The replacement steering box is in and the Jeep is almost ready to come home.The multicolored column is the perfect visual history.
Paul enlisted the help of some of his vintage car buddies (the cars, not the buddies). Here you see them working on the box after pulling the fender.

Too cold for much of a test drive but Paul took us for a quick spin around his property. Couple of minor tweaks and then we bring it home (on the first warm day). Looks so much better than that first day.

Paul hit a snag on replacing the broken steering box. Something about bearings and it means what he expected to be an easy job… won’t be. So no idea when I’ll finally get behind the wheel.

But it was a nice day so I put a fresh coat of paint on the roll bar and the tub. There are some brackets in the tub that I think will be perfect for safety anchors for the dogs’ harnesses. Not much left (that I can help with). I’ll paint the seats this week and finally say so long to the camo.
I put the jerry can in its mount, just to see how it looks. Very Jeepish but if it starts feeling like a big ass IED, I’ll leave it at home. AAA is my friend.
24 Hours Later: After thinking about it overnight, I decided to remove the jerrycan from the back of the Jeep. One, there was the Exploding Pinto consideration. Two, it is unlikely I’ll ever drive so far I need more fuel than the Jeep’s tank holds. And three, with the spare tire and the jerrycan the back of the Jeep would be too crowded. The vehicle just isn’t wide enough for all that stuff.

While I’m grateful to the previous owners of the Jeep for all the good things they did for her, the camo paint job cannot be forgiven. But I’m fixing that, little by little.

Today I painted the dash (does a Jeep have a dash?). Not sure why anyone thought the inside of the Jeep needed to be camouflaged. Probably just liked the camo look as much as I hate it.

The dark spots in the photo above are where the spray paint hasn’t completely dried. Only remaining camo is the cover of the seats and that will be taking care of next week. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we’ll give the roll bar a fresh coat leaving only the inside of the tub.

All of this will get much easier when we can drive/steer the Jeep. Next day or so?

Sort of. I used the Shop-Vac to suck out the dust and gunk that had accumulated under the carpeting that lined the tub. Sponged it out in preparation for a coat of paint. Before that, however, Paul recommends going over the metal with Scotch-Brite pads (arrow).

The tailgate has been bolted closed because a) it’s pretty much useless and b) to accommodate a mounting bracket for the spare (arrow). Paul is very particular about wheels and tires and has located a rim that matches the ones on the vehicle. Still need to paint the jerry can mount and I think I might keep a few gallons strapped to the back of the Jeep. Took the top off again because I plan to paint the roll bar at the first opportunity.

The remaining photos are just for fun. The iconic Jeep grill; the tidy little engine; and a nice 3/4 view. The steering box scheduled for deliver by end-of-day tomorrow so I might a wheel to get behind in the next week.