ofreen,in reply #49 with your Uncle's jeep in the river and that log in front of it:was that log buried/waterlogged and slippery and he hit that which stalled his forward progress across the river ?
It is quite a story, so here is an abridged version. There was a uranium boom in Utah back in those days, so they were out prospecting. They weren't on any road and had forded the river a few days prior, marking the spot with rocks on both sides, then headed up into the hills. The river rose in the days after. The river was a lot higher and wider when they got back to it, but he found the spot and they debated whether or not to give it a try. They were about out of food, so their stomachs made the decision and they went for it. The water was too deep and flooded out the ignition about halfway across. They spent the next couple of days jacking the jeep up higher, propping rocks under it, and building a road with rocks across the bottom. There was water in the gas tank and crankcase, but he had extra oil and gas in jerry cans. Once he got it dried out the best he could, it started and ran. He drove it all the way back to Salt Lake. The jeep made it, but was running bad. He said the gear shift lever was so hot he couldn't keep his hand on it. It had the original Go Devil 4 banger. Those flathead engines have a side plate that covers the valves and tappets. He said that recess was completely packed with sand. He found after teardown, the pistons had grooves in them that looked like tunnels in an ant farm. It was amazing it got them home, but those old jeeps were legendary for the abuse they could take.
At any rate, the engine was shot. He then fitted a flathead Ford V8 in it, one of the first to put a V8 in a jeep. That took no small amount of engineering. Later, he put a supercharger on it, cutting a hole in the hood to clear it. Then he cut up a 55 gallon drum to cover the hole, then later had to cut a hole in that when he installed what amounted to Tri-Power. The flathead is long gone, these days a 302 from a Granada sits in there and the Tri-Power hole patched with riveted sheet metal. There is lots more to the story of that jeep (or 'Peej" as he called it), a lot of family history tied to it. I'll attach a pic of it in its present state.
