I purchased my CJ7 in the fall of 1996 for $500. At the time it had a
cracked block and was in a state of disrepair. Over the next few
months I tore the Jeep down to the bare frame, every part came off
and was either rebilt or replaced. Unfortunatelly for me, the frame
was one of the items that needed to be replaced. The hunt for a frame
had begun, and in Michigan finding a frame that was not rusted away
was no easy task. After 6 months of serching, I found a sutible frame
off a 1981 CJ7. It cost $150. While I had been serching for a frame I
rebuilt the axles, I sand blasted the housings and replaced most of the
components. I also worked on other parts of the Jeep to help minimize
the impact of not being able to find a suitable frame in a timely
fashon. Once I had a frame, I sent it to a frame shop to have a new
rear crossmember welded on, as the old one had rusted beyond repair.
After the frame was repaired I had it blasted and primed at a local
finishing shop, I added a coat of POR and 2 coats of black paint. When
I finished all the prep work I finally had something to assemble (I had
the Jeep for over 9 months by that time).

This is a picture of my 9 month old CJ7. The rebuilt axles are mounted
to the newly aquired frame by new SkyJacker SoftRide springs.
In this photo the newly refinished stock rims can be seen, as well
as the new urithane bushings.

Three of the tires seen here were original from when I purched the Jeep,
I thought that I could get away using them for a while. After I drove
the Jeep for the first time I would decide to replace them with 32"
BG Goodrich Mud Terrain tires.

These photos where shot at my inlaws. They where very generous to let
me work on the Jeep in thier pole barn, on a project that I told them
would last a few months, it ended up taking two years.

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