So here is my 3A story and how I ended up doing a stock Jeep..
2007 had been a pretty rough year for me personally. �During the year, my Grandma had passed away, my father had a heart attack, I left a very stable engineering job to change careers and start my own business, and to top things off, my wife and I got divorced. �I was at a pretty low point in my life.
After laying low for 8 months or so, I decided I needed a new project to occupy my time and prove to myself that I was still capable of something more than taking up space. �In years past, I had been a gearhead and been into hot rods, loud stereos and fast mororcycles (and unfortunately fast women). �I had always liked Jeeps, but had never had one myself. �I decided I would find an older CJ7, stuff a V-8 into it, lift it up and have a toy. �When I told my dad my plans to find an old jeep, his eyes lit up. �Turns out, my mother had been getting back in touch with some of her extended family she hadn't seen in many years. �One of them, had "an old jeep that looked like the ones in M.A.S.H" that he had intended to restore but never really got started. �For the low, low price of $500 I could drive to Arkansas, load it up and get it out of his way! �It was indeed meant to be. �In March of 2008, Dad and I made the trip....
Upon getting there and seeing the jeep, I was a little disappointed. �It was rough. �Parts were everywhere and the block (a 4 cyl?!?!) was in the back with everything else in 5 gallon buckets. �No big deal, I was going to toss the engine anyway...right? �We loaded everything up and headed back to Missouri. �Upon getting home, I power washed all the crud I could off of it and started to dump the buckets of parts out and organize them. �I also started to do some research on what exactly a "CJ3a" really was. �Until now, my only exposure to Jeeps had been Magnum PI and the Dukes of Hazzard. �I didn't even know what a :-? flat fender was....
