I'm trying so hard to be good...

...really I am.
I have the DogeVan on a pretty decent upward trajectory, sold off one M body to a friend for a small profit, and have the M-body parts car parted out to a near zero cost, making it easy for me (psychologically) to get rid of the remaining hulk.  Made Chico The Street Eagle mobile again after a long year and a half when I thought the wiring was fried from reverse polarity (spoiler Alert- it wasn't)  I moved around vehicles at "The Island Of Misfit Toys" enough that I can bring the '78 D200 Crew Cab home to do a little light cosmetic work on it when winter releases me from its threat of oversalted roads.  Junked a non-running Saturn SL1 with a rotted out trailing arm mount for $500 (thanks, Peddle!) and have solid plans to get rid of at least three other parts cars.

I've stayed true to trying only to find a decent Dajiban project, and a D350 donor for a different Crew Cab project.  

But, I'm tellin' ya, it ain't easy.

Smokin' Deals just keep popping up.  I keep trying to avoid them, or procrastinate long enough that they get sold.


 

And now this, offered to me by a friend for "$1K-ish"



1987 Grand Wagoneer

Rockers are holed, but replacements are included.   Lower quarters will need love, as well.   Frame is solid, even along the fuel tank skid where these are known to rot out.



 

Class III hitch- they towed an enclosed trailer quite a bit.


 

Interior is fair.  Should clean up a bit.

I'm told the engine was rebuilt but hasn't run in over 3 years.




I know FSJ Jeeps have been steadily climbing, but I had no idea they had gotten as crazy as they are right now.

Doing my best to resist, but my friend needs the money, and this could easily triple my investment with little work.


sigh...

I would think you could triple your investment by just dragging it home and reselling it.  It's poor form to sell it from the previous owner's driveway.

A weekend getting it running and a weekend "detailing" it and yeah, sell it if it doesn't turn you on and make some money.

Not sure where I said I was selling it from their driveway?



I really can't just intentionally flip a vehicle without doing some work to it.     If I plan on reselling, I feel a need to make it better than when I found it.

Careful you don't end up starting a dead motorcycle farm like I did.

In reply to Appleseed :

Too late.

E36 M3.

Cooter said:

Not sure where I said I was selling it from their driveway?

Just a joke as to why you'd need to put in the effort to drag it home first.

A little bit ago ago, I worked on one that the guy paid $4k for and was thrilled to get it that cheap.  It came from SC so the body looked about like that.  I put in an engine (Jasper reman!), installed a converter and invented an air injection system so the guy could register it here (lots of poring over catalogs to figure out where AMC got their parts from, and got the world's last brand new air injection tubes), some suspension work, and four tires.  Guy spent "a lot" and was thrilled with the result.

My dad had one of these before he got his square body chevy, so early 90s timeframe, which means I was mid to late single digits in age.  I remember offroading in the back yard with him and his buddies while they were on lunch working the night shift in town.  I remember sitting on the center arm rest and holding onto the headrests as we ripped through the creek and up the bank on the other side.

It looked just like that, right down to the wheels with the blue and red stripes.

It rusted out and was parked out back of the barn around 93 or 94 and was replaced a square body suburban.  I have alot more memories with the suburban, but I can still picture dropping into the creek and thinking how much more fun this was than a roller coaster.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Sorry.    

I guess I'm not getting enough sleep.

The weird thing is, I still remember when these were considered axle donors for the Jeep YJ guys.   I've sold some parts from some I have found in the JY on eBay recently, and I still have a hard time believing the prices.     The only FSJ I have owned was an M715 that was 440 swapped, and I would love to drive one of these, just to see what the fuss is about.   I know they were a status symbol when new during the last few years of production, but I still have a difficult time comprehending why.  The platform was nearly 30 years old at the end of its run, and not much changed.  You could swap an early "Rhino" grille onto the core support of these after you pulled off the plastic grill.   




Heck, I may even still have a Rhino grille wall hanger left in the basement...

I miss my Gladiator.

I hate you a little bit right now.

I don't know why these things should have any call to me at all.

But damn there's some weird childhood imprint there, even if it's just from staring at them on the lot next to the mall my family made shopping trips to when I was a kid. It's weird. And I guess a friend's dad had a non-paneled one...

A friend of mine purchased several of them new in the 80s. There was really nothing like them on the road at the time that had the luxury, ride quality and capability.  It set the bar for a luxurious full size SUV before there were SUVs.  My recollection of them was that everything but the drivetrain fell apart in them rather quickly.  One time we were riding down the highway. I was driving.  My friend asked me if I smell smoke I did not. He then reaches under the dash and pulls out the AC condensation drain line out from the firewall from under the dash and it was ON FIRE!!!!!    He casually tossed it out the window and tells me "it's a Jeep thing".  Mind you this car was less than 6 months old when this happened.  I think he traded this one in on another one but the details are a bit fuzzy at this point.  

Wow.  A totally rust free Waggin Ears.  Those really don't exist anymore.

Worth getting to flip. The weight and emissions period engine = truly lackluster performance and fuel economy.

Cooter said:

The platform was nearly 30 years old at the end of its run, and not much changed. 

Yup.  They sold them into the early 90s and they still had a carb on the last one to roll off the line.  But as much as they were dated by the end, they're just cool for no good reason at all. 

Were they really luxurious though?  Maybe there's some alchemy going on that I don't understand but these things seem very straightforward like, say, a Suburban from GMC instead of Chevrolet; just a little more gingerbread and options that aren't all that amazing today.  I don't have any first hand experience with these things so maybe that's it.  I do remember being in highschool in the mid-90's and a kid in my class having a hand-me-down Wagoneer in a color kind of like caramel and we all made fun of that thing for being dorky.  It never seemed to give him any trouble, he never took it off-pavement, it was just his mom's old car that happened to have some kind of 4WD system and a 360 from the mid-80's.

This is why I'm all for the idea of buying and flipping this thing if it doesn't have strong appeal to the OP.

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

No, you are spot on IMO.  Stick axle with leaf springs F&R, carbed 360 with a 3 speed automatic when everything else, including pickup trucks were getting overdrive and fuel injection.   Added on power windows, door locks and seats.   People raving abut how well they ride, but I find it hard to believe on leaf springs.      I guess we'll see.    The bar for me is a near-tie between my '73 Imperial and '95 Roadmaster wagon.     I don't think it will be able to touch either of those.  

As for capability, past experience tells me "not so much".   Breakover and departure angles are Meh, at best, and a 2-4" lift is needed just to run 31" tires.  

I'll try to give it a fair shake, maybe I'll fall in love with it.  Maybe I'll grow an ironic mustache and learn to enjoy craft beers.   Stranger things have happened.  

Random Nantucket Jeep 2 years ago  

Appleseed said:

Careful you don't end up starting a dead motorcycle farm like I did.

A farm suggests...  that you're growing new motorcycles?

I would like to invest in this amazing opportunity in the hopes that the fruit it bears comes in the form of  V-4 Honda engines.

As cool as I think they are......I would only own one if I gutted it and removed anything that wasn't the body and frame.

My parents had a 76 2 door in orange. It ended up on fire thrown down a hill, ive mentioned it before.

I would buy it, make it run, sell it for 4k+ and if it's a real good friend in a rough spot split the profit or toss him a little extra

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

I would buy it, make it run, sell it for 4k+ and if it's a real good friend in a rough spot split the profit or toss him a little extra

Agree with what Patrick said above.

It it was a truck, like a J10, that would be different in my eyes.  Those are a perfect size for a truck, I think.  I like Patrick's idea which is really the same idea I suggested much earlier in this thread.