New to the forum, life-long Jeep-nerd.
So, there seems to be a lot of love/hate around the Landrunner kit. We bought a '99 TJ Sahara off a girl for $800, knowing it needed a new transmission. It was supposed to be a sacrifice vehicle for our '83 Scrambler rebuild. However, with 80k miles, engine sounding and running great, no real rust...we've decided to keep her and sacrifice something else.
This is our second TJ (we rebuilt my '99 in 2013, now an offroad weekender), and when we were looking at it, we knew it looked weird. A little research, and we found out we now are the proud parents of a Landrunner. I chalk up my not knowing this to being in high school (and oblivious to the world) when this abuse of Wrangler occurred.
Now I'm not saying I love it outright... but I love that it brings some variety to our Jeep collection. Basically the same-ish as our blue TJ, but a very different look. So I'm keeping it...BUT... I want to do some re-imagining on her to pull her back to Jeep and away from Humvee. Progress / Tools Avail. / Plans: Trans is now rebuilt and running like a top, body is in great condition. We have a welder, a pretty stocked shop, and are looking into a plasma cutter. I'm going to be painting with Monstaliner, exterior Doomsday, interior Lady in Red. She'll get Nitto Grapplers on her MT Classic I's (I'm in the market for a spare MT C1 for the fifth, if anyone has a lead), and, eventually, lift and upgraded suspension (OME). We'll weld up reinforced bumpers and a winch setup.
My questions posed to the forum are... what (in your opinion), makes a Jeep a Jeep; and, without taking the easy way out and saying "change it back to a TJ," what are your recommendations / thoughts / opinions on making this thing stand out as a unique take on a TJ?
I'll end up making her my own in the end, but I'm curious to hear insights from a panel of fellow Jeep lovers.
So, there seems to be a lot of love/hate around the Landrunner kit. We bought a '99 TJ Sahara off a girl for $800, knowing it needed a new transmission. It was supposed to be a sacrifice vehicle for our '83 Scrambler rebuild. However, with 80k miles, engine sounding and running great, no real rust...we've decided to keep her and sacrifice something else.
This is our second TJ (we rebuilt my '99 in 2013, now an offroad weekender), and when we were looking at it, we knew it looked weird. A little research, and we found out we now are the proud parents of a Landrunner. I chalk up my not knowing this to being in high school (and oblivious to the world) when this abuse of Wrangler occurred.
Now I'm not saying I love it outright... but I love that it brings some variety to our Jeep collection. Basically the same-ish as our blue TJ, but a very different look. So I'm keeping it...BUT... I want to do some re-imagining on her to pull her back to Jeep and away from Humvee. Progress / Tools Avail. / Plans: Trans is now rebuilt and running like a top, body is in great condition. We have a welder, a pretty stocked shop, and are looking into a plasma cutter. I'm going to be painting with Monstaliner, exterior Doomsday, interior Lady in Red. She'll get Nitto Grapplers on her MT Classic I's (I'm in the market for a spare MT C1 for the fifth, if anyone has a lead), and, eventually, lift and upgraded suspension (OME). We'll weld up reinforced bumpers and a winch setup.
My questions posed to the forum are... what (in your opinion), makes a Jeep a Jeep; and, without taking the easy way out and saying "change it back to a TJ," what are your recommendations / thoughts / opinions on making this thing stand out as a unique take on a TJ?
I'll end up making her my own in the end, but I'm curious to hear insights from a panel of fellow Jeep lovers.
