What got you into FSJ's?

[Guest]

Hi All-

If this is the wrong place, or too boring, just move and/or delete...

Really like this place, and it got me thinking, what got you folks into FSJ's.

My tale only involves 4 rigs.

1) Eons ago in HS, classmate with money had a really pretty Cherokee
Chief.

Deep burgundy, black trim, raised a bit. 401 transplant from his bro's AMX that he wrecked. Headers, maybe a cam, it seemed a bit rumpity. At the time I didn't really know anything about FSJ's other than they were the big Jeep.

Anyhow, he asks me to help him disconnect the exhaust on morning break.
Said he 'wanted to do something' during lunch, with kind of an evil grin.
Did it, go back to classes.

Lunchbreak- gets in the Cherokee, warms it up....then POW, nails it, with the steering wheel locked....it was amazing.

I had never seen before, or since, a 4WD donut, on pavement- smoke coming off all 4 hides. It impressed the heck out of me, there must be something to these big Jeeps. I was already a Nash/Rambler/AMC fan as a kid, this was something new and extra to me. It still makes me grin, if it crosses my mind.

This guy was always quiet, not a troublemaker at all.

Needless to say, the HS authorities were NOT pleased...it never happened again. But holy cow it left an impression.

2) Eons later, got to know 2 guys who've been on here, both like Jeeps. One helped me nab a 67 Wag (327/TH400/D20)....it was a bit ragged, mainly wanted it for a transplant for my 68 Commando at the time. Wish I was smarter and more talented, looking back at it, a Vigilante Wag is my fave FSJ. I was an idiot for losing it, probably could have been repaired.

3) A while later stumbled into a 81/82 pig nose Wag, sorta medium brown metallic, 258, auto. Slight lift, 31x10.50's. One of the IFSJA buddies helped with some mechanical, and down the road it went as a DD. 16mpg freeway, steady 60. Not a bad rig. The tailgate window actually worked. Had to sell it due to moving.

4) Now the 76. First FSJ that's actually getting fixed up, should be nice when done. Nothing radical, just swapping on some older trim bits, stripped down for new fresh paint. Really want to keep this one. Maybe some mellow trail use or exploring, but no thrashing or bashing this one.

I like FSJ's in general, but for some odd reason Wags push the buttons, not sure why, and I usually hate 4 door vehicles. To me the design is timeless, it just always looks good...I prefer the early ones given a choice. Sounds goofy, but when I get to look at old ads or pics, it just makes me want one, and to go drive one. There is just something they have that the new rigs don't....there is no new Jeep, or other 4x4, that makes me want to buy one. I know they are way more plush, smoother, better mpg's, etc. But they just leave me cold.

Even if someone gave me a new rig, or money didn't matter, I'd still go FSJ.

Anyhow, just .02 from a busted down old grumpy FSJ fan.

[karrarararararar]

saw a rotted out J10 on Craigslist, started reading into them and fell in love with them. Ended up not buying it because it was pretty much a much truck. Now that I think of it, it would have been worth it as it had a 401 in it and the guy only wanted like $800 for it. Fast forward a year, I sold my 05 Dakota and was looking for a truck. Found my J10 listed not too far away and couldn't pass it up

[MadMax78]

My daughter (16 at the time) got me in to them. She saw it on the side of the road for sale and told me about it. We went and looked at it and after she stood on the side of the road squealing and jumping I couldn't say no. Fast forward 4 years and it is mine now. I don't know what it is but driving it makes me feel cool. All of the people stopping me and asking about it doesn't help the ego either. This one is here to stay. My 13 year old wants it as her first car. May need to find one for her so I can keep mine. I've always loved old 4 wheel drives and prefer the 70s Fords but Jeeps will always have a home in my garage. Keep

[mokurt]

My wife and I wanted a project vehicle.
We have always liked old trucks,mostly 4x4's.
Found ours in town.

Well things have changed since we bought it.
She found a semi custom '54 Ford F250 longbed 4x4.
So now the Jeep is mine.

[Dirtfarmer]

Almost ashamed to admit it, but the Movie Twister.

[suzq044]

my bf and his old 84 Grand' - he loved that truck; it wasn't running much when I was introduced to it & it's abilities, but I was impressed with how it was pretty much ignored for the 4-5 years my bf was in the marines & out west with me, it just started right up & pushed through the mud pit like it was nothing and all that right off the bat (lots of those in GA). Unfortunately his brother sold it (and the donor wag) out from under him while he was in CA with me. Junked em. They've since reconciled though; since we now have the Panel, we want to make more memories with it

Since my introduction to FSJs, i got a Cherokee Laredo, and then sold it (way more of a project than originally thought, outside my capabilities); we got the Gladiator for free off Palomar (some of you might remember; it's up and running & now lives with it's new owner in Arizona. The guy loves it), which we traded for the Panel Wag. Only reason he wanted to trade is the i6 wasn't doing it for him, he needed a truck with the v8; we both got an ideal trade, really.

[babywag]

My dad!
He worked @ various AMC/Jeep dealerships back in the day.
Seems there was always a Wagoneer around.

