Eric W

Thanks. I'll try that for the photos.

Figured to jump into fixing this up right away. After owning an Infiniti G20 for 4 years, it was time to invest in a woethy vehicle. Having owned two Wranglers in the past, I'm familiar with the great 4.0L drivetrain. So, after scanning CL for over a year, this MJ was found beach side here in East Central Florida. For $500, it fit my budget perfectly. It was leaking copious amounts of water on start up and the usual oil leaks. It also idled above 1800 RPM. Grabbed a friend to follow me home 20 miles away, set the timer on my phone for 20 minutes, and headed out. Stopped at gas stations along the way when the timer went off to refill coolant system to keep from overheating. The high idle pulled me along in 4th gear; just tapped tge brakes every now and again. Made it home and me and that friend changed out the water pump. Leak fixed. Replaced the idle air control valve. Idles great. Beach side you ask? Yup, but NO RUST in the bed. Just some along bottom of exterior door skins, bubbling around rear window seal, and a hole on the passenger side cowl. Rocker panels are rust-free as is the frame and all the underside. I will post pictures when I figure out how to do so. Not tech savvy when it comes to that.

Jeff, that interior looks great. I have a bench seat and want to keep it. Found some black door panels on eBay, but a bit pricey right now. I can easily go into the poor house quickly on this one. Thanks for the info on the AMC and years the black interior was offered. Found a local auto parts store with a moving sale and picked up some rattle cans in black for the interior. Will experiment on things and let ya'll know how it goes

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions thus far. One of the reasons for changing the color to black is the tan interior is pretty dingy. I believe it'd take more work to bring it to its former glory than to change to black. The fact that it was offered at all is good to know.

1989 Short Bed base. 2wd. 5 spd manual. 196K miles. Red exterior, tan interior. Bench seat. Daily driver/project/resto. On the road. East Coast Florida. Bought off CL for $500. Minimal rust (none in the bed, bottom of both exterior door skins, bubbling around rear window, and at base of windshield on passenger side).

Found the link for the carpet in another post. I'm wondering if I can get the interior door panels done locally at an upholstery shop?

Well, I ordered the ones from eBay after all. I'm doing a color change on the interior anyways (see my other post about that). Thanks again for the link!

So I've had my MJ for about a week and considering switching interior from tan to black. I'm asking for advice on best ways to do this. I saw a post showing how interior panels were painted. I'm wondering what the best product is for this and if it'll work on the dash. Also need black door panels. Also need carpet and a bench seat. I'm in East Central Florida area, so most items will need to be shipped. I'm open to any advice on this.

Thanks. I did find these on eBay; however, someone posted a link for a similar light for $8.95 each (link is no longer active). If push comes to shove, I'll get the eBay ones.

I've had a hard time finding replacement interior lights. When I bought the vehicle last week, I knew I had a resto on my hands. This will be a long-running project as it's my daily driver. Just really glad to be back in a Jeep AND it's a pickup. Anyways, any help web links for the interior lights or if someone here has two, I'd appreciate purchase info.