Rotten Jimny - examining my options

So my 01 Jimny failed its MOT last week, I knew it was a bit crunchy in the back but it wasn't untill I pulled the bumper off to see about fixing it that I realized quite how bad it was.

Both rear body mounts are completely gone, the rear corners of the body don't exist anymore. boot floor on the driver's side has come away from the wheel tub with a nice big hole the whole length of the wheelarch, inner sills below the middle body mounts have holes but the inner sills overall aren't that bad. The outer sills are pretty solid besides one hole on the passenger side. I've welded some rusty junk back together in my time, but this is like swiss cheese and it's all structural stuff in awkward spots. Seems like it'd need the body taking off the frame to properly fix some of this mess, and I lack the facilities to do that. I like my Jimny, but i'm not sure it's worth the effort.

For your entertainment, here's some pictures of the carnage:
 
 
 

So the obvious (and sensible) option is to just scrap it or sell it. It was daily driven before the MOT fail and hasn't got much else wrong with it, so i'm reluctant to just scrap it. The head gasket went just after I bought it, and it had a new head gasket and cylinder head put on it about 2500 miles ago, it's been bulletproof ever since. The clutch is very worn and was due for a replacement if it passed, but i'd still drive it anywhere.

I've been eyeing MOT fail and spares or repair Jimnys on ebay, I was wondering if it's realistic to buy one with a blown up engine but a decent body and drop my engine in it, but I've not been able to find any with bad engines to get an idea on the price. Wondering if anyone's got any kind of rough figures on what they go for with bad engines?

Not the most sensible option obviously, but an engine swap would be a more interesting project than trying to weld up this mess.

I'm fairly new to Jimny's but there are 100's if not 1000's of them like yours, it's a big job to get it back to a usable state again, looking at those for sale & the couple of 'mint' condition ones I looked at you have little chance of getting one of the same age in any better condition. If you have the space then breaking is probably the best way to get the most back for it. Or just an honest advert & get rid.

A lot of this depends how long you can wait without the Jimny in working order.
Its possible to find one with a blown engine, but current high prices may cause some sellers to "flog it as a good one" and pass the head issue onto the purchaser, commanding a high price as an extra insult. That said not everyone does this, if you can bide your time one will turn up.
How about a front end crash write off, no hiding that. You could "cut and shut" a repair panel, not as bad as it sounds as the Jimny body isn't monocoque.
Alternatively it's time for a tray back, remove the rotton rear end altogether.
Obviously it helps if you can at least weld, it opens up many options if you can, but if it's only spanners you have then options are limited. 

How are the front body mounts under the headlamps? Based on the rears the these can't be far behind as they usually fail first. Worth checking the rest of the body to understand if welding is a viable option.

If you can't do the work yourself the tricky bit is finding someone with the skill and enthusiasm to take it on.
I am in a similar position with one of mine. The rear corners weren't quite as bad as that, but it had rotted through on every body mount and needed a whole new front panel. Luckily I found a local chap who enjoys welding up rusty cars and he quoted £600+parts to get it MOT worthy. I've left it with him under instruction to do a thorough job, above what is simply required to pass an MOT and I'll pay the difference. I imagine I may be looking at £1200+ but the hope is I then have a Jimny that can go another 10+ years.


In terms of replacements, any Jimny that isn't rotten is worth strong money. Finding one with mechanical issues but no rust is rare and lots of people are looking for the same. I did find one recently but had to pay more than the asking price as so many people were making big offers. By the time I had done the head gasket and tidied up a few other bits the total cost wasn't too far off that of a tidy working car.
In the case of the Jimny being welded, the modifications I've made to it make replacing it more complicated so I think fixing the rust is the best option.

""flog it as a good one" and pass the head issue onto the purchaser" sounds familiar, my head gasket went like six months after I bought it. At least it was cheap.

The back of the body is more hole than car at this point but the front seems fine, I've seen pictures of Jimnys with rot around the headlamps and mine is definitely a bit rusty there, but there's no holes. Might have a poke around with a screwdriver just to make sure.

I can do the welding myself, it's just a massive project when I already have my hands pretty full with other things, I kind of expected that the engine swap option wasn't totally feasible so that's not a huge surprise.

The prices I'm seeing MOT failure/spares or repair Jimnys going for aren't far off what I paid for mine when I bought it, so cashing out is still an option.

I've got other things to drive and it's not in the way (yet) so I'll probably just let it sit and have a think about it in the meantime.

Such a shame that I didn't see this post until it was too late. I have just gave away my 55 plate to Copart for peanuts compared to what I paid for it 7 months ago. I got caught with a "flog it as a good one" Jimny. I checked it for rust before purchasing and it was solid. No signs of rust in all the usual problem places. Took both bumpers off all good. Chassis solid and no problems with all the mounts. 
Driving along one day and the radiator sprung a leak. Long story short head-gasket gone. 
When purchased it had a new radiator fitted because it was old and leaky was the story I was told. I didn't smell the rat!
I paid 4k for it and I advertised it honestly and pointed out that it probably needed a head-gasket. Put a price of 1.5k on it and not a single viewing.
We Buy and car offered me £400 for it and Copart got it in the end for £700.
Was going to see how much it would cost for a new head-gasket but I just lost trust in it and wanted rid of it.....
I might be a fool but I have got another one....   

That would've been exactly what I was looking for, a shame but that's the way it goes.

I'm probably going to just let mine sit on the driveway for a while untill I decide what to do with it, so If anyone else stumbles upon this thread and has a reasonably solid Jimny with a blown up engine they'd want to sell, drop me a message.

I'll put up a wanted ad too.