cydewaze

I have two old school bikes (see below) and I need to combine them to make one decent bike to carry me through the next 1-2 seasons until I can afford a modern bike. Right now my wife is starting her own business, so any spare money goes to that, hence my wait.

I have the following:

Bike 1
2001 Jamis Dakar Expert.
8-speed XT/XTR component mix
Race Face Evolve XC crank
Hayes Hydraulic disc brakes (new pads and rotors)
XT disk wheelset
Manitou Black Super Air 100mm
Rock Shox Monarch rear shock (new)
28+ lbs

The problems with this bike:
1) The crankset is crap, it creaks, the chainline was never right, the shifting is marginal at best. It chews up bottom brackets.
2) The rear hub (HB-M756) is shot. I got some cones from wheels mfgr'ing that helped, but the races are toast. The rear wheel rattles around on the axle like a hula hoop on a broomstick.


Bike 2
1997 Trek 9700 OCLV
9-speed SLX drivetrain, bought on clearance a few years ago, still almost new.
LX V-brakes. (I hate V-brakes)
Performance Topo Wheelset (cheap, but so far the hubs are still good)
Manitou Black Super Air 80mm
4 lbs lighter than the Jamis

The problems with this bike:
1) I *hate* V-brakea
2) The 80mm Manitou sucks. It had a lockout that broke and Manitou sent me an insert to replace it, and it's never felt right.
3) It's a hard tail, and I sort of like a FS rig.

Would you:

1) Combine the decent parts (i.e. fork) from the Jamis onto the Trek and have a decent, light hardtail, and live with the V-brakes?
2) Put the wheels/drivetrain/etc from the Trek onto the Jamis and have a working (but even heavier) FS rig?
3) Something else entirely?