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Alaskan Postal CJ-8 factory build oral history - what do you want to know?

bigwalton

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
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City
Dexter
State
MI
On a Facebook group that I was made aware of by Tom/@ebertf there is a past AMC employee that was around when the postals were built.

I asked if I can have a call with him and he said he was happy to talk to me so I just need to set that up.

I intend to record/transcribe it on here for posterity and I wanted to see: what would you ask the guy.

Here's a screen grab of the conversation where he chimed in on Tom's post about the postal at the MATI and in general:

Screenshot 2023-09-27 at 12.18.26 PM.png
 
bigwalton said:
Interesting, highly doubt he has a clue, sounds like a line worker to me.
Click to expand...
Probably, but maybe there was build sheets and the cost was on them. We would get vans and trucks for the nasa facility and they would come through the local Ford / Chevrolet / Dodge dealership with all that on the window. Cheaper to ship in bulk than single shots. Plus the dealer would do the PDI on them.
 
bigwalton said:
On a Facebook group that I was made aware of by Tom/@ebertf there is a past AMC employee that was around when the postals were built.

I asked if I can have a call with him and he said he was happy to talk to me so I just need to set that up.

I intend to record/transcribe it on here for posterity and I wanted to see: what would you ask the guy.

Here's a screen grab of the conversation where he chimed in on Tom's post about the postal at the MATI and in general:

View attachment 110990
Click to expand...
Did they install an aux heater or were they installed later? See photo for referencemus11.jpg
 
Here's a few simpler ones - prioritise with other q as you see fit.
Did they do the Ziebart on the frame?
Did they do the block heaters / coolant line heaters?
Were they done in one batch?
Any special treatment applied?
 
I'm actually intrigued about the frames too. Hasn't it been pretty well established that they seem to hold up remarkably well compared to the normal Scramblers? Or am I remembering wrong? If they did something different, what was it?
 
Ron84cj said:
I'm actually intrigued about the frames too. Hasn't it been pretty well established that they seem to hold up remarkably well compared to the normal Scramblers? Or am I remembering wrong? If they did something different, what was it?
Click to expand...
Tom already asked about that on the FB thread, but I am definitely asking for details. There's also a very strange added plate on each of these frames on the bottom side of the start of the hump up over the rear axle that I want to know about.
 
Agree on the frame plates.

Any differences in the world cab brackets? I have seen some rear doors have additional braces in the body, some don’t.

Any other differences from the world cabs shipped to Europe/ Australia from the postal order?

Did they go straight from the factory to Alaska for in-service or was there a final upfitter that added the seat / letter tray / cargo net?

What was the original seat for the driver? Standard Jeep CJ or a different one?

Did the rear bumper come from a different vehicle or was it a custom batch order?

Were the exterior rear view mirrors installed at the factory or by the postal service? (Seen some with the front convex parking mirror and some without, most have the larger rectangular trucker mirrors.)

Were the built sequentially with no other product on the line or just mixed into the normal production line?

Was the color the standard Olympic White? Or a custom postal color code?

I am sure there are more questions, but this is a start.
 
Please if you go short let him extrapolate about AMC, years he worked there and was he involved w just postal or what other models/trims did he work on/with?!

Of late I've really been interested in anything Toledo Jeep/AMC from 1981 - 1986.
So this tangentially piqued my interest 😊
Thanks 👍🏼
Edited to add: FTLOG Is it NUTMEG or Cinnamon 😂
 
Any factory V-8 scramblers?

Info on 1986 model scramblers?

Would be good to get insight from a worker on these highly argued items.
 
Another Question I have is the skid plate for the gas tank on the postal any different then the standard? The one on the postal is enclosed on the sides see photo.


CJ8 1.jpgCJ8 122.jpg
 
Did they spray the foam insulation at the factory, if so, what is the type used?
 
ag4ever said:
Agree on the frame plates.

Any differences in the world cab brackets? I have seen some rear doors have additional braces in the body, some don’t.

Any other differences from the world cabs shipped to Europe/ Australia from the postal order?

Did they go straight from the factory to Alaska for in-service or was there a final upfitter that added the seat / letter tray / cargo net?

What was the original seat for the driver? Standard Jeep CJ or a different one?

Did the rear bumper come from a different vehicle or was it a custom batch order?

Were the exterior rear view mirrors installed at the factory or by the postal service? (Seen some with the front convex parking mirror and some without, most have the larger rectangular trucker mirrors.)

Were the built sequentially with no other product on the line or just mixed into the normal production line?

Was the color the standard Olympic White? Or a custom postal color code?

I am sure there are more questions, but this is a start.
Click to expand...
To add to this …..

the rear bumper seems to be so close to the bumpers used on the Ram D100 trucks. I’ve actually considered finding a Ram truck one to compare. Looking at my original it wouldn’t surprise me they took the Ram truck ones and cut off the brackets and welded new ones.
 
I'll see what I can do to get this done in the next couple weeks. I'll actually send him the questions in advance to help the conversation. Maybe he has some friends still he can ping, who knows?
 
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