How would you outfit this custom LJ?

[jscherb]

Every year for at least the past 10 years we've made from 1 to 3 trips out west to explore off-road in the LJ. Most of these trips are to Colorado, also with a trip to Easter Jeep Safari most years and sometimes exploring further like northern Alaska in 2014 and several times to Death Valley and the Mojave Desert. The last few years was only one trip mostly due to the pandemic; last year we explored the Continental Divide crossing of the old Denver & Salt Lake Railroad line across Rollins Pass. Photos from most of these trips have been posted in this thread over the years.

I'm working on a plan for a trip for this year. I'm already planning a trip to Arizona for Overland West in May, but also thinking of a Colorado exploration trip in July. We've explored a lot of Colorado and Colorado trails over the years (I posted a list of most of the trails we've done a month or so ago in this thread), but rather than repeating places we've already been, I'm thinking of exploring the headwaters of the Colorado River this year. The map below is pieced together from three different Colorado trail and guide books and shows approximately what I'm thinking - the red dashed line shows one possible route through the area.

The approximate east to west distance pictured on the map is 125 miles; the actual route would be much longer. A lot of the route is paved, but some of it is trails and some of it is unpaved or gravel roads. There are many side detours/trails that could be explored as well.

This is still in the early planning stages, I've got more research to do. And if anyone has any thoughts or recommendations about this part of Colorado, please post them.

 

[zgfiredude]

That's all thru beautiful and not overly populated areas.....perfect. The area around western Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Lake will take you through a fair amount of one of the large wildfires from 2 years ago, the East Troublesome Fire.....as the area begins to renew itself it could be quite interesting, but stark. Just be prepared for that. There is a great dirt "shortcut" between the #72 and #76 markers on your map....called "Buford Road". There are a lot of not too technical and super scenic trails throughout the area inside the Meeker/Glenwood/Gypsum/Yampa polygon if you will. Will you be camping or hoteling it? Happy to assist if you like.....your route as shown goes less than a mile from my house. There is also some really nice stuff just north of Steamboat, between there and Encampment, Wyoming. Good thinking!

 

[jscherb]

That's all thru beautiful and not overly populated areas.....perfect. The area around western Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Lake will take you through a fair amount of one of the large wildfires from 2 years ago, the East Troublesome Fire.....as the area begins to renew itself it could be quite interesting, but stark. Just be prepared for that. There is a great dirt "shortcut" between the #72 and #76 markers on your map....called "Buford Road". There are a lot of not too technical and super scenic trails throughout the area inside the Meeker/Glenwood/Gypsum/Yampa polygon if you will. Will you be camping or hoteling it? Happy to assist if you like.....your route as shown goes less than a mile from my house. There is also some really nice stuff just north of Steamboat, between there and Encampment, Wyoming. Good thinking!

Thanks for the input!

I checked Google Maps and Buford Road shows up. Might Buford Road be muddy in July? I'm not bothered by rock climbs, ledges, very narrow shelf roads, steep descents but I don't like mud - had a very tough experience in the mud bogs at the top of Transfer Trail once, and an "almost didn't make it" experience one year going overland on the Castleton-Gateway road from Colorado to Moab in the spring - bad judgement on my part to take the overland route that early in the spring. Also more or less along the same area is the Hay Flat trail (71 on the map) so that's an option too.

Haven't gotten to the detail level yet to look at potential side trails. My interest in railroad history will have me looking for trails to historic railroad sites (like Rollins Pass last year). After descending from Rollins Pass the railroad snaked through Byers Canyon to Kremmling, so that part of the trip will be interesting to me and in my planning I'll work to identify interesting railroad sites/sights along that line.

Not sure if we'll camp or hotel or do both depending on the location, to a large degree it depends on timing - how much time we have for the trip. Even if we do camp we might try to stay at the lodge at Hot Sulphur Springs to do the hot springs there. And maybe a hotel in/near Steamboat to make it easier to walk around/explore the town. Still have to look into the area above Steamboat to see if we might explore there as well. Definitely will end the exploration phase of the trip at the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort, we stay there often.

 

[pith helmet]

There is also some really nice stuff just north of Steamboat, between there and Encampment, Wyoming. Good thinking!

I agree. I drove the road up the Elk river into WY years ago.

 

[zgfiredude]

Buford Road could be damp, but not likely to be muddy. It is a well traveled road, fairly wide and fairly smooth. Pretty area. Hey Flat is also cool, but just not as scenic. It is MUCH narrower and seldom traveled....it comes out right at Rifle Gap State Park (reservoir). If you be interested in some company on part of your trip, my wife and I could likely join you. Just an offer, understand if you'd rather not. All of your notes above make perfect sense. If nothing else perhaps we could share a dinner when you reach Glenwood.....we live just west of there in Silt, about 14 miles. Feel free to holler with any questions on routes/areas.....I'm happy to tell you what I may or may not know. The wildflowers up on the Flat Tops area will be awesome around that time!! Also take a look at "Coffee Pot Road"...it takes you up to that area around where the Transfer Trail goes, only no where near the mud bogs, LOL.

 

[jscherb]

Buford Road could be damp, but not likely to be muddy. It is a well traveled road, fairly wide and fairly smooth. Pretty area. Hey Flat is also cool, but just not as scenic. It is MUCH narrower and seldom traveled....it comes out right at Rifle Gap State Park (reservoir). If you be interested in some company on part of your trip, my wife and I could likely join you. Just an offer, understand if you'd rather not. All of your notes above make perfect sense. If nothing else perhaps we could share a dinner when you reach Glenwood.....we live just west of there in Silt, about 14 miles. Feel free to holler with any questions on routes/areas.....I'm happy to tell you what I may or may not know. The wildflowers up on the Flat Tops area will be awesome around that time!! Also take a look at "Coffee Pot Road"...it takes you up to that area around where the Transfer Trail goes, only no where near the mud bogs, LOL.

