My son has reached the ripe old age of exactly 12 1/2 years old (he makes absolutely sure to add the half). As he has gotten "older", his thoughts have not necessarily turned to the SI Swimsuit Issue (that I know of, anyway....), but towards the great outdoors and open road and just how, exactly, he'll get there under his own (right foot) power. So, we began a search for the perfect project vehicle that we could work on together to turn into a reliable, safe, good looking (His thoughts may have turned to that swimsuit issue after all since he wants to look good going somewhere??) vehicle. At this point we have had several deals either fall through or just didn't get there quickly enough to make a deal.
Until Tuesday, April 2nd.
I found a 1979 Jeep Cherokee Chief that is in rough shape, but not too rough (by scrap yard standards). Floor pans are completely rusted out, most likely from an aftermarket sunroof that has RTV all around it, the door panels are gone, the shift lever from 4 Lo to 4 Hi does not work, the back door does not open, and the carb is completely shot (even though the motor - 360 / 2bbl - idles smoothly when using a spray mister to inject gas directly into the carb), and it has a ton of surface rust on the exterior, but only rotted at the rocker on the drivers side and at the back of both rear fender flares.
My son was aghast.
I fell in love.
When I was a child, my grandmother's beau had a Jeep J10, my father, while he was still around, and mother had a Grand Wagoneer, and my oldest aunt and uncle had an International Harvester Scout II. We used to ride up to Tellico and Reliance during the summer for camping and swimming with my younger aunts and uncles in tow (I was the oldest child of two oldest children. My aunts and uncles ranged from 7yrs to 20yrs older than me). I remember how much fun it was for me as a very little guy spending this time with my family. During Christmas season, we would all load up and head for the woods and mountains in these vehicles and cut trees for the house. Just an awesome time in these old vehicles like this. That's not even mentioning hunting seasons or our fishing trips. I have even had a couple of CJ-7's, CJ-5's, and a Grand Wagoneer when I was younger. I would say these memories have directly affected not only my love for the outdoors, but also these types of vehicles. This is the same type of memories I am trying to build for my son and daughter, with this just being the latest extension of that.
The old Cherokee has the makings of greatness (or, at least, adequacy). After showing my son some pictures of the old Chiefs in good shape, he is 100% on board. The scope of the project is large with long lead times, so, I would like to start this to chronicle the father / son rebuild of an outdoor Icon.
I will post up some pics along the way, and of course, am happy to receive advice on this journey. Anything you can add, or point me in the right direction with this is greatly appreciated!! So, without further ado and longwindedness, our project FSJ:
But watch out!!! I started out on ifsja.org at 12 and its really changed my life. The reason I say watch out is that now I have 2 FSJ'S and I'm 13!!! Will be trading my first fsj (79 waggy) for parts for my j20 build 
Where are you located? We're having a meet up at Jake's full size jeep junkyard in Burnsville, NC (about an hour north of Asheville) the weekend of the 26th, 27th, 28th of this month, your welcome to come along. There will be all sorts of fsj talk and he will learn about them quick. There are about 100 fsjs in the yard and you ought to be able to find just about any part you need/want. Good luck 
I look forward to seeing progress.
Let your son know I get a lot of compliments on MY '79 Chief. Have fun with your project!
