Well, I slipped up and somehow this snuck into my barn...





What am I gonna do now?!

*L* J/K

I'm not forsaking the unibody... I just thought I'd try something different.

It's a 1994 YJ; 2.4 I4 engine, 5-speed manual, hard-top only & the interior is pretty spartan. She needs work; there's holes to be patched, one of the motor mounts is done, and those springs are pretty settled. There's a sticky lifter, the parking brake doesn't work, and there's probably a few other issues to be tinkered out. But the Jeep has a new clutch, battery, rad, stereo & more. She's a peppy little thing, even with 30x9.5" tires, the 4wd works like a charm, and I love those rims...

Plans for it are very simple. Trim for 31x10.5" tire clearance, new speakers, tune up parts, electric fan & recovery points. I'm keeping the 1992 Limited for a nice driver & long-distance trooper; I'll still be fixing it up as I go along, but I just can't bring myself to cut it up, or even treat her rough off-road.

Whatcha think?

What the heck, why not? YJs are decent rigs and don't be afraid to post up here. Who's going to bust your chops about it? The 5 or so that post here?

*L*

True. I just don't want folks to think I've gone soft. (top.)

I still love the XJ's, but thought to try YJ's. Plus, my sister-in-law owns a 95 YJ that's almost exactly like it. I've ridden around in it a few times in the summer, and it was fun! I figure I can learn things on my new YJ, apply them to her YJ, and drive the XJ when I need something practical, comfortable, nice or if I need to go anywhere farther than 20 minutes away.



EDIT: Oh, and dropping a V8 in these things is easy as all get-out. Although I've always figured the smart thing to do would be to drop a 4.3 V6 in a formerly 2.5-equipped YJ. I figure in a year or two I'll put my money where my mouth is.

Update!

Well, that was a laugh.

As you may know, I was all over the map this summer. I sold the 87 with the Dana 44, and then got stupid and bought a YJ. The new YJ turned out to be a total loss; the PO had hacked, spliced, and diced the wiring. Plus, she'd sunk it in a pond, and I mean SUNK. Want an example? The tail-lights were acting wonky, and one headlight was out. After replacing both headlights, one was dim, and the other was bright. After much tracing, trying different headlights, and head-scratching, my sister-in-law and I found both headlights wore now working fine. Problem? The headlight plugs were home-brew siliconed at the back, and the contacts were filled with crap. The tail-lights were how we figured out she'd been a submarine at some point. The metal plate in them looked like they'd been under the Atlantic for a few decades. There was still moisture in there, and the bolts were so rusted that even putting the socket on them stripped the edges off. There's a high-water line on the firewall, under the dash. To top it all off, the exhaust isn't hanging from the proper hangers, it's sitting on the axle.

It gets even better. I knew she was a little rough when I bought it, but the selling point for me (solid frame) was rendered moot when I found a soft spot over the rear axle, on the inside of the frame, it was covered in paint, and I didn't notice it until a scale of rust caught my glove and came off in a palm-sized chunk. It's going to take a LOT more money to get it road worthy, and then I'm worried I'll find the axles are toast (if she dunked it deep enough to submerge the tail-lights, and didn't have the forethought to get the water out of them, how much do you want to bet the axles were taken care of?) or the engine was hydrolocked (that 'lifter tick', is it because of junk in the oil, or a bent valve?).

There's more wrong with it. Every time I fix something, literally two or more things fall out of it that need fixing. Rear wiper motor, defrost & hard-top seals. Under-dash wiring, rear electrical hook-ups, and even the seat-belt warning buzzer. (It came on when I took my belt off, and stayed on for about five minutes AFTER I turned the engine off.) The brakes need replacing, the door locks are warped (won't unlock from the outside), and the motor mounts are toast.

I could go on, really I could, but hopefully you all reached the same conclusion I did... The Jeep is a total loss. I don't have the money, or the health to re-do everything that needs fixing. It sucks, but I need to think long-term, and cut my losses. I'm pulling all of the good parts I can, (new rad, mirrors, some switches, and the wheels), and I'm scrapping it.

I'm going back to my roots, and focusing on the 1992 XJ...