I have owned and driven Jeeps for 46 years now. Have had 26 of them. The latest, VEX, a 1983 CJ-7 I got 19 years ago as a total wreck, and has about $30k in it.  It has been to the far end of the world 3 times and has 1,186,072, as of this date morning. It is now on its 5th engine, the Jeep standard 258 C.I. inline 6 cyl. engine. Each engine has been good for roughly 200,000 before they are simply worn out and must be replaced.

You can see all 26 Jeeps of mine, at my Jeep section at my website which is: http://www.behold-the-rage.com.  The Jeep section is here: http://www.behold-the-rage.com/jeep_page_1.html

I have found with this marque of vehicle and the standard Jeep engine as offered then and still available today, is a pretty robust and indestructible combination. The Jeep itself weighs 5965 lbs, with all the metal welded on the frame for strength so I do not pull it apart with the 12,000 lb. cap. winches which are mounted front and rear. This Jeep has ben to the end of the wrld 3 times, to Terra Del Fuego, Chile. I live out of it most of the time when in the field. It has a welder onboard, air compressor, 2-1000 amp batteries, killer thumpin' stereo system, 180 amp alternator, and the whole Jeep is wired with 2/0 size welding cable and NOT automotive type wiring (too weak). The complete mod.s and add ons are at the link above in the Jeep section at my website.

I have complete documentation and all docs for verification on VEX, but the online Jeep and 4 wheeling community online knows VEX pretty well and has followed its build up over the years.

Any questions, please feel free to contact me at my email address or cell phone number as listed here.

Thank you, CNN--cool project on vehicles and such. Well done and fun to participate in.

So, "keep on Jeepin"!

Thank you,

Robert

Robert A.M. Stephens

Scaled Dynamics

NASA Visual Exploration'

Pan America

USA