"and do something about those wheels - assuming they aren't about to fall apart due to rust. Looking at your underbody, this ship's been out at sea a long while, huh?"
-Well, whoever owned it before me lived in FL for some time... so maybe they were near the coast. Lost of surface rust under there... but also a layer of dust... my parents live on a private road that is unpaved...and it gets very dusty in the summer. Only time the underside got a wash is when it rains. Lol. I poked around under there, and there is one minor hole that I can patch with epoxy or glass/matting. Poked around the edges of said hole (about the size of a nickel at worst), and it felt solid enough. Nothing to worry about. I didn't pay a lot for the Jeep, so I don't mind putting a little into it. It might be ugly, but it does get me around rather well.

The wheels are ugly too, but solid. I would love to go with a pair of the black one that many people on here have (with holes around the outer area).

I've saved a lot of the stuff that I swapped...so when the day comes that I get another Jeep to replace this one... I'll be putting all of that back on... and my upgraded stuff out (got some lift shackles coming, a better set of injectors, a cold air intake...will be getting spacers as soon as I know how high the shackles lift it... this stuff will work on any Cherokee within the same relative series). So when I upgrade wheels... I'll keep the originals... probably blast them and paint them. So I can also swap those back over.

It's actually needed very little mechanically...between the price I paid, and how long I drove it without any real servicing or work... it's a solid machine... just not pretty. Lol.

 

Well. Today I yanked the head off the Jeep, to inspect it. Replaced the gasket when it all went back together. Head looked fine, no cracks. Not a lot of carbon. Removed most of it with a razor. Plopped on a new intake/exhaust gasket. EZ-outed an exhaust bolt that had been broken since I bought it. Swapped my injectors to a set of 703s. Ran like a champ coming home. Hopefully, it never does the herky-jerky dance again. Started up faster, has a bit more on top (easier to pull hills), and a bit better throttle response... I call that money well spent (the injectors were very affordable, and dropped right in).

Next week I will probably install the lift shackles. The Jeep is still ugly... but I'd rather have it look bad and run nice, than the other way around.

 

You've got your priorities straight!