"Breathing new life into old cars"
In honor of my faithful companion Annie, I named this site after her.
We called her 'Big Dog'. She was a good friend and ferocious guard dog.
Annie
Click on the "About BDG" link below to find out more about me and the car projects.
My daughter Allison has a 1997 Jeep Cherokee. She calls her Jeep Kermit.
On 9 March, she was on her way home for Spring Break when she was involved in a multi-vehicle accident just north of Huntsville, Texas. The first car started to hydroplane and hit the rear wheels of an 18 wheeler, bounced off and hit two other cars. In order to avoid hitting the cars ahead, Allison steered for the ditch. The water in the ditch slowed her speed before she hit the cables that divides the freeway. She slid down the cables until she hit a post which supports the cables. Allison is ok, just sore from the airbags hitting her. The State Trooper I talked with told me she stopped 15 feet from going into head on traffic. In all there was the 18 wheeler and four cars including Allison involved in this accident. We had only liability insurance on the Jeep so I am repairing it myself. The new page called The Jeep will document my progress. I plan to have the Jeep finished before she goes back to school in the Fall of 2012
Update
The rebuild of Kermit is going really well. Since there was no structural damage, everything is going back together with minimal issues. All the mechanical things are now working as well as electrical and computer. I have the replacement airbags installed so most of the interior is complete except for a good cleaning. There is root beer that ended up all over the dash and front floor area during the wreck. Allison had just gotten back on the road after a stop at Bucees and had a large root beer and beef jerky. I have all of the beef jerky cleaned out. As far as what’s left of the bodywork, I have to weld in the front part of the inner fender support on the driver's side. Once that is done, I will be ready to bolt on the new body parts then work out all of the minor issues. Kermit should be back on the road in the next week or so.
One of the biggest help I have had in the last few weeks is from new friends I have meet on a Jeep forum called XJTalk.com. This forum has a wealth of information specific to Jeep Cherokees also known as Jeep XJs.
Here is a link:
This past year through the grace of God and talents of my heroes at MD Anderson in Houston, I conquered kidney cancer. Granted it was in the very early stages, but the threat was real. I now understand real thankfulness as each one of us should. I now see every new day as a gift from God, every sunrise, sunset, even the very breath we take.
20 April 2012
New Pages: Casting Numbers
I just added casting numbers for Jeep Blocks and Jeep Heads
Here is a link to the Casting Numbers Page
Here is a video I edited for work. This is in celebration of 30 years of Shuttle Flights.
Hope you enjoy it!
