[Collard Green]

Now listen up boys. I've been laid up for exactly one week as the consequence of a radical, dangerous, unforgiving, and stupid down hill skiing adventure that I partook of back round Christmas time.

This incident directly led to a complete tear of several ligaments in my clutch knee (as opposed to my break/gas knee).

As a result, I have been recovering from surgery since last Tuesday. It went well and I thouroughly enjoyed the anestesia as I am convinced it is the closest that the human race will ever come to time travel. The drugs were good and the nurses were hot, much to my wifes chagrin. In short, the injury could have been worse and I am thankful for the outcome, but RECOVERY IS A *****!!! Not the pain I can't stand---it's the sittin' on your *** that plagues me.

I have gone out to work on the jeep twice. Currently have the innards of the tub removed and am doing a wee bit of fiberglassing arounf the rear roll bar points in preparation for a spray in liner. I can only work for about an hour before I feel dizzy and the wife starts to cuss me.

So---I spend most of my days on the couch, ferrying my *** around on those ingenious pedestals of pain they call crutches. TV, jeep forum, 4wd catalog, tv, kitchen, tv, 4wd catalog, then back to jeep forum. This is my life as of late.

One bright spot im my recovery has been the story Stumpman told us about how his love affair with jeeps began with a kind neighbor and a 1980 Golden Eagle. Years later, the same nieghbor gives him a chance to buy it for $900. What a story!... and from the flood of replies, I believe a bunch of ya'll were just as excited as me.

Anyhow---I figured everybody's got a "How my love of jeeps began," story and I figured I'd kick it off and everyone could submit a quick something. Ya know, something like,--"I lost my virginity in the back of a scrambler" or "The first time I ever drank a beer was sitting in my best friend's Willys."

Personally--I have several stories so I will just give the high lights...

First CJ I ever rode in was my uncle Tim's 1977 CJ-5 Levi's edition--I was probably about 4 or 5 but I remeber so many little nuances--the denim seats and the zip windows, the little sliding ventilation door down by you feet. And the way it looked at you, like it was alive and at any moment just might say, "Hey kid, wanna climb a hill."

First time ever went wheelin' was in my dad's 82' J-10. He bought her brand new--she was red and we named her Lucy. We were in this sand pit, climbin' the sides and spinnin' donuts--I'm still pretty little at the time and I say, "hey dad where'd you learn to drive like this." I don't remember what he said but I like to think he said, "Lucy taught me." Gosh darn I loved that truck.

First time I was ever scared ****less in any rig was in my dad's old 77'Cherokee Chief. Down by the barge canal on the banks of the Withlacootchee River.

First rode trip I ever took in a CJ was im my dad's old 79' CJ-5 Renegade. Knoxville, TN-- to Crystal River, FL...15hrs of pure bliss--in between rain storms. Just a bikini top and soft doors. Big *** holes in the floor...covered up with 2x4's. Mechanic in Knoxville had said, "hell, I wouldn't drive that death trap to Chatanooga." We made it!

First 4WD I ever owned was a 1983 Cherokee Laredo. A torque-ee SOB that my step-dad helped me by from his best friend Bubba's estate when Bubba died. Bubba always had a cool jeep. That jeep was shipped to Alaska when I joined the Coast Guard and I would need a good night of drinkin' heavily to tell ya all the things I did with her.

Now I have a 1983 CJ-7. My own CJ has been my dream ever since that first ride in my uncle's 5. I have had it about a year...my wife bought it for me secretly as a graduation from college present...what a woman! My buddies even chipped in and bought me a winch--thanks again Floridaze!!

So there it is boys...a long *** post by a bored out of his mind Collard Green. I hope you will all submit some stories about how you first fell in love with that little piece of America we so affectionately call..the Jeep. Thanks ya'll--CG

[Rookie130]

Funny...I just found a C.W. McCall cd the other day and brought it into work to listen to. He has a song called "Four Wheel Drive" where he talks about him (trying to) outrun a cop in a "cj-5 with 4 wheel drive".
I got hooked listening to this song years ago when I found my parents 8 track version of the album.
Been hooked since. I have a CJ 7, not a CJ 5, but I'll never get rid of it!

[EtownCJ5]

Ok here goes. My story won't hold a candle to most but it's mine.

The first jeep I ever rode in was a buddy's in high school, a CJ7. It was a beautiful blue machine. I just remember how much fun it was. It was a seemingly simple machine, but so much fun. I knew then that one day I would have my own.

