Lex Anteinternet: The 1997 Jeep TJ Project

The 1997 Jeep TJ Project

All Jeeps are projects.

Own one, and you'll know that. And over the years, I've owned three.

My first was a 1958 M38A1. That was followed by a 1946 CJ2A. And then, years later, by a 1997 Jeep TJ.

The TJ is by far the best Jeep I've ever owned, or for that matter driven. It's even better than the military M151A1, which is a fantastic, if fantastically dangerous, Jeep.

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April 13, 2020

So, what has been done to date?

Well, quite a lot.

The TJ came with a hard top and had been slightly lifted. That's about it. I converted it to a soft top, with a good Bestop, but I do have to admit that I've had troubles with it and have had to had that repaired once, and I'm set to have to have it repaired again. The back zip in window isn't working just right and a side window also needs repaired.

In addition to that a Smittybilt rack has been added with a basket afixed to that. I may do some welding on that, or have my brother in law do it rather, as I have a terrible rattle that I think is in the rack. On the rear bumper I've used attachments to mount a shovel and an axe. And the rear tire is carrying a Trasharoo, originally in a desert camo pattern but now faded to a weird pink. On the front bumper I've mounted a Warn winch, which I likely would have anyhow, but found necessary after getting stuck in a ditch in the snow last year.

Most recently I put in a bracket for a Midland Mini two way radio so I could communicate with some hand held walkie talkies we have. You can see the antenna in the photograph below.

That's not a CB radio. It wouldn't have the power. But it should work well for what I intend to use it for.

October 26, 2022

I moved the antenna.

I did that as I was constantly breaking the high mounted antenna when I hit tree branches.

What I didn't appreciate when I put the first mount in is that I had no ground plane there at all. Now I do. A GMRS radio depends heavily on a ground plane, and where it's now mounted it has a really good one in the form of the Jeep hood, which is effectively part of the antenna.

Additionally, my earlier comment about "power" was all wrong. GMRS actually has much better range than CB.

Also, a new top was recently put on, the old one was wrecked, and the new one has a slightly different style. As a result, I don't take the very top off, but only the very large windows, during the summer. The top functions as a sort of "bikini top", which I prefer as it keeps the rain off.

And, as can be seen here, during the summer months I'm running a River Quiver on the top for fishing season. I was obviously doing a comparison/contrast with the mid 60s Bronco in the foreground.

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Lex Anteinternet?

This blog has been around since 2009. In the very first post, we asked the question: "What the heck is this blog about?"

Our answer to the question was: "The intent of this blog is to try to explore and learn a few things about the practice of law prior to the current era. That is, prior to the internet, prior to easy roads, and the like. How did it work, how regional was it, how did lawyers perceive their roles, and how were they perceived?"

We also noted: "Part of the reason for this, quite frankly, has something to do with minor research for a very slow moving book."

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