I built my first Jeep with a borrowed 110-volt welder, a 4 1/2-inch angle grinder and a 3/8-inch drill. It was a '48 CJ-2A that I literally drove into the ground early on. So with my limited tools I swapped the engine, transmission and axles. And then I completely cut off the old suspension and built my own using soft compliant leaf springs. It wasn't until I wrecked the Jeep while flat-towing that I finally got my hands on some better tools.
I had driven the Jeep about 80 miles from my home to Ocotillo Wells, California, for a weekend of thrashing. Anyone who has been there is familiar with Blowsand Hill. It's the largest sand dune around where people congregate day and night. Anyway, I somehow found a way to roll my Jeep uphill while climbing the dune. I crushed the windshield so I couldn't drive it home at the end of the weekend. Legally that is. Today if that were to happen I would simply sling on some goggles and make a night run on the road home to avoid a ticket. But I was young and dumb back then so I figured I'd catch a ride with a friend and then drive my tow rig back to the desert to recover my flatfender. My tow rig at the time was an '89 two-wheel drive Toyota pickup with a towbar. Not the safest setup since the Jeep likely weighed more than the tow rig. The Jeep in tow would push the rear end of my makeshift tow rig around corners. And if the roads were wet it was like driving an empty pickup on a Vaseline racetrack. But I was a couple miles from home that day when some clown quickly pulled out in front of me on a rural curvy two-lane road. I slammed the brakes, heard a clunk, a crunch, and then the rear end of the pickup lifted off the ground. Fortunately or unfortunately I had stopped short of plowing 8,000-pounds of Jeep and Toyota into the dumbass that backed down a driveway into a blind corner. I mean, had I simply just hit him, it would have no doubt been his fault and his insurance would have covered the damage to my vehicles. But it was not my lucky day. And it was getting worse. I got out of my Toyota to see my Jeep pretty much on top of the tailgate of the Toyota. The tow bar had bound, broke loose, and wedged itself between the Toyota's bumper and rollpan and then pole-vaulted into the asphalt. The front frame horns on my Jeep were bent. This caused the fan to smash into the radiator. The Jeep's coolant was leaking everywhere. Both my vehicles were stuck together like mating dogs. While in the middle of that blind corner I had to unbolt the bumper from my tow rig to get them separated, which resulted in me receiving a pretty good bang on the noggin from the falling bumper. Of course the guy who caused all this trouble was more than pleased I didn't hit him, but he was about as useless as teeth on a chicken. Once my vehicles were separated I finished off the radiator with the fan by driving the bent-in-the-middle Jeep off to the side of the road. I then took my truck home to borrow a truck and trailer from a buddy.
The next day I called my insurance company and told them what had happened, thinking they were going to pay to fix both my vehicles. Apparently they didn't see it that way. I was working at 7-Eleven at the time so I wasn't exactly rolling in money. I had full coverage on the Toyota, but not the Jeep. And truth be told, I had way more cash wrapped up in the Jeep than I had in my truck, so it was kind of stupid thinking on it now. Anyway, since you can't sue yourself the Toyota's insurance would not pay to fix the Jeep. Ultimately, with the exception of the tailgate, the Toyota had only minor cosmetic damage that I didn't really care about. But I ended up with a $1,700 check from the insurance company. A buddy gave me a tailgate that happened to be the same color as my truck and I went straight to the tool store to buy a Miller 220-volt welder and a Porter Cable reciprocating saw. A few days later I had a repaired frame and a new fan and radiator as well.
Today I've got all the tools and experience I need to pretty much build or rebuild anything, including a frame. The problem is I don't seem to have the time anymore. And looking back, I'd probably trade every single tool I've got for the time I was able to spend building my Jeep with borrowed tools.
-John Cappa