Whats up guys. Long time lurker here. I have wanted a 1st gen since I was a kid but they are hard to find clean and cheap these days in the PNW. Anyway, made a trade for this thing today and I could not pass it up. 3.0 v6 in unknown condition ( previous owner said he parked it a year ago and bought a 3.4 but never got around to doing the swap). Brand new BFG tires. 240k 5 speed, etc
My main concern right now is deciding on a motor setup then fix this janky lift it has on it.
go to junk yard and find the missing peices in engine bay and try and get it running or just go straight for a tdi or om617 swap.
I want to switch to a ome leaf spring in the rear instead of these sketchy drop shackles and spacers. Front looks like a skyjacker setup that seems to be useless? just for cosmetics? Here are some pictures if you guys have any thoughts on the direction I should take with this.
Would love to have a reliablish trail rig that still handles ok on the road by the end of this. The body is really clean, interior is pretty gross. Someone broke the drivers side vent window thing, any ideas on replacing that?