"razorbeamteam" (razorbeamteam)
06/22/2020 at 07:18 • Filed to: None
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"razorbeamteam" (razorbeamteam)
06/22/2020 at 07:18 • Filed to: None | 9
| 38 |
Doing some junkyarding this weekend and I stumbled across David’s postal Jeep.
I guess the new owner didn’t appreciate it. Sad to see it here a fter all the work he put into it.
MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 08:00 |
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Looks like it ran into something. Honestly that’s really where it belongs. God, I forgot how crappy those welds looked, I sure wouldn’t have trusted it.
facw
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 08:01 |
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To be fair, “all the work he put into it” while substantial, is just a small fraction of the work it needed.
Though who knows, maybe he’ll see this and rush over to buy it back (despite all the work he needs to do before the end of July).
I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 08:03 |
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Woah, that’s actually it? Still in Detroit ish?
This is frankly where it belongs.
UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 08:04 |
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Nah, it needed to be here In the first place.
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razorbeamteam
> I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
06/22/2020 at 08:11 |
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It’s in Chicago now for some reason. It’s the real deal, I sent pics to the man himself.
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I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 08:18 |
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I recall that he sold it to some fellow who was doing a crapcan road rally with friends, so that seems to be a reasonable location .
Cash Rewards
> I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
06/22/2020 at 08:35 |
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A large part of me would be highly amused if some hero bought it off him just to junk it, for the safety of everyone involved.
shop-teacher
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 08:44 |
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What yard is it in? I feel a weird urge to go see it.
Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 08:56 |
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That is simultaneously sad and a relief. It does not have a place on our roads but he did put so much effort into it.
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razorbeamteam
> shop-teacher
06/22/2020 at 08:57 |
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Victory Auto Wreckers in Bensenville
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I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
> shop-teacher
06/22/2020 at 09:06 |
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Pay tribute to the Rust God
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razorbeamteam
> MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
06/22/2020 at 09:53 |
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Seeing it up close made me appreciate just how bad it was.
Future next gen S2000 owner
> MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
06/22/2020 at 10:30 |
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He was hit while driving it, I believe.
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shop-teacher
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 10:45 |
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Oh dang! That's by far the closest yard to me. I definitely need to go look at it now.
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shop-teacher
> I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
06/22/2020 at 10:46 |
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I will. I work like two miles from that yard.
Gone
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 10:50 |
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Those welds are yikes. Forgot about that. Sucks, but s hould have never been on the streets tbh ...
Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 10:50 |
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Doesn’t 100% look like David’s to me, but hard to say. If it is his, I would like to know the story of how it ended up t here.
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facw
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
06/22/2020 at 11:35 |
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Definitely David’s Jeep:
Check the bumper damage and the pattern of the blue paint on the rear door
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razorbeamteam
> shop-teacher
06/22/2020 at 11:57 |
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Hey if you do end up going let me know. David asked if I wouldn’t mind grabbing the turn signal lever from it as well as take a lot more pictures. He asked specifically how the shoulder belt mounts held up.
I was going to head up there tomorrow, but if you’re close by... N o big deal either way.
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> facw
06/22/2020 at 12:17 |
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Actually the blue paint was what was throwing me. However in your picture you can see the remnants of the #projectpostal on the junkyard Jeep so yeah... it is his.
A little sad, honestly...
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shop-teacher
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 13:47 |
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As long as it isn't raining, I'll head there tomorrow. I'll let you know either way.
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 16:09 |
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Oh man now I really want that grill and headlights for some garage “art”.
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shop-teacher
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 16:22 |
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With the rain coming in much later than the forecast, I was able to get there today. I grabbed the turn signal lever and took pictures. There were no shoulder belts in the thing, but I sure hope this wasn’t supposed to be a shoulder belt mount.
David Tracy
> razorbeamteam
06/22/2020 at 23:03 |
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It’s a real shame.
I really hoped this thing would get picked up by a rural mail carrier (ideally one not in the rust belt), who would daily-drive the Jeep for another five or ten years.
By the time I was done with it, the Jeep was in really decent mechanical shape (which I realize is hard to believe given how it looks), as proven by 4,500 miles of pretty much trouble-free (well, minus a remanned Autozone master cylinder failure) driving and serious off-roading in Moab. I put the Jeep through the wringer, and it just shrugged everything off like a champ.
