Twelve months ago, as the Editor and I are talking on the phone, he said to me, “Ya know, we need a build for next year’s magazine.” The moment I agreed, he said “too bad your Jeep is all done now.” My response (being Bear) was to let me think about it and I would see what I could come up with.

With all the major surgery complete, the frame extensions installed, and the cab close-out put in place, it is now time for the bodywork and re-assembly to start. First, we decided with the cab section on the table - at a good working height - the J-rails previously salvaged from the Rubicon were to be spliced and re-attached to the tub’s rails.

The cutting begins and the tears are shed. Let me tell you, the hardest part of this experience after all the measuring is breaking out the Saws All and putting it to the body of a perfectly good Jeep. But a means to an end has to start somewhere and in this case, it requires cutting the vehicle literally in half.

From the first time I viewed this marvel of engineering, eventually having one in my driveway was no dream, but a certainty. When the Trucks Plus crew approached me to perform a build for its readers, I finally had an excuse to make it happen.