I’m buying a ‘97 SE from a friend. Runs fine, 150k miles, only issues are cosmetic and parentheticals like AC and... a nice big dent in the driver door/frame. I know it’s a unibody, but the jeep drives straight and the only issue it’s causing is the door not sealing correctly. I’m wondering if anyone has had experience straightening something like this out. I’m confident I can either fix or replace the door, but the frame is what I’m wondering about. Preferably without much cutting and welding. Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

You would have to install new doors and then see how much work to make the door frame fixed .

 

At a glance, that looks salvageable. The rocker, atleast. What does it look like with the door open?

 

I believe you can buy a new rocker panel to weld in. Putting in another door off a 4 door XJ can be done easily. You might need to straighten a little metal in the floor board when you put the new rocker panel in. Or if you feel ampitious you can put in a boat side rocker panel or rock slider in place of that dented section. I don't know your skill level, but I wouldn't be afraid of it