Should I put on a new body????

[uglyjeep]

I'm working on getting my cherokee going with a 6.2 diesel. I'd like to set it up to be my daily driver and for mild rock crawling and for difficult desert trails. The body is rotted very bad for a CA truck (below the fresh air vents, in the quarter panels, and in some more unusual spots - I think it previously lived by the beach) and the front and rear flares are already cut off.

If I use this body I won't have to worry about body damage and I'll be able to run 35's with minimal lift (if any). But, I'm not used to dealing with rot and don't I like seeing it. I was recently offered an uncut, clean, rust free body for 100. No charge for delivery, as the guy is already heading up to swap for other parts. If I go with the "new" body this will probably turn into another of my "eternal" projects.

I'm leaning toward just running the beater.

[ThisGuyUKnow]

SWAP it and take pics

[lkmarsh]

Sounds like rust will never be your friend. If it bugs you now it always will. For $100, get the new body and break out the sawzall.:sawzall:

[coop923]

What year is the donor body?

[uglyjeep]

The body came off a 77 WT IIRC.

[ClovisMan]

I would swap the body. Once rust stats you can never really get rid of it.

[coop923]

I think so too, although there might be some things to check out. Do 75 and 77 have the same frame mount bolt locations? I think it may have changed sometime around those years. Leaf springs got longer after the 75 model year, right? I don't know if that happened all at once or not.

[coop923]

Another thought: if you were running a gas engine, you'd be going from CA smog exempt year to a smog year. I don't know how diesel engine vehicles are regulated/policed here though.

[uglyjeep]

I won't be changing years on the registration, I'll swap the older vin tag onto the newer body (if I swap bodies).

[ThisGuyUKnow]

I won't be changing years on the registration, I'll swap the older vin tag onto the newer body (if I swap bodies).
I think that might be Illegal but I like it :D If you have a line on good condition body go for it. If you got the time and you got the resources and the frame mounts are the same there really isnt a reason not to :rolleyes:

[coop923]

Sounds like fun stuff. I'm in the middle of a body swap myself; kind of a shoestring budget thing that's taking a lot longer than it should, but I'm learning lots as I go. I know there are lots of people on here that know about the year the chassis changes took place, IIRC it was 76. It might not be a big deal though since you know what you're doing well enough to do a diesel swap. It's probably just a matter of moving of fabricating body mounts.

[orangecherokee]

post a picture

[jeepskater433]

swap the body, rust is your enemey

[Tigger4X]

if you got the space, you gotta spend the coin! too good to pass up!!

and ya'll are slippin' ...




:worthless:


{ rustbucket } ~ vs ~ { clean donor }

[uglyjeep]

Here's a few pics of my cherokee. I don't have any of the other body. And so far I have found no rot in the floor panels, only everywhere else :rolleyes: . The second pic is at the back of the roof and is rotted through.


http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/uglyjeep/IMG_3918.jpg
http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/uglyjeep/IMG_3919.jpg
http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/uglyjeep/IMG_3920.jpg
http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/uglyjeep/IMG_3927.jpg

[TheJeeper]

Yours is considered clean where I come from. I suppose all you Desert-Rats just don't appreciate tin like us southerners do....

[uglyjeep]

Clean is a bit of a stretch - fixable I could agree with, but clean??? I don't think so.
(And before anyone jumps all over me - yes, I have seen some of the "rust belt" rigs, and I've even cut one or two up after stripping all the useful parts off ;) .)

I'll admit it isn't the worst, but there's much better around - even in places that the metal rots before the tires do.

[Tigger4X]

:eek: EEEK! :eek:

Bouncing around dry AridZona trails it'd be hard to tell if you were breathing in dust or rust with that body! Most definitely shell out the 100 clams and call it done!!

Just don't forget to keep us updated ... pics too! Or you are likely to wake up to a Gila Monster in your bathtub. :hide:

[TheJeeper]

Clean is a bit of a stretch - fixable I could agree with, but clean??? I don't think so.
(And before anyone jumps all over me - yes, I have seen some of the "rust belt" rigs, and I've even cut one or two up after stripping all the useful parts off ;) .)

I'll admit it isn't the worst, but there's much better around - even in places that the metal rots before the tires do.

Maybe it's the area. Rigs that look like that are few-and-far-between here in the TN/KY area.

[uglyjeep]

:eek: EEEK! :eek:

Bouncing around dry AridZona trails it'd be hard to tell if you were breathing in dust or rust with that body! Most definitely shell out the 100 clams and call it done!!

Just don't forget to keep us updated ... pics too! Or you are likely to wake up to a Gila Monster in your bathtub. :hide:
The only thing from Arizona is the license plate:D . I threw it on cause I figured it would be better than nothing. That's not saying that I won't be driving on AZ trails though :thumbsup:.

[Farmer_Jack_13]

Wow, if that is what yall call rusted out there in Cali. I need to get out there with a very big trailer. That said, if yall can get a completely clean one fer $100 I wouldn't even be thinkin about anything else.:D