Thanks! OK, but you may have opened Pandora's Box, as I added some other Jeep eye candy below, as well.
The CJ-7 is a good one...a 1971 with under 5,800 original miles, and it just needs some TLC/love. It has the Odd-Fire Dauntless V6, T15 3-speed, and Dana 18 t-case. It
should have the fairly rare/stronger offset flanged Dana 44 rear axle vs. the older 2-pc. Dana 44 shafts. The old-school Ramsey winch still works. The body is solid, minus a fire department repair job in the bed (see video link below). It's mostly unmolested. And if you like big bumpers, it's
definitely for you.
I just bought the vehicle, but it's not here yet; I just booked a shipper for it yesterday. I already have a full soft top/doors (Bestop Tigertop) on the way.
More CJ-6 details in this video made by the seller
I've owned 140+ Jeeps in the past, the majority of which were rusty parts CJs ('80 and newer) from the salty Midwest. I used to part them out to help offset the cost of rebuilding the Jeeps I was working on. I've owned some pretty rare stuff...two CJ-10as, a basket case Alaskan Postal Scrambler, a '55 M170 (ran/drove, but the body was banged up), FC150s and FC170s, etc. I especially like weird, boxy and/or ugly vehicles, Jeep or otherwise. I also bought an '05 LJ new, and it was my first new vehicle ever.
Fast-forward 15 years...
We moved from Michigan to East Tennessee about 15 months ago, where I'm building a small house; the kids were all out of the house before we moved, and I work part-time from home. We've been a 1-car family for the past 6 months, and I wanted an extra vehicle to use around town, around our property (soon-to-be our personal mini farm), and for local exploring. I'm not a mechanic, but
have done several frame-up builds with extensive fabrication work...not just bolt-on improvements. While I enjoyed that at the time, I just wanted something relatively stock that I could preserve and enjoy. I also need something that's not too much of a project, as I still have plenty left to do on my house build, and I promised my wife that the house will be my main focus (we're living pretty rustic while I build).
I couldn't pass up the '6 when I saw it, and the scope of the project is right for me. I want something simple that I can work on myself, and I was specifically looking for a vehicle old enough to not have any computers.
I want to get the CJ-6 reliable enough for day-trip exploring here in East Tennessee, and perhaps further. It probably won't be a long-distance overlander, but we just want to explore in a basically stock-but-capable Jeep. It just has to fit me & my wife, and our 63-lb. dog.
I'll likely remove, but keep in storage, the ginormous rear bumper, and perhaps rework the front for better approach/departure angles. Whatever I do, I want to retain the overall vintage look/feel of the vehicle.
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The first Jeep I built from the ground-up...'82 Scrambler. DISCLAIMER: I built this Scrambler over a 2 1/2-year period to 90-95% completion, and the new owner finished it and took his family on a Michigan U.P. vacation 2 weeks after buying it from me. This is actually a photo that he sent me shortly after buying it. He still owns it almost 20 years later, and has since done some incredible improvements...401 engine, etc. He's currently building a Dana 44 front axle to match the 44 rear.
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My old '05 LJ after I added 1-tons, high-line kit, 37s, etc. The CJ-6 is much like a vintage LJ.
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My CJ-10a after extending wheelbase, converting to 4WD, etc.:
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My old '58 FC-170:
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...and the cylinder head lamp I made from the seized FC-170 engine. I still have this, and it'll be hanging on the wall of my house when I finish building.
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