When I brought the Jeep home I was only 16 and didn't have my license yet. So for the first month and a half or so it just sort of sat in my driveway. I used to go out and start it a couple of times a week but that was just about all the action the Jeep saw for those first few weeks.

I said before how I got ripped off...let me count the ways: The Jeep was just about as stock as you could find. The engine was only the AMC 150ci 2.5L I4 which I didn't even mind that much honestly. There were 4.11's stuffed in the pumpkins which made up for it anyway. The tranny was the relatively weak Borg-Warner T-4 4 speed and the rear axle was the corporate model 20. But the real problem was the body. The previous owner had done some of his own "custom" body work which included chopping the lap belts off the seatbelts and patching the body with sheetmetal. The metal he used was strong but looked horrible: he could've at least matched the body "seams" when he repaired the rust holes! Basically, the floor was rusted out and the body mounts were horrible (some were probably already missing too).

Finally in early March, my parents yielded the garage to me so I could begin my work. Now I had NEVER worked on a car before and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing except I knew I was taking it apart so I could make it better (sounds stupid, huh?) So the first thing I did was take off the hard top. As I recall, it went smooth: a few bolts and it was off. I then began to just circle the Jeep and remove things like the hood, fenders, seats, and a few other random things. After about a month or so, I had all of the above off. Now I know some of you are laughing cause it took me a month to do that, but I'm proud to say I can now strip a Jeep that far in about 2 hours.

I removed all the sheetmetal the guy pop-riveted on there to see what I was dealing with. In the end, there wasn't much body to speak of. It was rusted really bad and my bondo job looked awful. But, looks weren't everything as long as it was road worthy (and it was barely that too...) I gave it a yellow paint job in memory of the first Jeep I rode in (the one that inspired me) which had since died...

At any rate, I got my hands on a 4 Wheel Drive and Hardware mag and I went nuts. Stainless hood hinges, powder coated catches, etc, etc. I spent about $500 on absolute useless stuff. Hey, it was a learning experience.