Body repair cost and options

[Nikkormat]

Found more rust today... rear floor pans are starting to rust out. On top of the rust repair I now also have crash repairs to make. B**ch ran a red light in a hurry to get into the shopping mall and ran straight into the front of my Cherokee. Fault was undetermined so no insurance information was exchanged leaving me to front the repair costs. So now I'm wondering... would it be cheaper to buy a whole nother wag with good paint, no rust, and good interior, swap the vin plate and 401, and put the 360 and newer vin plates on the Cherokee and send it on its way?(assuming I did send it on its way, I could just be real "picky" about finding a new buyer ad keep it until I "found the right one") How hard could it be to go from 360-401?

A rust free wag with a good frame: 3 grand and two days of my time. And how much cost could I earn back from selling the rusty, crashed cherokee? (if I sold it, that is.)

New quarter panels, razor grill, core support, front bumper, paint, ect: $? and months of my and skilled professionals time. I would definitely let professionals do the outside, but I could steal the garage for a while and do POR-15's floor panel repair kit myself over winter break. And I would need to find a new dd while the body and paint work was being done, and I might also need a new hood. Anybody know how much that could cost?

[Nikkormat]

Or if I bought the newer wag to DD does anyone have a set of vin plates for a pre 1975 wag or cherokee for sale? It would keep the insurance and SMOG man off my back. And I ain't willing to have to drive a non emissions free Wagoneer or Cherokee right now. Once you go emissions-free you never want to go back. and pre 75 the insurance is really cheap.

[Nikkormat]

I'd really rather just repair Yona... I love driving her, and owning a first year Cherokee, and a 401, and passing people who do less than 5 over even though I don't have overdrive... Did I mention she gets almost 13 mpg?

[j10jim]

Swapping VIN plates is VERY illegal. Could it be done? Sure, but the price if you get caught is just not worth it. If someone bought the jeep you sold with the other vin and got in an accident and the police found out the VIN was altered (and they can find out), they trace it back to you and bye, bye. You have a long time in the big house. Not to mention the lawsuit that would come from the buyer and possibly the buyers insurance company. Just buy another one and swap parts between the 2 to make 1 good one. Then sell your left over parts and scrap what remains.

[FSJ Guy]

Swapping VIN plates is VERY illegal. Could it be done? Sure, but the price if you get caught is just not worth it. If someone bought the jeep you sold with the other vin and got in an accident and the police found out the VIN was altered (and they can find out), they trace it back to you and bye, bye. You have a long time in the big house. Not to mention the lawsuit that would come from the buyer and possibly the buyers insurance company. Just buy another one and swap parts between the 2 to make 1 good one. Then sell your left over parts and scrap what remains.

X2 what he said.

Also, it's NOT hard to get these old rigs to pass emissions. You just have to make sure everything is there and in good working order.

[Mrpatatomoto]

Buy the 77 and switch the front end over too. No matter what exchange insurance info. I don't know how it works in CO but in CA one witness is enough to place blame. If you enjoy the jeep its worth fixing and there are plenty of donor ones laying around for you to rebuild a front end. If your lucky you can find one that's the same color. Smog isn't as hard as you may think. I enjoy pre 75 because I can modify more but on vehicles that are staying mostly stock smog is easy to pass. Get a test, find out what didn't pass look online for solution and fix it.

[Tatsadasayago]

Also, it's NOT hard to get these old rigs to pass emissions. You just have to make sure everything is there and in good working order.

x3 what he said. If the engine is sound and tuned properly it will pass. The pain is the equipment check.

[FSJ Guy]

Also, it's NOT hard to get these old rigs to pass emissions. You just have to make sure everything is there and in good working order.

x3 what he said. If the engine is sound and tuned properly it will pass. The pain is the equipment check.

What equipment check? :-p

In CO, on these trucks, they look for the AIR pump if originally equipped and make sure you have a cat. That's usually about it. One time they even looked at my cat with a mirror (to see the top) to make sure it wasn't hogged out and re-welded. That was on another (non-Jeep) truck, though.

They never cared about my non-EGR Performer intake or the TBI system.