February is so close that you can taste it, and you know what that means? It’s crunch time for that winter project. Soon March will be here and with it, racing, shows, and decent cruising weather. Here at BangShift Mid-West, there isn’t much going on in the project department…the Imperial is still on an engine-related hiatus and Angry Grandpa is still trudging about in the wintery slop. That doesn’t mean that I’m not on Craigslist hunting for the next project I can’t afford if my life depended upon it! For this round of “Would You Rather?”, I’m pitting up two sub-$5,000 Craigslist finds. One will speak to the speed freak, the other to the off-roading crowd, and both are good enough that it might even encourage some position changes. You know the drill…gotta be one of the two. Here we go:
1. 1991 Ford Mustang
A clean Fox Mustang that is cheap enough is always attractive. Can’t say the same for the unfortunate aftermarket hood, but at least it isn’t a GT…I always dug the cleaner looks of the LX. The parts list is promising: “TOKIO ADJUSTABLE STRUTS, 302 CARB., BUT HAVE ALL PARTS TO TAKE BACK TO FUEL INJECTION, C4 TRANS, HEI DIST., MOISER 31 SPLINE AXLE WITH C CLIP FULL SPOOL ELIMINATOR, 3 SETS OF GEARS (410, 373 AND 355), WELD WHEELS, TIRES IN REAR ARE 28X10.5X15, AL RADIATOR, ELECT. FAN, EXTRA SET OF HEADS AND TRANS BREAK” sounds like a lot of fun, and at $4200, would be a steal. But there is always the suspicion of the quality of work…is the car put together well or are you diving head-first into the waterless deep end? Hmm…
Craigslist Link: 1991 Ford Mustang
2. 1982 Jeep J-10 4×4
Ignore the “I skip Leg Day” stance of the Jeep for a second, and picture it on a set of 38.5″ Boggers. Is it starting to become more attractive yet? How about the roll bar with lights in the bed? Or maybe a cow-flinging tornado chasing it through a corn field. J-trucks are badass regardless of the year and finding a running, driving example is always a score. Sure, there might be a little rust, but if you can’t see through the bed sides, you’re doing better than most. An AMC 304 V8 and TH400 trans will move this Jeep properly, once you clean out the fuel tank, and if you polish it up nicely you might even make a few bucks on it when a “collector” decides that he has to have your truck RIGHT NOW! (Sorry, I’ve been watching Barrett-Jackson again…)
Craigslist Link: 1982 Jeep J-10 4×4
http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/5426806349.html
Not a bad start for those 1/4 or 1/8 mile dreams
http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/5426691054.html
Really cool wagon
http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/5401455396.html
And the piece-de-resistance I would love to straight axle this thing with a 440 wedge motor!!
My eyes must be goin’ bad; All I can see is an AMC J-10. I vote you take the truck and don’t look back. All above advice comes free of charge from one of your resident BangShift AMC nuts. Remember; It’s a Jeep thing, I’m sure you’ll
understand…
id buy the jeep truck and drop in an ls with a twin turb…. wait, just kidding! 304 power all day long! miseable mileage but you can’t beat that nice AMC vibe! maybe some lockers and a crispy exhaust note!
I’d keep my money. That Mustang is a hackjob. No desire for a crusty old Jeep either.
Plenty of tired 5.0 Mustangs still around in my parts, but that J-10 would be something special around here. Besides, Crusty has a history with AMC/Jeep.
Wheels and tires and that Jeep is the shit!
I would take the Jeep. Put a different set of wheels and tires on it and stuff a 401 under the hood.
The problem with Fox bodies is everyone has one and there will never been enough of them destroyed that the preservationists will want to snap them up. They get compared to the tri-5 chevies – but that misses the point that they only made the tri-5s for 3 years, one of which was quite a bit different in styling.
Jeep trucks, Dana 30 axles, terrible transfer cases, and motors that had a red line of 3800 rpm. Sure it’d be a collector – but I’ve simply not seen a market for any of the high-production vehicles…. it goes up in value, but if you’re going to spend 50k restoring something, shouldn’t you restore something that will be worth 100k instead of 60k?
J10….I like a Fox but I love a J10….love it!
The Jeep J10. I have 1979 and 1981 examples. Bulletproof driveline and bodies that were made mostly of rust.
Both mine are shortbed, 258ci six cylinder trucks. They both have Dana 44 axles, but the 81′ has an AMC20 rear axle. They both have a NP207 transfer cases, which is more than enough for the six cylinders power. The big difference between the two is that T18 in the 79′ vs. the Chysler sourced 727 in the 81′.