I’ve had to deal with this on 2 GEMs and it’s surprisingly not a big deal. As long as you can still see the VIN and it was never reported stolen, you should be ok. I’m in CA and I’m sure it varies from state to state but don’t give up too fast if the title doesn’t appear.
00-04 longbacks (what the OP has) normally don’t use that design. Their aluminum frame rails go all the way back and they have four rear shocks and it’s typically the welds around the top of the rear shock mounts that crack. Much bigger PITA to access to check and more expensive to fix because it’s aluminum.
The rear axle / swing arm is steel, so it’s good to check too, but with the four shocks, it’s normally the frame welds that crack.
Someday I’ll get you some good photos before RED’s carcass goes away, right now it still has the bed on it.
I’ll make the effort, but my concern is whether a title was ever issued for this one. It likely was never used on public roads. In GA, vehicle registration is handled by the individual county department of revenue. They’re actually not too bad to work with as long as you don’t give them a reason to think that you’re up to no good. If it hasn’t been titled, hopefully the original owner still has the MSO. According to my neighbor, the guy throws nothing away.
So much wrong in that picture. I see why you guys hate the early years.
Granted, there is nothing wrong with the early cars. They make perfectly fine ball and cup chasers, campground cruisers, mailbox runners, and ice cream getters. Tons of fun right there. Many people perfectly happy and there are thousands of deals out there.
When you start horsing around and ramping things up a bit past the original design envelope the car shows some weaknesses.
(Never mind that these things are also pushing 20 years old!!!)
Even Gem Engineers realized these old cars had limits when they decided these would be fun out on the street in the LSV market. So they upped their game.
Here is a short list (off the top of my head) of a few other improvements starting in 05 and up cars.
05 was a transition year and is kind of a red headed stepchild. They aren’t bad, have many of the following updates, but some wiring changes were still being worked out when this car went to market. A few bonus stars removed for featuring the hobbled T3 controller.
06 and up features the following improvements.
Better motor controller - T4
Better suspension/Ride quality
Front Disc Brakes (better stopping)w
Bigger wheel studs
Better wiring/ fuse panel
Easier steering
Better charger
Neat little color LCD Dash Display
Controller moved up front so it can get some air flow
More ideal Battery layout (easier to upgrade to Lithium pack where the real fun begins!)
Offset gearbox (so you can get bigger/better motor options)
Optional factory aluminum wheels
Optional factory hard doors
(I’m sure I am forgetting a few other things)
Summary
There is nothing stopping you from modifying anything on the early cars to make it better.
This rear trailing arm is just the beginning. There are brace kits to fix the cracking.
-or-
With a little creative hacking that whole swinging gate can be switched out with a later rear suspension that is much like a 4 link rear end.
There are kits out there to update the front brakes to disc.
You can do all sorts of things, even use the list above as a punch list ad go.
But, this is the rabbit hole we warn you about. You will have FAR MORE invested in it than you would if you paid a little more for that 09 that comes with all the stuff.
After 24 hours, the first battery is up to 80% according to the charger. No word yet on the missing two batteries or the title.
Photos of the gearbox and motor.
Shyt, er Short GE 5hp and 10.35 gears.
Motor is ok, not great. Not very durable, doesn’t like being overworked or overspun (like 5k) for too long above listed max rpm. Ok for puttering around. Typically not worth the cost to repair when it goes out. Stupid motor to have put in the truck models if people want to use them to actually haul things. They eventually wised up and there were two trucks: eL and eL XD. XD’s got bigger motors and shorter gears.
Great gearbox though. If you scrap this gem and plan to get another, that is the one thing you keep unless you live in the hills or plan on really hauling weight. For the DC motors, it’s a great ratio for getting good speed and enough torque with the newer, bigger motors. It will fit any classic body GEM. It’s a drop in swap.
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Good luck with your new project. I was in the same boat a few years back. Purchased an 02 not running that had the potential to be a nightmare. I rolled the dice and won. I used Walmart 29 series deep cycle marine batteries because I didn’t want to spend a lot on batteries. At the time I had no idea what I was getting myself into so there was no point in spending a fortune on the correct batteries. Powered it up and everything except the charger worked. Those cheepo batteries gave me 3 years of use which was pretty good for a $600 investment. In those 3 years it never once left me stranded or needing more range. Worked great for running around my community but everybody’s needs and range requirements are different. Sunk a lot of money into it over the years but it’s not as painful when it’s a little bit at a time. Most of the money however was spent on upgrades that were not really necessary (paint job, wheels, bumpers, doors). I’ve never driven an 05 or newer so the 02 works just fine. AssyRequired and Inwo are 2 guys on here that are spectacular. Don’t know who they are but they were extremely helpful when I was having problem.
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Thanks - feeling better about it now than after the first couple of replies. In a bit of a holding pattern waiting on the title. Not planning to spend any real money until that’s cleared up. Mainly trying to charge the 4 batteries that I have and sorting through the pieces to see what’s there.
Nice looking '02, BTW.
Prob’ly won’t be much progress for the next couple months. Neighbor is a workaholic and I only see him occasionally. I expect him to take a while getting the title from his customer. Plus, I’m slated for knee replacement surgery in late August. It’s no fun getting old…
Thanks for the encouragement!
Patrick
Forgot to add. I hope you are handy. I’m sure my opinion of the Gem would be different if I had to pay someone for all of the repairs and upgrades.
Absolutely - no way that I’d take this project on if I had to pay someone to put it together!
Give you tree-fiddy for the cart as is so we can take it out to the desert and blow it up.
Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine! 
In other news, the first battery finally came up to full charge. Working on no. 2 now.
I was talking to the other guy…
For you, it’s only a buck-2.98.
6 days for one battery??? Are you charging with 1/4A?
I’m not sure I can handle the suspense.
Getting it up to V is one thing. What will it do under load?
I hear ya’, but I’m in no hurry. It’s a “smart” charger, so who knows. I don’t think it was actually 6 days. The shop is 200 ft from the house - with my bad knee and GA summers where the temp and humidity are matching 90s numbers, I don’t go out there often. I understand the difference between a surface charge and performance under load. Just trying to get this thing to a point that I can switch it on.
Chatted with my neighbor this morning. The quest for the title is moving forward and he’s going to try to pick up the missing two batteries this morning. In other good news, the batteries came from a local small business, so may be able to work out an exchange if necessary.
Well crap, the last two batteries are GP31 FLA. I’ll try watering them and see if they take a charge. Doubtful - they look like trade-in cores to me…
The other guys are experts. I am not. However, I have experience with both 2002 (that my son owns) and 2008. I can tell you that 2002 has 14K miles on it and other than a new charger, new batteries, a new master cylinder, and rear brake line, it has never had a problem. I do know that 2002 rides a bit rougher but not too bad.
We haven’t had the frame problems noted but since ours are e4s that might be a truck issue.
Anyway, welcome and enjoy the process. If they ran like a Honda it wouldn’t be any fun.
The cracked rear swing arm “subframe” is from 00-04 e2 & e4 styles. While a widespread issue, there is no guarantee that yours will ever crack at the welds. The rear suspension on the eL truck of the day was not designed nor mounted in the same fashion, it was actually prone to the aluminum frame itself cracking.
