Soooo.... now i need to figure out how to fight with their insurance company to pay out what a unicorn XJ is worth. Yay.

Damn, that sucks *****. I was looking forward to this build too. Seeing your Miata on CR.net (fellow MX5 owner here) I was expecting big things with this. Focus on the 2000 XJ now or replace with another?

I'm not sure what to do now. I hadn't kept this thread up to date, but i had done some little things here and there in preparation for the next big step.

I had done the Putco headlight harness and Autopal H4 conversion, Daystar motor and trans mounts (which by the way, aren't bad at all to live with daily), and just generally spent some time cleaning it up. Baselining it, i guess.

The 2000, i don't want to get too crazy with, as my wife is daily driving it, and i don't want to mess with a good thing. It's been holding up awesome and i don't want to push my luck. Might do some bodywork soon. I need to still figure out the heat/ac issue it has, it's driving me nuts and i've exhausted all avenues short of taking the dash out, so that's the next step.

Still planning an overland-ish build to eventually go to the Arctic Circle in. The only thing now is... don't know what vehicle. There's a couple XJs for sale on these forums i'm eyeing sideways, but there's also a few options outside of the Jeep world i'm looking at. (FJ70, FJ80, FJ100, Montero, B2600i truck-based build, etc)

What insurance pays out will have a bearing on things.

For the moment... i'm being forced to daily drive Major Hater. Which... is fun. For a day or two. Not every day.