Project Red Rust Bucket

[emosun]

Bought in july 2026 for 1000$ . First jeep I ever owned but probably the 40th car I've ever bought.

1987
4.0 / 5spd manual / 4wd
230k+

Still runs and drives but extremely rusty. The floors had been entirely replaced with bits of metal and self tappers and flex seal by someone at some point. Both bed sides had rust holes the size of basket balls. 60% of the frame on the driver side was rotted and missing between the cab and bed. These are the original photos of it from the sales ad.

Test drove it and it actually drove really well. Major issues at the time were frame rot / parking brake / engine mounts.

[emosun]

Replaced front wheel bearings and brakes and parking brake and welded the frame in july/august.

Repaired the bed sides with door skins on one side and a roll of steel on the other. Painted with a can of sherwin williams color match oil paint and a brush. Not great but better than it was. Replaced driver side door. Took about 10lbs of rust out of the rear bumper and repainted it. Repainted wheels. 

Also replaced a ton of wiring that was all done with house wire nuts

[Andyfrye]

Wow! That is a lot of rust. What are your plans? Complete rebuild or just make it last longer?

[emosun]

13 hours ago, Andyfrye said:

Wow! That is a lot of rust. What are your plans? Complete rebuild or just make it last longer?

Definitely not a complete rebuild. This is what most car guys would consider to be a parts car. Not a candidate for an expensive rebuild.

I actually however get a lot of enjoyment from buying the worst example of something and keeping it going. I like seeing the history and the patches and repairs along the way that add to the story of the car and show it's age. It's far more interesting to me to see how a car survived than to totally erase it's entire past.

[emosun]

Reusing leftover interior window sweeps as exterior window sweeps