When your full time job is doing what you love, the question becomes ‘what do you do for a hobby?’ I actually have a few. One of them revolves around my Jeep. I absolutely love working on it and driving it - especially in the summer, with the top removed of course. The vehicle sports custom bumpers, half doors and sliders - all built in our shop. When Covid hit we tightened our belt, keeping expenses to a minimum to make sure we survived the downturn. One of the many ways we trimmed our spending was to park the Jeep for the better part of two years. I did drive it for a few months last summer but then it was parked once again through the fall and winter. While Jeeps are very fun to drive they are also notorious for leaking. And it did get rather damp inside over the winter. That meant the carpets and seats didn’t fare super well. They’ve been getting a little worse for wear for years but this spring they were definitely beyond cleaning. We decided it was time for some serious upgrades before we put the Jeep back into service. Jeeps are one of the most customizable vehicles around. While there are an incredible amount of aftermarket parts readily available for purchase I decided instead to fabricate as much as possible myself. This is a hobby vehicle after all. I ripped out all of the interior carpets and much of the plastic trim last week. I’ll do a spray bed liner finish to replace all of that in the next couple of weeks. But first I’ll cut out the stock sport cage and build a custom roll cage instead. It will be much stronger (and safer) and will look a whole lot cooler! Plus I’ve been itching to get at it since I bought the Jeep seven years ago! I spent most of today fabricating and installing the mounting plates for the cage and and seat harnesses. New, custom, aftermarket bucket seats are now on order. In a few weeks the Jeep will be ready for a fun summer of cruising!
