Body And Interior
While the cutting board covering the belly pan skidplate is functional, it also adds to the look of the Jeep. We aren't sure what its made of (neither is Steven), but upon close inspection, it sure handles a beating and looks way better than a dented, scratched, and rusting belly skid.
The body of the Jeep is covered in root-beer colored paint, which we are told is a stock BMW offering. Steven says he got it that color, but has had it repainted the same hue after a roll in Moab and other various trail damage. The flames on the hood are Tangerine. Steven is an old-time AMC/Jeep nut, and he took the V-8 emblem of days gone by and had it powdercoated to match the flames.
There are Warn bumpers front and rear. The front bumper sports a Warn winch, and immediately behind the winch in the front crossmember is the plug for the remote-mounted winch solenoid and an air chuck for easy airing up and down.
Inside are Bestop bucket seats with a JC Whitney carpet kit, Lecarra steering wheel, and an Alpine AM/FM/CD player to make the long trips comfortable. The rollcage is a custom job based on the stock CJ main hoop, and Steven uses some Master Rac locking consoles and fender-mounted boxes to keep his valuables locked up. Behind the rear seat resides a 12-gallon fuel cell, which isn't enough for any real distance, but that's where the fuel cans out back come into play.
Tire And Wheels
This coil-sprung CJ is running 39.5x13.5 R-17 Super Swamper Irok tires wrapped around a set of True Design bead locks in 17x10 flavor.
Good, Bad, & What's It ForSteven says that aside from the six months of manning a grinder ever night after work, he really liked building the Jeep. His goal all along was to build a Jeep that he's comfortable driving anywhere, and he's succeeded.
However, with the 383 and the blower under the hood there were overheating problems, and he simply didn't like taking it wheeling due to having to stop every so often to cool it off. Bullhide 4x4 stepped in and put a Griffin aluminum radiator in it with dual 13-inch Flex-A-Lite fans. Steven could, once again, wheel his Jeep.
What We Think
Well, we don't like the fuel cell inside the Jeep, and while we aren't fans of coil conversions on older Jeeps, we do have to admit that this one works...and works well. Also, we wouldn't even admit to our mother that the color of our Jeep was root beer, but it does look cool and Steven has no problems getting on it, so it loses the pretty-boy Jeep stigma that way.
We did think that the 4.56s are too high of a gear for the 39-inch Iroks, but Steven tells us that with the power he is making, it will lope along at 70 to 80 mph with no problems at all.