I’ve just finished wrenching my arse off on my 1954 Willys CJ-3B, and I have to admit: I’m tired. This project snowballed so much worse than I ever expected, and now that it’s done and I have a beautifully-driving flatfender Jeep, I’m naturally going to sell it. It’s a classic case of “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.”
When I bought my 1954 Willys CJ-3B for $5,900, I was thrilled. Here was a rock-solid body, an engine that appeared to have been rebuilt at some point, and honestly very few obvious flaws.
It was a steal. Or so I thought.
Fast forward a few months, and as I’m rushing to prep the Willys for my wedding I realize the vehicle is made of bondo. It’s really more of a sculpture than an automobile at this point.
Is this a big deal? To many, it’s not. As long as the Jeep looks and drives well, who cares if there’s a bit of putty on the sheetmetal? It turns out: I do.
For some reason, this bondo bothered me so much that I gave up on the CJ-3B as the wedding car, and instead chose my 1991 Jeep Wrangler YJ, the 4.0-powered five-speed beast that we all know and love from Jurassic Park.
Anyway, I still had to fix the Jeep, because $5,900 was only a white-hot deal if I got the Jeep running and driving. A broken Jeep — even one as complete and decent at this one — doesn’t command much scratch around LA. Still, I wasn’t worried; it’s an old Willys. I can fix these in my sleep!
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Unfortunately, this nice Jeep ended up in much worse shape than it first appeared. The fuel tank was toast, so I had to replace that:
The rust in that tank meant the fuel pump and carburetor were filled with rust, so I had to replace the former and rebuild the latter. This took time.
Then, when I looked into why the brakes weren’t working, I found that the brake master cylinder had rusted out. This, like rust in the fuel system, had downstream effects. Because this was a safety issue, the rust in the brake system meant I had to replace all the brake lines, hoses, and wheel cylinders. This was a pain in my ass the likes of which I hope to not have to deal with again for at least a few years.
Then I noticed the rubber shift boots were torn, the brake pedal had far too much play, the shocks were rusty, and before you knew it I was multiple months in on this Jeep, laying on my back with brake fluid all over me, wondering how the hell this project had snowballed.
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Then I realized: This is a pattern. This has happened so many times it’s hard to count. Take my 1991 Jeep Cherokee XJ; this was the holy grail of Jeep XJs, but I bought it with a bad front axle and fender. So what did I do? I let the project languish until I decided I had too many cars and I needed to sell it.
But since I’m too cheap to sell a car for less just because it doesn’t work, I set out to fix the Jeep, and by the time I let it go, I’d spent hundreds of hours fixing it until it was the Jeep I had wanted in the first place!
The same thing happened with my 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ five-speed. It needed new shocks, a new shift tower for the transmission, a bunch of other repairs that I cannot remember. A bit overwhelmed with my huge collection and knowing that this Jeep was worth quite a bit in good shape, I decided to sell the Jeep, which was an absolute creampuff:
For reference, the Jeep I kept was the exact same model, except it looked like, well — see below. My logic was: Why sell the rough one? Who’s going to buy it? 
This same pattern occurred with the 1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer I bought for a song. It languished until I had to sell it, then — in part because the city of Troy was trying to fine me for having broken cars in my yard — I got off my arse and got the AMC 360 running quite nicely. Then I sold the Jeep for a good price:
This same thing happened with my cheap Chevy Tracker, which was in great shape once I sold it:
It’s become clear that the best cars I’ve owned are the ones I had just finished prepping for a sale because I’m too damn cheap to sell a car for thousands less just because it needs a few hours of cheap repairs. I simply cannot stand it.
The result is: The cars I sell are in amazing shape and the cars I own are always basket cases, at least up until I decided to sell them and then fix them up for the next owner.
None of it makes sense, but it’s completely in line with that old saying about cobblers children having crappy shoes. I sell the good stuff off because it’s worth money, and I keep the basket cases in rough shape until I decided to sell them and realize nobody wants to buy a basket case.
It’s a stubborn habit I hope to break someday. Because while it ends up with me having a few bills in my pocket, it also ends up with me spending loads of hours on cars I don’t even get to enjoy, while I drive my junkers everyday.
That Willys is a tempting start to my next chapter… it runs incredibly well and it does look quite good even with the Bondo…
Top graphic image: David Tracy; IIT
Next fixer upper, promise yourself you will drive it for six months before you sell it. You’ll still get top dollar, just a little broken in to eliminate infantile failures.
For me it’s kinda the opposite, where if I decide to sell a vehicle I completely stop caring about doing anything other than putting gas in it, because why do work for the next owner? Most of my cars that I’ve sold have been totaled or driven into the ground by idiots so why even bother… they’re usually high-mileage old BMW’s so dumping money into them rarely results in a good return on investment, they just need the bare minimum to run and drive.
I can relate to doing the same thing over and over again though, as I’ve owned 10 BMW E34 5-series, and each one has needed the exact same repairs over and over again with almost no variation.
The best part of Lego’s is building them.
