Automotive Blogger

Most people from outside of California (and some from here) don’t think the Bay Area has real seasons. The climate is so temperate, that its sort of stays the same all year round. Well I disagree. We do have a mild climate, but as soon as you try owning an open-top vehicle, especially a Jeep, you will appreciate the Bay Area’s seasons. In the summer I can drive around in a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops with no doors or top on my Jeep and be pretty comfortable. Spring and early fall usually require doors and a bikini top (like a soft targa roof that covers the front 2 seats). Later in fall and in really early spring your hands and feet start to get numb if you don’t blast the heater, and a beanie, long pants, hooded sweatshirt and scarf are a must. Winter, you basically need a ski suit, and you are still cold, unless you have the hard top on, in which case it is possible to be luke-warm.

CJ7 with bikini top fitted.
Today I put the fiberglass hardtop back onto my Jeep CJ7. This is usually about the time that I do it every year depending on things like rainfall and temperature. I was actually doing pretty well with the top off until a recent bout of showers got me thinking. The capper was last night when I woke up at 3:30 AM and heard the light patting of rain. You see normally if I know rain is coming I will cover the Jeep with a tarp, but this rain was unexpected. The CJ’s electrical system, namely the horn, has been known to short out when in the open rain setting the horn off at full-volume until such time that the police arrive at my door. So as soon as I heard the rain I ran outside in my boxer shorts in the wee hours of the morning and put a plastic-bag over the steering wheel to keep the horn-button dry. The next morning as I woke up feeling groggy and terrible I knew the top needed to go back on the Jeep.

Putting the top on is a relatively simple task. It takes two or three people, depending on spinach intake, to lift it onto the Jeep; then you simply fasten it to the body with about 8 bolts. It takes about a half hour including a 15 minute beer brake. But for some reason I dread doing this job. I don’t know if it’s because putting the top on means the end of nice sun-shiny days, or because there will be no papers that I needed to file my taxes flying out of my vehicle. Maybe it is the musty smell that the Jeep develops every winter from small leaks and lack of adequate ventilation. Whatever it is putting the top on sucks.

But once it is on the car is transformed to a vehicle I can use every day; a vehicle where I can feel the heat from the heater and actually hear the radio (if it had one). And you know, when I first put the top on each year, I even like the looks of the CJ a little better. Of course the exact same is true when I take the top off every year. So for now I will try to enjoy the closed-roof Jeep experience until next spring when I will undoubtedly take the top off to early and get rained on for a month.
-Bill Mertz

Jeep, CJ7, rain, seasons, hardtop