Rare 1981 Cj8 Scrambler - V8 Restomod - Rust Free Body - Built - Very Nice on 2040-cars
Lawrence, Kansas, United States
I'm selling my rare, very nice 1981 Jeep Scrambler. It is collectible and ready to cruise. There were 603,303 CJ5s and 379,299 CJ7s produced. All told, Scramblers make up significantly less than 3% of that total. This beauty has been built piece by piece from the ground up, capped with a straight-from-the-paint-booth professional, 6 mil paint job. This is the perfect toy for the perfect day. It has been professionally built and adult owned. In the past decade, it has racked up less than 1000 total miles. In that time period, it has never spent the night outside. It has a 100% rust free, clean body, and has never been off-road or abused. My painter claims he’s never seen anything like it.
Today, the Scrambler has a strong, rebuilt 304 V8 engine, backed by a rebuilt T-15 transmission: maybe the heaviest-duty 3-speed ever made. It runs great, and has absolutely no known drivetrain flaws. The build quality is evident as soon as you take it on the highway. Even with the lift and massive, 35-inch Super Swampers, the Scrambler tracks very well, with less wandering than the typical, standard-sized CJ. There are absolutely no known mechanical issues. The drivetrain is tight and responsive, and there are no significant leaks or drips.
Old jeeps are notorious (rightfully so) for their temperamental nature and unreliability. This one, however, is about as clean and tight as you can get. No corners have been cut. While I firmly believe that no 33-year-old jeep should be considered a daily driver, this one comes as close to being a reliable day-to-day driver as you will probably find. Essentially, just climb in, turn the key, and go.
Born in Toledo, raised in South Florida, this Scrambler moved to central Missouri to become a man about 12 years ago. The entire body was replaced (full steel body), and repainted. Next, the under-powered straight-six was swapped out with a 304 V8 from a full-size jeep and rebuilt. It was mated to a rebuilt T-15 three speed and a rebuilt Dana 300 transfer case at that time. In essence, the Scrambler wasn’t restored, but rather built and modified piece by piece, upgraded over time. The entire drivetrain, suspension, body, interior, and electrical have been gone through and updated. Today, it’s driven on nice days and, frankly, not enough. I’m confident that someone can make much better use of it than me.
Drivetrain: Small block V8, 304 CID: rebuilt, less than 1000 miles Headers Holley carburetor T-15, heavy duty, 3-speed transmission; generally considered the heaviest-duty 3-speed transmission ever manufactured: rebuilt, less than 1000 miles Dana 300 transfer case: widely considered the best transfer case ever manufactured; rebuilt, less than 1000 miles Dana 44 (upgraded) rear axle, replacing the standard Model 20 rear end Dana 30 front end New front disc brakes; stops great
Body 100% rust-free body New neoprene body grommits Rock solid frame Fold-down windshield (which I’ve never had down) Rugged Ridge double front bumper Custom, super heavy duty rear bumper Bushwacker fender flares
Paint: This is a one-week old paint job, professionally done. It is a true, 6-mil, three-stage paint job. Needless to say, this isn’t typically what you find on a classic jeep. The first coat is Deltron epoxy primer; if you know your paint, you know that this is as good as it gets. No exterior surface has less than two coats of PPG 4273 Radiant Fire Red. Everything was wet sanded and buffed appropriately. This paint job will hold up. Deltron is extremely chip-resistant. Rather than polish up the paint and throw on a coat of wax to make the pictures look good, I refrained. You’ll get to do the final polish and, in about two weeks, once the paint has fully cured, may add a coat of wax. Judge the quality of the paint yourself by the pictures. It looks great already, and the pictures were taken under cloudy skies today. If you think you can see buffing compound residue in some of the pictures, you’re probably right. I’m not going to mess up your new paint job just to get a better picture. Wheels and tires 35-inch Super Swamper tires Warn locking hubs I honestly don’t know the make/model of the wheels, but they’re very nice. I would guess they’re cast aluminum or magnesium.
Interior High-back, BesTop Aqua front seats, in excellent condition Completely Linx’d interior All new gauges All new sending units Locking Tuffy center console, set up for concealed stereo, in excellent condition New heater core and defroster unit Billet aluminum knobs
Extras All trim pieces are stainless steel Hard half-doors, in good condition Bikini top, in good condition Lots of spare parts, should you want them, including Original exhaust brackets Army jerry cans An antifreeze return system (not installed) 1981 Chilton’s CJ guide A pair of stainless steel 1000lb tow hooks A new WindJammer, which I’ve never had on Anything else I might turn up
Title The title is free and clear. I had the Scrambler re-titled from Missouri to Kansas intentionally because Kansas has some of the strictest titling requirements in the country. It’s common to run into issues getting CJs inspected and passed; you won’t have any title/VIN issues with this one.
Reserve The reserve on this auction is set well below what I think it’ll sell for; farther below what I think it’s probably worth; and even farther below what’s been put into it over time.
‘Jeep’ disclaimer This is a 33-year-old jeep. It’s not a Wrangler, it’s not a daily driver, it’s not a fuel-injected, air-conditioned sports sedan. While the Scrambler has largely been updated and upgraded to surpass the original components, we’re still talking primarily about a 33-year-old engineering design.
