Can you find a nice YJ anymore?

Brian

Jeep Fanatic
I am looking for a decent 6cyl YJ for a build. There is nothing on the market that gives you a decent platform to start with. Everything is a 4cyl or has 180K on it... Plus being from a northern state, its all rust.

Any tips to find a decently priced, nice YJ?
 

Pthorpe84

Moderator
Staff member
Craigslist pro and search the southern states. Lots of decent ones in Tennessee alone.


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Brian

Jeep Fanatic
Craigslist pro and search the southern states. Lots of decent ones in Tennessee alone.


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I just found one in Arizona with 20k on it. Priced right, but by the time you fly to look at it and drive it home, you have a ton of money into it. To make it work, you almost have to buy it blind and have it shipped.

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Pthorpe84

Moderator
Staff member
I just found one in Arizona with 20k on it. Priced right, but by the time you fly to look at it and drive it home, you have a ton of money into it. To make it work, you almost have to buy it blind and have it shipped.

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What are you looking for exactly and I will keep my eye out locally
 

Brian

Jeep Fanatic
Ideally, I need a good body and interior. It would be nice not to have a ton of miles, but if the body and interior don't show it, we can work with it. This will be built up with a lift/tires/bumper/ and so on. I would like to get a 6cyl just for the interior and drive train upgrades.
 

timatoe

Jeep Fanatic
Tons of nice YJ's in AZ and CA, but distance is the major draw back to that. I've torn mine apart and re-built it three times and have yet to come across a bolt that's "rusted in" and it's a '90.

If you have a trailer and tow rig you can drive there and back for less than shipping a vehicle. That's assuming you get decent mileage etc. I had my '66 C10 shipped from OK to CA and it was about $1,400, I went and picked up my '63 Nova and round trip fuel was under $900 and that was before fuel prices dropped and I've got an '08 Super Duty sporting about 13 mpg highway while towing.
 

solamf

Jeep Newb
I just bought a decent one here in South Carolina a few weeks ago. Just remember that the newest YJ was built in 95, so it's 22 years old now. There will be issues and there will be miles. Also, for whatever reason, everyone who has a Wrangler of any year of even the worst conditions seems to believe it is made of gold, platinum, titanium and unobtanium and thus is worth a bazillion dollars. I searched for months and months to find one worthy enough of my money and it needed all new seats and the seatbelts were nonexistent. It was extremely dirty inside because he always had the windows open and the top was a bit torn. It ran great, has the ax15 and the diffs are in great shape with Spartans in them so I went for it. I'm gonna mod it out anyway so I really don't care. The wife is the one I had to get the blessing on and she liked it, so I jumped on it.
 

Brian

Jeep Fanatic
I found an 88 for $7,000 and it only had 22K on it. Two issues... The last 10 miles were pretty rough on it and the 88's are not a desirable year with the manual due to a weak trans.....
 

Brian

Jeep Fanatic
Any suggestions on engines to swap out the week 4cyl and rearmed for ?
The 258 6 cyl would be the easiest, but a 305, 327, 350, 383, 400 chevy small block would be most fun. But change one and more items down the drive-train will need some upgrades to handle the power increase.
 

cracked

Jeep Owner
I wasn't really looking for a YJ when I bought mine, but was offered a deal from a co-worker that I couldn't pass up...seems it had an incident involving a deer that twisted the tub. Bought it for $1000, found another YJ for $1000 on e-bay, that had a rotted frame (that was easy to do in NJ) and swapped the tub onto the one with a clean frame...and bingo (well actually took me a couple years, since I rebuilt just about everything as I went), one nice Jeep from two nasty, bent, and rusty ones

downside is that they were both 2.5L/ax5 YJ's...but I may change that ;)
 

Brt

Jeep Newb
You might as well just get a Jeep in that is in decent shape. You're going to want to take it all apart anyways, so you'll be able to fix any rust. Jeeps evolve. You might as well just do it all in one shot 😁
 

Luuca

Jeep Newb
What's you budget?

I live in So cal and get lines on stock YJs all the time. no rust, but they may need to be fixed. I've shipped one to Illinois before...

How bad do you want it?
 

cracked

Jeep Owner
so you can get a clean, low mileage. YJ, but, you actually want a clean, low mileage, cheap, YJ that's available in your area...so staying within those parameters, I guess the answer is... NO you can't
 

Luuca

Jeep Newb
I just bought a 1995 YJ, Inka Gold, Full doors, 4.0, ax-15, 30.35 stock axles, no top, not running but complete mechanically for $2500. Should get it running for less than $800. 178K on the clock. No Rust.
 

Brian

Jeep Fanatic
I just bought a 1995 YJ, Inka Gold, Full doors, 4.0, ax-15, 30.35 stock axles, no top, not running but complete mechanically for $2500. Should get it running for less than $800. 178K on the clock. No Rust.
You do not see that in Michigan!
 
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