The Space Saver

In my never ending quest to make more room in the Jeep for tools, spare parts, and stuff. I installed "the space saver". Simply a piece of flat stock attached to the roll bar to create a place to hang anything that has a belt loop. It's welded on one end and removable on the other with a thumb screw. I'll use it for a knife, binoculars, camera, or whatever else I can cram on there.
Flatty Mike

Heart Bar Peak – Big Bear

Run Report by Flatty Mike
On Sunday Sheri & I took the short drive from Heart Bar campground to run Heart Bar Peak, Trail 1N38. The trail head is only 1.5 miles easterly from the campground turn off on Highway 38. My power steering pump had started failing on Saturday during the Adopt-A-Trail maintenance, but being that this trail was just a long walk from camp I decided to make a go of it anyway. The first obstacle came at less than a half a mile in – a fallen tree was blocking the trail. “Are we going back?” Sheri asked. “Uh, no” I replied. This was the perfect opportunity to use my old school Warn winch.
I had saved it from a '63 CJ3B I used to have. This sucker weighs a ton and I’ve never really tested it except for in my driveway. With all four wheels chocked with rocks (my e-brake cable broke on Saturday) and Sheri stomping on the brake, the winch just dragged the Jeep towards the tree. It was wedged in by other trees on both sides of the trail – so on to Plan B.
I took out my axe and chopped a notch in the trunk a few inches deep. That along with breaking loose the smaller limbs from the uphill side allowed the winch to snap the tree and break it free. I pulled it back and off to the side of the trail and we were underway.
This trail is adopted by Jeeping Jeepers, but it didn’t appear that anyone has been on it lately. It's hard to say how long that tree has been there. The majority of the trail is easy / moderate, but it earns its “more difficult” rating from a couple of long steep climbs as you near the peak. They’re littered with loose rock that will spit out behind you as you try to maintain your momentum. Vehicles without at least a rear locker may have some difficulty on these climbs, but it’s probably do able with a willingness to stay heavy on the pedal.

After a short rest at the summit we headed back to relieve my babysitting mother-in-law. Coming down the steep, loose sections I was really pleased with my newly lowered crawl ratio (110:1). Descending with engine compression, not relying solely on the brakes, gives a great feeling of control. No issues other than my now fried power steering pump forcing me to make a couple of three point turns at some of the tighter switchbacks. Sheri caught a glimpse of a deer darting up the hill as we rounded a corner. Total time, excluding tree removal, was under two hours. This would be a nice little detour for the club to run some afternoon after finishing up trail maintenance on 1N37.

12 Volt Trail Drill

I've seen write ups on this before, so when I came across this 12v Makita Drill I decided it was a good time to make a portable drill for my Jeep. The concept being that you'll always have a usable drill on the trail, not needing to worry if its battery is charged or if the charge will run out

I found this one on Craig's List for twenty bucks! It came with a flashlight, and a case. No battery, no biggie, I didn't need it anyway since I wired it to work off a 12 volt car battery. I took the case apart and soldered some wire connectors to the battery contacts. Then I attached those to a standard 110v electrical cord prong. Then by plugging that into a spare extension cord with some alligator clips attached, I can now hook up to a battery. I'll make a similar conversion for the flashlight as well and the extension cord can be used to power either device.


In place of the charger and battery in the case I'll load up some drill bits, grinder discs and cut-off discs.

Now I just need to make room for it in the Jeep!







By Flatty Mike

Memorial Notice

A memorial notice for our friend Chuck as printed in the July 2007 edition of Blue Ribbon Magazine. Click on the article for an enlarged view.

New Axles for the Willys

Woohoo! My axles are finally here. What started out as a couple of minor upgrades has snowballed into a major makeover for the Willys. Initially the Jeep was down for a dual master cylinder upgrade. Then I came across a good deal on some shocks. Then all hell broke lose. Here’s what’s in store:

• Dana 44 front, disc brakes, 5.38 gears, ARB locker
• Dana 44 rear, disc brakes, 5.38 gears, Detroit locker
• 4” Skyjacker leaf springs for an early CJ5 (longer than Willys stock length)
• JKS U-Bolt plates
• Edelbrock shocks
• RCI fuel cell

All of the leaf spring and shackle mounts have to be relocated to allow for the longer springs as well as out boarding the front mounts to get around the Scout Dana 44 pumpkin. The Jeep will end up with a track width about eight inches wider, sit about 2” higher (plus another 1.5” after I upsize the tires), and the wheelbase will be stretched 2-3”.

