Archives for posts with tag: repair

I just discovered Motor Trend’s bi-weekly YouTube offering, Dirt Every Day, hosted by Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road’s tech editor, Fred Williams. Here are a couple of episodes in which he takes his recently purchased, $1900, Land Cruiser 80-series off-roading, and then fixes it up for the same amount of money.

I like that they include both kinds of dirt: the off-road kind and the under-the-hood kind. That’s pretty much the reality for most of us who drive, and do whatever maintenance we can, on our trucks.

I look forward to seeing more of their episodes. Find the second video after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »


Look at what my sweet girlfriend made me for my birthday. It’s a lantern jacket!

A couple of years ago I bought a non-functioning, early-70s, Coleman 200A lantern for $12 at an antique store. It sat around for a while until I ordered all of the parts, stripped it down and restored it. Here’s the how-to I used, if you’re restoring your own by the way.

It was really satisfying to rebuild it and get it to work. I didn’t have a case for it though and it would knock around in the back of the truck with an old towel draped over it for modicum of protection.

Then my girlfriend, Natalie, after borrowing my lantern under the guise of wanting to draw it, presented me with this amazing lantern jacket. It’s fully padded and even has a zippered picket for holding matches and spare mantles. I love it!

Read more for additional photos.

Read the rest of this entry »