What would you do?

A huge part of any build [either a firearm, house or vehicle] is how much can you do yourself. Do you have the tools, a place to work, the talent or even the time for diy. This needs to figure into the equation too. Otherwise it’s a money pit that will hopefully have a good outcome but will probably be expensive even with the low cost at the start. Good luck. Keep us posted.
Good post.

This guy has had a Jeep basically dropped into his lap for nothing , unfortunately it's just a bad one to rescue.

Kind of reminds me of a guy I know who got a trophy wife...wasn't first place.
 
Sounds to me like you’re good to go. As others have said get it running right and go from there. Gotta have a baseline. Then start swapping things out until you make it yours. There’s nothing that can’t be accomplished if enough time, money or effort is spent.
 
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Sounds to me like you’re good to go. As others have said get it running right and go from there. Gotta have a baseline. Then start swapping things out until you make it yours. There’s nothing that can’t be accomplished if enough time, money or effort is spent.
Yep..it's all what ya wanna do.
 
Why do you think is a bad one to rescue AndyG?
Money.

Jeeps don't hundred-dollar you to death.. it's $1,000 a pop it seems .

And I'm speculating..... it may go smooth as silk especially if you're handy and resourceful.

But I can see some gearing cost as well as all the frame stuff to sort out, it could turn into the kind of thing that once you get it where you want it you'll have enough in it you could have had a 6 cylinder model without all the drama.

One thing for the money I can tell you it is a great donor vehicle.

You can find a wrecked 6 cylinder with a soft top and put the two together and possibly do real well.

I basically rescued a project Jeep last year and it ended up costing me around $8,000... That is beyond what I paid for the vehicle.

That was just to straighten out everything they had done... I made a few mistakes along the way myself.

If anybody can turn it into something good an experienced body guy can. I have seen body guys be able to do that over and over.
 
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To be really candid, I don't feel like a 4-cylinder is the ideal platform for that type of build

And I'm not slamming anything that anybody owns.

Most of us on here would love to get more from our six cylinder engines.
 
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Hesus freakin Kristo man,

Keep the weight down and the rig lightweight, run whatcha brung to the party, don't go backwards! Otherwise what's the point? A Barbie street beach jeep? I like the aluminum armor idea OP.

If I had a nickel for every OME & 31's comment......

1st off:

31's aren't free.
The OP says the Jeep has a 4" lift already.
The OP also has the 35's already.
The combined OME lift & new 31's won't save anything really over a regear in money, time & labor.

The purpose of the regear is to maintain drivability. Most 4-cylinder TJ's already came with 4.10's to run the 225x75x15 tires stock on them when the Jeep was new. Obviously the Jeep engineers knew something about keeping the power up or there would have been 3.55's or worse installed from the factory.

Keep what you have and regear the axles. If you want more then lunchbox lockers or some kind of traction aid added during regear.

OP, keep your focus....

It's a cheap Jeep project and for $1200 buy in with that much rust, don't waste time on replacing suspension parts or wheels & tires. Not worth it.......
This^^^. My thoughts exactly relative to the 31’s ideas. You’d pour all your mullah into downsizing when you could regear for the same and enjoy. Stick with 35’s for the time and regear. If you want to downsize to 33’s, do that when the 35’s wear down and plan a good regear ratio for either.
 
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On the regear ,which brand do you suggest to look for getting prices?
how much could I get for the hardtop?
Hardtop: depends on the market in your area, $800-$1200 range. Check local pricing on CL to get a good idea

Gears: most are fine, Revolution gets highest praise. Yukon used to be reliably good but quality control has fallen off. But the main thing is to find a reputable shop and have them provide the gears. That way if they fail they can’t blame the gears since they supplied them. You’ll also probably get a better deal bc the shop will be have a relationship with certain gear suppliers.
 
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Hardtop: depends on the market in your area, $800-$1200 range. Check local pricing on CL to get a good idea

Gears: most are fine, Revolution gets highest praise. Yukon used to be reliably good but quality control has fallen off. But the main thing is to find a reputable shop and have them provide the gears. That way if they fail they can’t blame the gears since they supplied them. You’ll also probably get a better deal bc the shop will be have a relationship with certain gear suppliers.

I second this, make the Jeep safe first, then drive it with the current configuration to figure out what’s wrong with it and we’ll help you through the next steps which will probably be gears.