He also had a late 60's 6cyl wag w/ 3 on the tree parked @ the airport for years to use when we flew up there.
He owned 3 diff. small planes(not same time of course).
We'd leave Flying Cloud airport and be up there in no time ~1.5 hours.
Used to piss off my mom I bet stuck driving up w/ my 2 sisters for ~3.5 hours. But, she was usually driving a wagoneer!
That rusty old wag POS always started, I remember helping him coffee can the exhaust back on one year.
Was the 1st vehicle with a stick I attempted to drive. Nowhere close to driving age

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=151295

[Carnuck]

Too much. I had an '83 Cherokee that I stuck a Mexican 282 in place of the 4.2L and it impressed me so much that I bought new springs, etc for it then found major frame rot, so it found a new home after I got an '84 J10 that I swapped the 4.2 from to the Cherokee. I went to freshen the motor, not knowing it was a Mexican motor with a Baja Beast cam. I took the number off the old pistons and discovered the 258 was overbored beyond a 4.0L bore (because it was built that way)
I was on the strokers list looking for how to build one, when I already had one and didn't know it! I stuck a 4.0L and AW4 in, then tried to wire in the Grand Cherokee harness (I'll NEVER try that one again!) add Hydroboost, NV241 OR tcase. Killer 32 bumpers and rock rails. I was going to put a roll bar on too (custom built to barely fit under my canopy) Then UPS lost the steering components in '02 before Ouray. My dad passed, kids were growing too fast, mom got sick and died and then my little sister (both from cancer) so I was out of sorts and got sick myself.
I want to finish at least one of my projects so I can drive it. Black Jack has D44 SOA front (Ford) and D60 rear from a J20 with new springs. The 40" tires I bought turned out to be too small to look right and I'll need to re-gear later, but with LPG and my buddy's help, it should be moving before December.

Probably close to $10K with the stroker motor (one of the first)

[mattparliament]

dad had an 83 woody for awhile when I was growing up, I liked it, probably what turned me into a "jeep guy" for a lifetime, then I converted him too as a payback!

[Full Size Jeeper]

Was looking for a project for my thirteen year old son and I to build as his first car. Did not want to do a hot rod type build for his first car so went with something different. I looked at a few when I was younger but never pulled the trigger. BANG BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bmax65]

Babywag, just read your linked post, too

Babywag,

Just read your linked post. I miss my dad too, it's been ages since he past, but still think of him. We had both good and rough times, too. Wish I could take some of it back, but, what's done is done

Dad tried to teach mom to drive a stick in our 62 Rambler (3 on the tree)...wow, I remember the yelling and crying...she was not happy! We had 2 62's...a friend of theirs had a pink and white 60-61 Rambler wagon, another had a Gremlin in the early 70's...haha...AMC from early on, alot of neighbors had various AMC's. Couple local places did sell Jeep, but you'd mostly see just CJ's, usually in green or brown back then, don't remember any FSJ's locally.

Every once in a while you'd see an FSJ truck in the countryside. Then in the 80's, man, the GW's really started popping up back home, lots of white or brownish ones, maybe a few in burgundy, mostly on the eastside, that's where the money was. They just really seemed to explode in popularity.
But I hated the wood and the lounge chair insides at the time, too fluffy yuppie. I just ignored them. Couldn't have afforded one even if I had liked them.

Funny, when the FSJ thing popped up way later, it hit pretty hard, especially for the older ones. There just isn't anything else like them.

Thanks for sharing the tales, it's pretty cool reading stuff like that.

[TheFlyingBrick]

My uncle

My uncle had ( now mine) a 1976 jeep cherokee S that he bought new. We also had 4 others. all but this one got scraped. 2 81 wags fully loaded. and my fave was a 77 WT/QT with a swapped in 401. the gears in the QT had been welded and it would cut donuts like nothing! It was my grandpas. He got mad one day and sent it to the scraper.. IDIOT! But here we are 4 years later With just mine. my grandpa was sending it to the scraper when i stopped the tow truck driver down the road and gave him a old cavalier and 50$ if he would drop the " big ugly thing" as he called it at my house. Now its sitting in the parking lot at school looking pretty and every one asks about it. a couple of my buds want them too. They are an addiction. I would not sell mine for the world Because of the memorys in the early 2000's of my uncle driving it every day, to saving it from the crusher. To it saving me. I will always keep A FSJ around.

[MMinMN]

Picked up my first 4x4(66 Wagoneer/327) no brakes, basically a farm truck. The following winter, had a snow fall that resulted in 24+ inch on the ground. No plows anytime soon. Hadn't run the jeep since I moved it into the spot,
Battery needed a jump, fortunately my 64 non 4x4 1/2 ton chevy was next to it(but not going anywhere). Jump started the jeep. Let it warm up, Crossed my fingers and put in reverse, she just chugged through the snow(bad tires and all), Couldn't believe it.
Took all the neighbors up to the grocery store for supplies(slowly) and let the snow slow/stop me. Kept it running out side while they shopped. Then brought them all back home.
The streets were not cleared for another week or so, but we all had the supplies necessary to wait it out now. ;-)
BEST SNOW MOBILE EVER

That experience drove me to purchase a 79 Chief wide track several years and a new to me house later.
And sure enough a very similar situation happened. The funny part about that was, driving down the road, the only vehicle on the road(I thought) for miles. All of a sudden a vehicle just blows past me. Oh of course, a mint Cherokee Chief, just kicked snow in my face ;-)

[jpcoutts]

My father-in-law had a '79 J10 that he used on the farm when I started dating my wife in the fall of 1985 and I knew I wanted one the first time I drove it! He wouldn't sell it so I bought my first FSJ from the local dealership. It was an '80 J10 short bed. After buying the J10 I sold my Ford F150 that was only a year old and never looked back!

[joe]

What got you into FSJ's?

I got my meds mixed up.