Thanks for checking out my passion project. Over the past three years, I’ve been “resto-modding” a 1983 Jeep CJ8 Scrambler in my garage.

This project has been a long time coming. Back in 2005, I noticed the Jeep sitting in a driveway, clearly untouched and undriven for years. It showed its age, no doubt — but it was the most beautiful vehicle I had ever seen in person.

Before long, I found myself taking the long way home from work just to pass the Scrambler again and again. On what must have been my tenth drive-by, I finally worked up the nerve to knock on the door and ask if it was for sale.

An elderly woman answered and laughed, saying her son — who had left the Jeep in the driveway more than a decade earlier — would never sell it. Still, she promised to ask him “for the tenth time” whether he was ready to let it go. I left my phone number with little expectation of hearing back.

Two weeks later, while I was at work, a man named Sam left me a voicemail asking me to call him back to “talk about the Scrambler.”

Sam told me he’d sell it for $4,000 cash — a very fair price at the time — on the condition that I take great care of it. The Jeep hadn’t been started in years, he said, but with a little love, it should at least be able to drive onto a trailer.

We had a deal.

Then, as happens with so many vehicle projects, life got in the way. Over the span of a decade, I worked a demanding job, attended grad school, and then moved across the country (from Washington, DC to Seattle, WA).

It wasn’t until I had settled down with a wife and two kids in Idaho that I found the time — and, yes, discipline and financial resources — to finally bring the CJ8 back to life.

I’ve been taking my time, of course. This is an after-the-kids-have-gone-to-bed pastime. In the hustle of life, it’s usually the first thing to fall off the radar.

I’ve found that the Jeep naturally garners more of my attention in the winter time, when the mountains around our home are locked with snow. I’ve also found that my attention comes and goes. Perhaps a new part will arrive in the mail, and I’ll find myself excited all over again.

I suspect this website will take a parallel path. I’ll contribute to it from time to time, perhaps trying to maintain momentum on the project when I’m waiting on a part or seeking experienced input on a particular problem.

I hope you’ll follow along and share questions, kudos, and challenges. Keep me on task and the project rollowing forward!

Denis Cook