Happiness is an SJ Jeep that isn’t completely rotted, left in some dusty field in Arizona or Colorado or wherever else I’ve seen them in more-or-less one piece. I’ve seen plenty restored, but honest survivors? Not so much…rust was a well-known problem for this series, and the truck-like aesthetic tends to push some buyers away…it’s not enough like a car for their tastes, or they’d rather have the plush and loaded out Grand Wagoneer of the late 1980s and early 1990s instead. Their loss, then, as we look upon this 1977 Jeep Cherokee. It’s a basic machine for the most part: white, two-door, manual trans, some crispy floor sections. Not even in the Southwest did SJ Cherokees escape the wrath of the tin worm, it seems. But floors can be patched or replaced…how often will you find a California blue-plate Cherokee that could be driven away the moment you had over the cash? Not often, we’d wager. At least, not for the kind of bucks our Rough Start budget allows.

A look inside warrants some welding knowledge and wire wheels to strip it all down with. The outside needs nothing to our eyes, we like ’em plain and the Razor grille looks just fine here. In fact, we can find only one deviation from the normal, and that’s underhood: a 460ci V8 and five-speed manual transmission that have to have been yanked from a later-model Ford pickup and installed to replace who-knows-what. It won’t win you any awards with the EPA, but if you want good low-down, torque-heavy power, there you go.

$4,9oo is pushing the budget to it’s max, but if you’re up for cleaning up a classic off-roader, there’s few other options worth taking that will be as attractive as this one. Get the rust treatment started and go from there!

Craigslist Link: 1977 Jeep Cherokee (SJ)