Is it worth it?

I just bought an 86 Cherokee. I recently started to remove the interior and carpet and discovered the front floor pans were shot as well as two spots behind the front seats. How do I decide whether the vehicle is worth repairing. It looks as though the whole underside is fairly corroded. The engine is fairly new(2.5L)less than 25,000 mi on a new long block. The body is in great shape. How long will this thing last if I replace the floor pans? It runs great, has a three inch lift, and near new 30x9.5 bfg all terrains on it. Is it worth it? What axles does this thing have under it?

Thanks,

Greg

Reply to
jerryg
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Greg,

Since your Jeep has a frame (i.e. it's not a unibody), you should be able to take it to a welding shop and have them weld on new floor pans for well under $200.

Michael

Reply to
michael.white

Thanks Mike, I am going to look into it.

Greg

Reply to
jerryg

Reply to
The Merg

If its an 86 Cherokee with the 2.5L it does not have a frame, it is a unibody.

Carl

Reply to
Carl S

'86 Cherokee with a 2.5L engine should be an XJ, in which case it kinda is unibody, they called it "uniframe." The frame members are part of the body. His rusty spots are pretty typical.

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

Yes, Its not a frame like my YJ, its a u shaped thing with the body attached to it. The whole underside is pretty much shot. Take what parts I can and scrap the rest? It has a 2.5" old man emu lift. The body is in real good shape, but the inderside is shot. What to do?

Greg

Reply to
jerryg

Sell me the lift :-D

Carl

Reply to
Carl S

I think I am going to take the wheels and get rid of the rest. Does it sound like its worth repairing? I can send pics.

Greg

Reply to
jerryg

My bad, 2.5" lift

Reply to
jerryg

Reply to
The Merg

What do ya suppose I could get for the engine. 2.5l. It has fewer than

25k on a new long block. $250.00?

Greg

Reply to
jerryg

I would hope you could get more than that - I paid $600 for a junkyard

2.5L for my '93 Wrangler. But, then aga> >> Find yourself a newer XJ with the 4.0L HO. In the long run you'll be
Reply to
The Merg

No I bought the whole vehicle. Engine already installed. No info regarding that. I did not realize that the underside was shot. It has a new set of BFG 30x9.5 all terrains that I am going to take. Also got a full set of factory manuals with it. I think I'm going to part it out. Axles are good, trans is good, xfer case is good. Hopefully I can recoup some of the 900.00 I paid for it!! It is too bad cause the body is in great shape. It looks really nice.

Thanks,

Greg

Reply to
jerryg

Heh, the engines probably cost about the same. But on the other hand anyone who needs one, needs it for an '86 more or less Cherokee and they are the sort of person who owns a twenty year old vehicle like this, that is to say broke.

The vehicle is probably fixable, but if you know enough welding to fix it, you wouldn't be messing with a vehicle that old. You would be employed as a welder, eh?

Earle

Reply to
Earle Horton

Jerry,

Are you interested in selling me the springs?

Carl

Reply to
Carl S

I'm going to venture a guess that a lot of the $900 price tag was this guy trying to pass along the cost of the recently replaced engine.

FWIW, I bought my '92 XJ for $500, but the guy (a professi> >> I would hope you could get more than that - I paid $600 for a junkyard

Reply to
The Merg

Reply to
L.W. (Bill) Hughes III

Hey that floor out lasted the rest of the JeeP. When I got rid of it last summer both rockers were missing, gas tank couldn't more then about 2 litres, all four shocks were toast, one rear leaf was cracked.

As long as you live in a place where you don't have to do an annual safety as part of the smog testing, then yes I think it worth it, but it also depends on the condition of the rest of the vehicle. In the case I would do it even with it only having a 4 banger.

Snow...

Reply to
Snow

What I'd look at is the average retail cost of an XJ like you have that does NOT have a rotted floor. If it's considerably more just weld in the new floor and either drive it like you intended or sell it and make some money.

I bought a '94 with a "cracked head" that turned out to be a leaky water pump for $450. The floor was gone from firewall to back bumper but I bought a 4x8 sheet of 16 gauge, cut it all out with a hand grinder and welded it in my self-cut floor panels. Some primer, paint, and undercoat and it's good to go body wise. All told I've got about $1100.00 in it including new tires, factory rims, radiator, A/C compressor, shocks, brakes, misc. etcs. I did all the labor but the mechanicals were the easiest parts. The floor pan wasn't all that hard but it was the most time consuming.

It all depends on what you want to do with it and how much of your time and effort you can afford to invest.

Reply to
Tom Greening

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