I have recently acquired an 89 Eliminator. Its in fair shape for the mileage @ 260k, seems to be mostly original california truck. Was owned by my uncle for most of its life, ended up in my Grand Mas garage for about 10 years because it was leaking coolant out the freeze plugs and my uncle was unable to fix. Well uncle Joe and GMA passed and uncle Harold wanted the truck gone, was going to have it towed to the junk yard if I didnt come get it, well I got it. At first I just wanted to get it to be a decent runner for around the property, so I fixed the coolant leaks, new intake exhaust gaskets, injectors, fuel pump, filter, plugs, wires, o2 sensor, adjusted the tps, new IAC, cleaned all the grounds etc. I also did the front suspension, ball joints, bearings, brakes all steering components. The truck now runs good, drives straight and smooth feels good. Biggest issue with the truck is the ax-15 is notchy in 3rd and 4th. Well I have come to a cross roads in my short relationship with my MJ and I am looking to the experts for advise. I either cut my losses now, as i just don't need it and try and recover the parts money I put into the truck(seeing that it will be hard to get good money with the transmission shifting the way it does) to get it where it is now or go full restore and then sell. I really don't have a want or need for an MJ in my life at the moment I have a YJ that I built that suits all those needs.
So a few questions I have is that I have done a proper amount of research and see that there are "restored" MJ's at varoius levels that sell for 10-15k. I understand that I only see asking price but is the market really that good for these trucks? I'm a Mechanic by trade and have a nice home shop for "side work", lol! I would be looking to completely tear the truck down, bed off, interior out. Rebuild the trans, 4.7 stroker rebuild, 8.8 w/discs and LSD, Long arm kit, not sure about the front yet. Also would consider doing the XJ front clip and interior, or would that take away from the originality of it in terms of resale? All the work would be pretty clean and stock looking, powder coat the rims, don't want to put bunch of personal touches but it will be solid, capable and period authentic. I have priced out most of the bigger items it would take to do this build and feel I could do it pretty comfortably and have fun doing it. So, Is it possible to get upwards of 15k for a nicely restored MJ? Of course If I do go thru with the build I will be posting progress, so stay tuned and thanks for the input!
