I recently picked up a 1967 Jeep that I'm doing a retro-mod on. The Jeep was a family owned (2 owner) vehicle that was not running when I picked it up. The original owner bent the frame rails, and parked it in a barn at his apple orchard where it sat for 20 years. The owner passed away and his son got it and tried to get it running, but he wasn't sucessful and soon lost interest. I offered him $1,000 cash to solve his problem and now its my problem. Its a factory V6 Jeep with a Buick odd fire motor; which was only an option for 4 years making this Jeep pretty rare. I have a long way to go, but its my project to wrench on as time permits itself.
First thing I did was to fix the frame: Then I focused on the engine: Now I'm stripping the body: And that is as far as I have gone for now . . .
While an OK choice at the time of their original development for their intended use, Jeeps may be the most ill suited vehicle for civilian use. Use way too much gas (although the for export only diesel model is intriguing), minimal cargo space, loud, short wheel base not good for towing, etc. Still, I love them and have been very tempted more than once. It's just not in the budget right now. I hope you'll post occasional updates of your restoration.
Right now I am driving a 2007 JK Rubicon 4 door. All the negatives you've listed are true. I love mine anyway.
I love Jeeps, had a J5 years ago and loved it....unsafe, gas guzzling, got wet everytime there was even a mist of rain...and I LOVED that truck err car err JEEP! My current project s a 74 VW Bug...but I haven't found much time for it and she generally serves as dry storage.
I just picked up a 2012 Lada Niva 4x4 as my "fun" weekend vehicle. Picked it up from original owner for $4,500 usd. My daily driver is a Ssangyong Actyon Sports pick up truck. Ssangyong is a Korean car manufacturer.
Back before I had my current ride I had an '04 Sahara. I drilled the top to install a roof rack and it all worked fine even though I was later told it wasn't especially safe. So now I'm in the same position again except I'm not going to drill the roof. There are some really nice racks that bolt to the frame but they cost almost $1K new. I'm looking at a Surco rack. It looks like this:
I've continued to work on it, doing body and paint and I cut out rusted areas and welding in new sheet metal. Its close to being painted, I just have to mock up the armor and pick out a color. It's coated in a black epoxy primer by the Eastwood company, I really like their products and how they lay down. Next steps include: Paint (obviously) Ditching those wheels and tires Installing a lift and A/T tires Then go hit the trails!
I just painted it but I am not thrilled with the color. It was one of those things where the sample looked better than it did in real life. I'm going to block it back down and recoat. Lucky for me, the old WW2 Jeeps and the CJ5's are pretty small vehicles so there isn't a ton of real estate to cover.
Since my last posting I've switched up to a 2011 JK Sport. I don't have a good pic but it basically looks just like this without the snorkel
