The Origin Story

I have wanted a Jeep for as long as I can remember. For years, I harbored a fantasy of building one from the ground up—literally starting with a frame and piecing it together bolt by bolt. Back then, I didn’t have the skills or the bank account to pull that off. Looking back, I probably have the capability now (though I’d still need a spare pair of hands), but at the time, reality forced my hand.

The catalyst came in an unexpected form: a deer. After hitting one and totaling my previous vehicle, I suddenly had an insurance payout burning a hole in my pocket. It was time to pull the trigger.

The Buy & The Drive

I took my Dad with me for the road trip to pick up the candidate: a 1998 Jeep Wrangler. It was white, stock, powered by the humble 4-cylinder engine, and “very well used.”

Despite its laundry list of quirks and problems, the Jeep was a runner. We drove it several hours home without incident. It was a victory. I had the Jeep. I had the vision. I had the enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, I had a little too much enthusiasm.

The “Teardown” Trap

The very next day—less than 24 hours after parking it in my driveway—I stripped it down. I wanted to rebuild it, and I wasted no time removing parts. In hindsight, I was too quick on the draw. I got it stripped down efficiently, but I made a critical error in logistics: I didn’t have a garage.

Man vs. Nature (Nature Won)

Living without a shop is a modder’s worst nightmare. I tried to mitigate this with a “temporary garage”—a carport tent I picked up on Amazon.

If you’ve ever tried to keep a canvas tent standing in high winds, you know where this is going. The weather here was relentless. The wind battered that tent until the frame buckled. I repaired it. The wind broke it again. I repaired it again. Eventually, the elements won. The tent was damaged beyond repair, and my workspace vanished.

Where We Stand Today

Life, weather, and a lack of shelter conspired to put the brakes on the project. While I managed to get a few things done early on, the Jeep currently sits exactly where I left it: completely stripped and partially exposed to the elements.

It’s not the update I want to give, but it’s the honest one. It’s a reminder that “modding everything” requires more than just tools and parts—it requires a roof.

The Future

The dream isn’t dead; it’s just dormant. The plan is to reclaim the project in the near future, figure out a shelter solution, and finally start putting the pieces back together. The goal remains the same: get the ’98 back on the road, better than it was when I drove it home with my Dad.

Stay tuned.