By Wes Kibble
She is loud and obnoxious. She definitely stands out in the crowd. She is Still Miss Behavin'. We are talking about the Jeep, not the young lady sitting behind the wheel! Although, mind you, she can be loud too! Lisa Hodges, from Calgary, Alberta, is one of the kindest and most gentle people I know and has a true heart of gold. Except when her best friend Kathy Wills get together...especially while drinking! And of course when she crawls in behind the wheel of her CJ-7 Tough Truck racer, she is definitely Still Miss Behavin!



Lisa and her soon to be husband, Ken Hodgins, built the Jeep from the ground up using a Blazer drive. After running the Jeep in tough truck races for a few years, they decided to strip her down and start from scratch and add some Ford Bronco stuff to this machine. While it may look like a regular CJ-7 on the outside, Still Miss Behavin is truly a wolf in sheep's clothing. Starting with a 1981 Ford Bronco frame, they retained the Twin Traction Beam front differential. The Ford TTB front suspension can be easily modified to gain tremendous travel, which Ken accomplished with little effort. The Dana 44 front diff houses 3.50 gears

The rear suspension was also heavily modified for maximum travel, featuring custom coils and trailing arms. The rear diff is a Ford 9" with a Detroit Locker and 3.50 gears. The Jeep moves around on 36" Super Swamper SX tires and steel spoke rims painted to match the rest of the vehicle.



The custom driveshafts hook up the Ford NP208 transfer case that came with the donor Bronco. The transfer case is mated to GM TH350 automatic car transmission. The heart of the beast is a 355ci. small block Chevy. It is blue printed, balanced, and rollerized. Sitting with 11.5 to 1 compression, you cannot hear the gear drive over the open headers. The TBI fuel injection does not bog out when going over the rough stuff like carbs do.



The interior is pretty Spartan. Just the basic safety equipment like the roll cage, window nets and fire extinguisher along with the seats, B&M shifter and gauges. That is it...nice and simple. On the outside, she is definitely a looker. And the Jeep is nice too! Painted bright yellow with a black hood scoop and half doors, Still Miss Behavin' definitely has a mean stance. A chrome grille and chrome nerf bars add a touch of class.



When the new and improved Still Miss Behaivin was finished Ken decided it was time to try his hand at Tuff Truck Racing and set out for his first race in the Jeep in 2001. He's hooked too and has started building his beast which will be similar will the exception of a complete Ford Bronco Drive Train with a Jeep YJ Body - I guess that means it's a Jeep FJ?



Ken and Lisa would like to thank their sponsors: Folk Automotive, Stampede Autoworks, AAC Small Hauls and Gary Dawe Light Haul. Please visit their website below and tell them you saw them on Off Road Action!