Uh oh

So, I just spent the winter building a brand new engine for the 2000 because the lovely 0331 decided to fill the motor with coolant and wreak havoc. I lost it all, the camshaft, lifters (one wore right through), bearings, rocker arms etc etc.

But thats not the problem, I finished the new engine, bored .030 over with hyperutectics and a comp cams custom camshaft and lifters, high quality oil and water pumps, aftermarket cylinder head the whole nine yards. Got just about 5k on it when I got into an accident.

Right front took the hit. Damage includes but may not be limited to both fenders, header panel, passenger headlight bezel, bumper, passenger end cap, bumper mounts and a bent tie rod.

Ive priced these parts out at about ~500 to replace myself (minus paint and prep and labor). I typically do all my own work but im not a body man.

Shop estimates the appearance damage at ~4500 which, in the eyes of the insurance company is going to be a total loss. I dont want to lose the truck because of a fender bender.

My idea is to take the max they will give me, buy the parts myself, assemble the truck back together and then have it painted by a body man. I have a couple small spots of rust, not rot, and im not sure how much it would cost to have the whole truck resprayed. Any thoughts?

Check the front sub-frame for staightness. The last thing you want is to repair "everthing" and find out that it makes 4 tracks in the rain.
Sorry about your accident. I purchased a 98 last year and my daughter flipped it on the drivers side within a week of purchase. Fortunately it was a slow tip and the damage was only to the left fender, hood, and header panel with new turn signal. All repaired with paint for under $300 with extra paint done. Parts are very inexpensive if you find the right shop. Good luck.

check local laws. In many states once a vehicle is "totaled" there are VERY specific hoops you need to jump through to put it back on the road. I know here in MA you need to document every part bought, reciepts for any repair performed etc. Then you need to pass a safey inspection. Then if they feel like it, they will let you register it.

Just be sure there are no similar hurdles in your state.

Trail rig time?? Put engine in new jeep?

sjx40250 said:

Check the front sub-frame for staightness.

Click to expand...

I sort of did the same thing to my '92. I'll just say the only original piece of sheet metal forward of the doors is the inner and outer left fender. IF the 'uni-frame' rails are not tweaked, you can build from there. I was able to take the car off the road, and take my time putting it back together. Luckily, we hit a few $22 fender days at Harry's U Pull It, and it was only a few hundred dollars to hang new tin. The only tricky part was the right inner fender. The original metal was bent back to the shock tower, but the tower was OK. That gave a good reference point to start from. I used different methods to attach the new parts that didn't bolt on, like spot welding and body panel adhesive. My son and I took collision repair classes at night at the local vo-tec, and we got a welder for Christmas last year. The car also needed a lot of rust repair, and it turned into a two year project. I got it painted at a Maaco shop, and they did a great job. But, we did all the prep, sanding, masking, etc. The shop owner admitted that we did a far nicer job than he could afford to do, and the results were great. The paint was $400, for a $600 job, as services were on sale at the time. All told, I'm at about $800-1000, but we were able to do everything but final paint ourselves. One great thing that I couldn't have done it without is the cordless reciprocating saw (Sawsall). Cut off whole chunks of Cherokee, bring them home, and then dis-assemble the parts properly, then re-attach in the proper way. Like any Jeep, it'll never be done. But, we now have a cherry 'extra' car.