Thanks. I've done Coffee Pot Road and some of the other trails up top there - Grizzly Jeep Trail, some of Adams Lake Trail, explored Heart Lake, etc. It's been a few years though. This photo was taken near the beginning of the descent down Transfer Trail after getting up there via Coffee Pot Road one year. As I recall Coffee Pot road was pretty wet that time, which explains the mud on the Jeep.

Will be in touch closer to the trip about getting together/doing a trail together.

 

[jscherb]

I was molding some parts in urethane resin today for a project completely unrelated to Jeeps and I had some extra resin after finishing those parts. Even when urethane resin (it's two part) isn't mixed, it has a limited shelf life once opened because moisture in the air will affect it, so I used some leftover to mold an LJ-8 emblem. The last time I used the LJ-8 mold was 10 years ago when I built the CJ Grille Kit that's on the LJ (wow, has it been 10 years already?). Anyway, parts still come out of the mold nicely.

What the first emblem looked like 10 years ago (it still looks the same but I didn't bother taking new photos for this post)...

Thinking back about 10 years, the urethane molded emblem (and CJ Grille Kit fiberglass parts!) have done really well with all those years of road and trail use and all 4 seasons in upstate NY. And now that I think of it, the Safari Cab hardtop on the LJ is now 12 years old and people told me a modular hardtop wouldn't hold up to trail use .

 

[jscherb]

I look forward to this day every year - the day the plow comes off the LJ. Mostly because it means spring has really arrived, but also because it means I can use the LJ as a daily driver again. I put the plow on each November and leave it on until spring and the LJ sits in the garage most of that time.

I still have to remove the plow mount from the Jeep frame. I'll do that tomorrow and then take the Jeep through the car wash to get all the accumulated road salt off. Then it's officially a daily driver/trail Jeep until Thanksgiving, when the plow goes back on.

I found the plow on Craigslist in April 2011, so I've had it 11 years (10 winters - the year I bought it was after the snow season). On average I use it 4 times each year, and based on the going rate around here for plowing services, the plow has paid for itself 4 times over.

 

[Zeep]

Your plow looks like it needs a little love!

 

[jscherb]

Your plow looks like it needs a little love!

I do keep the plow in good mechanical condition, every few years I replace all of the mounting hardware with new and I've replaced the lift cable with stainless and put new hardware on that too. Rust doesn't affect its ability to move the snow so I don't worry about that. It's kept outside all year, so keeping with the surface rust on the plow blade would take more time and effort than it's worth, all it has to do is reliably move snow and by keeping it in shape mechanically it will do that forever.

And if I ever decide to move to a no-snow zone and sell the plow, based on increases in prices since I bought it used 10 years ago, it's worth more now than I paid for it, even with the rust .

 

[jscherb]

I can't believe it's been ten years, but ten years ago when I was doing the CJ Grille Kit for the TJ/LJ I also did molds for a TJ Commando as an "art project" (meaning I made the molds and some fiberglass parts but didn't have a plan to use them). I did a mold for a Commando-style hood tailored to the TJ's body lines and a replica Hurst Commando hood scoop. I'm cleaning out my storage room and I've got molds for many things that are taking up too much room so I'm probably going to toss the molds for these parts. I took these photos at the time:

Today I got the molds out of my storage room:

I also still have one set of parts:

There wouldn't be enough commercial demand for someone to put these in production, so I'll probably toss the molds. I may keep the hood and scoop around a little longer; they are usable parts and could also be used to make new molds if the need came up.

The Commando hood uses the same fenders and cowl panel that the CJ Grille Kit does; maybe someday there will be a call to put the CJ Grille Kit in production but I doubt it. In any case, since the CJ Grille Kit parts are on my LJ, I'll keep those molds in case I ever have to replace a damaged part.

 

[Jim K in PA]

I wish I could justify buying those moulds from you, Jeff. But I really can't see myself fabricating any hoods. Love the scoop though.

 

[jscherb]

I wish I could justify buying those moulds from you, Jeff. But I really can't see myself fabricating any hoods. Love the scoop though.

Thanks about the scoop. It's a reasonable replica of the original Hurst Jeepster scoop, except that it doesn't sag in the center like this one :

Looks pretty nice on a JK too, I set it on one at the local dealer:

In this next photo it's sitting on the hood of my Retro Wrangler pickup, showing how two standard gauges can be installed in it. The original Hurst scoop housed a tach there that's long out of production so I modified the design slightly to support modern gauges.

I'm not a "hood scoop guy" so it'll never end up on any of my Jeeps. I just did it and the hood as an "art project" to see what they would look like .
I'm traveling a lot these days but the next time I'm in town on trash day, I plan to cut up the hood mold and put it out for trash. I'll probably keep the scoop mold a little longer, it doesn't take up too much space. I'll also keep the one molded hood and scoop a while longer but those and the scoop mold will eventually end up going too.

 

[Zeep]

Try posting them for sale. You never know!

 

[jscherb]

Try posting them for sale. You never know!

You might think this is strange, but I wouldn't sell the molds to just anyone. I guess I'm like a temperamental artist - what if someone with no experience with fiberglass bought them, made some terrible parts in the molds and went around saying the molds are junk? I've posted photos of the parts out of the molds and they are up to my standards so I know very nice parts can be made in the molds, but I don't want to see the molds used to make junk. Whatever money I might get for the molds isn't as important to me as seeing them be used well. I'd rather cut them up and toss them than see them be used badly. Everybody has their little idiosyncrasies, I admit that's one of mine .