My XJ Eloped With My Rambler

[nosigma]

My XJ just ran off with my Rambler. What could a 14 year old Jeep see in a 40 year old Rambler? Robbing the cradle indeed. They left a note saying they were going to Virginia to play in the mud and cruise the fall foliage. Please keep your eyes open and let me know if you see this couple in your neck of the woods.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/nosigma/carbs003.jpg

I have heard it said that Virginia is for lovers. This concerns me greatly, who knows what strange creatures any off-springs will be, leafs, coils or (I shudder to think it) torsion bars. Fortunately they both have good genes. (AMC/Rambler/Willys), both are 6's and they both have a good heads on their blocks (4.0 HO) but one is fuel injected and the other has 3 side draft Webers with a big throbbing cam shaft. I see only trouble ahead if these two hook up.

I am leaving SoCal tomorrow to chase them down. They might be spotted in the Springfield, McLean in mid July or Loudon county by the end of the month. Let me know if you see them.

John

[non-stick]

Welcome to the neighborhood.party1:

It looks as thought he XJ may already have wandering :eyes: .... It looks to be a bit close to that Firebird/Camaro in front... :smootch:

I work in Springfield and commute from Orange county. Drop a line when you catch up with the wayward pair.

[nosigma]

Non-Stick,

PM with contact info will be sent. I would sure like to meet up the the other DC area NAXJA members. Its a tougher road to hoe back east (no 500,000 acre state owned offroad areas) or endless rocky BLM desert to play in so its even more important to get involved in the local scene to find out whats going on and where its happening at (beyond the pay-to-plays).

Its going to take us at least three months to settle in between house hunting and moving. My XJ isnt broke but it has good list of damage/maintenance that needs to be addressed before I take it out again. Probably a full weekends work (radiator, drive shaft, replace one spring pack, replace drivers door, inspect everything). I am hoping we will be ready to wheel in September if I can work on it over at a buddies house (lived in DC area for 15 years).

John

[non-stick]

Non-Stick,

PM with contact info will be sent. I would sure like to meet up the the other DC area NAXJA members. Its a tougher road to hoe back east (no 500,000 acre state owned offroad areas) or endless rocky BLM desert to play in so its even more important to get involved in the local scene to find out whats going on and where its happening at (beyond the pay-to-plays).

Its going to take us at least three months to settle in between house hunting and moving. My XJ isnt broke but it has good list of damage/maintenance that needs to be addressed before I take it out again. Probably a full weekends work (radiator, drive shaft, replace one spring pack, replace drivers door, inspect everything). I am hoping we will be ready to wheel in September if I can work on it over at a buddies house (lived in DC area for 15 years).

John

Drop us a line if you have any trouble getting a place to work on your XJ. I have a 3 acre spot in a quiet part of Central VA with almost all the tools you may need (and probably some parts). I also have access to a buddy's shop with anything I don't have (except a lift, but that doesn't stop us). We can even hook you up with a tow and storage if need be.

I've never lived off the East coast, so I'm used to having to scrap for places to wheel. Most of the stuff (public access anyway) is in the westen part of the state in George Washington National Forest. We do some "testing" at my buddy's place (he's on 67 acres) but even that gets old after a couple hundred passes though the same stuff.

Travel safe, get situated, and feel free to contact me if you need another NAXJA contact fairly locally.

[Jeff in VA]

I'm about 1.5 hrs south of where you're gonna be :wave: down in Richmond.
I can't help ya with any facilities, but my MJ is a mobile toolbox if you need anything.

I work for beer:spin1: Lemme know if you need a hand sometime.

Jeff

[Ghost]

I'm about 1.5 hrs south of where you're gonna be :wave: down in Richmond.
I can't help ya with any facilities, but my MJ is a mobile toolbox if you need anything.

I work for beer:spin1: Lemme know if you need a hand sometime.

Jeff
When the hell are you going to make the crawl?

[Jeff in VA]

Well, I planned to rebuild the MJ with a D44, locker and 4.56's (and a new tranny and inertia ring), but my DD blew up and put that plan on hold. I just got it (the DD) back on the road, so now I can start on the MJ.

One of these days, I'm gonna surprise all of you, and actually show up :)

Jeff

[Ghost]

I got the 5.38's in and are really digging them....

[nosigma]

I should have shipped the mini-van and driven east in the XJ. Coming across Nevada I saw hundreds of roads that needed to be explored off of Highway 50. 50 is a neat road. Sometimes we would drive for an hour and not see another car or truck. Its over 100 miles between most "towns" (population of 2 or more). They are having a grasshopper swarm problem in central Nevada. Crunch Crunch Crunch down the road.

Today we crossed Utah and drove right past MOAB, Sob, Sob. I tried to tell my wife that the Aerostar would do OK on the grippy "slick rock" of MOAB but she didnt buy it. Now we are in Colorado, where I offroaded in the 70's as a kid passenger and I cant stand looking at the map knowing all the great trails we are missing (assuming they arent covered in McMansions).

Anyone up for a big bad XJ off-road trip next spring?

I need rocks. I need rocks bad. Anyone "got rocks?"

John

[non-stick]

I should have shipped the mini-van and driven east in the XJ.

You had me worried for a second. At first I thought you were going to tell us the minivan broke down in the middle of the desert.

I'm glad I read the whole post. It makes me long for an extended wheeling vacation to somewhere that isn't restricted/closed or contantly being sold to build McMansions on...

Glad to hear you're making good progress and having a good time as well.

Take it easy and get here in one piece.

Rich