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Durham, NC - Eric's Home!!!

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Eric Walton
Eric. He doesn't look crazy
Eric Walton dropped me an email about a month ago. He said he had this crazy idea that he wanted to run by me to see if we were interested in doing a story on it. He explained to me that there was this beat-up old US Postal Service CJ-8 in Alaska and he was going to get it and drive it home - to Durham, North Carolina!

Wait a second. Did I just say CJ-8 Postal Jeep? What's that you say? You've never seen a Postal Scrambler before? Well, not many people have, unless you live in Alaska. In 1984, Jeep won a contract to build roughly 172 of these rare birds for use in Alaska. (The number has often been disputed and ranges as high as 250)

What's so unique about these Scramblers is not only the right-hand drive, but the metal top and cargo area in the back. No soft-top here. This is a real top with barn doors in back, to boot. The driver and passenger doors have squared-off corners, similar to those found in the non-US Overlander and Central American Jeeps. The motor was the standard 258 I-6 found in the CJ-7 at the time and the transmission was the 999 3-speed automatic with the shifter on the floor.

So back to Eric. Eric tells me than a guy named Dan Morrissey in Anchorage has one for sale for $650. He then tells me that he and his brother intend to go get the Jeep and drive it home. He sends me to Dan's website at home.earthlink.net/~bigwalton/postal.html to have a look. At Dan's site I saw "D-Dog." I asked if Eric was serious and he said he was - very much so.

Eric Walton
D-Dog in all its glory. Good luck Eric!
Eric is an independent contractor to the Navy at the Naval Surface Warfare Center and he apparently has quite a bit of motivation to take on such a project as this. His plan is to fly to Anchorage, where he will hook up with his brother, Jason. They'll pick up the Jeep and insure that it is at least running enough to hit the roads and begin the 4,000+ mile trip back to North Carolina.

Eric will be sending us stories from the road and photographs every couple days along the way, whenever he can get to a phone line to upload them. We expect it to be quite an adventure. Considering a major part of the trip will be through some of the most remote areas of North America in an old and untested vehicle, he's going to be in for some extremely beautiful scenery and possibly even some rather tense moments while he pits this old machine against the elements.

Also helping out in the support arena, is 4 Wheel Drive Hardware. They'll be hot-shotting parts to Eric in Alaska to get him going and will be available to get him parts along the way if he needs them. Eric and 4 Wheel Drive Hardware got together a list prior to his arrival in Alaska of probable parts that will be needed. Once Eric reaches Ohio, he'll also stop in and visit 4WDH and share his experiences with us.

It's going to be great fun and we at Rockcrawler.com can't wait for him to get started. Follow along throughout July and into August as Eric brings it all home!

Eric spoke with the specialists at 4 Wheel Drive Hardware and prepared a parts list ahead of time. Below is the basic list of parts that Eric and 4WDH felt would probably be needed in order to get the Jeep home. Stay tuned and we'll see how it goes!
Quantity Part Number
Description
2 3934609 BesTop Trailmax pro seats - charcoal
2 5125501 BesTop seat slider
1 63594 engine bolt kit
1 HS31151 cylinder head gasket kit
1 OS5215 oil pan gasket kit
1 VS50061 valve cover gasket
1 3228191 fuel pump
1 3230376 fuel filter
1 5362801 Accel cable
1 E1080 replacement air filter
6 TP98E splitfire spark plugs
1 6704 Splitfire plug wires
1 807256 AGR steering pump
1 8134320 hi flo water pump
2 200180K thermostat
1 3177594 water temp sending unit
2 8136659 upper radiator hose
2 5362162 lower radiator hose
1 643209 Mean Green starter
1 647127 Mean Green alternator
1 S113 starter solenoid
1 22370 slotted brake rotor kit
2 set45 Timken inner wheel bearing
2 set 47 Timken outer wheel bearing
2 5356675 bearing seal
1 7100 steering stabilizer
1 3172122 AMC 20 differential cover gasket
1 34684 Dana 30 differential cover gasket
1 M81AHVS3 oil pump
4 153X driveshaft U-joint
1 HL484 Hi-Lift Jack
1 675 Hi-Lift accessory kit
1 VBD1060 internal Torx sockets
1 VSE616 external Torx socket set
1 10110 Painless Wiring kit
1 739 KC HiLites 5x7"
1 V230 u-joint snap ring pliers
1 A692N spindle nut socket
2 260X Dana 30 front axle u-joint
1 8130301 brake shoes
1 H7064 brake hardware
1 H2514 driver side small parts - brakes
1 H2515 pass side small parts - brakes
1 8136674 left-hand thread steering tie rod
1 8136600 right-hand thread steering tie rod

 

 
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