Pete M

have you installed the relay kit for the headlights yet?

probably a wise idea. less chance of fire.

ahh, the other things dogs do in fields

I'm assuming the white blur is your pooch?

been looking for one of those for 20 years. kinda hard to keep the ol' passion going after such utter failure.

please explain. are you referring to the floor brackets? people have reused those for buckets.

and just like that now you're an expert fixer of steering columns

this is going to be a fun build!

I could definitely see myself doubling up with a cover under a shelter

sometimes some things are better left to the pros, even if it's purely for our sanity or timeline.

fiberglass?! what a mess it does look good now.

daaaaaaaaaammmmmnnnnn......

what I'm aying is that they built the Jeeps different and so the floor is, well... different. the front half is pretty close, but the back half curves up to meet the rear wall (that's why the rear seat bracket is shorter) where-as the XJ pan just continues straight back. I'd assume that the trans tunnel is close enough to make a big patch from, it'll just deviate more and more the closer you get to the back. center consoles are the same. I think the link in my signature has a writeup on the ebrake handle install.

because the MJ is a very different Jeep underneath. it's a truck rather than a station wagon, thus they felt it necessary to design a lot of it from scratch for strength. don't let the XJ doors and fenders fool ya. how bad is your rust?

the ol' trucks can really bring on the lookers

most any bucket can be adapted with a bit of angle iron of square tubing. don't feel like you need to limit yourself to Jeeps. but keep in mind that not all buckets lean forward (for example, 4 door XJs do not). seats that lean are typically found in 2 door vehicles like regular cab trucks, 2dr XJs, or sports cars where they need to access the back for gear or passenger egress. some XJs came with the curved track. those will sit you up a couple inches higher than you are now.

there's gotta be a small cooler out there that has cupholders built into it, right? kill 2 birds as they say.

if you're referring to the floor brackets, the bench and buckets share those.

tiki torch bedlights ftw

dang! it will be like a whole new truck!

is the gauge cluster original? or is it an upgrade from a base model cluster? did the temp sensor work previously?

I've done a whole-sale replacement of lines twice now. the first time it was with the pre-flared straight lengths from the autoparts stores, the second time it was with a roll of DIY tube and a flaring tool. both methods were fairly easy to do. you don't have to perfectly follow the factory path, just make sure that nothing will snag on them and the lines are secured. I highly recommend the nickle/copper line that lasts waaaay longer than regular steel. oh, and if you flare them yourself, a quality flaring tool is key. the cheap ones suck. now's the time to contemplate eliminating the rear prop valve and upgrading to the WJ dual booster.