This is not a trailer queen; I’d classify this as a very nice daily-driver+ quality vehicle all around. There are no known major flaws. Understand, though, that jeep owners have long said that ‘jeep’ stands for ‘just empty every pocket’. To maintain a vehicle of this vintage in this condition, constant maintenance will be required. Replacing bulbs becomes a seasonal task, and gauges an almost-annual one.
For example, the 6-month-old gas gauge worked when it felt like it, and didn’t when it didn’t. It quit working so I put a new gauge, and a new sending unit in. Now, it works, approximately, whenever it feels like it. The new speedometer seems to get bouncier and bouncier for no discernable reason. At this point, when these things pop up, my mechanic just shrugs, and we go through the motions all over again.
Legal In short, if you have any reservations, don’t buy an old jeep. If you have any questions whatsoever, please ask. If you would like pictures of anything in particular, please let me know prior to bidding. I very strongly encourage you to inspect the vehicle prior to purchase. I will be happy to facilitate you and/or your chosen mechanic’s inspection prior to the end of the auction. I try to be as thorough as possible, but I’m not an expert or a mechanic, so please take the time to ask questions, pay close attention to all of the pictures, and be thorough in your research as to what you’re willing to pay. At the end of the day, the vehicle is listed in ‘AS-IS’ condition, and no warranties or guarantees are made or implied.
Ultimately, by bidding you are entering into a legal contract. There will be no exceptions, and I won’t hesitate to utilize all appropriate legal avenues to enforce the bidding contract. The winning bidder will pay a $1000 non-refundable deposit at the close of the auction. The balance will be paid within 48 hours. I’m happy to accept funds via wire transfer or cash.
|
Jeep CJ for Sale
Auto Services in Kansas
Victory Lane Auto Sales ★★★★★
Used Cars Kansas City ★★★★★
Thoroughbred Ford ★★★★★
Sutton-Kauffman Transmission ★★★★★
Summit Auto Body CARSTAR ★★★★★
Steven Ford of Augusta ★★★★★
Auto blog
Chrysler investigating complaints of vehicles with faulty power modules
Sun, 24 Aug 2014Chrysler owners are hopping mad after experiencing a series of electrical gremlins in some of the company's vehicles. Issues range from mere annoyances - windows rolling down and radios turning off of their own accord - to serious safety issues, with headlights that randomly shut off at night and cars that stall and refuse to start.
The issues are being blamed on the total integrated power module, which can cost up to $1,000 for customers to replace. This, of course, has led to a hefty batch of complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with 240 owners expressing their displeasure so far. Another site, CarComplaints.com, has registered over 300 complaints relating to the 2010 to 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango, alone, according to The New York Times.
Chrysler has acknowledged that it's investigating the complaints and is analyzing the faulty TIPMs, but that isn't quite enough for customers of the affected vehicles. The newspaper has snagged a few of the more harrowing tales with the electrically challenged Chrysler products, culled from the NHTSA complaints.
Federal investigations about safety of rear-mounted gas tanks is nothing new
Sun, 09 Jun 2013The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Chrysler are currently making waves in our daily news feeds due to a disagreement over the safety of a few million Jeep Liberty and Grand Cherokee models. Specifically, NHTSA has asked Chrysler to recall the SUVs because of the location of their fuel tanks, but you may be interested to know that requests such as this are nothing new.
Besides the two Jeep models, NHTSA has launched investigations over the years in such models as the Ford Crown Victoria (and its police-car counterpart), GM pickups built between 1972 and 1987, and rather famously the Ford Pinto.
Understanding how automakers and NHTSA have dealt with fuel-tank-safety concerns in the past may offer a better understanding of how Chrysler and the government agency will settle their current dispute. Check out the complete article from The Detroit News here.
Final Toledo Jeep decision may have nothing to do with city's efforts
Mon, Apr 13 2015Toledo, OH is doing all that it can to keep production of the Jeep Wrangler in its boundaries, but the biggest issue facing the plant may be insurmountable, no matter how desperately the city wants to keep the Wrangler local. The Wrangler is built in a rather interesting manner at the Toledo Supplier Park: Fiat Chrysler only handles the very final assembly of each vehicle, while two other companies, Kuka, a German firm, and Hyundai-Mobis, a member of the sprawling Hyundai empire, produce the body and chassis, respectively. The vehicles are then transferred over to the FCA part of the park, where they're painted and completed. This was, as The Detroit News explains, a convenient arrangement back in 2006 when the supplier park opened. Chrysler, which was still owned by Daimler at the time, arranged for Kuka and Mobis to handle production, saving it a huge sum of money. Both suppliers own their own machinery and buildings and employ their own workers. Now that FCA is a relatively healthy entity, though, there's not a lot of need to be sharing profits with two other companies. "What [FCA boss Sergio Marchionne] would like is to have the advantages of high-capacity utilization, owning that capacity and taking advantage of that for himself versus having a supplier doing some of the things his competitors do internally," David Cole, chairman emeritus at the Ann Arbor, MI-based Center for Automotive Research, told The News. "It really adds another level of complexity to the situation." While Sergio Marchionne is a man that generally gets what he wants, it seems unlikely that either Mobis or Kuka would give up their role quietly. According to Jon Zapf, Mobis North America's chairperson for UAW Local 12, the company "definitely wants to maintain their part of this production process." According to The News, Jeep is likely to announce the location of next-generation Wrangler production in June. Expect to hear much more on this one in the coming months.