I have a 1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. it has 150,000 miles on it and it runs ok. I would like to get it restored but I don't have a lot of cash to put in to it. What's the best budget way to get this looking right. I am not looking for a showroom quality vehicle and I am not planning on selling it. Would it be to just take it to the shop every time I get a 1000 bucks to spend, or just save up a bunch and drop it off and say fix it all... I don't know. I would like to have it up to be proud of it when I'm driving it around. Thanks.
Sure, you will have to fix things as you go along. The main thing is just this; If you like it then anything anyone else says, including me, is just an opinion. Get it running first and then work on making it shine, Just think, you have a 34 year old car that still works! It's different than 99% of the cars out there and will always be that way.There isn't one vehicle on the planet that will never need repair. Look at this site. Every day there's dozens of guys with car problems, all makes, all years. Don't let the naysayers discourage you. There are knowledgeable people here to help you along. You have a real survivor. Heck, it's lasted this long.
Excellent post mittegag
Go on you tube to teach yourself to fix the small things and leave the big stuff to the pro's. But NOT a dealer. They will just rip you off. It's amazing what you can do yourself if you take your time and think outside the box.
You will be pumping money into it for as long as you own it. That's the reality of project cars.
why the downvote @mittegag ?
Is anything I said untrue?
There's really no such thing as a budget restoration. It's going to cost lots of time, lots of money, or both, depending on how far you want to take it and how much of the work you can do yourself. A decent paint job alone runs thousands of dollars and that's not including body work. As @mittegag points out, best to do the small stuff yourself and save money for the items that need a pro. Rust is a big factor. Rust repairs cost a fortune, and those Grand Wagoneers are an early 1960s Kaiser-Willys design that is quite prone to rust.
One thing you have going for you is those old full-sized Jeeps go for absolutely stupid money when they're in good condition. I mean six-figure money for the really good ones, give or take a bit. So you're unlikely to wind up upside-down financially if it's solid to begin with.
https://wagonmaster.com/collections/grand-wagoneer-vehicles
I think the owners on the website you linked are in la-la-land
I would agree, but those things do seem to go for ridiculous money not only on that site but just about anywhere they pop up for sale if they're allegedly in restored or original "like new" condition. It's like the phenomenon with old VW Microbuses. Those were miserable vehicles (I've driven them). but the prices on those things today are just insane. What can I say, it's nuts what some people will pay for stuff today that you could hardly give away years ago.
the prices on wagonmaster are ASKING prices. They'll be lucky to get half that. In this economy, I don't think people are buying overpriced resto hobby cars. Sinking significant sums money into one looks like a very risky proposition.
Also they're a dealer so they're asking top dollar. On auctions selling prices seem to be all over the map but some go for $70K or more. I wouldn't put big money into anything, but if someone had one of these that's basically solid and wanted to do most of the work themselves, farming out what they can't handle, it could work out OK. For whatever reason there is still a demand for these old Jeeps.
No but He's a brand new member.
A little encouragement please?
He'll find out in the course of time.
Hells bells, he may be the next Jay Leno
I didn't try to sway him either way. I just stated plain facts, because that's what people expect from Scotty: the unadulterated TRUTH. It's up to him what he wants to do with that information.
You are sugar coating. He said he doesn't have a lot of money, and your coaxing could bankrupt him.
I think realistically what he's looking at isn't a real restoration, which could easily get into $60K-$100K, but cleanup and fixup so it's a decent ride, runs well and looks good, maybe investing in a decent paint job if the body is in good shape. It would help to know what kind of condition it's in to start with.
That's how it starts.... and at that age/mileage the problems will keep coming up, and will get more frequent with time.
And then you have to FIND parts!
If he wants to drive it around like he says, I predict it will be a money pit. It's only suitable for a highly motivated individual who is in love with the vehicle and is well financed.
Well, what I did with my older cars is make a list of everything that was broken or not functional. From biggest problems (Top of the list) to smallest problems (Bottom of the list), and started by taking care of the biggest problems first, like head gaskets or bad leaks.
I admit, I love that generation of the Grand Wagoneer, I almost bought one a few times because I loved the woodgrain and the old style look, but I ended up getting the Roadmaster instead because I needed something that was faster and got better milage for a daily driver.
You said it already runs OK, so does it drive good? Does it shift good? Is anything major not working to where you can't drive it? Take care of all the major problems first, if there are no major problems that you can find, spend smaller amounts of money and time fixing the little things like brakes and non-functional interior lights.
My guess is you should have a 360 C.I. V8 and a 3 speed automatic in that thing if it's all original, so if it still has the full time 4WD you should have plenty of torque to go off roading with your buddies. Or use it to go camping with all the space in the back, you could even take it to car meets if you'd like.
If it doesn't need much to look and be a decent car, make sure the alternator and battery are good, top off the fluids, take care of any body rust and paint over it, just the basic stuff. Other than that just keep an eye on how it's running, driving and stopping.
thank you to everyone that replied. i appreciate all the help i can get. thanks
Just curious how it's going with the Wagoneer. My son just inherited an 87 Wagoneer Limited, similar condition. He really wants to keep it and drive it as his daily...since it was his grandpa's {black}:idontknow:
thomasthetank hasn't visited the forum in a year and half. It's unlikely he's coming back.
Your son's Wagoneer might make a nice hobby for occupying his time, but using a 36yo car as a daily driver is not practical. Where is he going to get parts?
I think that's just asking for disappointment.