I didn't.

So I could've taken less than five minutes to correct the situation but ended up spending an hour and a half on clean up and going to get a new air filter and vacuum line.

By the time I dropped the Jeep off and got home I still had some daylight left so I set up the sandblaster which immediately plugged on me. After that I was done for the day. I needed a drink

 

[Peanut Butter]

Have to say I enjoyed that story. Glad everything came out alright though. Look on Amazon for Cold Fire extinguisher ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I28V6C...colid=1VJ32HASW4J7&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it ). I have a 5 gal water extinguisher with the Cold Fire additive in it in my garage ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074P9D9L...colid=1VJ32HASW4J7&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it ). This stuff is awesome. The one's on Amazon are about $55, I believe. They are perfect for what you need.

 

[CJ]

Have to say I enjoyed that story. Glad everything came out alright though. Look on Amazon for Cold Fire extinguisher ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I28V6C...colid=1VJ32HASW4J7&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it ). I have a 5 gal water extinguisher with the Cold Fire additive in it in my garage ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074P9D9L...colid=1VJ32HASW4J7&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it ). This stuff is awesome. The one's on Amazon are about $55, I believe. They are perfect for what you need.

Don't forget that i you choose to get something om Amazon. Please post a link and I'll add it to the Jeep-CJ store.

I added these two items to the Misc. section. -->> https://jeep-cj.com/community/pages/misc/

 

[Petescj]

Have to say I enjoyed that story. Glad everything came out alright though. Look on Amazon for Cold Fire extinguisher ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I28V6C...colid=1VJ32HASW4J7&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it ). I have a 5 gal water extinguisher with the Cold Fire additive in it in my garage ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074P9D9L...colid=1VJ32HASW4J7&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it ). This stuff is awesome. The one's on Amazon are about $55, I believe. They are perfect for what you need.

Thanks for the link. I'll have to check it out. The wife has that Amazon Prime.

I'm working on my Craigslist ad now.

Used Cj air filter element. This is the most free flowing element I've ever had. $50. No low ballers , I know what I got. Already has campfire smell. Perfect addition for your Jeep.

 

[CJ]

Amazon Prime works with the items in the Jeep-CJ store also...