But alas, Project POStal’s time came early (Actually, that’s not true. When I bought the DJ-5, it already had three wheels in the junkyard. So really, I gave the Jeep some extra time on this planet
). I’ll pour out a little antifreeze, as POStal liked to do from its rear freeze plug.
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razorbeamteam
> shop-teacher
06/23/2020 at 07:20 |
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Nice! N ot sure if you have Instagram, but that’s how I sent him the pics I took. If not, you can email pics to me and I can send them his way.
I’ll find out what he wants to do with the turn signal lever. I don’t mind picking it up from you and mailing it to him. I don’t want to inconvenience you more than I have for some old parts.
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shop-teacher
> razorbeamteam
06/23/2020 at 08:17 |
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I’m going to put them into a Google photo album and share them with him. I don’t mind mailing the parts to David (I grabbed the passenger errr drivers side mirror too, because it seemed neat to me). I’ve met him before, and we had a long chat about cars and life and such, so I consider him a friend.
I emailed him last night and told him about it.
There seems to be more Opponauts in Chicagoland than there used to be. When this covid thing blows over, we should have some sort of meet-up.
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razorbeamteam
> shop-teacher
06/23/2020 at 09:45 |
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Ab-so-lutely we should get an O ppo meet together. We could get a healthy contingent together here and I’m sure people are just as anxious to socialize as I am.
Glad to hear you sent those pics over. I know if someone found one of my cars in a yard, I would want the same thing. David’s wrenching articles are my favorite reads, I’m glad I could help him out even in a small way.
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shop-teacher
> razorbeamteam
06/23/2020 at 11:18 |
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Yeah, I love his wrenching articles too. They’re absolutely my favorite Jalopnik content, by a lot. I don’t know about you though, I was kinda taken aback by how much worse that DJ was in person than I even thought it would be!
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shop-teacher
> David Tracy
06/23/2020 at 11:52 |
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“I really hoped this thing would get picked up by a rural mail carrier (ideally one not in the rust belt), who would daily-drive the Jeep for another five or ten years.”
Now that I have seen the POStal Jeep in person, I think you’re in denial about how bad the body really was. It is full of holes, holes, and more holes. Even the dashboard has multiple holes rusted through it. I’m not among those who think you were putting other people in danger by driving it on public roads, but nobody who values their own personal safety would drive that Jeep. For crying out load, you had a shelf bracket holding up the back of the driver’s seat.
I love you, and I love your articles, but that Jeep should absolutely
be in the junkyard.
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David Tracy
> shop-teacher
06/23/2020 at 12:39 |
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Oh yeah, the body is absolutely toasty (hence the name Project POStal)—lots of holes in the floors, that dash (!), and various other places. If you want a car that’ll protect you well in a crash, this isn’t it (and frankly, neither is any Postal Jeep or old flatfender—these things were basically sardine cans on ladder frames! Add all the rust , and yeah, that makes things even worse!). So yeah, in some ways, it may be good that this Jeep is off the road, especially given how weirdly it handles compared to modern cars (top heavy, narrow, manual steering, non-power brakes, etc.).
But if someone wasn’t worried about crash safety, and just needed something for trotting around rural America delivering mail on infrequently-traveled backroads (or maybe a hunting rig for bashing around the woods), this Jeep would have served many years without issue.
But I can’t say I’m sad. This Jeep blew me away on that 4,000 mile off-road trip, and I’m grateful for that. It was truly epic.
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shop-teacher
> David Tracy
06/23/2020 at 12:57 |
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David, the body is so rusty it wouldn’t be able to keep the mail dry!
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David Tracy
> shop-teacher
06/23/2020 at 12:58 |
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...
That’s a fact.
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shop-teacher
> David Tracy
06/23/2020 at 12:59 |
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I shared the photo album with you this morning. Did it come through?
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David Tracy
> shop-teacher
06/23/2020 at 13:08 |
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I did, thank you so much. Same to Razorbeamteam!
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
06/23/2020 at 13:22 |
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My thoughts exactly.
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shop-teacher
> David Tracy
06/23/2020 at 13:28 |
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You're welcome!
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facw
> razorbeamteam
06/26/2020 at 14:12 |
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Congratulations, you and shop-teacher are now internet famous:
My Heroic $500 Postal Jeep Is Officially Dead In A Junkyard
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razorbeamteam
> facw
06/26/2020 at 16:55 |
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I guess I’ve finally peaked