My wife always knows when I am about to sell a vehicle because I put new tires on it. In some weird, Pavlovian conditioning, she seems to be correct.
I lol’d.
I do the exact same thing. I buy a vehicle, use it for a while, get to know (and live with) all the flaws and problems, then decide I have to sell for whatever reason. But my conscience won’t let me sell without disclosing the issues, and I can’t stand the idea of dropping the price to account for those problems.
On a completely unrelated topic… anybody interested in a 2002 Chevy 2500HD 8.1 / Allison? The harmonic balancer, front main seal, belts, transmission NSBU switch and pigtails, fuel pump, power steering pump and hoses, and heater mode actuator have all been replaced recently…
Username checks out.
I’m in a similar place. The Volvo 240 wagon in my profile pic needs to go.
I love the way the car drives, and it is in great shape overall, but the tailgate has started to get seriously rusty, and I don’t have a viable plan to replace it. Trim pieces and functions are starting to deteriorate faster than I have time to source and fix them. The blower fan is going, and that will eventually necessitate pulling the entire dash apart to the firewall.
-The lack of AWD makes it non-viable to access our often hilly building sites in northern winter.
-The lack of AC makes it miserable to drive in the summer.
-It’s a manual, and my wife doesn’t like to drive stick.
-No airbags is starting to freak me out on our fast undivided highways.
So I’m basically left with a single-driver ‘occasion car’ for moderate spring and fall cruises. As you can image, the car spends a lot of time sitting and deteriorating further. These old Volvos are starting to appreciate, and the lizard part of my brain wants to capitalize on that. I’ve got the desirable ‘slick roof’ manual wagon after all. But the time it would take to get the thing 100% would come at grave cost to my increasingly valuable work or leasure, and there’s no way it would make monetary sense. I’ll fix what I can in the spring, then it’s sayonara.
Thank you David for writing these articles. They’ve really helped me organize my own thoughts, and get my priorities straightened out.
“and before you knew it I was multiple months in on this Jeep, laying on my back with brake fluid all over me, wondering how the hell this project had snowballed.”
Ain’t that just the way
Do you enjoy the owning/driving or the repair work/challenge more? Honestly seems to be more the latter.
I don’t even know anymore.
Do you want to run a repair/restoration service and flip cars. Or do you want to enjoy and drive/show the finished product? Are you bored with a car that does not need something? Is it the shop work that invigorates you or detailing?
There is nothing wrong with being a wrench, but you need to be honest with yourself. If the work is more enjoyable than the finished product then you know. Fix up old stuff and sell it, post the work and results. Don’t mourn what could have been. Then, just take on only manageable work, one at a time.
I believe there is still a red Grand Cherokee languishing at Galpin. This project is dear to your heart and needs completed.
The red Grand Cherokee is my #1 goal.
I know that – then make it so! Consider me an experienced older brother. I’m pushing 50, have a 19 yo daughter, family and house. You can only do so much and still respect their needs. One at a time.
Life only comes once…and a car will always be there if you want it. Live a bit.
I found that once I got on ADHD medication my interest in random old cars really diminished. Selling working projects after the dopamine fades is the way to go rather than letting them sit and rot again.
If you decide you want a child, that will likely be the thing that tips the scales to keeping the good examples.
Your mindset changes when you have a little one to keep safe.
David, Meet David Freiburger or Rick Péwé .. I’m sure either one of these would want this jeep..
How about you go all in, do the damn body work and have a car you enjoy for a change?
Should an off-road vehicle even have good bodywork?
I recently bought my first 4WD truck, but I bought it for some hard to find body parts for my hot rod Cummins, though I am not unhappy it’s 4WD.
The pastures here often flood and I’ve gotten stuck more than once with various vehicles.
The Cummins has limited slip, but is two wheel drive with an all iron block, so very front heavy, a sort of an anti off-road vehicle.
The new truck is a 1500 so no compatible mechanical parts under it.
Disabled when I bought it, with apparent transmission issues, it has also had the front axle disabled due to control issues in the front mechanism.
So I wasn’t expecting much.
Friend suggested I repair it.
I had mentioned the body wasn’t as pretty as I had hoped, but pretty enough for 4WD.
Today I was going to drag it up the hill to the house to work on it.
The hill is mostly gravel and wet leaves, so slippy and steep.
Washed out at the bottom, so can’t build up speed.
I went ahead and tried to drive it up and once it finally went into gear, it went up the hill okay.
So it’s more viable than I thought, potentially.
Reading about all these jeep options laying around, it occurs to me that I really only need 4WD here and rarely, but really need it when I do.
So if I can get the drivetrain into four wheel lockup mode, I’d be okay with leaving it that way.
Does anyone else do this?
Truck came with some interesting bumper stickers, mildest being something about sniper recon.
I’ll do the bodywork on the J10.
Friend of mine that’s a metal worker often emphasizes how under rated and tough real bondo actually is.
“Bondo ‘n paint makes me the welder I ain’t”
Don’t forget the grinder!
