Rainy Day Memories

The sound of rain gently pattering on the leaves outside the window really takes me back. We sometimes miss the torrential downpours of the Midwest, although I can cheerfully live without the resultant flooding.

Our '83 CJ-7, back in the day

Other than visibility problems, driving in those rains never gave me much reason to worry, until we bought a Jeep CJ7 new, back in '83.

No one had told me of the built-in leaking windshields in CJs - it was pre-internet, after all - and we discovered the issue in a real gully-washer of a downpour. My wife had to hold a couple of large rags on the dashboard above the radio and glove box, while I desperately looked for an overpass we might share with a motorcycle or two.


We weren't the only four-wheeled vehicle seeking shelter there, either.

Water ran down the dash in great streams, thoroughly soaking our pant legs and socks, filling our shoes ... and the floorboard. I wasn't worried about the floors, since we were already aware of the drain plugs. The electronics and stereo speakers, and the papers in the glove box were our primary concern.

Later, I applied silicone bathtub caulk around both edges of the windshield gasket, which addressed the problem, although it didn't do much for the appearance of the vehicle.

Life with a CJ7 was fun, though, and I frequently miss its low maintenance, great mileage, go-anywhere on a whim attitude and the convertible top. I have noticed that most of the modern variants here have hardtops, which makes sense given heavy snowfalls and the mid-winter temps which can reach the minus-25 range.

My rag-top ride wasn't able to keep passengers warm in 20-degrees above, so temps 40 to 50 degrees colder than that would be an issue.

On the other hand, it kinda made sense that I was wearing a winter coat when entering the Jeep in winter, and could leave it buttoned up while driving. In fact, you had to leave it buttoned up; all the heater could do was to melt the snow off of the toes of my boots.

But driving "topless" was fun, back in the day. I lost a couple of ball caps that way, and getting caught in a sudden shower was always exciting.

I still miss that old thing, sometimes ... mostly in the summer, though. :)