Fun filled weekend.

It finally was warm enough to work in the garage, so I decided this was the weekend to get the hardtop hoist set up so I can single-handedly remove and replace the Jeep’s hardtop.

First, I had to get the Fords out of the garage, which turned out to be a major production.  Alphonse, the ‘78 Marquis, no trouble.  I got it out, took it down to the car was to get the winter’s grime off it and parked it out of the way without any problem.  Old Blue, the ‘69 LTD, wasn’t as cooperative.  It got stuck on the ice, which I found out was 5” thick in some spots.

This was Friday afternoon, right about dusk, and as it got darker and colder, and the melted ice started to freeze up again, I had to leave Old Blue sitting across the whole driveway overnight.  Fortunately, I had thought ahead and the Jeep was parked on the street and not blocked in the driveway.

Saturday afternoon, when it got warm again, after a lot of salting, chipping, digging and tire wear, I finally got Old Blue out, to the car wash and in it’s pre-determined spot out of the way.

The the real fun started.  I had to move all the stuff stored at the back of the garage on the north side into the south side.  Believe it or not, all that stuff fit, stacked about 3’ deep, along the back wall of half the garage.

Anyway, after 4 trips to Home Depot and most of the afternoon, I finally have the hoist all hooked up, and a beam in the middle of the garage to help support the weight.

Finis.  And I found some funny stuff while moving the crap from one side of the garage to the other.  Such as this letter from the Salt Lake Bureau of Air Pollution Control which sped up the replacing of the engine in my convertible LTD.  (Click to read)

I’m sure I’ll find a lot more interesting things as I go through everything this summer.

Finally, this optical illusion shirt that a student wore to school on Crazy Pattern Day.