Flip My Ride: The 10 Year Flip

     I bought my CJ5 about 10 years ago for $800. It was road legal (with a title) and since we had just recently moved to a farm, I thought it would be more useful than the Kawasaki 4wheeler I had my eye on for quite some time.

     The Jeep was stock height and had stock wheels ( for the golden eagle/daisy duke edition) when I got it. I traded around and got a 4" leaf spring lift, dropped pitman arm and 35" tires from craigslist. My wife and I tore up the countryside in this thing. We took it through creeks, rock crawling and up a 70 degree 300 ft hill affectionately known as "Cow Run". Over the first few years of ownership we did other modifications. I rebuilt the carb, rewired the starter and ditched the ford dura spark ignition, in favor of a GM HEI setup. These mods made the Ford 304 motor way more dependable and more enjoyable to drive.... Only "we" were no longer able to drive it.

     5 years ago we got preggers with our first child, which means our rough riding jeep was no longer something the pregnant wife and I could share as a hobby, and unfortunately the small tub of the CJ5 meant that our now 4 year old daughter didn't have a safe seat in the back of the jeep. The Jeep has lived in the barn (with my other barn cars) for the past 4 years and nine months. We now have 2 daughters and I felt as though I needed to bite the bullet and buy a bigger jeep that the whole family can enjoy, but first I needed to let my old one go. 

  

       A quick scan of Craigslist revealed a shortage of running Jeeps in my area, and a glutton of overpriced half finished projects. So I listed my jeep for $1k over book and the calls came rolling in. I clearly explained my jeeps strengths (solid frame, 304 v8, dependability upgrades) and weeknesses (leaky main, water pump and rusty front fenders) and buyers were inquiring nonstop. The first guy that came to see it paid me in cash, $1k over book and more than $400 over what I had in the whole project. Below is a rally of my total jeep investment:

Jeep - $800

Lift kit and Pitman arm -$275

35" wheels and tires - $175

Moded GM HEI - $90

Carb rebuild Kit $35

So, I had a total investment of less than $1400 and sold it for $1800, and I never even washed it. Sure I didn't get paid for my time for installing the upgrades, but flipping is about trading your time to make cash on the sale. In the end I made $400 and a bunch of memories as the temporary owner of one badass Jeep CJ5.