I am getting my first Wrangler today
1987, 4.2 Laredo for $1,500.
It needs a new front seat, carb, 4X4 needs worked on.
What advice can you give me?
Thinking about a used seat from e-bay
I read several threads about carb swap, yet I don't want to spend a lot of money, b/c I may swap out the engine for fuel injected.
I'm looking for a budget minded (cheap) project
Any thoughts?
Thanks

There are several seats from other vehicles that match the bolt pattern and work as direct swaps. I picked up a set of front seats from a sunfire at the local junk yard for $20. They bolted directly in.

I can't help with the carb issue, I am fuel injection.

The vacume lines need to be checked. A lot of times the vacume line to the front axle activator (or what ever it is called) has become cracked and not functioning.

Welcome pilgrim ... grats on the jeep but affraid i'm not much help, as I am a FI man myself.

congrats on the jeep first off. now what exactly is ur complaints with the carb.not idling or wont start ? as far as 4x4 if its just not working read the sticky articles at the top of the page.

Congrats on your Jeep.

It has those "Death fang" shackles up front.

Extra long shackles will lift your Jeep, but less than you might think. They also can make your handling a bit squirrely, and they definitely provide a problem for ground clearance.

Be a bit more specific about carb and 4x4 problems, and the people here will give you some help. I won't. I pay someone to change my oil.

Wow thats looks solid. Good find for $1500.00. How much is a rebuild kit for your carb? The last carb'd jeep I ran I rebuilt it with a kit I got off ebay,ran good after that. I swapped over to FI since then even on my 82' after you go FI you love it.

hey do you know what other seats work? i am in thinking about getting some new ones....

Went to get the Jeep tonight. The guy could not find the title. No title no cash. Upon looking further at the body the floor pan on the drivers side was bad. A hole about the size of a human head.
Any advice on floor pans?
I will have to tow the jeep home since the carb is bad enough the guy told me I should not drive it the 15 miles home. Drove fine on Tuesday around the neighborhood, engine sounded good as well.
I'm up for a project, but don't want to sink on more money than necessary.
Should I move on a look for another one?
Thanks for your advice.

move on. rust, carb, cheapo shackles.

look for 94-95 yj if you want the least amount of headaches.

Move on.
I bought this 93 for $2000, FI
I have to repair the floor pans in both sides, but go to quadratec.com and you can find them for around 35 bucks. Easy fix.

Here's my Jeep.

What stands out about the 94,95 YJ?

Latest YJ models . Plus both the 4.0 and 4banger are fuel injected.

easy to replace externally mounted slave cylinder which is failure prone in all models. thats the biggie for me. dont need to drop trans to r&r

I would walk away from any with rust, just to easy to find em without rust.

What he said!

Thanks for all your advice.
I have become leery of the rust issue and the need to replace the floor pan.
Found another one:

90 Jeep Wrangler 119k Miles Trade?

Called the guy, no rust in floor pan. Did have some "repairs" done by previous owners on the body. They riveted metal over some spots.

Any thoughts. Again thanks for helping this newbie.

Man, this forum stuff is awesome!
Thanks for all your replies.

Just read the post of another guy, looking. To sum it up:
YJ - harder ride, less frills, less cost to fix
TJ - softer ride, more frills, more cost to fix
Either way stay away from the rust
Get the 6 rather than the 4 - same gas mileage, 6 has much more power and better resale. (My 2000 Cherokee is inline 6 and is great)

Since this is my third vehicle and I'm not looking to invest a ton of money (only 2,500) I think I need to keep saving and keep looking.
But do I have to terminate my membership here?
:-)

Welcome, looks like you have something to start with. There are at kinds of things you can do to any jeep. What you shold think about in your process is what do you want from your new Jeep, where would you want to go, and what will help you to get there. Never short cut anything!!! If you think about it, you should do something about it. Always best to start at the bottom and work up. make a list of ideas and read what others have done. I would race a jeep with new paint anyday, it's the ones that are flat gray you need to look out for.