Alright,I found an XJ for 700. It has some fender damage(no biggie). The trim around the cluster is missing(no biggie). The steering is loose. My concern in the ticking noise it makes. There's 162000 miles on it has a 3" lift and tires will be needed soon.

It is 2 hours away from me so I had a friend test drive it and such. He isn't the most mechanically inclined fellow. But he said it drove fine, shifted, strong, and the t-case shifted in and out fine.

My plans: 3-4" lift-33's-fender trims- rocker guards-roof rack-swing gates spare tire rack-4.10 gears-----daily driver.....

Should I get it and rebuild the head and rock n roll.

If it's got good oil pressure, I wouldn't worry about the ticking. Ticking is common on a straight 6, it's usually just valvetrain noise. Some ticking is normal, and it's usually pretty quiet, but with 162k miles it's probably gotten noticeable due to wear. My '93 with 194k ticks like crazy.

I wouldn't say you'd have to rebuild the head, although the guides/seals are probably worn a bit and it couldn't hurt. Most ticking is, like I said, valvetrain noise. A collapsed or worn lifter, worn rockers, something like that. New lifters would probably eliminate most of it. But, as previously stated, it's not hurting anything if it's just ticking.

Clanking, though, is bad.

What's the rust situation on it?

The body has some damage, but no rust or paint bubbling where rust would form under the paint. That is all what I could see in the photos and my buddy without looking underneath. So Realistically I could pick this thing up change the head out, upgrade the intake and probably be just fine?

Why are you swapping the head?

The ticking noise was loud enough I could her it through my friends phone.

any pic's ?

Just a heads up... i just bought a 96 with a "ticking sound" It had excellent oil pressure and drove great with plenty of power. I thought no big thing... I did decide to track down the noise tho and found peices of broken piston skirt in my oil pan!

Oh, and one thing that could help ya out. Before you buy it, if you can go over it with a mechanics stethascope. Check to see if the noise is louder on the bottom end/ oil pan vs. top end head etc... Or use the ol' wooden broom handle to ear technique! Just dont want someone to make the same mistake i did.

looks like a good price on a prety clean XJ..I just got another one..110k...it has a tick too..from what I have seen..dont they all?

$700 XJ I'd say do it.

No pics. Seats ripped pretty bad. Left front fender wrinkled up, both front turn signal covers missing, slow to start, gauge trims missing, headliner missing

Swapping the head will fix it if it's a valve issue, but if it's lifters... those reside in the block and not the head. You can actually replace them without pulling the head, I believe.

Is this somewhat easy to repair.......
http://austin.craigslist.org/pts/1903542864.html
Please don't buy it out from underneath me...I have had 3 people do that to me this month.

Hm, was gonna say, "Was it rolled?" then I looked up and read it...

The ticking may be due to damage from running while upside down. It may be fine, but that's something to keep in mind. Especially if it's really loud, like you say. I'd say make an offer, and if you get it, try running a slightly thicker oil (10w40 maybe) and see if that helps. I'm running that and a bottle of Engine Honey in my '93, keeps me from smoking too much and really quieted her ticking down.

x2 on doing it, it sounds good..