I have owned to CJ-7's. a 79 and 85. I liked the 85 better. Wider axles, dana 300 t-case vs model 20 t-case. High back seats vs low back seats, little things like that. As for rust, the newest Cj would be what 21 years old... so yeah its going to have rust, nothing some new weld in plates can't handle. The other issue is the carter carb... the venturi tube will get clogged with crap and make it run well...like crap.. clean them out and check all your vacum lines and you should be good to go. Model 20 axle gets a bad wrap sometimes, but replace it with some 1pc axle shafts and it will handle 35-36" tires just fine. Check the spring hangers as well. Also if you don't have an oil leak after 100k miles your out of oil..lol The rear mains do tend to leak a lot ont he CJ's. Also the top plastic valve cover's are crap and leak too. Get an aftermaket one and all will be well.