I've loved jeeps since I was a little kid
and always wanted to buy one. Finally, in
1993 I bought an old rusty 1976 CJ7 that
had seen better days. It was a Levis
edition 304 v8 that currently had a 232 in
it, but along the line someone had put in
a dana 44 rear end. Everything crapped
out on this jeep over time but the dana 44
and the dana 20 transfer case which keep
getting better with age. I almost sold it
twice after the engine, clutch,
transmission, and other clutch went out on
it. after abandoning it in my driveway
for 7 years I did a frame up restoration,
rebuilt the t150, patched the frame, 4
inch lift, welded up panels and por-15
painted and herculined the inside and
bottom of the tub. I built tube bumbers
out of 3/16 inch steel and por'd them as
well. She's had a 258 in it since 1995
and I just put a CRT HEI distributor on it
and now it runs stronger than ever. The
addition of a sway bar and Flaming river
steering shaft as well as new wheel
bearings stiffened up the steering,
eliminated steering play, and let it
corner very tight, no longer making it the
tip over machine that flipped on its side
twice on me since I owned it. She
constantly tests me however with demands
of constant maintenance and an
overwhelming need for new parts.