"Bob" The Scrambler Project
- by wnyjpgy
This will be the first installment of the project to convert a CJ-8 into a capable trail rig that isn't a bone jarring, daily driving experience .
I recently bought a 1982 CJ-8 scrambler from a gentlemen in Port Allegany, PA. Joe (joesjeeps) and I headed there last weekend (October 21st, 2006) to look at a variety of jeep parts. Long story short, I purchased the CJ-8 for $600. It’s rough, but should be a good foundation to start my project. There was no drive train in the vehicle. After some research by running the VIN tag on this website to get the break down on the vehicle, I found that it was a 258/ automatic scrambler. It has a really good hardtop, dash and was mostly complete.
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Now it’s a week later and the jeep has been disassembled. The body is off of the frame sitting on jack stands, the rolling frame is sitting next to it. The floor of the tub is a little rougher than I had thought however the frame is better than I thought, so I guess it should even out. The interior has been cleaned out with a shop vac and the seats have already been taken to the curb.
I have been on the fence about what to do to the body. There is a lot of information on the internet, as you would expect, on scramblers. There were only 27,000 of them made over a 5 year period (1981-1986) and most of the people get violent when they hear one is going to be cut up for a wheeler. Well with that being said I guess there will be a bunch of people mad at me. Here’s how I see it: I know how it’s going to be used and I want it to be functional at the same point. How many people saw me actually drive my CJ5 on the highway this year? Not many. So I’ve decided to bob (shorten the overhang behind the axle by 12-18”) the bed and build boat sides into the rockers for clearance. I’ll post pics of my ideas as I go. All of this came after setting the body on the stands in my garage only to have one of the stands go through the floor of the tub. At this point I sat, admired it, had a drink of beer and determined that my jeep from this point forward will be referred to as “Bob”.
So here’s where I’m at now. The body and frame are separated in my garage. The frame looks great (no holes and the body mounts are all great), and the tub is ok or at least as expected. I have the new leaf springs sitting against the wall, and the Dana 44’s are sitting under the frame. I acquired a really nice set of black leather seats out of a Oldsmobile Intrigue so the driver seat will be 8 way power, the passenger will be manual. “Bob” does have a power booster for the brakes and a power steering box on the frame so it will have all of the luxuries a jeep should have.
My next steps are:
- Grinding down the frame and get all of the mounts cleaned up.
- Get rid of the Dana 30/Amc 20 combo (anyone interested?)
- Getting the front 44 ground down for the spring over to mock things up, and getting the rear 44 mocked up as well.
- I have to pickup another Dana 44 for the carrier, ring and pinion, spindles and high steer arms.