[jd8181]

i've been watching this forum for awhile and decided to join today. you are probably wondering how i got a $5500 2005 jeep liberty sport with 47,000 miles on it. well here are some pics of what it looked like when i bought it. when i was piecing it together, and after it was done. sorry the pictures aren't the greatest they were taken with my phone as we were working

when i first got the jeep. axles bent, gas tank broke, plus everything else





i bought the jeep from a place that only sales wrecked cars, trucks, suv, etc. when i bought it was totaled out (it had been hit pretty good in the rear and sat in a warehouse for about 10 months) i paid $3500 for the white totaled jeep. the place also has a green 05 liberty that had been hit in the front. so i bought the back clip off of that one and paid $995 (got them to deliver them both for free since we buy a few cars a year from them)

$995 back clip right after they dropped it off and before i did anything to it.



right after cutting it in 2



mating the 2 together



we ended up finding good body lines on the jeep and cut them both in the same place. welded them together (sleeved the door post and on the sub frame under the body (rail that runs down both sides) welded it solid and then took a section out of the junk half and wrapped it around the rail and welded it. i'm thinking it might be stronger now than it was new). i also had to straighten out the front fender and get a new front bumper, grill, grill insert, and a hand full of other parts and paint. so that was about $1000 for a grand total of $5500. i show friends pictures before and they would have never guessed.

what it looks like now.



i had the jeep aligned after we got everything finished and the guy took all kinds of measurements and said that there was only an 1/8" difference in the side. not to bad. drives strait down the road and tire wear is normal. i've changed all the fluids, breaks, plugs, etc and the only probably i had was 1 coil pack went bad. i've been very pleased with my liberty. kind of debating on whether to do anything else to it or just keep it stock. i drive it 35 miles a day back and forth to work so i don't want to really make the gas mileage any worst than it already is. let me know what you guys think

link to my photobucket with all the pics

http://s581.photobucket.com/albums/s...d8181/liberty/

my favorite picture

[Nick_Knipp]

Originally Posted by jd8181

i've been watching this forum for awhile and decided to join today. you are probably wondering how i got a $5500 2005 jeep liberty sport with 47,000 miles on it. well here are some pics of what it looked like when i bought it. when i was piecing it together, and after it was done. sorry the pictures aren't the greatest they were taken with my phone as we were working

when i first got the jeep. axles bent, gas tank broke, plus everything else





i bought the jeep from a place that only sales wrecked cars, trucks, suv, etc. when i bought it was totaled out (it had been hit pretty good in the rear and sat in a warehouse for about 10 months) i paid $3500 for the white totaled jeep. the place also has a green 05 liberty that had been hit in the front. so i bought the back clip off of that one and paid $995 (got them to deliver them both for free since we buy a few cars a year from them)

$995 back clip right after they dropped it off and before i did anything to it.



right after cutting it in 2



mating the 2 together



we ended up finding good body lines on the jeep and cut them both in the same place. welded them together (sleeved the door post and on the sub frame under the body (rail that runs down both sides) welded it solid and then took a section out of the junk half and wrapped it around the rail and welded it. i'm thinking it might be stronger now than it was new). i also had to straighten out the front fender and get a new front bumper, grill, grill insert, and a hand full of other parts and paint. so that was about $1000 for a grand total of $5500. i show friends pictures before and they would have never guessed.

what it looks like now.



i had the jeep aligned after we got everything finished and the guy took all kinds of measurements and said that there was only an 1/8" difference in the side. not to bad. drives strait down the road and tire wear is normal. i've changed all the fluids, breaks, plugs, etc and the only probably i had was 1 coil pack went bad. i've been very pleased with my liberty. kind of debating on whether to do anything else to it or just keep it stock. i drive it 35 miles a day back and forth to work so i don't want to really make the gas mileage any worst than it already is. let me know what you guys think

link to my photobucket with all the pics

http://s581.photobucket.com/albums/s...d8181/liberty/

my favorite picture

**** man! you got 2 totaled Jeeps and made a new one,

how about a green color though

[jd8181]

i would have had a lot more labor in it if i did that. i would have had to take the dash, doors, and everything else apart to paint it green. i did like the green but it would have been a ton more work. this took my about 40 hours.

i just added more pics on the photobucket link of under the body where i welded it and the door and where i wrapped the frame. i seam sealed everything and used rust to primer and then sprayed bed liner under the whole body to keep it from rusting

[ChicoXJ]

I have to admit, nice work. And I don't hand compliments like that out lightly.

[NMLJ]

Good Job!

[jd8181]

thanks guys. i really enjoy doing this kind of work and do it on the side. blue book is around $10000 or so and i've got about $5500 in it so i thought i can't go wrong. with a salvage title they take about 20% off of blue book. so it's still worth about $8000.
i'm just debating if it should keep it stock or put a lift on it