So... (deep breath)
I built my last car over a period of 2 years, a '92 Acura Legend. Flawless piece of work, if I do say so myself. But like all good things, she came to an end when a d-bag driver for a local corp. hit me going 45.
So the insurance company threw me a few dollars for my hard work, and I thought to myself, hell, why not go ahead and get that jeep you've been wanting since you were a jitterbug. So i endlessly searched craigslist for days on end, different cities, even up into the great state of Georgia and the likes.
Eventually I came across a good looking deal, it was a 1993 Jeep XJ on 4 inches Rancho and 32x11.5's. The catch this time was the smashed front end the guy's kid had done. No big deal, was at one point in this young life screwing an auto body girl at the local votech. So I've done a little body work before.
Before I make any rash decisions, I hop into the rental car and ride to old faithful, Zephyrhills, Florida. First place I ever rode in a '98 TJ, then rolled that sum***** on an embankment. Better days. I drove aimlessly through the streets of ZH and Dade City, straining my eyes to find even the lowliest of Jeeps in the cut somewhere. Nothing.
I head back to Lakeland, ready to take the dive.
Now stop the movie right here. Wtf was I thinking? Ok play.
I get in touch with the wife, who gets me in touch with her husband, who tells me to come on out to Spirit Lake and take a look. I drive out that way as the sun is setting, not really putting much thought into all I would really need to be able to see on something as in-depth as a lift and 4x4. I get out to the house just as the street lights were coming on, and I see the XJ over next to the house, nose in. So I'm checking out the front end damage as the guy comes out, and I'm thinking to myself, this aint ****. I could do this no problem. The interior is in moderately good shape, I'd give it around a 6. The exterior, aside from the obvious broken nose, was right there with it, maybe even a 6.5 lol.
I say to hell with it and give the guy his money, dropping him only an easy $1000 on the asking price, damnit. I hop in it and my buddy takes control of the rental and we head back to lakeland. As I hit 45 mph, I start getting the death wobble. ****, already, but i figured I cant expect too much for what I paid. I get her home and go about ordering OEM front end parts, like the grille and front fascia, an OEM bumper, and head to the junkyard for new brackets.
I start disassembling the old parts, and I come to where the bracket is creased from the impact, and I cant finagle my way to the bolts. I search for my cutting wheel, only to find that my cousin took it to use on his boat. So i start wrestling with it, trying my damndest to bend the bracket back into place, or as close as I can to access the bolts. That slut jumped up and took a bite out of my thumb. Split it right across the top of the nail. It got pinched at full force between the bumper and the frame. No bueno.
Put the new radiator in, only to find out that it was cracked. So had to disassemble and reassemble the front end a total of 3 times. Broke the mudcovered a/c condenser. Found out I have a bad steering box, a hole in the backside of my transfer case, apparently it got lashed by the chain. I need new bushings throughout, and for the ultimate in wtf. I knew I had a leak somewhere on the body, so i found it, and covered it up. The thing is, this is Florida, and it's been raining every day, so the jeeps interior was soaked.
I decided to go ahead and remove the carpet to get rid of the mildewy smell and dirty carpet. Upon pulling up said carpet, I came to find that the floorboard on the passenger side was rusted away and some ass**** had put a piece of flimsy sheetmetal down with silicone.
So now I'm feeling a little
and I dont want to give up, so I decided to see what all you guys out there think. Let me know if youve had any situations like this, have any advice to give, or hell, even some jabs to poke lol.
The XJ of ill repute........
Just get it going and make it nice and drive the heck out of it is the only way you'll get your money's worth out of it IMO. Floor pans are cheap but don't buy cheaply made ones. Looks like a good base besides the work needed done.....as long as the frame is intact go for it 
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