The next couple days we did Fins and Things, Hell’s Revenge, Poison Spider Mesa, Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim. We left the Willys at home because it was probably a little much for the old Jeep. Towards the end of the trip we started talking about doing Top of the World. RedBeard (brother) wanted to take it. We did our research and figured we could make the trail with the old Jeep. So we got up at 3:30 in the morning to try and catch the sunrise. The lineup we had was a TJ Rubicon, 1974 FJ with front wheel drive only, my 2010 JKU, fiend’s 2010 JKU and the FrankenWillys. We trailed the FJ to the trailhead which was clutch in the end.
If you’ve ever been on this trail, 3/4 of it is easy. The last bit gets harder and harder with bigger rocks and bigger ledges. But the Willys kept chugging. A couple of times, the frame flexed enough to put the fender into the alternator shooting sparks out. Old motor mounts didn’t help either. I had to pull the FJ up a couple ledges.
Sunrise was quickly approaching and we were nearing the end of the trail.
A 1000 ft before the cliff, the Willys died and would not start. We tried all of our tricks and it would not start on it’s own. It would start with gas being poured down the carb but that was it. The old fuel pump finally let go. We decided to push on and get to the end. It was rough not getting the old Jeep to the end but it will someday. The view here was amazing.
Here’s RedBeard on the ledge without the FrankenWillys.
We headed back down the trail and I towed the old Jeep 10 miles back to the road over every rock and ledge we came over. By the end, all the bolts broke holding his seat to the floor and his wiper motor fell of the firewall. Luckily we had the trailer and trailered it the 30 miles back to town. The FJ drove back.
At town we met up with the rest of our group who checked out of our house and was ready to get on the road back home. I had called ahead back on the trail and had them resource a replacement pump or an electric one. We met at the Shell gas station and it was all hands on deck. We all started working on the Willys to get the new fuel pump and lines installed. It wasn’t pretty but it worked and the Willys roared to life.
Unloaded off the trailer and hit the road. It ran better and idled better with the new constant fuel supply.
We continued the trip without any issues from the old Willys. We did blow an intercooler pipe on the Powerstroke towing the FJ. Made a patch with the upper radiator hose from the FJ and limped to Price for a replacement.
The Willys finished the 2000 mile round trip which was a huge accomplishment. Hopefully I can take mine to our next trip to Moab.
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