A reasonable guess, but he is a museum quality metal worker that has done replicas of medieval locks that are engraved on the inside, yet riveted together, so the interior won’t be seen until it needs repair possibly hundreds of years from now.
Same person that built a full boogie flat fender jeep in high school with a V8 and dump truck level drivetrain parts, paid for by extricating full size 4WD trucks with a Datsun 510 or a VW bug.
He’s my off-road coach now, and says traction is more common sense than special equipment.
I’m joking about the options available to us mere mortals. Your friend sounds like a true craftsperson of the metal arts.
I wouldn’t believe the stories if I didn’t know him.
He has shown me work of his mislabeled in museums, which he really hates.
He does treat most vehicles as casual tools, but he still has the jeep, and is now talking about getting it on the road again.
He says he will never sell it.
’tis always thus with old vehicles: when it’s running good it’s time to sell it.
David, you used to write about the repairs as they were happening. I could relive prior repairs of my own while reading of trials and tribulations of your repairs. Now, unless I have missed several articles, we get just a summary – “I fixed things”. I understand you have greater responsibilities now, but I miss the blow by blow articles.
I thought about this too
These repairs did indeed just happen. I JUST finished the entire brake hydraulic system. It sucked.
But finally it’s done.
I think the difference is that the gap between when I fix things has grown. That kinda goes without saying given my role.
The good news is that I’m moving into a house finally, so my projects will see significantly faster progress, in theory. Not as fast as when I didn’t have a company to co-run, but still.
Your wife is a saint! To knowingly get you and her more space that may well enable more shenanigans, that’s worth a lot. Have fun downsizing for the move!
Hopefully the house has a 3 bay garage! That’s one of my regrets on my current house, is not holding out for that extra space…
No one in the history of homeowners has ever unironically uttered the phrase “My garage is too big”.
The corollary to your theory is that you are about to acquire a whole new series of projects that affect the space you live in — with someone else. The quest for marital happiness will require that regrouting the upstairs shower take priority over fixing a Jeep — any Jeep.
Not necessarily a bad thing, but a thing anyhow. Homeownership is maintenance. Enjoy the ride and get to know the folks on the pro desk at home Depot. Also, congratulations! Or congratulations?
This has to be a Guinness Book record for the most browser memory intensive Craigslist ad ever uploaded.
Well done, DT 😉
It’s not an ad. The Jeep already has a buyer.
I was just joking, bud 🙂 Cool that you have a buyer, though!
Woops; I should have put an exclamation mark so it didn’t seem so curt!
My wife is doing the exact same thing with houses. Be forewarned.
Yeah, mine keeps pushing to get this one finished so we can start again. I live here, can’t I just enjoy living somewhere nice for a few years?
It’s not like I make her drive my project cars.
Please David as a longtime reader who has been following you since there was a transmission in your dishwasher…
Please keep a good rebuild, sell all (ok most) of your junkers, and ENJOY YOUR LIFE. You can editor-in-chief while cheering on the next generation of rust junkies rebuilding a B2000 they found in a creekbed.
I’ll be doing something like that. More soon!
We did that with our previous house: completed a list of projects so we could sell and move. Not doing that again. 😐
But like, what if you kept and enjoyed this one? Or even just enjoy it for a few months and then sell it? Live a little, man!
I’m surprised you don’t take it on a 1 way trip to Moab for EJS, wheel with me and then sell it down there. I’d make sure you have a ride back to hop on a plane in GJ.
What’ll you be driving?
1981 Jeep CJ-5. I just put fuel injection on it. I’m doing the chill stuff rated 3.
I’m tossing hitch carrier on the back to haul the cooler and camping gear. I’ll have to give my dad a ride to the airport on Wednesday.
I’ll be in Moab from Sunday through Wednesday. I’m driving over Thursday before to grab a campsite.
How about the rule of three? No more than three cars at a time. Go on a one-in-one-out type thing. Buy something new, but something has to go first.
And I bet ENHRN might like the rule my wife imposed on me. If a project has made no significant progress in a year, it loses its project status and becomes junk and its gotta go. Keeps projects moving along or moving out.
^ This is where I’m at. We have 3 cars. 2 dailys and one toy. I’m going to be allowed another toy once we build a garage, but then it becomes 1 in 1 out. No more than 4 cars at the house with soon to be 3 drivers.
That’s my rule with RC vehicles. Unless one gets gifted to me. Keeps running costs for batteries down and lets me get to know the ones I have.
Giving up a pre-76 car in California…
They’re the only ones exempt from smug check
Smug check sounds about right. Unless its a Porsche, then you’re a connoisseur!
Perhaps a more complete inspection before purchasing? How many of these issues would be seen with just a cursery look see?
Imagine having such vision and never being blinded by the light.
To see everything is to miss something. (-;
Good luck with the sale. Someone’s going to get a nice Jeep.
Wait! Make it a part of the Autopian Membership plan. For $12,000.00 you get the Jeep and everything else all other members get plus a private parking spot at the L.A. office.