My second experience with a jeep was in college. I had an s-10 blazer 4x4 (or so it claimed to be) sunk to the doors on an old RR trail. Hiked back to the house, went to town and found another buddy with a jeep. We road back to the blazer and pulled it out like a child would pull a toy out of a sandbox. Fun and awesome. One day I'll have my own.

So now I have my own. An 82 CJ5 that I've had for 2 weeks, but I've only driven 15 miles. I remember thinking the day after I looked at it, that, yes, I loved it. So when, 15 miles into my first outing with it, the engine blew, I really didn't get all that mad. Why? Because I knew that I loved it and I had waited 20 years to get one, I could wait a little longer until it was fixed. I always knew I'd be swapping engines when I bought it, just not so soon, but no matter to me, b/c it's mine and in a few days we'll be ready to do some jeepin.

[high51977]

I can't ever remember not liking Jeeps of course in my eyes CJ's are the only real jeeps. I can remember at an early age riding with my grandfather in his '69 grand torino wagon and seeing Jeeps pointing and saying "Jeep Grampy jeep". He'd usually respond with something like "Yeah we'll have one someday" (this was in the early 70's) Well Gramp passed before either of us got a Jeep but now I have one and I am rebuilding it with my son in his (Gramp's) memory.

[SuB8HaVeN]

Hehe, I was in the swamps of the Withlacoochee River just last weekend and they claimed my radiator and fan.

My first Jeep was a 1987 Wrangler that I got when I was 15. It was all stock pretty much with the 258 I6 and the ****box 5 speed Peugot they came with that year. Dana 35 rear and Dana 30 front; Trac-loks which made things fun. When I was that age, my insurance was so durn expensive I worked just to pay for insurance on that thing alone. Lots of memories of riding around with my first real girlfriend, hunting and camping, etc, etc. I loved that thing, but I was starting to have to drive a lot and the 13mpg it was getting was killing my wallet, plus we had it timed to run on premium gasoline. I sold that thing with 230k miles on it, and it was running strong as could be. It had never even been rebuilt or taken apart, but the transmission was beginning to go through its rounds and the clutch had about had it.

So I sold that and got my daily driver, which was a cream puff used sedan from an older couple. I went through a lot while I was 19-20ish and my fiance at the time ended up leaving me because she was psychotic, so I kept wanting to go back to my high school days and kept missing my Jeep.

So I kept an eye out for some Jeeps, and ended up scoring a 1986 Jeep Cherokee for $500 cash. Being that I didn't have a nagging girlfriend/fiance, I was in a phase of spending my money like there was no tomorrow because I wasn't able to do that before. That thing had working air conditioning, the AMC 2.5L I4, 3 speed automatic, and 4.10 Dana 35/30 axles. It had 140k miles on it if I remember correctly, and it looked like nobody had ever changed the oil in it. It was just a little rough on the inside and the paint was faded, but I ended up stripping out the headliner and everything and got it looking really good. Overall, that's about the best $500 I ever spent, but I ended up wheeling it a little, decided not to put money into it, and then sold it for $1000 because I decided that I wanted a CJ for sure.

So there I was searching for a Jeep again. There was one that I found a little south of here near Naples for about $2500 that was in great shape but needed work on the steering. I was in the process of retrieving our car hauler from my parents' house in Georgia to go pick it up when I found a 1986 CJ-7 listed for $2000. I left him a message the same night he listed it, looked at it the following day, and ended up buying it. I drove her home the following day, and the rest is history my friend...

[fuzz401]

my 1st jeep is the one I have now 78 golden eagle that I bought in 79 with 17,000 miles on it

[stumpman]

Collard, I hope you get well soon. I love to hear stories and pics of old cjs'. Check out the 77 cj5 posted on the golden eagle thread. This jeep is still with the original owner about a half of a block from the owner of the golden eagle. It was a levi renegade package and has 38,000 actual miles. It is a sweet jeep.

[Pinky&theJeep]

Man Collard I feel ya buddy, I blew my knee in August and was riding the sofa for way too long. I did get some done on my CJ but isn't it amazing how your knee is required for everything, including visits to the toilet? UGH. Working on my Jeep was no exception I usually kneel on the front end for leverage when working under the hood. I always forgot about the surgery and I'd have to ride the sofa for a couple days to recover.

My first Jeep, a 77 CJ7, came from an obsession with a boy who had an early 70's CJ5. He was beautiful and he looked fantastic riding around in that rig. It was huge, required some serious jumping skills to board with a skirt on, but it was fabulous.

We would go camping as much as possible, and with the glass packs off you could hear him coming from two valleys away it was a beautiful sound. I could have slept on that hood while it idled. My CJ was stock, and my dad wouldn't let me do anything to it. The best I got was covering the rollbar with yellow electrical tape. A drunk driver took her from me, we kept her but she was never the same.

