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Florida '84 Scrambler

finorman

finorman

CJ-8 Member
Gold Member
City
ORLANDO
State
FL
My first Jeep was a 1979 CJ7 Renegade, brown with the white wagon wheels and orange decals that I owned in high school, in Roxbury, New Jersey (shout out to JerseyJeeps in Landing). I had to sell it when I left for the Army, but my next car was an '87 YJ, that I owned for about 9 years as my DD. Life happened, had kids, sold the jeep and moved on until 2012 when my then 11 year son saw a picture of my old jeep and said he wanted a car just like that.

That year we started a build of an '85 CJ7, that I bought for $1200 in Tampa. He is now 16, driving and we are now completing the build (Thanks Jim) in the next couple of weeks. CJ7 before and nearly after pics.

I have always wanted a Scrambler, so I started looking, and found a project in Ohio, that sounds like it has all the pieces. 1984 Scrambler with tub, Frame, panels, two 258 engines, two tranny's (t18 and t5) two sets of axels (d30/A20, and a d30/d44), interior, new 35s, on a rolling chassis. I started planning on how I was going to make this happen

My 11 year old daughter, who loves jeeps, (registered as GatorGirl) started to really get interested in getting involved in this project, and has begged to come along on the road trip to Ohio to pick up the project.

So we leave tomorrow to fly from Orlando to Pittsburgh, rent a Penske truck, drive to Ohio in 18 degree weather to pick up the project and drive home.
 
Fantastic! Getting the kids involved will keep these old Jeeps alive. :cheers:
 
As I said before, epic trip. Take lots of pictures! Look forward to seeing you in Orlando. Be safe.
 
This trip was at the keen suggestion of JeeperDD, from Virginia.
So here is the basic set up.... Gabbie and I fly from Orlando, to Pittsburgh on 12/30/17, we rent the Penske Truck and car carrier then drive about 100 miles west to Cambridge, Ohio by 1500 hrs. We load up the rolling chassis and parts then meet up with Jammer1, who is coming from Cleveland. He is taking The fiberglass body and panels for his project. The seller has a tractor to assist with the loading. I hope to be back on the road by 1700ish.

Next, we head south to Virginia to meet up with JeeperDD. it’s a 6 hour ride, we will crash for the night, and meet up with Dustin in the morning. He is hooking us up with an original steel tub. I actually reached out to him because of a CL ad for a tub, and he connected us further through cj-8.com.... small world. He has had this tub for some time and although it needs some work, it’s structurally sound. Dustin was even generous enough to start replacing some panels with some spares. He welded the cowl, replaced the rear corner on the backside of the bed, where the gate bolts, as well as the panels anterior/posterior to the wheel well. The rest looks cosmetic, and he is going to show me some techniques for getting to fix the rest. We are really excited to see his work, plus he has kids that are close to Gabbie’s age, so she is excited. I hope to be able to bolt the tub to the frame, as only two of the body mount bolts are busted. Dustin is the kind of guy that makes things happen and has access to a bunch of parts.

I hope to be on the road by 0900ish. Next we head to Pinetown,NC to meet up with Polar fire from cj-8.com. Kenny and his dad own Watson and Son Salvage. He seems to have a ton of parts at reasonable prices. Besides picking up some items for. Some buddies, we are getting a short top, a long top, bulkhead, and some miscellaneous parts. With his permission I will post pictures of what he has.

I hope to be on the road by 1400. Next stop is Perry, Ga to pick up a set of steel doors And a cj hard top. We should be there by 2200. We will likely bunk down for the night then drive 5 hours home to orlando, as I work at 1900 on the first.

I will post prices and condition of the items for others to reference once everything is complete.

Does anyone know who I contact on this site to upgrade to a lif time member. I bought a 2 year yesterday but actually wanted the lifetime.
 
Good luck on your adventure. Hopefully not much snow in your route. Hopefully things have changed, if not your time table may change. Last time I rented a Penske truck and car trailer, the governor get power AT the speed limit so it was a much slower ride than expected. That was a long time ago so hopefully they bumped the top speed up some.

We will need pictures throughout the trip for sure. Where did you find the Jeep in the first place?
 
