Not sure why '86 CJ7 build

[Willowrun]

For some reason, I've always wanted a CJ7. I've always liked the bare bones approach and the disco graphics that carried on into the 80's. I have a '78 full size Cherokee that has been a decade long project so no idea why I wanted another Jeep after years of being spoiled by the availability of used GM parts for all of those builds, but I guess I wanted a challenge. Finally, I despise the "it's a Jeep thing" crowd driving around in their bolt on JK Jeeps....I had no idea they all wave at each other...ugh.

I hunted the nation for a CJ7 for a few weeks. My criteria were little to no rust, inline 6 motor, manual transmission, steel tub, and as close to stock as possible. Easy right? Well, yeah if you want to spend $15K. I wanted to spend around 1/3 of that for the initial investment and after a few weeks found one within a couple hours of me that seemed to have potential. I called the seller and he had bought it about a year prior, had driven it up north a couple times and now needed some cash. I could tell from the pics that it had some "custom" pinstriping and graphics which was my first knock against it.