Rebuild my b2 or get a new car?

Ok well after by lifted 01 explorer took a turn for the worse I cut my losses and got 2800 for it, now I'm at a crossroads as to what to do for a car. My 2800 wont go very far in the ways of getting a super reliable daily driver, however I have an 89 Bronco II i paid 1000 for back in January. The B2 runs decent but does have a bit of smoke out of the tailpipe when I get on it and the p.o. said it did have a knock at one point but in the 30 or so miles I've driven it did not. My question is should I put my money towards the bronco ii and getting it completely reliable (is my forth b2, I love the little things) or look for something else? I have a 91 explorer sport parts car I've talked about pulling the engine to drop in it however I am a bit weary of the time/wiring required as I am in college and don't have that much time at the moment, could always wait on that til summer though. Although the explorer has sat a while (trans went bad) so I'm not sure if it would even be worth the trouble. Also I have the fm146 which I've heard won't hold up to the 4.0 very well.

Dude, I paid a grand for my Buick. Gonna have to put a wheel bearing/hub assembly on it and it needs a window regulator on the left rear window and I need to fix an A/C leak. but Its stupid reliable for $1000.

Just seen a 2000 Mercury Cougar go on craigslist for $1800, rusty but trusty. a 2001 Focus with 130K for $2000..... point is cheap reliable car are out there. You may need to put a few hundred in parts in it but you can find them. Buy a car and restore your B2 over time..... don't spend your whole wad... look for something that has a few problems but no major mechanical issues.

my B2 is my DD. I drove it for almost two years with a rod knock, using coolant, etc... finally got my 4.0 swap done this winter. I like it, just have to remember it's 25 years old. If it fits your day-to-day needs I'd just keep working on its needs, but like was already said, no need to drop the whole wad on it.

thats a decently clean B2. You must not live in the rust belt.

No luckily no rust ha, but I mainly need something that can I can drive back and forth to college every other weekend (about 45 mins) and will look pretty good. Found a 93 mazda navajo with 183k for 2750$ little high though in my opinion but guess I'll just have to keep on the lookout.

I expect on any used car purchase I will spend $1500 to get the bugs out of it cause the person selling it is selling their problems. This has served me pretty well. So if you but something for close to $2800 plan to have some extra funds.

My daily drivers are an 02 Explorer and 87 BII. For the past 6 weeks I been more trusting of the old BII than the explorer since the fuel pump is going out on the explorer and I haven't addressed yet.

I used to try do routine maintenance and not deal with issues till needed. Now I tend to keep on top of things and start working to address them when I see something not right rather than let it bet till vehicle is out of action.

ab_slack said:

I expect on any used car purchase I will spend $1500 to get the bugs out of it cause the person selling it is selling their problems. This has served me pretty well. So if you but something for close to $2800 plan to have some extra funds.

My daily drivers are an 02 Explorer and 87 BII. For the past 6 weeks I been more trusting of the old BII than the explorer since the fuel pump is going out on the explorer and I haven't addressed yet.

I used to try do routine maintenance and not deal with issues till needed. Now I tend to keep on top of things and start working to address them when I see something not right rather than let it bet till vehicle is out of action.

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I hear ya man, being in college money is tight which is kinda why I wanna fix up the b2, in all honesty it doesn't need that much just a new sensor for the temp gauge, like I said it smokes some but not a lot, I wouldn't drive it on the interstate though but only cuz I don't think the 2.9 would be happy at 75-80 lol

Hey man, these are pretty reliable and well under your budget. In Glibert...

http://columbia.craigslist.org/bar/4378216548.html

hmmm might have to look into that bushman, thanks

BDAB said:

Dude, I paid a grand for my Buick. Gonna have to put a wheel bearing/hub assembly on it and it needs a window regulator on the left rear window and I need to fix an A/C leak. but Its stupid reliable for $1000.

Just seen a 2000 Mercury Cougar go on craigslist for $1800, rusty but trusty. a 2001 Focus with 130K for $2000..... point is cheap reliable car are out there. You may need to put a few hundred in parts in it but you can find them. Buy a car and restore your B2 over time..... don't spend your whole wad... look for something that has a few problems but no major mechanical issues.

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I agree. Been there done that. Wait doing that with my 84 B2. Yep I've threatened to sell it, scrap it, junk it, etc the past year and a half I've owned it, and well its still here. I paid $975 for it, the body looks like crap, had to have some work done to it but luckily I've got friends who have kids in high school auto shop so all I had to do was buy parts and was overly nice and bought them lunch for doing all the work they've done for me saving me thousands of dollars in labor. Just did the rear brakes last weekend. Overall I think I have put a couple hundred in parts in it over this past year and a half, it runs and drives that's about all I really need for a DD beater truck go run around the hills in it occasionally and not have to worry about dents or scratches.

Cheap used vehicles are out there. A friend of mine was doing a paper route for several years driving around a 1998 Nissan car he bought off a guy on craigslist for $500 put new tires and brakes on it and tons of miles 7 days a week without any major issues, just tons of brake jobs every couple months.

I'd still like to get into another Jeep Cherokee one of these days but I think my Bronco 2 will still be around just because for some reason the Bronco 2's and the older Rangers I've always had a calling towards.

There are plenty of cheap reliable cars out there (my truck was 1200 back in 2009 and it's been a 60 mile daily ever since).

Then again, you already know whats wrong with the Bronco II. It's easier dealing with that then the unknown of a used cheap car. It's always a gamble..

jhammel85 said:

There are plenty of cheap reliable cars out there (my truck was 1200 back in 2009 and it's been a 60 mile daily ever since).

Then again, you already know whats wrong with the Bronco II. It's easier dealing with that then the unknown of a used cheap car. It's always a gamble..

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yeah true, found a 93 explorer sport 2wd 5spd with 10k on rebuilt engine for 2300, and I have a 91 sport for parts I can use so may wind up getting it

decided just to rebuild the bronco did a full tune up, plugs, filters, etc. replaced gauge temp sensor but didn't fixed gauge, and got some rims and tires put on, runs okay but has a pretty bad exhaust manifold leak on the driver's side I believe.

Changed the pcv valve today, quieted down a bit of the engine noise but its still kinda loud at times. The exhaust smells like its running really rich any ideas on a solution? I've changed the plugs, air filter, pcv, and cleaned the intake a bit. Also I think I have an exhaust leak because you can smell exhaust when you cut on the air and its making a fair deal of noise.

That's a pretty nice looking rig you got there. I would keep on driving it as well.