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Wanted to start this off with a big thank you CC members for everything you all do. Not to long ago my XJ sold to a CC member and we was VERY gracious on delivery conditions with me. Plus he saved the XJ from my local repair shop from keeping/scrapping it since I couldn't afford the shop bill. Now I could use some advice, the legal kind, on my MJ. With the XJ gone, I need my MJ to be my new DD/work truck. Easy right? Well it gets complicated. (Story starts with XJ still running fine, not in shop) I had the MJ posted here and everywhere online. Had one buyer lined up in NY not too far from where it was being stored. Buyer agrees to a time and date. So I hit the road and give him a heads up, hey I'm two hours away. He backs out and I have no second buyer lined up. So now I'm stuck in a conundrum. Do I keep the MJ in storage? Do I trailer it home with no affordable storage? Or do I help a friend and let him use it? .... I decide to let my friend use it on his farm. This seemed like the safest and most thrifty option. MJ wasn't registered, so it'll stay on the farm. Friend falls in love with it especially for with 7 foot bed, good torque, looks, etc... Friend decides to buy it but doesn't have the cash. So we set up a payment arrangement. He sends me some money, about two or three times. Then all of sudden, no contact. His phone is out of service, no money is being sent, can't reach him through anyone we know. Obviously I get mad, but there is nothing I can do, short of driving to NY from CT. So I send up going to NY for other reasons and stop by his farm. MJ isn't there... Gives me a sob story about the phone, money, and lack of truck. Short story is he took the truck into town, with no plates, and got pulled over so now it is in impound. I figure out where impound is and ask how much is storage fee. They say $55 a day. It has been there over a month. So 55x30=1500+ for a $500 truck... So now I'm ever more mad at him. Still haven't received anymore money and truck is impounded still. I'm asking for any advice you guys have. I still have the title but no key. Do I sue my friend? Do I ask impound to work a deal on the bill? (Title would be hard to get for impound guys in NY) Do I take this as a huge loss and life lesson? Is there another option that I don't know about?

I'll start this off with, this is not a build, it is a hypothetical project that I want to work on in near future. So one day I'm driving around Upstate NY somewhere. And I'm allows on the look out for Jeeps, even have a lame roadtrip game for Jeeps. Then I see a rusty Comanche in a yard. Naturally I pull over to investigate this fairly rare sighting. Go to the owner's porch and knock on the door. He seems confused to see a stranger on his property. I tell him I'm here to talk about the Comanche. I bring up how I am driving my 89 MJ longbed. Instantly earn his respect and attention. Tells me he used to use it in a local offroad club but lost interest. Says I can check it out. Its an 88 MJ shortbed, rusty, carpet sagging through floor pan, I6 4.0L 5 speed, with a bench seat. Stock nothing fancy. Tells me he is ready to sell for scrap price and it is loaded with misc. scrap. I tell him if he can wait awhile, I'll pay more than scrap to save it and make a project of it. He loves the idea. He previously turned down offers from local junkers. I guess he was just holding onto it for such a day. I almost have enough money and a trailer secured to move to a friend's property. Here's my rough plan in kind of order: Get money for owner and make it decently higher than any scrap price. Get car trailer to haul it. Bring it to my friend's property since I have no room for it at the moment. Scrap the misc. stuff out of the bed. Pull the interior and see what is left of the floor. Put the interior on pallets and wrap in tarps to store in barn for near future. Pull the engine and transmission. Sell said powertrain for like $75-100 (170k ish) Pull the tail lights and recondition them per CC instructions. Source a bedliner for the bed and hope it isn't rotted. Find a fuel injected I4 2.5L and automatic transmission that mates up (not most common combo but I've seen them) Find corresponding 4WD system for the truck I want. Find small lift components, thinking 2-3" lift. Find or buy new 30" tires (when close to done) Find holy grail of cool Comanche parts. (Visor, roll bar, buckets maybe, etc...) Get Nates bumpers for front and back. Get the Harbor Freight special roof rack. Get LED lighting inside and outside. (Roof light bar, bumper light bar, A pillar lights, Truck-Lite LEDs, and misc interior too) Hope to have money for a nice tune up and money to register/insure it lol This is all off the top of my head. Hope to update with more ideas. Taking ideas, opinions, and questions is always appreciated!