I have wanted a replacement ever since. I missed having to wear shorts under my skirt in case the wind blew it up over my head while driving, and having to keep an old hat under my seat to put my long hair under so it wouldn't tie in knots in front of my face while I drove as far away from town as I could. I miss the most important items in my purse being a roll of electrical tape and a screwdriver just in case, the crazy close encounters tan I would get from my leg hanging out the door all summer, I miss all the innocence and the feeling that nothing could be bad enough in the world that you can't drive to the top of a mountain in the middle of the night to think it through. I miss waking up to a surprise foot of snow and having to wear four pairs of sweat pants and shovel out the jeep just to get to school, and my Dad laughing at me and taking pictures.

I wish the boy could see my new jeep. I bet he would finally be impressed.

Ah high school and young love. There is nothing like your first Jeep.




So this picture is mounted inside the original headlight bezel from my first CJ. I bet you can tell the year from the American Flag t-shirt and yellow ribbon. "Until they all come home"

[USMCredneck]

I went on a little trail ride with some guys down here a while back. Had to ride in a friend's friend's TJ. Ever since then I have been looking for a jeep. Went home for thanksgiving 07 and the neighbor across the street asked me if I wanted a jeep. It was, and still is, more rust than metal, but when he fired it up and told me he only wanted $350 for it I was sold. Came back home for christmas, handed him the cash, and drove my jeep from his back yard to mine.

It looks like something you would find in a junkyard, but I wouldnt trade it for anything.

[Chrisfol82]

Well we always had an old 74 CJ-5 and an Older 48 CJ3A t our farm. We live in the suburbs and used to go to the farm on the weekends and hunted down there every deer season. The 3A was in pretty bad shape with rust, the brakes didnt work, and it had started spurting oil into the passenger compartment. So normally it just sat in the barn and the CJ5 was usualy the farm vehicle that got driven around all over the place. The 3A used to be the main vehicle down there and theres even lots of old pictures of it being driven down there but for most of what i can remember it usually sat in the barn. Every once in a while wed pull start it with the CJ5 since the battery was usually dead but evertually that stopped once the brakes stopped working and the big oil leak came up. The las thing i remember using it for down there was pulling some trees we cut down across a creek to make a bridge. It pulled the logs better than the CJ5 did and they were pretty big.

But anyways when i was 16 i wanted a car but parents wouldnt let me buy one. Eventually probably when i was about 17 they gave in and my dad said if i wanted a car i could have the CJ3A that was down at the farm in the barn. Well i really wanted to just buy myself a new (used) CJ7, but seeing is this was my only option i accepted.

So the next weekend we went down, called AAA and said our jeep wont start we need a tow. Got it towed home and i think i had the body off by the end of the weekend. It ended up taking me about 2 years or so to get done, and it was finally road worthy about a month before i left for college. Seeing as how college was 5 hours away it didnt come with me. So i drove it during breaks and over the summer, and it was basically my DD while i was home for a summer or two. Thrid year of college i had to have my own car down there so i ended up buying another jeep, an 84 CJ7, that one made the 5 hour trip back and forth to school for my third and fourth years, and the 3A was retired to the garage. The old Flathead in the 3A wasnt rebuilt the first time around, and eventaully started smoking pretty bad so last summer i had that rebuilt, and i rebuilt the tranny as it always slipped out of 2nd gear. So it runs pretty good now, but unfortunately it spends most of its life in the garage for now.

The CJ7 was my daily driver then for two years of college and about a year and a half afterwards, when i started traveling alot for work and decided i needed something reliable and a little more comfortable for road trips. Eventually i found a 98 5.9 Grand Cherokee and that is my DD now and has been for about two years now. So those are my 3 jeeps, all of which i still have. The CJ7 is starting to rust pretty bad though and is just my little project vehicle now. Hopefully to get a 4" lift and 35's this summer.

Anyways that was probably way too long and detailed but that is the history of my jeep colelction... so far.

And my little brother fixed up the 74 CJ5 that was also at the farm and he drives that now.

[craigb86]

My jeep story starts in Germany. I grew up on Ramstein airfield base. My dad had always loved jeeps and sold his black CJ-7 when we moved. He ordered a Red custom 1987 Jeep Cherokee and had it shipped over there. I remember when I was five or so we would go to this hill that iced over all the time and He would do 360's in the middle of the intersection. This was my first experience with jeeps.

