Build Thread ‘84 CJ-7 Laredo. Rebuilding My First Jeep.
24North
Jeeper
I used to lurk around here way, way back in the day but have no idea what my username from that era was so I’m starting fresh. I bought this CJ right out of high school back in 1996. Drove it for a few years and sold it to my dad. He’s had it at his hunting camp in Georgia ever since. Stupid teenage me abused the heck out of it and of course threw away all the nutmeg and chrome parts I’m tracking down at great expense now. It’s been used but not particularly abused since then. Everyone at the camp has fancy side by sides now so the jeeps have kind of been sitting in the hanger getting in the way so he said I could have it back if I wanted since I’d been hinting at it for a few years.
This whole saga started last June (2024) when I headed down to GA to pick it up and bring it back home to NC. The frame was in shockingly good shape except behind the front shock towers. The tub is a different story unfortunately. She looks good in the golden hour pics at a distance but you need to make sure your tetanus shots are up to date before you get too close, there’s rust almost everywhere. My plan is to have it look like it rolled off the line in ‘84 (original color, graphics, seats….) but improve all the things that modern technology now offers for better reliability and driveability (AX15 to replace the T-5 , Holley Sniper, better steering components, speedhut gauges…).
Here’s a few pics from that period along with a shot of how she looks now. I’ll add some details from the process so far as I get some more time.
,
This whole saga started last June (2024) when I headed down to GA to pick it up and bring it back home to NC. The frame was in shockingly good shape except behind the front shock towers. The tub is a different story unfortunately. She looks good in the golden hour pics at a distance but you need to make sure your tetanus shots are up to date before you get too close, there’s rust almost everywhere. My plan is to have it look like it rolled off the line in ‘84 (original color, graphics, seats….) but improve all the things that modern technology now offers for better reliability and driveability (AX15 to replace the T-5 , Holley Sniper, better steering components, speedhut gauges…).
Here’s a few pics from that period along with a shot of how she looks now. I’ll add some details from the process so far as I get some more time.
,
