Jacumba Jeep run

Video on youtube:
https://youtube/IT-nKSsdy-o

We staged at In-ko-pah exit on the I-8 just East of Jacumba CA. We traveled North under the Freeway, and hit about 23 miles of trail most of it was 1st gear slow, and a small portion or two was " Oh my gosh"! why did we go this way!?!?
I had a buddy of mine as a passenger. we had a total of 6 Jeep Wranglers, and a Lexus 470 (4x4)

Here are some pictures:

Added a bumper, a winch, and radiator

When you are off roading you need to have a way to get yourself out of trouble.
In this case it meant a winch for the front of the Jeep. In order to mount a winch you have to have a bumper that will accommodated it. It took some technique but I had to remove the bumper to add the winch and my daughter Sydney was a big help in that.
I don't ever want to get stranded so you have to make sure your coolant system works. My radiator was leaking just a tiny bit so I decided to get a new radiator and installed it.
I also added some lights to the bumper but I had to route the cable through the bumper to make it look clean I drilled some holes and added grommets.

Pine Valley hike

Hiked up the side of a mountain to look for deer, or sign of deer. All I found is that I am getting old.

Riding the bikes to a mountain hideout

We went to a soft Grand opening of a biker bar in the mountains called "Jose's hideout"

Sydney rode right next to me for the whole trip 150 miles, but she passed me going into a corner and carried a lot of speed. It worried me, but she pulled it off.

Great ride.

Jeeping into the Valley of the moons

The adventure started with Syney and I meeting up with two other Jeeps and couples. In a ghost town called Jacumba Hot Springs. The trail was mild to medium until we hit an obstacle called "Axle breaker". If you don't make it on your first try, you will be winched through by the group leader "Martin" and his jeep "penny". We were pulled through after a failed attempt. There was plenty of rocks, hills, dirt, and tight squeezes the rest of the way. About an hour or so into the drive, we stopped for a break, and my jeep would not restart..... uh oh!.
The key turned, but would not engage the starter. A few people jumped in with ideas ( hit the starter with a hammer, jump start the battery, starter inhibitors like the shifter in park switch, brake switch, wiggling the ignition. I finally took apart the steering column, and removed the electronic ignition switch, and turned the reo-stat inside of it with a screwdriver and .... success,
We drove out with no incidents, but now I have some parts to buy.
The scenery was incredible the rock formations were stunning. the dog got tossed around a bit, but he was glad to be out of the house.

Painting the hood and vent grille of the Jeep

The hood and cowl panel of my jeep were in pretty rough shape, and it needed to be painted and clear coated. I bought the material, and decided to do it myself. Lots of sanding (with 320)  to get rid of the clear coat, and some of the paint. I then primered it, sanded that. Then I laid down the basecoat, sanded that. Then the clear coat, and sanded that. Finally i hit it with a buffing compound, and buffed it to a shine.

Hood started off pretty rough. I had to sand off the clear coat, and some of the paint

Then came the primer (made my own booth in the garage by hanging some plastic from the ceiling)

Cowl panel grille primered, but had to cover the plastic under the grille openings

painted, but no clear coat

painted, but no clear coat

clear coat

clear coated, but with orange peel, drips, and overs pray, it needs to be wet sanded, and buffed

wet sanding some of the orange peel

sanded the clear coat, trying to get rid of the orange peel ( lower right)

After I sanded it, I put a buffing compound on it, and hit it with the buffing wheel

night view after buffing