Body Swap?

OK - I have maybe a stupid Q but- is it possible to swap my XJ Body? I live in coastal Cali and while I've kept up everything and my Jeep purrs like a sleeping tiger the body is rusting away, especially near the base corners of the windshield and lower door areas. I assume its too late to repair. What can I do? Should I just look for a later model to swap my engine into? Its a rebuild with only 30,000mi on it. I love the 91' - its so light and unemcumbered with any bullsh*t- Are the later models the same?

- thanx for any ideas...

Because the Cherokee is a unibody design you can't unbolt all the body panels and remount new ones on your frame (there isn't one). You would have to remove all the suspension and drivetrain components from yours and then mount them in a replacement shell to accomplish what you want.

The unibodies are pretty stout and if it hasn't been twisted in an accident you should be fine. I'd identify what repairs you need to make and then decide whether to shop for a good replacement or fix this one up. If your current unibody is sound you can always make it a dedicated trail rig and have fun with it that way.

thanks for the info. I think I will just let it become a trail rig. BTW- how hard was the 2WD to 4WD conversion? Is it just as good as a stock 4WD?

- TJ

The 4WD conversion was a simple bolt-in of a D30, transmission with transfer case, and new drive shafts and linkages. It uses OEM parts, so it's just the same as having one delivered from the factory. You could only tell it's not original by decoding the VIN.

tlman I was just curious how long did it you to the conversion from two wheel drive to four wheel drive?

Well I messed with it for a couple of months acquiring parts and waiting for for the weather to cooperate.

If you had all the parts on hand and a free weekend I think you could get it done. I'd figure a day for the transmission swap and another to swap the front axle and install the linkage. I found this to be one of the most time consuming parts because I had to remove the interior to get the carpet up to access the cover plate in the hump for the shifter handle. But I went ahead and installed a new carpet then too, so I'm factoring all that time in as well. At least there's a cover plate in place and no cutting is necessary.

As with any project like this it always helps to have a few extra hands. I worked on it with my, then, 16 year old, so there was some instruction going on at the time as well. A couple of old hands with the right tools could probably get it done even quicker.