My buddy owns a Junkyard, and owns an absolutely Mint Short Bed Comanche. 4.0L, Auto, 2wd. Has a blown engine, but very little rust (about two quarter-sized holes on the side rocker panel), so it is worth picking up for the shell alone. Would be the perfect up-north/beater/trail truck. It already even has the rubber floor, no power options, etc, just as I was looking for.
I was thinking of picking up a rolled 97+ XJ to swap the driveline in, any major things I should look out for as far as the swap goes? It is a column-shift truck, but I was going to convert it to a floor shifter. Obviously I plan on converting it to 4wd, but that should almost be a bolt-in kind of thing, with minimal welding, no?
Eventually, I'd like to take the axles out of my cousin's 76 F150 (HP D44 F, 9" Rear), but that wouldn't be for some time.
With the type of wheeling I do, I was leaning more toward a pre-runner type of truck. Stitch-welded unibody, 'basic' cage with roll-bar, etc. It seems that what I have would fit the bill pretty nicely. I still have the 98 for a dd, so I don't need to worry about hacking up my current rig.
I saw a good 'manche at the cash for clunkers behind a Chevy dealer earlier today. I like taking pics of them... and other interetsting machinery. I figure it's my little way of 'saving' them. I take pics of old rotting cars also.
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My Fleet 1996 XJ "Snowball"- 3.5" lift, bunch of little mods. I hate pegleg rear axles! 1974 AMC Javelin "Jade Grenade"- 360v8, 4sp, green inside and out. Underfunded Project. 2009 Kawsaki Vulan 900 "Rocket III"- Summer DD