so heres my situation: i recently purchased 2 Raiders. both are 87s and the 2.6 4-cyl. the first one i bought doesnt run and needs an entire engine (it also is an auto). the body is in perfect shape except for a dent on on the driver side fender and the rear passenger quarter panel. it has no rust anywhere.

the second i bought from the original owner and this one runs so it was a lot easier to get home. the biggest problem is the fact that the vehicle lived in illnois for 10 years so it has a substantial amount of rust on it. when i first started it up the idle was very high since it kept stalling at the idle. i cranked the idle screw but you still have to give it some gas when you stop. in the last mile on the drive home the power steering pump broke off the engine because the bolts were not tight, so i cant start it. the first thing i did to this car was remove the interior, so its basicallt a steel shell. im redoing the interir completly custom. i removed the back seat beacause im going to be needing to take my drumset places. next i cut out the rust the resided under the rear carpet on the wheel wells and fiberglassed it. next i sanded the interior down so i could rhino line it. then came the body lift. i chose to do it at this point in time because the body is lighter than it will ever be again. someone mentioned the Rodger Brown body lift and said they put it on their raider. so i took after his example and bought it. the day it came i put it on. it took me at least 5 hours to do it because i kept making mistakes. i didint know that the rubber gasket in the little cups was supposed to stay in. so i put the lift on and didnt tighten anything down. the next day i realized why those gaskets were there so i had to jack up the car and put the gaskets back in. but the bolts they sent me were to short for the points behind the tail lights so i had to go to my local hardware store to pick up longer bolts and new nuts. finally i got those 2 bolts in and tightend them down. and might i say it looks like a beast now.

right now my focus is the cosmetic work. fixing the rust and doing bondo work are top priority right now. after those things are done i'll put the interior back together and do some reupolstery. next comes the paint job. if any of you have seen the new landrover orange thats the color. after that comes the new bumpers. i found this guy on craigs list that welds custom bumpers for half the price.

when this ones done ill move on to the other. hopefully ill finish them before i go to college.

Pics?

Javy

well there lies the problem. theres gonna be a foot of snow out there tomorrow so i wont be able to get pictures for like a week after tomorrow.

So what's the plan for the two vehicles? Is one going to be an offroader and one a daily driver? I'd put the running engine into the rust free body and start driving. But that's only because I hate body work. Either way, sounds like you're having fun fixing them up the way you want them. Welcome to the Wire! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

how about an off-road daily driver. im not planning on making it strictly off road but i will take it out there.

They are good for daily driver.
Use all the good parts and sell the rusted one.
Good luck.

[img]http://lh6.ggpht.com/baruchcardenas/R_7HXcl-EwI/AAAAAAAAAD4/8_ih4AhAiF4/DSC05833.JPG?imgmax=512[/img] [img]http://picasaweb.google.com/baruchcardenas/DodgeRaider/photo#5187803026403758850[/img]

Dude, I'm in need of the 4th gear solenoid for my 87 Raider. Any way you could help m [color:"blue"] [/color] e out with that?

i dont think so i plan on fixing both of them so i want to keep all the parts on theone im not fixing up at the moment as a road map.