painting the jeep with hunter green over a coat of primer inside and out took something akin to forever, or most of that first summer. inside was a battleship grey with a light tan trim. i removed the driver's seat and cannibalized another seat from an '83 that i bought for parts. now i had two front seats with the removal of the left side mail tray. it was a neat feature, a large flat tray with raised edges that could hold mail for the delivery driver, but i wanted to have a passenger side seat more.
it was also the first summer that my dad and i worked on a vehicle together. he started to teach me everything that i knew about automobile mechanics then. i gave the engine a complete tune up, changed the plugs and the wires, distributor, points and condensor. a few summers later i rebuilt the carter yf carburetor, which was a huge undertaking for me at the time. a new battery went in, new wiper blades and oil changes (no longer had i to worry about a vehicle falling off from ramps crushing my chest...). the radiator sprung a leak too and i removed that and had it recored at a local shop. my dad started to teach me about cobbing parts or fabbing things as needed. the original atf cooler hoses were dry rotted and tore when i removed them from the radiator and i fabbed a little piece of metal brake line to replace one. all in all, i got to know that guys over at the adap (later napa...) parts counter pretty well.