A while ago I was looking for a hobby to do during my spare time between going to college and working. I was driving around town and saw a CJ-7. It was at the CA$H EXPRESS Title Pawn shop. It had no floors, top or doors. I drove it around the little lot and was sold on the thought of restoring a jeep. I went the next day and bought it for 1000 bucks. It name is "The CA$H EXPRESS" it is more fitting than I originally thought, because it has put my Cash flow on the express lane to this rust bucket.

Craig

[turnabout]

Sorry to hear you are laid-up.... I spent a month on my back from foot surgery in the days after my 40th birthday.....two years later and I still loathe the experience. Your request for Jeep stories is a much more healthy method of coping than any I could find!
My Jeep love story is a long one....here’s the short version.....
In 1969 we moved to Denver from San Francisco. We lived in the foothills (now Lakewood) and my mother drove a 1962 Willis CJ5 outfitted with a Corvette 327. I recall her taking the ‘short cut’ to drop me off at kindergarten each day. We spent many weekends in the Rockies exploring old mining towns and camping in once remote areas. Unfortunately we were called to the east coast and the Jeep stayed behind in Denver. In his last days of life Dad talked about that Jeep and the fond memories it offered our lives at the time. Said the old sled could really move.
Forward to 1982... One summer while in high school I discovered a blue 1973 CJ5 with a 304 sitting idle in a neighbor’s garage and made it mine for $1500. I drove it for the remainder of HS and into college. Many beach trips and days on the trails still provide vivid daydreams on a boring day at work. A collision (darn drum brakes) claimed it on a rainy day.
Forward to 1992...Mom decides to get another Jeep (this time a ‘Wrangler”) and still has it today. Drives it daily around town. I made her get a Subaru (she protested) two years ago so she could travel I95 in a more comfortable and safe manner when visiting my sister each month.
Forward to 2007.... Last summer while on a fishing trip in NC a friend asked me if I had seen ‘the Jeep’ that was for sale on the small island where he lived....... a blue 1974 CJ5 with a 304........ My wife was surprised when I offered to take the family for a Jeep ride the next Saturday, especially since we didn’t have a Jeep that she knew of.....
I cannot think of a day with 60 degree plus weather that that Jeep has not taken me to work (including today), the kids to sports, etc. and cannot imagine life without a Jeep.
Thank you for the trip down memory lane.....
Scott

[DannibusX]

My brother bought his Jeep in 94. I fell in love with it and wanted one just like it when I was able to afford one. I got to drive it on occasion, and even helped him work on it once or twice. He fell into financial trouble and called me me to tell me he was selling his jeep. I wired him the money, drove to Vegas and picked it up. I'll never get rid of it.

[Collard Green]

Well, thanks guys and gals. I was so excited when I came home and saw that ya'll were actually into wheeling down memory trail. I get so hopped up on vicodin during the day light hours that I am never sure how my conversations or Jeep posts will be recieved. Thanks for the kind words of concern about my injuries. It's a pain but life goes on. Can't wait to get back driving. Keep those stories coming...they are CJLiscious---CG

[KBONSIG]

The first was a 1987 YJ I6 - 5spd - carter carb. Bought new by my dad and sat for a few years on and off. Had a Myers plow on it as well. It was my 1st car and it ran like sh*t by the time it was handed down to me (older brother had it for a year too). Got it in Dec 1993 and only drove it for 3-4 months. Starter was shot - clutch went on way home from school one day, got that fixed but the carb was junk - replaced many times from when it was new, but always stalled out each time you pressed the clutch in. Tough driving around hills when you're 17.... but I found ways.

We ended up trading it in for a new car at that point....... but it set the blueprint of where I am today.


In 1999 I bought a 1995 YJ at a auction 4cyl - 5spd - 109K miles - ran great off the auction lot.... until I hit 5th Gear and it sounded like marbles. It also was running hot the whole way home too. Bought a new tranny, clutch, 33" and a 3" lift, I got the YJ in service for a good 5 year run.

In 2000, I bought a new TJ I6- 5SPD which I only kept for just under 2 years before I had to sell it (owned 2 jeeps and a corvette at the time).

Back in Dec I was passing a local repair shop and the owner was selling his 1985 CJ7 w/ Western plow. He only used it for plowing his lot for the past 7 years, and bought it off one of his customers. In north Jersey we get maybe 2-3 solid snow storms a year if that, so it wasn't used much. He did take good care of it though.

So I got as close as I could with my 1st YJ - but pulled off the Jeep Trifecta - Owned a CJ - YJ - TJ Jeep. This AMC built CJ is strong and is just a bad machine..... this is a jeep.