XJ underbody rust

Hello,

I just got a 95 XJ for $900. 4.0L and AT. The underbody is rusty, worse than I like. Does anyone have suguestions on what to do? Good websites? Personal experience?

Thanks a ton,

Dave

I'd say buy a parts jeep for cheap and combine the good running gear with the good body. It might be cheaper in the long run.

It's a unibody. If it's too rusty down under you're screwed.
jyd

no you aren't screwed, as long as the framerails are still solid, which they most likely are, you are fine. Mine was really bad, no floor on the passenger side, gaping holes on the drivers and more holes above the gas tank in the rear but a friend and i fabbed up some patches and floor pans and made it work. It was pretty ghetto but i couldn't find any floor pans to buy at the time, however i stumbled upon this thread here recently: http://208.101.10.250/~naxjaor1/forum/showthread.php?t=93863&page=1

pretty much tells you everything you need to know.


if the floors are still solid and its more surface rust slap some POR-15 on there and call it a day

There are entire floorpans available, for a couple of hundred dollars. If you have the equipment and skill to cut out the old and weld in new, its very doable.

I just got done welding in patches on 8 Rust holes in my XJ, I just used sheetmetal from my local hardware store and a borrowed welder.

Like mentioned, the key is if the frame rails/structural pieces of the under body are still solid. I've seen pictures, on this site, of people that have welded in steel tubes to re-enforce rusted away frame rails, I wouldn't buy a vehicle in need of that. Of course, if I already had a vehicle needing that, that would be a different story.

pictures help

First step is to remove the carpet to see what you are really dealing with. If you see no holes you are in good shape. Smalls holes have a tendancy to be much bigger than you expect. There was just an FAQ thread on floor pan repair.

I'll say it again, if it's TOO rusty you're screwed. If it's just the floor boards you can replace those but if the frame rails are rusted you're looking at major reconstruction to make it safe to drive. Can you sat UNIBODY?
jyd

Take a hammer with you, if the owner is unwilling to let you tap on the underbody, than walk away.

My XJ rusted from the inside out, I think the previous owner spilled soda all the time out of the inadequate cup holder, because the biggest rust hole was right underneath the cup holder and all the rest were the low points following behind there.

I never saw any rust, until I brought it home and started tapping on the floor pan with a hammer, suddenly entire sections of normal looking undercoating collapsed with rust falling out.

I did mine and spent alot of time with this thread http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=93863&highlight=rusted+floor