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In the 1990's I drove a 1985 Jeep Cherokee 4 door, that my dad bought used in 1990. It served me well, until the 2.6 blew up! I then "upgraded" to a 1974 Wagoneer. In the 2000's I entered college, and bought a 1996 Grand Cherokee. To be honest, that was not my most favorite vehicle. I spent more on repairs on a 55K mile car than I think I paid for the car itself!
Then came marriage and babies. We bought a 2006 and a 2007 Jeep Commander. They were great, until 3 babies came along and we needed to "graduate" to the mini-van...
Once the babies were a bit bigger, I bought a 2008 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited. I did quite a few mods to it, and it was a great Jeep. It started to nickel and dime me, so it had to move on last year..
I've always been on the look out for a mid-eighties XJ... I finally found it.
At first glance it looked great. But upon closer inspection, it needs a lot. The kid I bought it from wanted Cadillac money for it, but I think his father finally convinced him of its real value. I still think I overpaid, but so be it.
All in all, it is not in that bad of shape for being a Wisconsin car. The floors were rotted out of it, but a previous owner did a half-hearted attempt at repairing them. It'll need to be done right, but they are tight for now.
The rockers were done, along with a "new" (previously silver) passenger door. They are still in pretty great shape, with only surface rust on the door. The rockers are solid.
It's got over 145,000 miles... The speedometer cable is broken and doesn't work. Unknown how many miles it really has.
It has a new carb, new alternator, new starter, new radiator and hoses, new fuel tank, new fuel pump, new gas lines, new brakes and brake lines, and exhaust (except the convertor, which is leaking..)
It will need tie rod ends, as the bump steer is nasty, carpet, headliner, and I have to figure out where the disconnected vacuum lines go..
It also leaks a little power steering fluid, and has some blowby. I'm going to add a catch can for now.
If I am not mistaken you have a rare drivetrain combo. 4 cylinder with automatic transmission and 4x4 is something I have personally never seen. I do believe they came with 4:56 gears from the factory. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
To answer "is it worth it" will depend on how much you paid, how much you are going to have to spend, how much you are willing to spend, how much work you are willing to do, and how reasonable your expectations are in the end that question is for you and you alone to answer.
But since you asked I say carry on and post pictures
This puppy is rare, the only thing me and Trailer have on you as that we are manual lol. Keep us updated and we will see who ends up with the prettiest XJ
These 2 door XJs do seem to be popular if you can find them. I picked up one last year and am currently rebuilding the complete suspension systems. Finished the front suspension last fall and currently have the rear suspension completely disassembled. While I was removing the suspension, I noticed some holes in the cargo floor pan. Finished those repairs and decided to take a look under the rear seats and found some more holes that needed repaired. Then I decided to take a further look under the front seats and found everything fairly strong and in good shape. I can see where previous work and been done to the driver side floor pan. Overall, I'm satisfied with the restoration work I've done and now I'm ready to start putting the interior back together. I plan to replace the carpet and headliner just as UGS plans. I see plenty of carpet sets for the four door XJ, but don't see any listed for the 2 door. Is there a difference in the carpet sets between the 4 door versa the 2 door? I'm still looking to see if there is any differences. If anyone here knows the answer please feel free to share.
New to me, 1984 Jeep Cherokee 2 Door!
in the end that question is for you and you alone to answer.
