Metrowest_Kev wrote:
Nice work! Great write up and useful pics. I hope she rolls for 200K! What was the toughest part of the project? What was you favorite part? What part of the project would you recommend to others (the "I thought it would be difficult, but it was actually easy" part)? Would you do it again? You've been to hell and back to save this KJ's soul, let's hear the lessons!
Toughest part.....finding $8500 cash to spend on a vehicle before you even drive it 10 miles.
I dont know about you guys, but $8500 is alot of money to throw at a car that you have not driven, have not started, and have had an hour to look over while sitting in an auction lot.
My favorite part was being done. The hardest part was drilling out spot welds and getting the old panels off. The front bumper ended up being very easy to remove the old bits and install the new one. The interior was also very easy to take apart, on the cherokee there are many many screws holding it all together, in the KJ everything just pops together.....
myjeepwalks wrote:
Awesome work!!!!!!!

Looks great!!!! Few questions
Did you get this from and insurance company? Does it have a salvage title? I can't believe all those body parts were only $1000, had to be more. If not why didn't the insurance co. fix it? Either way killer deal and it looks perfect!! good luck with it.
I have broken down my parts costs before, but for the sake of this thread I dont mind breaking them down again.
roof panel - $260(new OEM)
1/4 panel - $260(new OEM)
mirror - $40(new non-OEM part, OEM price $80)
front bumper $90(new OEM)
two lights, somehting like 20 and 24
Fender flare, $55(new OEM)
so whats that like $750?
lets see....
new windshield installed $180
new hinge $28(new OEM, also gave me wrong hinge, need to correct that)
So i think that makes $950....
Throw in $60 for paint that didnt match and then the free paint that is supposed to......
that puts it right about $1010.
I also didnt replace the hood(non OEM crappy fit hood it $120) and the fender, and the DS door skin(new OEM door skin is $80, bondo + lots of time = less than $80), nor did I replaced the pass side door shell(big bucks, like $200).
So throw in a few more bucks for those new parts......
Now lets add in the man hours spent working on this......so 10, 12-hour days, between 2 people, who can work VERY well together.......280 man-hours.
Now pay someone in a shop to do that work for you at $20 an hour(super cheap labor for this skill level).......... $5,600......
now for what it would actually cost which would be more like $50 an hour......$12,000........
There was ALOT of labor that went into this thing.........its easy to seem like it took no time at all when all the pics are there in front of you, but when you spend 8 hours just fitting a single body panel on......
Yes it was purchased through an insurance company at my local auction, and yes it has a "rebuilt from salvage" title. And it will untill I choose to sell it or legally clear the title to a normal one.
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