Southern XJ's

[bacelaw]

Hi -

My '96 is fine with 118k miles - however, the new england winters have been tough on it - it's rusting out terribly...i've already patched the floor pan.

My question is - are there southern XJ's out there with tons of miles but zero rust/clean bodies?

I'm thinking about flying down to pick one up cheap (ebay maybe?) and swapping my engine into it. Then, undercoating the crap out of it to prepare it for New England. That way, i'd have a rust-free XJ, strong engine, and a ton of extra parts!



Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[90xj06]

i don't know how good the under coating is. the moisture usually gets stuck under it and rusts it out faster. but that was back in the 80's.

and is it just rust on the floor or body too.

[RCP Phx]

Zero rust here in Az!

[bacelaw]

Zero rust here in Az!

Zero?

Unreal. Do you think it's easy to find a clean XJ with a ton of miles out there in AZ? I would love to do a vacation/pickup a jeep trip!!!

My problem is, I'm beginning to get obsessed with jeeps. I'm getting better with the wrench and have saved thousands doing repairs myself. So, I'm thinking about getting a clean rust-free XJ to keep forever.

They do have decent undercoating in a can nowadays. Point is, if you get a clean XJ, you can stay on top of the rust - my 10 year old jeep has the cancer too bad to be maintained.

Thanks

[BudgetWheeler]

I got mine about an hour away, found it thru cars.com for $1500. It's only got 82K miles on it, but it is a '91 with zero rust or body damage. So yes it's possible to find them. I searched ebay for a long time and I had a hard time finding anything in the south, most of it was in the northeast. You really might do better by searching cars.com and autotrader.com, picking some big southern cities(that you might fly into) like Atlanta, Miami, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Tampa, and then broadening your search out from there.

[bacelaw]

I got mine about an hour away, found it thru cars.com for $1500. It's only got 82K miles on it, but it is a '91 with zero rust or body damage. So yes it's possible to find them. I searched ebay for a long time and I had a hard time finding anything in the south, most of it was in the northeast. You really might do better by searching cars.com and autotrader.com, picking some big southern cities(that you might fly into) like Atlanta, Miami, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Tampa, and then broadening your search out from there.

That's great advice. Cheap flight into a big city, cheap Jeep, drive it home. I think you're right - i'm seeing far more Northeast Jeeps on ebay.

Amazing these vehicles are so cheap with 100k miles...we should all buy a couple more for storage!

Do vehicles rust out in Florida if they've seen some time near the beach? I know it sounds like a dumb question - but one winter just driving around on NE streets will eat up your underbody. I've never even really seen the underneath of a clean, rust-free XJ.

[loke]

Last year I bought an 85 XJ here in Texas (Austin) with no rust at all. When I lifted I could remove all the bolts without great effort.

[BudgetWheeler]

Do vehicles rust out in Florida if they've seen some time near the beach?

Depends on how near and how much time. Some coastal cities seem to have salt in the air, but mainly east coast where there is more surf. I've lived on both sides and I think it's because the surf will make a fine mist that can linger and blow around so even if you don't drive on the beach you can have more rust than inland cities, but that's mainly on the body and it's usually pretty light from what I've seen. So no, they won't rust out just by being near the beach.

Some places allow you to drive on the beach and there are guys who camp there all day everyday. I was a lifeguard for 2 years on St. Augustine Beach and you get to know the regulars. Those are the ones you really need to watch out for. Some guys will buy a 4x4 and use it for their beach buggy until it nearly falls apart from rust, which doesn't take long. Then there are some like myself who will take it to the beach on occasion but will wash it and take the hose to the underside as soon as they get home.

You'll really just need to see some good pictures and talk with the owners. I wouldn't make a big deal about the rust when talking with them, just ask if it's been on the beach and if there's rust and wait to see if they make the big deal out of it. People who don't know or care will tell you "nah". People who take rust seriously will go in detail to tell you how they are meticulous about fighting rust. And no, mine isn't for sale!

[4x4Fox]

If you look out west you can find some great deals and no rust. I live in washington state, East of the Cascade Mountains and it is dry (less then 5" of rain a year). I bought my Xj for 500.00 and picked up a spare for 300.00. So if you look around you can find them. Craigslist.com is a great place to look.

[bacelaw]

If you look out west you can find some great deals and no rust. I live in washington state, East of the Cascade Mountains and it is dry (less then 5" of rain a year). I bought my Xj for 500.00 and picked up a spare for 300.00. So if you look around you can find them. Craigslist.com is a great place to look.

awesome. agreed - i will look in AZ, WA, TX, and FL. needs to be in decent enough shape to drive home though...and probably a 95 or 96 so my 96's parts can be transferrable.

thanks for the input...i cant wait to see rust-free xjs!

