well i'm going to be picking up my 1996 jeep cherokee sport this week.
it's got 172k on it and i'm picking it up for $300 from my dad's girlfriend.

It definitely isn't the prettiest jeep i've ever seen, but i'm hoping to spruce it up a bit over the next year or so.

general baseline of where it's at
red jeep with green front grille and left front corner panel (last owner rearended someone)
brand new gas tank
brand new muffler and straight pipe
lifted (i have no idea how much or what kit, nor do i know how to tell)
runs and shifts fine so far (haven't had a lot of time to drive it)

what i need to do:
new sway bar links (ordered)
plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor (ordered)
air filter and oil change (ordered parts)
fix drivers side door (someone fixed the damage by sloppily welding the door back on to the frame, i have no idea how to fix this...ugh)
white lithium grease everything
install speakers (there's a nice deck but no speakers)
replace all 4 tires
replace battery
repaint mismatched fenders (most likely flat black, might do all 4 quarter panels and the grill)
undercoat the whole truck
get an alignment
see what breaks next haha

 

Sounds like a lot of work, congrats on the jeep!

 

Congrats! great find ... gl with the build

 

Welcome to CF.
You didn't pay very much for it, so that's a plus. Have fun and good luck with it.

 

well the simple maintenance stuff like plugs and wires i've done on my last 5 cars without issue. brakes are no issue at this point (as long as their easier than my civic that had screws holding the rotors to the hubs..ugh), sway bar links shouldn't be bad either. i've downloaded the fsm and have a haynes manual coming just in case. I've worked on mopars before and had a 94 grand caravan that i did copious amounts of work to in the past, so i have an idea of how things are laid out.

Already i'm stoked on how much cheaper parts are than they are for my 96 infiniti

that stuff is simple I feel. the stuff i'm not excited about is the drivers side door, and fixing the paint so it doesn't look like a total p.o.s.

it has to be safe and reliable as it's going to be my fiance's dd

I've got 4 mechanic's in the family and grew up around all of this, just have to be patient and take my time and i should be all set.

though i have to get the car driveable by the end of this coming weekend as it needs to be off my dad's driveway before the superbowl and my company is moving the week after so i doubt my weekends will be free after this one. lucky me. haha

 

welcome to the site