terrawombat

With Carfax no longer allowing unlimited reports for the standard consumer, you're more likely to wind up with an AutoCheck report as they still allow it.

If I can get this for $500, I'll definitely do it, but I have visions of the owner thinking to himself, "Jeez, if this kid will take it for $500, I might be able to get way more for it." I was very coy about the whole situation telling my co-worker that it looked like it needed some work, but I was still interested. I didn't want to come off like this is a deal (because I know it is). So, we'll see how it pans out and I'll keep you guys in the loop! You're right - I'm not looking for another project at this time. I'd really like to finish both of my MJ builds before I even think about starting something new. I wouldn't mind doing a little bit of rust repair on the YJ if I wind up getting it. I was even thinking of just leaving the hard top and doors off of the thing, yanking the carpet, and driving it around on sunny days. If I get caught in a rain storm, it wouldn't be any different than if I were on my motorcycle - it'd actually be a lot more pleasant!

Believe me - I know. I just missed out on a killer deal on a '93 Cherokee Sport. I called the guy about it early last week and left a message. He called me back the day after and I couldn't get to the phone so he left me a message. He never mentioned a price and by the sounds of the info he gave me - 4DR, 4.0L, Auto, 130K miles and a good, straight body, I figured he wanted at least $1K for it. I wound up calling him last night to see if it was still available. He told me he sold it to a junkyard...for $150!!! I nearly fell off my chair. I would have given him $500 for the thing! Anyway - as for the Wrangler, I don't want to be pushy. My co-worker assured me he would let the owner know I was interested at $500 and would get his number for me. The car isn't actively for sale or anything (no for sale sign in it and not listed on CL - I checked). It's just one of those situations where he wouldn't mind getting rid of it, but just doesn't want to put in the time to list it for sale.

If I had the owners telephone number, the money would have already changed hands, it would be in my shop, and I'd be changing out all of the fluids and fixing the oil leaks. As it stands, I'm working through a middle-man (my co-worker). He says he sees the guy every now and then on the weekdays, but will most likely see him over the weekend. Richasco - Thanks for the tips! I'll look at each of those, although I'll likely wind up buying it anyway. A buddy of mine has a '91 YJ and has some bad frame rot around the shackles (but DD's the thing anyway). He wants me to cut him some steel plates to weld onto the frame for reinforcement - might need to make two sets of those plates.

One of my co-workers approached me today and said his neighbor has a 1991 Jeep Wrangler that he doesn't need/want. It's been sitting in his front yard for a couple of years and he had mentioned that he'd like to get rid of it because it's usually in the way. My co-worker, knowing full well I have a Jeep addiction, told his neighbor that he might know of a guy that was interested and got some basic information about it. It's a 1991 Jeep Wrangler with about 117K on the clock and the straight-6 and a 5-speed manual transmission. It has a hard top, full metal doors, and he thinks it runs, but hasn't started it in a while, but it ran fine the last time he needed to move it - just needed a jump from a good battery. The current owner says the synchros are grinding and is confident it will need transmission work. He also said he would want to get at least $500 for it. My co-worker only lives a couple miles from our office, so I took a peek at the Jeep today during lunch to get an idea of what I'm working with. It's sitting in the guys front yard, but I didn't want to get out and walk around as I would be trespassing on private property. Instead, I took the company camera and used the zoom lens to get some relatively close shots. Here are the only ones that really came out well: Right off the bat I can tell that the tires are toast. It also has some rust issues, which can be seen behind the fender flare extension. Looks like some damage to the front left fender and rear bumper cap. That's about all I can really tell from this one picture other than it looks to be a complete car. I told my co-worker I was interested and he said he's going to get me the guys number. I'm not really sure why I even want this thing other than I used to have an '89 YJ in high school and it was a lot of fun, but I truly hated the 4-cylinder it had and I sold it for a faster car...a much faster car. Anyway - anyone have any good tips to share if I get to go back and look at it in more depth?

