I just bought a cherokee, and the interior needs work, and me being in the military doesn't give me a lot of time to work on it. It's a 91 model, no carpet, just bare floor thats rusting out, there are holes in the front and in the back just infront of the little compartments, and just above where the leaf springs connect. Also in the trunk there's a whole big enough for a squirrel to crawl in just next to the fuel hose. Im also going to replace the seat's and the firewall on the hood. I also need to fix the power brakes, not working. How much would it cost to pay someone to do all this?

 

Lots, I hate to say it. Rust repair makes most body shop owner's eyes light up with little dollar signs and make a "Cha-CHING!" sound.

 

I get a real chuckle out of the "whats it going to cost to get this fixed" questions. Most people on here are DIYers that dont use the shop for repairs.

Just FYI you may want to be more specific about what it is you ask. Its like asking what does a house cost. There are way too many variables to really give a truthful answer. Not to mention it depends where you take it.

I once had a bad oil pump in a mini van, and I didnt want to have to do the work myself, so I called around to see what it would cost to have it replaced by a shop. The part was $60 at autozone, and I got quotes for the labor from $600 all the way up to $1800, depending on where I took it.

The body work will be something you have to go to a shop to get prices on, because you cant really guess what it will cost until the estimator can poke at it and you and he decide exactly what you want done. If you take pictures of each spot, and explain what you want to do to fix it yourself, I bet there are a few guys that will give you an idea of the best way to fix it, and an approximate cost to do so.

Replacing the seats is not that hard, and you can do it rather quickly yourself. Just shop around for the seats you want, and that will tell you the cost. If you want stock style seats, call the junkyard (JY) and they can quote you some.

Same story if you want to replace the carpet.

There is a fire wall on your hood? If you mean fire retardant liner under the hood, you can do that yourself, and you can shop around for them online quite easily.

The brakes are another issue where you need to be quite specific about the problems that need to be addressed. Is the master cylinder bad? pads and shoes replaced? need rotors and drums? pressure booster? Do they work at all or just now power assist?

Is this all something you need done last week, and now are in a hurry to accomplish? Can some of it wait (like seats and carpet and such). Is this a daily driver (DD) or do you have another car that you use and you are just building a toy?

When it comes to any question, more information is better, and TMI rarely happens. Post pics of problems, and possible broken parts. Welcome to the forum, I hope this will help!

E

 

The smartest post I've ever seen on this forum! You sir deserve an award!

 

$600-1800 to install an oil pump, I should have been a mechanic.

 

When I was in the military the bases I was stationed at had a Mechanics shop with a full time civil service mechanic there to help. At Randolph Field the mech. was a great guy and would help with anything.
Do they not have that anymore?
CLINT

 

i dont know think they do have a little garage that helps military personnel with there cars, the mechanics i hear are a bunch of lazy asses. I would do the job myself but i dont have a place and am currently living away from my family on coast guard cutter. one of my buddies is going to help me weld new metal to the floor, but he wont go near the portion in the trunk, becasue the rust i the trunk is right next to the neck of the gas tank. he had a run in with a burning gas neck before so hes not going to weld there unless i remove the gas tank, i dont know if thats easy but, if i can i will.
this jeep is my daily driver, the holes are about 2-4 inches around, couple in the front feet spaces on both sides, and a portion of rust that goes across the floor just infront of the back seat i can see the leaf springs right behind the rust hole.
I'm not that much inclined to auto mechanics but want to be.
What is the little amplifier looking thing under the back seat on the left side of the car?

 

If you dont mind.. How much did you pay? You can easily pick an older XJ up for 12-1500 bucks in good shape. You will put that into the one you already have very easily.. Good for the experience, but if you dont have much spare time.. not so good.

 

Hey wilj I live in puyallup my buddy can replace carpeting and such. We just installed hardwood flooring in the back of his cherokee send me a pm

 

Could have chose an XJ with much better condition and will help you avoid spending on repairs...

 

I'm currently doing floor rust repair myself, so I know what you're going through.

To fix the rust around the gas tank, I'm planning on using pop rivets. No way I'm welding there.

 

i bought the car for 700 dollars, yeah, i could've bought one in better condition but it was the only car i saw in my price range. I was thinking of pop riveting but don't know how effective that is?
i also have other issues with my breaks and my driver side seat belt won't lock when i buckle, right now im using a lanyard to hold it together. im going to try one of the junkyards to see if i can scrap another cherokee, because a new one would cost 200 dollars, damn, thats alot a money.
my breaks are a problem, i have to push the pedal down hard to get he car to stop, any ideas what could be the problem and how much you think the parts would cost to fix?

 

the brakes, if it's more of a dosent have power assist, really stiff pedal but still stops with flinstone leg power, I would look up a booster on a parts site and call some shops and give them the info on it all and ask for a quote.

 

At first, I was iffy on pop-riveting, but as I looked at how my truck was put together, I started to change my mind. Here's my take as to the integrity of the pop-riveting:

If you look around the floor of your XJ, you'll notice that most of the joints are completely covered with seam sealer. If you start removing the seam sealer, what you'll find is that underneath it, a great deal of the panels are just tack welded together, and then covered with seam sealer. By the way, if you haven't started pulling seam sealer yet, you might want to start, maybe in an area where there's visible rust. Use a heat gun and a scraper. I started yanking the sealer around my rear wheelwells and found that the sealer was really the only thing holding them on.

My judgment is that a pop-riveted panel finished with seam sealer, using heavy duty rivets, thick enough steel, and decent undercoating is pretty close to as good as one that's tacked together.

Now, depending on how bad your rust really is, and where the rust is, rivets might not be best for your application. I would think hard about welding if you're missing like an entire floor panel. But, if you've just got some random holes (even some big random holes) like most of us, I think rivets are fine in most locations. Personally, I am doing some welding in structurally important areas where there are complex corners, like where the floor rolls up into the transmission tunnel. The giant hole over my cat/muffler though? rivets.

Is it the 'right' way to fix it? Technically, no. Is it the BEST way to fix it? Not really. Is it a perfectly acceptable way to fix it that will probably last longer than you own the Cherokee? In my judgment, yes.

 

yeah, i have no power brakes, any idea how much that cost to fix, me being a geo bachelor and living on a boat i can't do this myself.
another question, yesterday after driving a bit to have my windshield replaced i stopped and yellowish water was dripping from the engine, i lifted the hood and i looked like it came from the center piece taht has a silver cap on it, what does that mean? sorry for being inexperienced in the mechanical arts.