Mr Mac
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2011
- Messages
- 226
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- St Peters, MO/Harrisburg, IL
- My Car
- 1971 Sportsroof
We recently received three free vehicles (long stories) and sold all three. The '09 F150 (I miss that truck), the '05 Dakota (I don't miss that truck) and the '71 El Camino. All served their purpose for us and got us on our way to buying, restoring (to a point) and reselling vintage vehicles. The 1971 Mustang Sportsroof will be the second to be turned.
So, there I was, sitting fat, dumb and happy waiting for the carrier to deliver my Mustang this Friday when the better 9/10ths pops up yesterday and shouts, "Yeahhh!" Scared the snot right outta me! Seriously, there was snot everywhere! Okay...maybe not, but still!
She has been searching for a Jeep CJ7 for many years and the prices have been just too high for what little vehicle is left or the thing was just too far gone to really do anything with without a full on restoration and restoring a Jeep, while simple enough, is not what I like to do. Still, she's been wanting one for years and she says she's found the one that's been looking for her (or something like that).
I read the CL ad and it was for a 1977 Jeep CJ7, inline 232 six, four speed and a hard top. Runs well. Needs some additional work. Ever read those words in an ad before...Needs additional work? A lot of things come to mind with such an open ended statement such as that and my mind raced along so I sent a text to the seller as asked for in the ad to see if we could narrow that statement down to a few key items or so. The reply came several hours later (while I was in bed) that the windshield needed replacement and the brakes need work. Okay, not too bad, I'll call him tomorrow morning to maybe schedule a time to look at it. It was at that point the bedroom door opened and my better 9/10ths walked over to the bed and gave me a shake and asked me if I was awake. Sure I am...I was just shaken by a mad woman.
"I called the guy and he said that all the Jeep needs is brakes and a windshield!"
"Hmm, you don't say. Anything else?" I knew where this was headed.
"Yes, he's available right now to show it to us and I told him we'd be over soon. It's just right there in O'Fallon...I can drive...you wanna go with me?"
I so wanted to say no, but then I surely didn't want a woman as excited as her going over to look at her 'dream machine' and make a deal without me, so...
We got there and, sure enough, it was a 1977 Jeep CJ7 in flat black and rust. I looked it over as well as I could without my glasses on but was able to determine that the frame was not at all abused, the hubs rotated easily, the floorboards weren't rusted through and the lights and gauges all worked minus one marker light. The tires were fair and the top was solid with the exception of the rear door as previously noted.
We were already told that the engine was a 10 year old rebuild and the transmission/transfer case was a one year old rebuild. When the transmission was done the differentials were checked and re-oiled and the U-joints were replaced. The biggest issue we faced was a blown out master cylinder for the brakes and a spider webbed windshield, both of which are simple by comparison to other things I could think of.
The engine fired right up and ran as smooth as an inline six can and there were no foul odors though it did spew what looked like a rats nest out of the tail pipe. The clutch was easy and the shifter moved through all gears smoothly. I did move it forward and back enough to know it would go into all gears and verified the e-brake was solid.
As I'm looking it over I have this decidedly feminine voice continuously repeating, "I like it. I want it!" I'm so glad I came along.
I knew I could get this for under $2k and offered $1,650 as a first move to see where the seller would go after that since this was, after all, a pretty solid Jeep for being 34 years old. He returned a counter exactly where I hoped he would in $2k and I then offered to split the difference at $1,850 and he took it. A Maaco paint job and a little mechanical work and we'll have a Jeep worth more than twice that so I was happy.
As for the better 9/10ths, well, she's very happy and I'll leave it at that.
Pictures when we get the title Thursday.
So, there I was, sitting fat, dumb and happy waiting for the carrier to deliver my Mustang this Friday when the better 9/10ths pops up yesterday and shouts, "Yeahhh!" Scared the snot right outta me! Seriously, there was snot everywhere! Okay...maybe not, but still!
She has been searching for a Jeep CJ7 for many years and the prices have been just too high for what little vehicle is left or the thing was just too far gone to really do anything with without a full on restoration and restoring a Jeep, while simple enough, is not what I like to do. Still, she's been wanting one for years and she says she's found the one that's been looking for her (or something like that).
I read the CL ad and it was for a 1977 Jeep CJ7, inline 232 six, four speed and a hard top. Runs well. Needs some additional work. Ever read those words in an ad before...Needs additional work? A lot of things come to mind with such an open ended statement such as that and my mind raced along so I sent a text to the seller as asked for in the ad to see if we could narrow that statement down to a few key items or so. The reply came several hours later (while I was in bed) that the windshield needed replacement and the brakes need work. Okay, not too bad, I'll call him tomorrow morning to maybe schedule a time to look at it. It was at that point the bedroom door opened and my better 9/10ths walked over to the bed and gave me a shake and asked me if I was awake. Sure I am...I was just shaken by a mad woman.
"I called the guy and he said that all the Jeep needs is brakes and a windshield!"
"Hmm, you don't say. Anything else?" I knew where this was headed.
"Yes, he's available right now to show it to us and I told him we'd be over soon. It's just right there in O'Fallon...I can drive...you wanna go with me?"
I so wanted to say no, but then I surely didn't want a woman as excited as her going over to look at her 'dream machine' and make a deal without me, so...
We got there and, sure enough, it was a 1977 Jeep CJ7 in flat black and rust. I looked it over as well as I could without my glasses on but was able to determine that the frame was not at all abused, the hubs rotated easily, the floorboards weren't rusted through and the lights and gauges all worked minus one marker light. The tires were fair and the top was solid with the exception of the rear door as previously noted.
We were already told that the engine was a 10 year old rebuild and the transmission/transfer case was a one year old rebuild. When the transmission was done the differentials were checked and re-oiled and the U-joints were replaced. The biggest issue we faced was a blown out master cylinder for the brakes and a spider webbed windshield, both of which are simple by comparison to other things I could think of.
The engine fired right up and ran as smooth as an inline six can and there were no foul odors though it did spew what looked like a rats nest out of the tail pipe. The clutch was easy and the shifter moved through all gears smoothly. I did move it forward and back enough to know it would go into all gears and verified the e-brake was solid.
As I'm looking it over I have this decidedly feminine voice continuously repeating, "I like it. I want it!" I'm so glad I came along.
I knew I could get this for under $2k and offered $1,650 as a first move to see where the seller would go after that since this was, after all, a pretty solid Jeep for being 34 years old. He returned a counter exactly where I hoped he would in $2k and I then offered to split the difference at $1,850 and he took it. A Maaco paint job and a little mechanical work and we'll have a Jeep worth more than twice that so I was happy.
As for the better 9/10ths, well, she's very happy and I'll leave it at that.
Pictures when we get the title Thursday.
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I was all about early model Broncos last year and was actively looking for one, but like your story, all were too beat up or too expensive. Then earlier this year another favorite fell into my lap when a forgotten relative sent me an email asking if I wanted to buy her '71 Mach 1. My sig tells the rest of the story. 