[4x4Fox]

check some of these out....http://seattle.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/search?areaID=2&subAreaID=0&query=cherokee&catAbbreviation=car&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max&addTwo=

[Saudade]

'88 Laredo, almost 170K, no rust. Always been in SoCal.

[bacelaw]

craigslist seems like it's the way to go.

i'm prob. a year away - but it's encouraging to know that these rust-free XJ's exist.

thanks for the help.

so: Southern CA, TX, FL, WA, and NV??

looks like the decision will be based on the cheapest flight, least rust, most descriptive previous owner, and ability to drive back to boston.

This forum as usual has been perfect.

[mrrbby]

Hi -

My '96 is fine with 118k miles - however, the new england winters have been tough on it - it's rusting out terribly...i've already patched the floor pan.

My question is - are there southern XJ's out there with tons of miles but zero rust/clean bodies?

I'm thinking about flying down to pick one up cheap (ebay maybe?) and swapping my engine into it. Then, undercoating the crap out of it to prepare it for New England. That way, i'd have a rust-free XJ, strong engine, and a ton of extra parts!



Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Hey, when you do find your rust free vehicle, don't use the rubberized undercoating. There's a few people in my area that have undercoated their vehicles with bar and chain oil. One gentleman was driving a 1970 Duster for his winter car, and it had zero rust up until the day he died. He had owned it since new. The guy who did my car drives a 1970 Mach 1 year round, zero rust. It does work. My DD is getting that this year, along with my wife's convertible. Good luck finding that jeep.

[RMD]

Remember there has been a lot of flooding in the south in the last few years. Carefull you don't get one that went for a swim.

[ponyracer1]

Our old mechanic used to make his own undercoat, a mixture of used motor oil and some other junk. Came out looking like applesauce and dried nearly hard. Never saw one rust after he did that. (He's in Maine so I know where your coming from)

[Mike H.]

I live in Phoenix Az.
It is pretty hard to drive around central and southern Phoenix without seeing XJ's for sale... and... zero rust.
There has got to be half a dozen on my 9 mile commute to the office.
I bought a '69 F250 here... rebuilt the motor/trany/rear end and used hand tools only... no PB blaster type products required... not even on exhaust manifolds.
Comming from New Brunswick Canada (beside Maine) I find the solidness of old vehicles here mind boggeling.

[MudDawg]

I have never seen a XJ without rust in the floor boards...All three of my heeps had it to one degree or another.

[ttocsnekia]

My buddy was down in Florida and he said that when he walked into a junkyard it felt like a showroom.

[rsliman]

i moved to phoenix from northern ohio.... i never knew you could replace exposed parts without cutting torches... until i moved here... its awesome

[fizassist]

My '95 XJ had lived most of its life in AZ/NM and is very clean. They're not "cheap" down here, though; I was stunned to find one even close to Blue Book.

[2001XJeep]

In my experience there are a lot of rust free older vehicles in the South.

I currently own an '01 XJ, '98 ZJ and '98 TJ and none of them have any rust, and I mean NONE.

Road salt is a non-issue down here (Alabama) so unless you find one that was submerged in ocean water(yikes!) or left for dead out in a swamp then rust is usually a non-issue around here. That doesn't mean they're aren't a few rusted out clunkers driving around, but 9 times out of 10 they're northern transplants.

[dizzymac]

I have seen quite a few on ebay from the southwest. Next spring My son and I will try to find a few not to far from each other in the southwest, hook up the car hauler and take a ride.
We already decided to visit the junk yards and pick up as many rust free parts as we can haul and our budget will take.
I had come across in the past two XJ shells, rust free and in great shape...free to a good home..ya just gotta keep an eye out for deals like that.

[BusterXJ95]

I'm on my second XJ, a southern-raised 95 XJ after my first 91 XJ rusted away before my eyes in my driveway. I was fortunate enough to find a North Carolina XJ in Chicago and bought it just on the body alone. The old dealer sticker listed Mocksville, NC. I'd rather do mechanical work than body work and my experience is that once rust takes hold, you can't really stop it.

Michigan winters and the salt that comes with it are rough on cars, especially older designed vehicles like the XJ. Here's a thread with pics of my XJ - TOTALLY rust free, even the underbody. It's great working under it and not having rust fall on your face. I have to wash it once a week in the winter to keep it rust free. Even so, the salt messed up my aluminum wheels so bad that I had to paint them. I also pulled off the rubber side moulding which traps salt, plus it looks better.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278360

Personally, if a sound body is important to you, I'd never buy an older XJ that spent much of its life up north, especially in the midwest.