Or how about a more manly-man Jeep Comanche bike: http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/1654669772.html

Nice scores! If it's still available, I'm going to be checking out a '97 XJ Country. Guy wants $700. I only want to give him $400, but I think we'll settle on $500 :) I don't really need it...but I want it for some strange reason.

I was under the impression that the baking soda you use in soda blasters is a bit more coarse than the Arm & Hammer stuff you get at the grocery store? Let us know what you find. I have a portable sand blaster that I haven't used in years because the sand created such a mess and didn't really wash away with the rain. I feel like baking soda would wash right away after the first rainfall. I wonder how my EPA-employed neighbor would feel about this...

When I begin to work on mine starting around May, I think I can get it done in about 4-5 months. That's going from a complete '88 MJ, complete '98 XJ, tearing down both, swapping over all of the parts, and firing it up. Somewhere in between all of that, I'll be doing some painting, too. Also, I already have a solid month of work into the project. It's probably an unattainable goal, but a goal nonetheless! I currently have my '88MJ interior completely stripped and the next step is to do floorpan repairs, weld in the XJ seat mounts, mount the XJ e-brake, and then lay on a thick coat of rust preventative paint. Not going to paint the firewall just yet as a little bird told me I'd be making a lot of cuts into that ;)

What was Jeep doing with these hats? Were they selling them at dealerships, including them with the purchases of new trucks? I've never seen these before. Also, how did you find out it even existed?

Gotta love all of the work that was put into it, but they never painted the inside of the bed...

Sounds like you just need a bigger hammer! :cheers: Yes, this is true! :yes:

I used 14ga. steel on the floors. Too thick to form with a hammer, but I didn't need to do much forming. I think the original floor is 18 gauge? I'd go to home depot, lowes, or tractor supply and try bending the stuff so you can get a feel which will be the easiest to work with.

I recommend using a 195* Stant SuperStat, especially if this is a Renix motor, which it looks like it is (you said this is the '88 right?). I've had issues with cheaper, no-name brands opening too soon and my 195 thermostat essentially becomes a 185 or lower tstat. Be careful tightening down the thermostat housing - I forget what the torque spec off the top of my head, but I've broken the housing cranking down just a little too much.

