Jeep CJ8 Scrambler - Matt Garrett

1981 Jeep CJ8 Scrambler LS 5.3 V8 with NV4500 5 speed/ twin stick Dana 300, Dana 44's, 6 Lug, 4 wheel disk brakes, 4:56's Air Lockers, Vintage Air and more. This could "possibly" be one of the finest restomod CJ8's ever seen. It certainly is not from the lack of expertise, time or money if its proven not. This will be a "must see" to understand that when I purchased this 85% complete Resto Mod, it had over 150K in it at that point... and it was not done.... Started with real CJ8 body and frame. The idea started by a professional welder who builds winning trophy trucks. He took apart what was a family owned original CJ8 probably about 15 years ago now and modified the original CJ8 frame to be something only a level of passion, love and customizer could ever achieve in his own time off any clock..... This part could not be duplicated even at the price mentioned.... as this aspect of project is the pro-bono part and what brought on the over the top build!. His work went into the frame from his baja/trophy team experience and this includes, roll cages, safety equp, engine mounting, shock mounting, seat mounting and more. Nothing left to chance. Must see on this. At that point it was going to be some sort of actual competition jeep he had in mind from his the race team experience,,, except the level of work and time put into it, brought his work to the attention of the next guy who had $$$$$ and invested in it as a show jeep to build on the artwork put into the chassis.

The original body was done separately on an extremely high level, cost no object restoration by a show car shop. The custom work you see in the original CJ8 body was done by the same welder on the body before the paint too. This I think leads even the wealthiest person down the path to a vehicle that is near done but "just needs paint" to get hit with a sticker shock by some of these shops and puts a vehicle in a money no object or a failed project category. I think when the sticker shock hit from "phase 2" paint shop, pure show level, ISCA national tour truck was the object at that point. So with that commitment, there was no way to NOT finish it off with the best of the best.. It went Full commitment level only a dreamer with unlimited funds could achieve.... It just went up from there using the best of the best by the best of the best from the crate purchased 400HP LS engine, ecm, wiring harness, East Coast Gear 57" Dana 44s with 4:56 air lockers, 1 ton steering, GM 800 series 6 lug 4x4 4 wheel disk brakes, Warn Locking hubs and Tom Woods drive shafts, TDS modified twin stick dana 300 transfer, to the use of what is considered the toughest and best transmission, the NV4500. The hardware in this machine is top notch, sorted, and configured to do general off-road, minor crawling and of course lots of eye catching mall crawling. But anyone can buy hardware if they have the checkbook. What they cannot buy is the detail work put into this that only its creator would do to their own car and not quite put into the rich guy's car who would be overpaying for things should he be a customer. Just human nature. Today it shows as kind of nice jeep that others on budgets have built for 10K from WAYYY across the parking lot.. but get close and what is to be discovered will take a full week to see it all and comprehend what this one is. This can ONLY be appreciated by someone who has personally built show cars and understands what it took to achieve what you see in front of you. Otherwise you just dont get it and cannot be expected to ever get it until you have walked that road yourself.

Now here is the cool part....... The engine is not a race car engine but it is still powerful, too powerful for this even. But excess is what this machine is about. It is the LM7 indestructible vortec engine with 706 heads, mild cam and all the touches needed for long term durability bought over counter as crate with ECU and wiring. It runs cool, idles like a stock chevy pickup with a mild cam AND does it all with AC on the hottest day. We use it for parades, 4th july in texas even, hard idle slow moving. Then you can put the kids in the back with the racing harness to strap them in and with the full competition built roll cage in this CJ... they are going to be as safe as in a volvo (thats a joke for you in the know)... What I am saying is this jeep is totally usable, not something that is "all show and so over go". Take it to sonic, get food, the grand kids will love it. But the grandparents must at least have the agility to climb into it. If you want to see the hidden stereo built into this thing. Watch some vids... Not what you would expect nor does it interfere with any of the near weatherproof aspect of this machine or its capabilities.

Now when you get to the interior, even the average guy who misses a lot of the frame and structural touches will see just how over the top this Jeep is. Its not a luxo barbie jeep by any means, all was done with heavy duty in mind with all color keyed Hard Line/LineX floors, this carries to the underside of the body too and key wear areas ... But it has one of the nicest custom setups with excellent working vintage air and heat as I have ever seen in any CJ.. and its weight/balance and its general mix of street/offroad suspension make it street drive excellent. In other words, you can turn a corner in this and it wont woller over on you like a crawler build, but it still can fly over dips, bumps and articulate pretty darn good. That is why I say the suspension is general use, not pure off-road. Now with the fox gas shocks you can take it one way or the other a few % too. Of course lowering air pressure is not CTIS H1 easy, but it has its onboard compressor and air tank all built in with even a dash gauge and you can re air your tires up with a hose that attaches to a quick port on it. This system also runs the air lockers.

My care and ownership started in a kind of "give this thing some direction" role. I think everyone who starts a project like this wants to build a world beater when they start out BUT ultimately realize that production vehicles are not race cars, or in this case, trophy trucks. No matter how much you throw at it, it aint gonna be that. And then the crawler route was considered by the original builder.... Not wise for a show vehicle to go crawling that end up on its roof..... Crawling is specific and needs to be a specific vehicle that cosmetics are not the priority. So with all the "competition" concepts really just a pipe dream.... I brought the world beater dream back to reality. The old saying is, it it dont run, chrome it. And in the highly competitive off road world... without a major sponsor and proper truck.... this dog dont hunt.... So getting back down to earth, my direction was make it a very capable general use, show/street/trail classic jeep... and that is all it is... but I think it may be one of the best in this down to earth real world format. Fast enough on the street, good enough on a trail, original enough to still be considered a CJ8, and stellar at a show always dropping jaws.

In my care, it is used primarily for car shows and parades as it is too over the top to ever see water, dirt, at least by me. It has done ISCA Autorama shows, won best Jeep, best 4x4 and even best truck at different shows as this is still considered a jeep truck. It is invited to national touring if one had the time on the car show circuit. I only do Texas personally and you may have seen it already if you are from here. This is totally capable of off-road, trail, and even very amateur light crawling. All articulation, droop, bump stops, ride, shock extension, spring rates, power and balance has been tuned on it in my care to be a mild "do it all" machine. It can go down the highway at 60-75 safe too and I have run it up to 100 testing it without issue. It has muscle car 0-60 acceleration with its power and gearing, as fast as a cj8 as you have seen in that aspect but its not a race buggy. It can do it all fairly well and in a show do it over the top. But mall crawling is all it really is good for with its non duplicable craftsmanship, detail and investment level put into it. Look for it in a parade, show or even at a cruise in... but dont expect to see me down at the trails in this one... any jeep will beat me there by default.

CLICK ANY PHOTO FOR AN EXTREME BLOW UP!

Where in lives, in my car museum.

Look closely at the frame, the cross members and more.

LM7 Engine with about 400HP, crate purchased complete

NV4500 5 speed and Dana 300 Case seen along with Tom Woods front Drive shaft

Torque arm and Tom woods driveshaft seen along with full stainless 3" exhaust, GM Z71 4 wheel disk brakes

Dana 300 twin stick, TDS mods

Integrated 6 lug vintage AMC JEEP Wagoneer canter caps

Dual bat system and AC lines seen along with evap drain hose.

Even the under dash is finished out.

Onboard air compressor and connections to air tires

Dana 44s, air lockers, 4:56s

Full front and rear separate competition cages, top can come off of course. Rear bed cage is bed mount and can come off, front cage full frame integration.