My first Jeep!
 

Hello, I am new to this forum. I just got a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport with 182,000 miles. I traded a 1998 Honda Accord. It has an oil leak but I am taking care of that and I'm replacing the fuel tank straps and rear brakes. Other than that there is nothing I'm really worrying about except a little fluid leaking out of the front differential and the rust. I live in the North East (New Hampshire) so rust on cars is common. The rust is on the roof over the drivers side part. Is there any way to get rid of it, its gone through the paint but there is no holes yet. There is some frame rust in the back on both sides and a quarter size hole under the drivers side of the vehicle. The other rust is the floor under the drivers side seat, how can I get that fixed? Also under the front driver side shock it is starting to rust. It needs rocker panels and fenders any idea how to do this? It would be awesome if I got some answer to these questions as I have no idea what to do at this point other than take it to a body shop and spend some $$$. Having this as my first jeep is there anything that I should know? Or any tips? Thank you for your feed back :)

I'll be honest with you here. If you need rockers and the driver's side floor, it really is best to trust a body shop. This being a unibody, you don't want to risk damaging structural integrity with amateur repairs. if the rust near the shocks is really light, you could get away with sanding that down to bare metal and applying undercoating, but this kind of repair is only for surface rust.

Where in NH do you live? I'm in Northeastern MA.

I live in South Eastern, NH

You're probably not far from me then. I'm in Lawrence MA A.K.A. "The little Dominican Republic"

Haha. You're not. You're probably about an hour away from me.

That's not too bad in the grand scope of things. Before I moved into the desk job phase of my military career, I spent around 9 years working as a vehicle mechanic, so if you have any questions about mechanical issues, feel free to ask.

Awesome. I want to be a vehicle mechanic for my career. I go to the Seacoast School of Technology Automotive program. And a question I have is, how much would it cost to get all the body work done? Is it worth it to do?

I probably wouldn't be able to give you a good estimate there. Labor is the highest cost here. for all the body work, you'd be looking at them sanding, cutting, welding, grinding, and painting. Rockers and floor pans can be had for relatively cheap. I would take it to a body shop and just get a quote. (maybe a few to see the average cost)

As for is it worth the cost, it really depends on what the vehicle means to you. For me, I prefer to put larger sums into older, paid off vehicles, than I do paying car payments, insurance payments, and then putting money into repairs.

That's cool that you want to be a vehicle mechanic. Does that school pay for ASE certifications and testing?

Okay thanks for your input. Or do you think it would be better to buy a better body that needs a motor and put the motor that i have into it? and no its a part of my high school and you can get certified for things and its supposed to give you experience for when you get out of highschool for jobs or schools.

I really haven't seen the rust in person, so I don't know how much "damage" has been done. If you found one with a better body, would you only be swapping the engine over? or would you do the full drive train?

Ah, okay. So you're in a vocational program through your high school. I loved being a mechanic in the Air Force, I can't wait to get back to it. You may want to consider the military as a means to become a mechanic. You'll make a lot more than an entry level mechanic, and all your medical, dental, housing, utility, and food costs would be covered, so all of your money would go into your pocket. I use mine on mechanical toys and projects :)

Just the engine if I decided to do it. And thats definitley an option i will consider.

If you were to do the engine swap yourself, it would be nice, but to get a jeep Cherokee with a good body often $3000+, not sure if the body work would be quite that much. But, on the plus side of that plan, you would have a good jeep to drive, and a parts jeep to boot.

well i found one on craigslist for 600$

for only $600, I would not be surprised if it needed far more than just the engine swapped over. But again, that plays well into the good jeep + parts jeep strategy. How much work are you willing to put into it?

thats true. the jeep that i have now doesnt have that much mechanical problems its just rust.