I bought mine in a thousand pieces as well. The loading part is all part of the excitement. Looking forward to your progress.
 
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Safe travels and looks forward to following your adventure/progress!

Please keep us updated w/ plenty of pics!

.
 
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Nice meeting you guys today even though it was only 18degrees?.
I like the 35’s just sayin :thumbsup: is
 
Sweet. If you had hung out a little longer it probably would have been running before you left JeepperDDs.

Safe travels home.
 
IAFFCJ said:
Sweet. If you had hung out a little longer it probably would have been running before you left JeepperDDs.

Safe travels home.
Click to expand...
Yep, give Dustin about a week and he’d probably have it built.
 
Finorman, have you made it home yet. Hope you did and all's well. Happy New Year to you and the family.
 
Ok... we made it home early this morning... Barry- you are absolutely correct, we could get over 77 miles per hour, which is fine because of the weather but it went slower than anticipated.
We flew into Pittsburgh, rented the van and the carrier and drove to Ohio, were we met up with Vernon, who bought the fiberglass body. To be honest, I don't know if we could have made this work without him. If you haven't met Vernon, he's the kind of guy you hope to have as a neighbor. He's humble, smart, always willing to help and he knows his S... The temp was about 15 degrees and the project was located in a house that was about 600 feet away from the road, on a 15 degree incline, on a dirt road, with snow, only wide enough to fit one vehicle. Luckily Matt, the PO, had everything laid out and ready to go in a very organized manner, and he has a kick as loader.

It took about 3 hours to get loaded. I paid $7500, and sold the fiberglass tub, fenders and hood to Vernon for $1900. I would recommend that if you are thinking about buying a fiberglass tub, reach out to Vernon to give you some tips and insight as he will educate you on how to do things correctly.

I would make a recommendation.... if you are picking up a project in a car carrier, if the jeep has 33'-35' inch tires, the ratchet straps and webbing may not be large enough to fit around the wheels. to fix, let the air out of the tires to make them flatter and then ratchet down...... Matt if you are reading this I just paypal'd you for the ratchet straps.

The frame... on initial look it is as good as I have seen on a cj... rear cross member body mount holes need to be repaired, but otherwise good to go.
 
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The project came with new 35' tires, a set of older 33' tires and rims, two 258 engines, a t18, a t5, 3 consoles, fairly new seats, two roll bars, two sets of axels and springs, three windshields, two tail gates, two heater boxes, two steering wheels, 4 seat brackets, a large bumper, a tail gate tire swing, and a bunch of other parts....almost two of everything else.
 
At about 1830 we left with the first part loaded up, stopped at a kmart to get some more ratchet straps, grabbed some dinner and headed back out on the road. We arrived at the hotel Dustin suggested at 0230, crashed out and woke up at 0700. We headed out to Dustin's, loaded up the tub by 0900 and were back on the road to Kenny Watson's Salvage in NC.
Dustin has a sweet set up, with a bunch of really awesome CJs. After seeing Dustin's nearly stock blue Laredo Scrambler my daughter told me she changed her mind (she is into cj7s) she gets why I love the 8 and now she would also like to have a stock 8. Dustin has a ton of parts... I'm sure I will be reaching back out to him for help.
 

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I bought the tub for $500, and at 0900 we headed out to Kenny Watson's Salvage in Pinetown, NC, arriving at about 1430. Kenny has a ton of stuff, mostly FSJ. however we picked up an Ax15, a set of OEM white wagon wheels for $125, Laredo seats for $120, a long top, bulk head and short top for $1450, a hood for $80, and assorted stainless hinges. By the time we loaded up it was about 1700, and we headed off to Georgia, to pick up a set of full steel doors and a CJ hard top I bought for $350. Since it was New Years Eve, the guy I bought them from was still up when we arrived at 0130. We loaded back up and headed home to Orlando, arriving at 0700. I caught some sleep and got up at 1300, and with the help of my 16 year old son, unloaded the truck. IMG_0172.jpg
 
Now the fun begins, sorting through everything to see what your going to use and what gets move on. You guys were on a pretty tight time table, congratulations for successfully pulling it off!
 
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