The Beginning of Jeep
Jeeps started being made years and years ago, back during WWII, maybe earlier. Of course, it really wasn't Jeep it was
Willys. The CJ-2A, CJ-2B, CJ-3A, CJ-5, CJ-6, CJ-7, CJ-8 Scrambler. AMC bought Jeep from Kaiser in 1970. AMC was the first
to use a V8 in a Jeep (though I hate V8's, surprisingly). The CJ-5 was sporty, but way too short and narrow, and dangerous.
The CJ-6 was a longer version of the CJ-5. The CJ-7 was totally different from the 5 and 6. It was longer and more durable,
yet still had its sportyness. The CJ-8 was a long CJ-7, and was classified as a pickup truck.
AMC went away in 1986 and sold Jeep to Chrysler, which was the worst thing to happen to the Jeeps. Chrysler made it's
first own Jeep in 87, which did away with the line of CJ models, though the CJ-7 was the only one left in 86. This was the
start of the Wrangler (darnit)
Chrysler made Jeeps into crap. Although they had a slightly more powerful 6 cylinder and were easier to handle, they
were more like an SUV than a Jeep. It was sad to see, really. From then on, you can figure it out. I still don't like the
Wrangler, and how dare they even try to make it sound like a CJ... they called them a YJ and a TJ. Ticks me off... they don't
have the right to use a J in their name, but that is my opinion. The CJ was the daddy of them all.
The Beginning of My Jeep
Back on January 29th, 2004 I finally found myself a Jeep to buy. It was a 1984 CJ-7, which I thought were cool since
the newer ones look dinky and not much like Jeeps. This was while I was still down in SC, so there was no salt to cause it
to be rusted out, or so I thought. We got it home, and here starts the journey of the Jeep.
From then on, it was nothing but trouble. I'll get to the details later... and no, it still isn't finished as of today.
By the way, we paid 4k cash for it when we got it. Just so you can keep tabs on how much it costs to restore a CJ. I chose
a CJ-7 because it was, in my opinion, the best, sportiest, yet safest Jeep of the time.
We started out with new tires and wheels, which looked wicked bad. Then the carburetor, steering parts, cooling parts,
suspension parts, more steering parts, body repairs/reinforcements, full interior restoration, then the engine parts. And
we still aren't done, but it's close. It took us until the 22nd of July, 04 to get the steering fixed. And we still aren't
done with the engine or body.
|