To Do List:

• Fabricate the front spring mounts
• Weld on spring perches
• Build a drag link (anyone have a spare w/ heavy duty tie rod ends on it?)
• Switch transfer case output to a cv yoke for cv driveline
• Fitment of drivelines
• New shock towers and mounts
• Mount and connect the ARB
• Install new master cylinder, brake lines, bleed brakes
• E-brake assembly to rear wheels

Most of this stuff I’ve never done before, just kind of winging it and learning as I go. If anyone has some life experience to share with me on this type of work, let me have it. For instance, I only want to weld the spring perches on once so it will be important to get things mocked up right the first time.

While waiting for parts I decided to weld up all the holes in the body where the old roll bar was mounted, soft top snaps, etc. Well that was another can of worms. There were over 60 holes on the passenger side alone! It wasn’t my intention to start a body work project on a 65 year old tub, so I just gave it a quick Bondo skim over the patches and moved on. One good thing about a small Jeep is it only takes 5 cans of spray paint to change the color, so I’m taking the Willys MB back to its military roots. That’s right - Olive Drab Baby!

If anyone wants to get their hands dirty, come on over, I’m in Vista. Help will not be turned away. It would be great to get a second eye on some of this stuff like the pinion angles, and I’m still on the fence about the shock mount locations.

Flatty Mike

Russ' Coilover Conversion

by Chuck


So What does a guy who's Jeep TJ that only has 8000 miles on it do after he's swapped out the axles for ProRock 60's , running 37" Krawlers with a Full Traction Long Arm Kit, Kenne Bell Supercharger and so much stuff under the hood that it barely closes do when he gets bored?

Well how about a conversion to Fox Coil-Over shocks.


That's exactly what we did this Saturday . At least we got the front end conversion done.


The process requires removing the original Springs and shocks.

Then cutting the stock shock tower top off and welding in the new custom Coil Over shock bracket and bottom bracket.

It was really pretty easy with a lift, Plasma cutter, welder and all the tools you could need.

A couple of guys and a Corona made the job go quickly.


Before shot

The Bracket

Using the plasma cutter we cut off the top and side of the stock shock tower.

Using a hammer after the cut removed the excess part of the old shock tower

We then cut a hole in the fender well wall for the new tower to extend through. Then grind off the paint to weld.

Then weld in the new Tower... Part of the old tower is left so there is lots of metal to weld to.

There will also be a cross brace - but due to the Supercharger and assorted other goodies under the hood, Russ will have to fab up a custom bend.

Weld in the bottom bracket.

A Little Krylon makes it all look clean.

Installing the shocks definitely was easier with another pair of hands to hold the unit while threading the bolt. The unit uses two springs each has a different dampening rate. We started with a 150 on top and a 250 below but it felt too soft so we went to a 250 on top and a 350 on the bottom. The theory is the softer spring works until it maxes then the stiffer spring works until it hits the bumpstop. New pneumatic bumpstops will be installed before wheeling.

Note the remote reservoir mounted under the front flat fender - clean!

Truckhaven (aka Ocotillo Wells SVRA) BLM Comments

Below is the letter I sent to the BLM (and Parks' OHV commission and Governor) regarding proposed Geothermal Leasing at Ocotillo Wells SVRA ( Truckhaven to the BLM).



April 4, 2007

Bureau of Land Management
California Desert District Office
Attn: John Dalton
22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos
Moreno Valley CA 92553

RE: Truckhaven Draft Environmental Impact Statement Comments

Dear Sir,

I believe there is much misunderstanding about the proposed Truckhaven Geothermal project - much of it stems from misinformation in the DEIS.

A few of the glaring issues are the blatant misnaming of the project area as Truckhaven - when it is really Ocotillo Wells SVRA. The DEIS certainly refers to Ocotillo Wells SVRA throughout the document but the title I believe is misleading. Truckhaven is commonly known as the area north of S22 and West of SR86, if the public were properly made aware of the true location of this project I believe the outcry would be significantly greater. This error should not be understated, a few hundred acres of desert in the middle of Imperial County is a local issue… but 500 acres of OWSVRA is a Southern California Issue. Because this area is used by citizens in a much broader area the public throughout Southern California should be made aware of this potential loss of recreation land and be offered the ability to comment on its impact.

