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.
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 |