Paul is very particular about the tires he puts on vehicles. They must be the right tire and they must look great. Including the spare which he had to track down out in Colorado.

While I could have lived with this tire as a spare, Paul insisted it get a fresh coat of paint and gave me the privilege of getting all the old paint off.

This involved a few hours with sandpaper and some time in the sandblasting box. A very wax on, wax off experience. This simple chore gave me an appreciation for the time and effort that goes into restoring an old vehicle even though that was never the plan for the Jeep.

When I went to pick up the tire after mounting and balancing, the young man asked for the key so he could drive the Jeep into one of the service bays.

“Might be best if I do that since the transmission is a little… wonky,” I said. “Oh, I think I can figure it out,” he replied.

When he finally did get the Jeep in gear (first instead of reverse) he almost drove into the front of his building. I drove the Jeep into the service bay. (On the topic of shifting gears, I’ve discovered the Jeep is happiest when I double-clutch between gears.)