Under Section 4.11 Visual Resources, your DEIS fails to address the effect of Light Pollution at night. The Ocotillo Wells and the surrounding desert area enjoys extremely crisp and clear nights throughout the year, which offer excellent vantage for stargazing. Every power plant I have ever seen has hundreds of bright lights all night long – potentially destroying one of the benefits of the solitude of the desert.

Under the RFD, section 2.2 the DEIS states that up to 36.5% of the total acres (14,731 acres) could be disturbed but the number is quickly downplayed to 340 acres for wells and 186 acres for power plants – I’m concerned that is a gross underestimate. For example of great concern are the Well field pipelines discussed in GeothermEx,Inc.’s plans in Appendix B on page 3-2, where they state that 24” diameter pipelines are run a few feet off the ground. So the footprint of the wells and pipeline may come in within your RFD, but a pipeline a “few feet” off the ground spoils access and views, one doesn’t go to the desert to be in the middle of and industrial park. Nor is my experience enhanced when I have to drive around pipelines.

Section 2.2 states that there is not accurate information on the Geothermal resources available, just proprietary data from 1981 – what if you are wrong and they are sitting on a Geothermal gold mine? Now we loose 36% OR MORE of our SVRA! The BLM just says “OOPS that was the RFD at the time, hey there generating clean electricity now go away.” How then do we get compensated for our lost recreation opportunities? I believe any leasing should impound a portion of the mineral rights royalties for OHV land acquisition in California.

The most important error is the DEIS's estimate of annual visitors to Ocotillo Wells SVRA of 15,000 (section 3.15.2, and on page 3-63 under recreation) (and then in page 3-53 you state 1 million visitors) anyone who has been there on ANY weekend between October and May would know by even the most cursory count that the number is at least 10 and more like 100 times greater than 15000 annual visitors. The factual numbers are gathered daily by the Parks Staff at the Ocotillo Wells Ranger Station, and have been provided to me upon asking by the Sector Superintendent Nedra Martinez. (Printed Spreadsheet attached as exhibit A) For the Calendar year 2006 there were 1,899,446 visitors. Even more important is the annual growth of visitors, During the period 2000-2006 visitors have increased 284,164 per year putting projected visitors well over 2 Million for 2007 and over 3 Million by the end of this decade.

The DEIS correctly notes that Off-Road areas are scarce resources in the State of California, that they are getting more and more scarce and that the citizens of this state have suffered a 48 percent decrease in acres available to OHV recreation in the California Desert! We are loosing property from our Government (See Boxer and Feinstein's huge land grabs) from Environmental Extremists who seek to close what lands are left - what the government, through Boxer, Feinstein, Et al., won't take for them they will sue to keep us out of. Now from businesses who are seeking to develop our lands, our recreation lands are once again under attack.

400 or 500 acres may not seem like much to you but when you have nearly 2 Million visitors per year in just 75,000 acres as does Ocotillo Wells SVRA that's nearly 27 visitors per year per acre. Compare that with the Anza Borrego State Park's 600,000 acres of land and 600,000 annual visitors and you will agree that even one acre of land in Ocotillo Wells is extremely valuable to the OHV recreation community.

We as OHV enthusiasts MUST fight to hold onto every acre of land we currently have access to - especially those within a SVRA.

Section 2.1.4 of the DEIS states that Acquiring State lands in a 1:1 compensation scheme is not feasible as it would be cost prohibitive – EXACTLY my point – this IS valuable land – we can’t obtain and open any more areas so we must stand our ground and fight for what little we have. Millions of visitors use this land for recreational enjoyment and there is no alternative place for us to go.

Please go find a place to drill on the other side of the 86 or south of the 78 that won't affect the limited OHV recreational opportunities within our California State Parks Managed SVRA. Page 1-7 notes that in accordance with 43 CFR 2301.11 the BLM is prohibited from issuing leases on .. b. NPS Lands…,why are State Parks lands so much less valuable? The SVRA is managed by State Parks and should enjoy the same protections even if you are not required to do so by law. Finally, the DEIS in section 1.1 notes that there are 118,720 acres of land classified as KGRA (Known Geothermal Resource Areas) in the El Centro Field Office’s management area, is that land fully tapped out?

Please take note of my preference for Alternative 1 – No Action.

Sincerely,



Charles Seeger


Cc: California State Parks OHV Commission, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Exhibit A - Ocotillo Wells Visitor Numbers as provided by the Ocotillo Wells Sector Superintendent