Picked up another TJ!

hardtailpan

hardtailpan

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
644
Location
Northeast USA
I've been searching for a TJ that would be a good hemi swap candidate. I've looked at tons of em. Since I'm in the rust belt, they were at best questionable and at worst, complete junk. I got lucky and ran into an '02 Apex edition. Lots of miles (199k), the motor is banging away, probably a valvetrain issue, the interior is in rough shape and the paint is faded, but its from Florida, has only spent a year here, and the frame and body are completely rust free. It's one of the best, if not the best condition chassis i've ever seen here up north in Mass.

This thing has the cool(?) hood sticker, the pumpkin seats, and the 7 speaker stereo. It's the 4.0 auto with dana 30/35 axles with the ever so crappy 3.07 gears.

My problem now is I think this is a bit too nice to cut up for a hemi swap, and I don't really want to do it to my other one even tho the frame isn't as clean as this one, tho its completely solid. Ugh, what to do....

I know everyone likes pics so:

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Dunkut88TJ said:
Looks like a fun and frustrating project!😂
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Lol yeah. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it, but when you see one in this shape up here in Mass, you grab it. I've got other projects ahead of it, so it will probably sit on ice for a bit. I may just fix/replace the motor and drive it for a bit. Maybe the 3.07s won't be horrible with the auto, tho i'm not a fan of the auto. I also have a TJ dana 44 that needs a home.....
 
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hardtailpan said:
Lol yeah. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it, but when you see one in this shape up here in Mass, you grab it. I've got other projects ahead of it, so it will probably sit on ice for a bit. I may just fix/replace the motor and drive it for a bit. Maybe the 3.07s won't be horrible with the auto, tho i'm not a fan of the auto. I also have a TJ dana 44 that needs a home.....
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It will be a fun project for sure and I don’t blame you for jumping on it with that underside. Everything else you can make better, I personally probably couldn’t manage an engine swap! Not even close to that level yet!
 
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cliffish said:
You don't have a numbers matching early Corvette. Do what you want to it. Restoring it to original will not bring you tons of $$$$$.
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That's for sure, and I have two of them now and the purpose of getting another one was to do the hemi swap. Also, they were both cheap enough where I shouldn't feel bad,
Thanks for the push, I'm thinking it over....
 
IPerkWVU said:
+1 vote for a hemi/LS and some suspension racing seats
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Heh heh!
If I do it it'll be a hemi swap.
My other one is a stick, which is what I was collecting parts for. That being said I have the hemi and auto out of the Ram, so I guess it doesn't matter which one i convert.
 
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