Eagle is a sharp cat, so I have a feeling he already knows all of the information regarding the 0331 (not 0330 as stated in a previous post) head issues. I'm going to throw in my two cents about the 0331 head casting because, well, this is a public forum and I have every right to. The 0331 head casting was introduced to the 4.0L in the 1999 production year Grand Cherokees. I'm not sure if ALL '99 Grands received it, but a majority of them did. 1999 was a transition year for the XJ, but from what I have read and seen firsthand, a majority of the 1999 XJ's received the older 0630 head casting and few got the newer, "updated" 0331. It's glaringly obvious which head casting you have when you pop open the hood and see a long, slender coil pack covering the plugs and a much smaller cam position sensor stuck in the hole where the distributor used to go. There have been people who claim, although I've never seen it myself, that their '99XJ came with the 0331 head casting AND a distributor, which would be evident by the coil pack mount embosses on the head, itself, but no coil pack. I've had the pleasure (and displeasure) of dealing with three 0331 head casting vehicles in my lifetime. The first was the original engine in my '01XJ (156k miles), which I bought on the cheap because it had severe engine problems. I assumed the head was cracked and coolant was mixing with the oil and it would be a simple head swap and I'd have the thing back on the road. I was wrong - that engine wound up spinning a rod bearing and there was no evidence of coolant mixing with oil and vice versa. Inspection of the head revealed nothing and even when I ran the spun bearing engine (which made me cringe every time), it never overheated. I wound up replacing the engine with one from a '98XJ with the 0630 head casting, which is NOT a direct swap. The exhaust ports on the older style head are much larger than the newer style, which means that the original exhaust manifold in my XJ was going to have some issues and I NEEDED to keep it because it's the ridiculous 4 oxygen sensor setup and I didn't need/want any CELs. I had an adapter plate machined for me and it has been running well ever since. Next up was my cousins '01XJ with the 0331 head casting (153k miles). This car exhibited all sorts of weird overheating behavior that eventually left him with a blown head gasket. There was no evidence of a crack on the head, but I could definitely see oil mixing in with the coolant and it smelled awful. I'm not sure whether the head cracked or what, but I do still have that cylinder head and can do a closer inspection on it. The last vehicle was from a '00TJ (130k miles) with, you guessed it, the 0331 head casting. This vehicle definitely had the head crack and it was very obvious - it could be seen with the naked eye. Coolant was in the oil and the car was exhibiting some overheating problems. So, with all of that said, it seems as though the 0331 head casting is a hit or miss thing. I personally have one that went 156k miles without a hitch - something else went bad on that engine before the cylinder head could! Although, I also have evidence of these heads failing at a relatively low mileage. My theory is that if the coolant is not properly flushed and changed like it should be, the cars eventually get to a point where they overheat and THEN the owners choose to replace the coolant. I think that the 0331 head is sensitive to higher temperatures and will crack when taken to a certain temp a repeated number of times. That's my theory. However, there are remanufactured 0331 heads out there on ebay that claim they address the cracking problem and they're really not that expensive (I think $360 shipped was what I was looking at at one time). I personally wouldn't hesitate to buy another 0331 4.0L again. If I keep the thing well maintained, it'll probably keep chugging along. If not, then I'll spend about $450 or so in parts/gaskets and I'll have a 4.0L that will last me another 100K miles easy. Granted, if I didn't go all of my own work, that would be a different story.

Good info. The 16" rims from the XJ and Liberty that you're speaking of are known as the Icon rims. A decent looking rim, but relatively hard to find. Of course, right after I say this, I find three sets in my area. I think I might pick up a set this weekend if they're still around. They should look pretty good on my '88 to '98 MJ conversion.

This would explain my lackluster MPG ratings in my '01XJ. I need to slow down, but I always seem to be running late...

That cap is going to be a bit short. I measured my 7' Comanche bed the other day and if I remember correctly, it was right around 7'6" give or take an inch.

Good info. The 16" rims from the XJ and Liberty that you're speaking of are known as the Icon rims. A decent looking rim, but relatively hard to find.

My '88 SporTruck did this same thing. It was a farm vehicle so we just let it go on for a while and now the engine has lower-than-normal oil pressure and compression. Turned out to be three or four leaky injectors. Got new injectors, but it was too late for the engine. Still runs, just not as well as it should and it has a lot of blow-by.

An '87 4.0L with that mileage would draw a max of $400 in my area. I've seen an AX-15 sitting on craigslist for about two months now...guy wants $200 for it, but it's an internal slave so anyone who knows what they're looking for probably doesn't want to bother with it.

I've been using 14 gauge steel to patch up my rusted out floors on one of my MJs. It's a little too thick to work with and I think I'll use 16 or 18 gauge when I do the floors on my other.

Fun is a relative term. I find this kind of work relaxing and it seems to relieve my day-to-day stress, but I also just want it to be done! I'm getting anxious and want to put this thing to some good use...still so much left to do, though. Patience...

I cracked open the can of seam sealer this morning just to get an idea of what I was working with. Oh man...that stuff is potent. Before I do anything with that stuff, I need to get a respirator. Ordered one of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004Z4EB/ref=oss_product I'll be away for the next few days so hopefully it'll be here when I get back!

I found some more time tonight to work on the truck. I measured the space for the other replacement patch panel and cut it out and welded it in place. There is at least one other area on the passenger side that I'm going to chop out and weld in some good steel and then I should be able to seam seal it and paint it. Fitting the replacement panel: Replacement panel tack welded in: