Quixote Kid
Member
- City
- Terlingua
- State
- TX
Currently own a '77 CJ5 and have enjoyed the heck out of it for the last 1.5 years. But I needed more leg room and more room for tools, coolers and such while out on the trails of west Texas.
I've looked at almost every ad on CL, FB and any other place I could think of to find an 8 over the last few months.
I was looking for something I could use as a daily driver and a weekend trail Jeep. I commute 35 miles to work each day through the chihuahuan desert of west TX near Big Bend National Park. I have 7 miles of fairly rocky dirt road, 13 miles of bumpy county road and the rest at 70mph state hiway.
While this wasn't exactly what I was looking for, it's what was available and what I could afford. A little rustier than I prefer and it has a carb issue and occasionally pops out of 2nd gear, but I think I can work with it.
My skills are NOTHING like what y'all are doing, but my end goal is to have a daily driver that I enjoy, doesn't strand me in the desert, and if it gets some desert pin-stripping from mesquite thorns I don't care.
I'll have a ton of questions just to figure out exactly what I have and some ideas on how to move forward fixing it.
So to start with it's an '81 scrambler with the Iron Duke 4 cyl, 4 speed. Immediate goals are to get dry rotted tires off, and put new wheels/tires on, and fix carb/fuel issue so I can make it a daily driver, get it to pass TX inspection and registered/tagged. It was registered in NM.
Lastly, to get this purchase approved through the family accountant (lovely wife) I had to agree to sell the CJ5. It'll be a sad day to see it go, but I know that ultimately I'll enjoy the 8 more in the long run.
I've looked at almost every ad on CL, FB and any other place I could think of to find an 8 over the last few months.
I was looking for something I could use as a daily driver and a weekend trail Jeep. I commute 35 miles to work each day through the chihuahuan desert of west TX near Big Bend National Park. I have 7 miles of fairly rocky dirt road, 13 miles of bumpy county road and the rest at 70mph state hiway.
While this wasn't exactly what I was looking for, it's what was available and what I could afford. A little rustier than I prefer and it has a carb issue and occasionally pops out of 2nd gear, but I think I can work with it.
My skills are NOTHING like what y'all are doing, but my end goal is to have a daily driver that I enjoy, doesn't strand me in the desert, and if it gets some desert pin-stripping from mesquite thorns I don't care.
I'll have a ton of questions just to figure out exactly what I have and some ideas on how to move forward fixing it.
So to start with it's an '81 scrambler with the Iron Duke 4 cyl, 4 speed. Immediate goals are to get dry rotted tires off, and put new wheels/tires on, and fix carb/fuel issue so I can make it a daily driver, get it to pass TX inspection and registered/tagged. It was registered in NM.
Lastly, to get this purchase approved through the family accountant (lovely wife) I had to agree to sell the CJ5. It'll be a sad day to see it go, but I know that ultimately I'll enjoy the 8 more in the long run.
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