Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

On the fence for this one

Irun

A vicious cycle of doing, undoing, and re-doing!
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Oct 31, 2019
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Virginia
A friend of mine has a neighbor that's thinking about selling his '99 TJ. He asked me to go take a look at it, to see if I'd be interested. After looking at the Jeep it had several things I liked about it, including:

- 4.0L
- Automatic
- Factory Hard Top with factory wiring (the hard top has been on the Jeep it's entire life)
- Full doors
- Tilt wheel
- A/C

The owner has had the Jeep since 2002 and it has virtually no rust, with one exception. The bottom of the frame was cut out and replaced. It's a very clean repair and there was no other rust I could see anyplace else on the Jeep. I also had a conversation with the shop that repaired it and they confirmed that the rest of the frame was solid. Also, the fenders, rockers, corners, and overall tub is exceptionally clean.

The 156K mile 4.0L started, cold start, nicely and made zero funny noises. The 32RH and 4WD shifted smoothly and it drove very nicely. After a long conversation about the Jeep, he discovered I knew a little about them and offered it to me for $6K. While I'm not really looking for another project, the price seems reasonable, even though I wouldn't normally buy a frame repair Jeep.

FWIW, he also showed me receipts for over $6K worth of repairs recently, which is why he's giving me the number he did. The reason I'm on the fence is if I did buy it, there's a high probability I'd fix a few minor things and flip it. I just don't think what I'd get for after that, given the frame repair, would be worth it. Thoughts?
 
Pictures tell the story, and we don’t have any.

That being said, I don’t know that a repaired frame, especially one done well, would be a non starter for people in your area. Personally, I wouldn’t mind a repaired frame, as long as I knew it was done correctly and the welding looked good. It may drop your price a bit…but you could also market it as a selling feature…kinda like there are two kinds of jeeps around here…those with repaired frames and those that haven’t repaired the frame, yet!

Would your friend or neighbor be upset giving you a good deal if he knew you were going to turn around and flip it?
 
Pictures tell the story, and we don’t have any.

That being said, I don’t know that a repaired frame, especially one done well, would be a non starter for people in your area. Personally, I wouldn’t mind a repaired frame, as long as I knew it was done correctly and the welding looked good. It may drop your price a bit…but you could also market it as a selling feature…kinda like there are two kinds of jeeps around here…those with repaired frames and those that haven’t repaired the frame, yet!

Would your friend or neighbor be upset giving you a good deal if he knew you were going to turn around and flip it?

I was up front with him. He's ready to let it go, can't physically work on it anymore, and just wants it gone.
 
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A friend of mine has a neighbor that's thinking about selling his '99 TJ. He asked me to go take a look at it, to see if I'd be interested. After looking at the Jeep it had several things I liked about it, including:

- 4.0L
- Automatic
- Factory Hard Top with factory wiring (the hard top has been on the Jeep it's entire life)
- Full doors
- Tilt wheel
- A/C

The owner has had the Jeep since 2002 and it has virtually no rust, with one exception. The bottom of the frame was cut out and replaced. It's a very clean repair and there was no other rust I could see anyplace else on the Jeep. I also had a conversation with the shop that repaired it and they confirmed that the rest of the frame was solid. Also, the fenders, rockers, corners, and overall tub is exceptionally clean.

The 156K mile 4.0L started, cold start, nicely and made zero funny noises. The 32RH and 4WD shifted smoothly and it drove very nicely. After a long conversation about the Jeep, he discovered I knew a little about them and offered it to me for $6K. While I'm not really looking for another project, the price seems reasonable, even though I wouldn't normally buy a frame repair Jeep.

FWIW, he also showed me receipts for over $6K worth of repairs recently, which is why he's giving me the number he did. The reason I'm on the fence is if I did buy it, there's a high probability I'd fix a few minor things and flip it. I just don't think what I'd get for after that, given the frame repair, would be worth it. Thoughts?

Sounds like it may have spent some time in northern VA? I'd be concerned about any bondo jobs.
 
A good frame repair wouldn't turn me away. I purchased one for my daughter with just the lower area of the frame in bad shape. The rest was unbelievably clean for a NE Jeep. I trailered the Jeep to RI to Autorust (the guys who make SafeTCaps and let them do it. That was in 2019. The Jeep is still in great shape.
 
You could recoup the $6k selling off the parts.

You could (maybe) double your money buying a clean frame from the PNW or down south and doing a swap.

-Mac
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator