SCJeeper
Legacy Registered User
- City
- Pickens
- State
- SC
What’s up guys!? I have been on here for a few months now and first off wanted to let you guys know how impressed I am with your wealth of knowledge and eagerness to share it with everyone that you are. Thank you for that! A little back ground before the meat and taters of the story.
My wife and I got married almost 5 years ago and moved into a new Sunday School class at church for young married couples. There was another couple in the class that we became really good friends with so we began hanging out and going to their house and come to find out Jeremy had a 79 CJ7 Golden Eagle. At the time is was all original minus wheels and tires and a little lift. So after a few months of cruising around in his jeep I was hooked and had to have one. I started looking around and I really wanted a CJ but could find a newer TJ for better money and I was blinded by coil springs and control arms for off roading so that is the direction I went. I got a 97 TJ that I worked on and wheeled for 4 years and with a lot of the local places we wheeled getting shut down and the money that it was costing me to fix the stuff that I broke wheeling I realized that I really could not afford nor did I want to always being fixing things that I broke. I told my wife that I wanted to still be able to cruise around with the top off and have something to take camping and to the lake or cruise through the woods maybe do some car shows and stuff so I was looking for CJ. I have always loved Scrambler but knew how hard they were to come by and definitely were more than I could spend on one. So searching Craigs List one day I saw an ad for this 82 CJ8 good condition and sent the guy a message asking if he was interested in trading my rig for his. It was just one of those situations that I had what he wanted and he had what I wanted so we swapped title for title and we drove it home with my F250 bed and back seat full of parts and accessories that he had been collecting. Here is what I got in the trade…..I honestly felt like I got the better end of the bargain!
82 CJ8 Scrambler w/ I6 and 4.3 TBI Conversion (Runs like a top)
D44’s front and Rear w/ 4:10 gears
Procomp 4” lift w/ 2” MORE Shackles front reversed
Quick Disconnects
Warn Manual Hubs
Half hard top
Original half soft top
Half steel doors
Full steel doors
Soft uppers
Mastercraft seats
New 35x12.50 Procomp Xterrains
15x10 American Racing Baja Wheels
Original Chrome Wagon Wheel x 5
Custom rear bumper with swing
…..more that I am forgetting I’m sure
I am pretty sure that I made out like a bandit!
My before photos.
That was last July. I got home and immediately started writing ideas of what I wanted to do to this beast. My best friend Jeremy that has the CJ7 started giving me parts that he had collected over the years of duplicates that he had laying around and it all started out putting that stuff on and then making a list of what I needed to order. WHAT A BIG LIST IT BECAME!! Jeremy gave me SS windshield hinges, SS hood hinges, and SS Hood tie downs. A nice spice Bikini Top was the next thing he gave me so I could take the hard top off for the rest of the summer.
I got a nice little bonus at work so let the fun begin!! I had to get it done before it got cold though because I don’t have a garage so it was wide butt open one project after another. HERE STARTS THE BUILD PICTURES!!
First I took the hard top off and re-primed the whole thing just so it looked better until I could get it painted…… And so my wife would ride with me
!
My wife and I got married almost 5 years ago and moved into a new Sunday School class at church for young married couples. There was another couple in the class that we became really good friends with so we began hanging out and going to their house and come to find out Jeremy had a 79 CJ7 Golden Eagle. At the time is was all original minus wheels and tires and a little lift. So after a few months of cruising around in his jeep I was hooked and had to have one. I started looking around and I really wanted a CJ but could find a newer TJ for better money and I was blinded by coil springs and control arms for off roading so that is the direction I went. I got a 97 TJ that I worked on and wheeled for 4 years and with a lot of the local places we wheeled getting shut down and the money that it was costing me to fix the stuff that I broke wheeling I realized that I really could not afford nor did I want to always being fixing things that I broke. I told my wife that I wanted to still be able to cruise around with the top off and have something to take camping and to the lake or cruise through the woods maybe do some car shows and stuff so I was looking for CJ. I have always loved Scrambler but knew how hard they were to come by and definitely were more than I could spend on one. So searching Craigs List one day I saw an ad for this 82 CJ8 good condition and sent the guy a message asking if he was interested in trading my rig for his. It was just one of those situations that I had what he wanted and he had what I wanted so we swapped title for title and we drove it home with my F250 bed and back seat full of parts and accessories that he had been collecting. Here is what I got in the trade…..I honestly felt like I got the better end of the bargain!
82 CJ8 Scrambler w/ I6 and 4.3 TBI Conversion (Runs like a top)
D44’s front and Rear w/ 4:10 gears
Procomp 4” lift w/ 2” MORE Shackles front reversed
Quick Disconnects
Warn Manual Hubs
Half hard top
Original half soft top
Half steel doors
Full steel doors
Soft uppers
Mastercraft seats
New 35x12.50 Procomp Xterrains
15x10 American Racing Baja Wheels
Original Chrome Wagon Wheel x 5
Custom rear bumper with swing
…..more that I am forgetting I’m sure
I am pretty sure that I made out like a bandit!
My before photos.
That was last July. I got home and immediately started writing ideas of what I wanted to do to this beast. My best friend Jeremy that has the CJ7 started giving me parts that he had collected over the years of duplicates that he had laying around and it all started out putting that stuff on and then making a list of what I needed to order. WHAT A BIG LIST IT BECAME!! Jeremy gave me SS windshield hinges, SS hood hinges, and SS Hood tie downs. A nice spice Bikini Top was the next thing he gave me so I could take the hard top off for the rest of the summer.
I got a nice little bonus at work so let the fun begin!! I had to get it done before it got cold though because I don’t have a garage so it was wide butt open one project after another. HERE STARTS THE BUILD PICTURES!!
First I took the hard top off and re-primed the whole thing just so it looked better until I could get it painted…… And so my wife would ride with me


