I was breezing through some old photos and found some snaps of my '48 CJ-2A I dubbed "The Bindle Bucket" 'cause I bought it off some scary biker meth-head in the middle of the So Cal desert. I wrote all about it in a story titled, "A Comedy of Errors" which is on our web site here: A Comedy of Errors
It would have been one thing if the tub was clean and all it needed was the mechanical work. Or, conversely, if it were mechanically sound but only needed a new tub. But this pile wound up needing everything from a new transmission, T-case, head gasket, cooling system, and more. Jeez, I dumped a bunch of time, money, and effort into the thing and made it mechanically perfect. I rebuilt and installed a new Spicer 18, T-90, redid the head gasket (twice), installed a new carb, fuel system, cooling system, and more. I wound up selling it a year later for what I paid for it. At least the new owners only have to worry about the rotten body tub.
But that's the way of things. You don't buy early Jeeps to turn a profit. And now I've found my search for clean ZJs and other nice project candidates that I can just bolt-on parts to devolving into a world of jalopy GPW, CJ-6, and other early CJ-style Jeeps. I guess it's just my taste - I like the old junk.