I was going through some old photos when I came across these. The pictures were taken back in 1996 when I first bought my CJ-7. Man she was clean back then, the Jeep was in pristine condition with 60,000 original miles on it! Before I purchased the little jeep, it sat motionless for 5 to 6 years in a warehouse which is another reason it was in such good condition.
I bought this jeep from a
friend, Carl. Well Carl had bought the CJ-7 from a used car lot somewhere in
east Texas. He had the Jeep only a couple of weeks when the transmission blew
up. When the car lot wouldn't honor their warranty a lawsuit followed, and
that's when the Jeep sat for years in a warehouse till the suit was settled.
Although I think Carl actually gave up on trying to get any money from the car
lot and just fixed the tranny with his own money.
Well while I was helping Carl get the Jeep back into running condition he offered to sell it to me for $3500.00. The jeep was still stock then but it was so clean I couldn't refuse! So I helped him drop the gas tank to get it cleaned as well as put the new transmission in and so on. When the little CJ was almost done I gave Carl the money and everyone was happy. Yeah...everyone was happy till we went to crank it up. The engine ran, but with a loud distinctive knocking! We all knew it was about to throw a rod, my heart fell to my stomach! I tried to convince myself it wasn't that bad, but it was. So in the end we decided it was best to call the deal off.
My friend Carl went on to have the engine rebuilt and ended up driving the jeep for about a year. He fixed that jeep up pretty nice but he wanted something newer with A/C and more comfort. So Carl offered the jeep to me again for $7000.00. The little cj was mine once again, except it wasn't so little any more!
When I first bought jeep, the CJ was running a Skyjacker 4" lift with 1.5" lift shackles and Rancho 5000 shocks. Rims where white modular 15x12" Weld wheels and the tires were 33"x15.50"x15" Super Swamper TSL radials. She had Loc Rite lockers front and rear with 4:10 gears. The rear AMC 20 was converted to one piece Summers Brothers axle shafts. It had and still has the 258 I-6 with a mild cam, it always ran real good except on steep incline when the carb would crap out! The transmission was a T-5 which I blew up on three different occasions! T-5 equals crap! The Jeep also had a Warn 9000x winch which saved my ass on several outings. Tuffy boxes also came with the CJ which was really nice, if you don't have these I highly recommend getting some to keep your belongings safe from the crooks!
Anyway, this is the story of how I owned the same jeep twice and how jeep fever struck me to the core. This little jeep has in a way changed my life. If it wasn't for the CJ I wouldn't have learned about welding or fabrication, it's defiantly become a passion for me!
cx