The Club has inheritated a 1979 CJ7

before you start throwing around all these grand ideas you better get a fix on what the cost will be and the estimated return for the event. I have a feeling that even at a $100 ticket you wont sell enough tickets to cover a full restoration. If I were doing it I do the build cheap so as to keep the cost of the tickets cheap. Trust me more people are willing to drop $25 a ticket then $100 a ticket. This way you have more people buying tickets and make more money. Restore the jeep just enough to make it a good platform for someone else to do a full restoration on.

A fiber glass tub swap is alot of work and time. Remember you have to almost rewire the whole thing there are no grounds on a glass tub and stock wiring harness use a common ground the tub. I feel you should just get it safety inspected and as Joe said sell cheaper tickets and collect what you can. Everyone working on their own projects how are we going to get this one done!!! If it can not be done in one day I don't feel this could be finish in time. This is why I suggested giving it to a Tech school for a project. This will still take over a year to get done.
This is just my opinion

I suggested the tub because if you are going to do anything to it the floors and alot of the steel needs to be cut out and replaced.

I would rather wire a tub than do body work.


I thought the tech school was the best plan.. No one is going to want to spend the time over the summer and not wheel.

Tico mentioned Extreme 4x4 yesterday but I dont think they would want to fool with a plan jane cj7. But if you get the tech school involved with it and then the club could contact Extreme 4x4 and let them know the club is working with the tech school for the benefit of diabetes then Extreme might take some interest.

Yeah 4x4 extreme already has a cj that they have worked on. I would say that the school Idea is the best idea. I'm sure that there are some of us that would be willing to some work on a give away jeep but its alot of work that needs to be done and we would need at the very least a two car garage to house the project. I would say leave it just the way it is and sell tickets one for 20 and 6 for a 100. Then give the jeep away at the ada run with no money invested. We can do that or get it running and just sell it on ebay to the highest bidder. It can be advertised as a not for profit donation.

I agree with the tech school idea....and since school is half way over, it might be a good idea to plan on having it for the 2009 ADA raffle. This way it has dual benefits...a project for some kids to learn hands on and to raise money for a great cause with out a lot of time off of our hands....

I have been reading everything and all points are good. What about hearing from the other readers, we have over 140 members on this forum, what say you?

Paul you have had a lot of work with your CJ and you certaininly had your share of problems with it too. Thanks for your input. As I spoke to Matt the other day, I tought about the Extreem 4x4 show, but Nester is right, they have their hands full with other projects. The Tech school is by far the best idea. Each county has one, is a matter of which one we can attract to commit to the project. Matt said he will check with the Harford County one, I can see if Easter Votec woould want to jump at this. There is one in the city too, but the name excapes me at this moment.

Let me draft a letter of introduction and project goal, then I will post it for those who want to use it representing the club.

Please keep those ideas brewing.

I think it should be for the raffle in 09, and the tech school idea is a great one. If it is just done half way then there will be less interest in the tickets, IMHO. Not that it needs to be made into a trail machine but it needs to be done right and that will take time. We don't want people saying later that we half assed it. It could work out as a negative instead of a positive.

We can check Montgomery and Howard counties to see if there is a tech or regular school that might want to help. Do you know how much work needs to be done... will we cover any costs or provide any parts, etc. Can we get anyone to donate parts, etc. Sorry if anyone else has said this, havn't been on the forum in a while and havn't read everything... Kim & Jay

Yes Chris, the majority agree with you, a votech school would be the ideal place for this project, just like the one they had for a raffle by another school out in california, only they ran the Jeep thorugh the mill on all the events and at the end of the year they raffle it off to the winner, in whatever condition it was in.

We could make it a rock krawler, I don't think that would be a problem or even just restore it to an acceptable conditioin, eigther way it does have to be done right. if for anything else, the pride of having got it done and given up for a worthy cause.

Kim, the Jeep needs a lot of work and basically what we seek is a workforce, a place ofr the work to be done and the parts to replace that need it. The engine has not been turned over, but it only has 135K miles, its a straight six with carburator, 3 speed mannual transmission, looks like a dana 30 rear, not sure yet. body is rusted and so is the frame, the frame can be sand blasted then coated with duroliner for lasting effect. the brake lines, steerinf lines hosess and all the rubber has to be replace too.

read the entire form for this thread, to get cought up.

Tico, sounds like it needs a lot of work. I think Joe has the right idea... get it running if it can be done cheap and raffle it to someone who wants to do their own work. Ebay is also a good idea. Let me know how I can help once you decide what to do.

if the frame is rusted that opens another whole can of worms. If it is weak where this is dangerous to someone safety. This will not look good!!! Here you have won a jeep sign here that you can not sue us. A bad frame can make this cost way more than you will get out of it. Where is the jeep and when I get time I will look at it. I have bought a jeep for $500 with a rusted frame that broke in half while driving.

if we do this it should be fixed up in stock form. Its worth more that way and is simple and cheap for parts. I personally would love to have a stock CJ to fix up anyway I want not the way that someone else did it before.

Thats a great point.

After reading the amount of work that needs done I am more convinced the best thing we can do with this jeep is sell it as quick as we can and use the money towards another used jeep. CJ's are notorious for weak andrusty frames and not highly sought after. Why put the club at risk for lawsuit or a miserable failure of a fund raiser for a vehicle that would take so much time, money and effort to restore to a safe driveable condition? There are a lot of jeeps out there that would make a better raffle without having to make it safe from the start. Another words get a jeep that has a good frame and body, perhaps some mileage on it so we can get it cheap so we have a good foundation to work with. then get donations for lift kits, tires, wheels. get a school to do an engine rebuild. other donations for "tomb raider" styling and you have a great jeep to raffle that we can generate a lot of funds with for a good cause.

Yeah Bill has a good idea. Tico you should get some one to go over this thing and take alots of pictures and give the club a better view of this jeep.

mdcj7 wrote:

if the frame is rusted that opens another whole can of worms. If it is weak where this is dangerous to someone safety. This will not look good!!! Here you have won a jeep sign here that you can not sue us. A bad frame can make this cost way more than you will get out of it. Where is the jeep and when I get time I will look at it. I have bought a jeep for $500 with a rusted frame that broke in half while driving.

Paul, you can stop by my house and see the CJ7. Just call me let me know when you will do that.

look at the jeep today. the body is almost a complete lost it would take so much work to fix it. A replacement body should be look for. The frame in the front is ok but from the fire wall back is ruff no big holes but about 1/4" of flakey rust on both side of the frame. It needs to sand blasted and then see if anything is left or if it would be thick enought to use. The drive rear shackle is cocked I have seen the front shackles do this but never the rear could be weak frame. The hard top and door are in good shape. The hard top is the only thing keeping the windshield from falling over. The tires and wheels are good. I would say the a tech school would take two year to rebuild it. If the club did it it would take way to long. First it would have to be strip down and have the frame sandblasted to see if it is good. Then make plans from that point. I would sell the hard top and doors and tires and rims. put some crap tires on it and get what ever you can get for it. IMHO

I will try to help out where I can. I am an engineer for a company that makes various sheetmetal parts for other companies. I could probably get some simple parts made if needed.

I have been reading this for the past couple of minutes here. I have to say that rust in general is a mess even if it is small. I agree with the basic platform for someone to fix to their liking. The school you were thinking of is Mervo Tico. I am not sure how well the program is running now. I think Southeastern tech in Dundalk does automotive work like that.

Thanks for the offers, I will take it when the time is right.