Airborne Janitor

Are you saying it's a braking issue?

Got it. Appreciate that it's a real deal blueprint too. Ok CC, I will see what I can do. I will tell you that if I build them they won't be 100% the same, for starters they would be steel not stainless. And I don't have the equipment to make the bend at the bottom of the handle, but I can make all the other bends. I will radius the edges tho so it won't look so blocky. I'm going to try 14ga first because I have that on hand. I have a few tailgates I can use to test functionality of a "new" handle. Does anyone have a broken handle assembly they can send me with the handle removed that I can use for fit up? I will of course return it when I know I can/cannot build the handles.

Why not just a high quality wax to protect against the elements?

Hey man check out this post I wrote up a few years back. The first part of it discusses some differences between the different year clusters with pictures as well. May prove beneficial to your swap.

Husky I'll take that file if you can find it. If not I can build one off the blueprint in an earlier post.

Thanks guys. I'm very pleased with how it's all turning out. HEADLINER REPAIR So my headliner was in decent shape, but had a few splits and cracks. The upholstery shop I went to used basically chipboard and upholstery glue to reinforce those areas. Although the upholster was adamant that it wasnt chipboard because it was "oil and moisture resistant", I used chipboard I had on hand to reinforce a few more areas. I used Permatex headliner spray glue. Next weekend I hope to be back at it. Waiting for some sound deadening material and LED bulbs to come in to wrap up the job.

I know but I was up in my Jeep parts loft and never took a pic of all the lights I got. Honestly only 1 set out of that I would rate as excellent, the rest have broken corners, tabs, etc.

I took advantage of their deal and got myself a 1/4" and 3/8" ratchet. I wanted to try them out when I pull the tranny to replace the rear freeze plug on my MJ. I had been using US made Craftsman for 20 years but their stuff is junk now. We will see how the Icon stuff holds up.

I know this makes me an a$$hole, but I had to share....

Added a poll to the top to gauge interest. Will update with a completed sticker soon.

So comparing the above photos to my extra tailgate handle, the "ears" of the repo handle don't seem to have the bends the oem one does. It looks to me like the repo one would work either way but it would be a bit narrower than the oem handle. If that's not a deal breaker I could take the above blueprint and try cutting one on a plasma table. The thickness of the OEM handle looks to be 14ga which is perfect because I have that on hand and a small metal brake to make the bends. Does anyone know what the hole diameter size is?

Not sure about pricing yet, but I'm thinking somewhere between $5-10 shipped maybe? The ones I make will be a little more narrow than the original one, they would be approx 12" wide to save on vinyl and envelope costs. Not really trying to make money but want to cover the material & shipping costs. That's funny eaglescout, I had planned on doing this a couple years back, started the project then it fell off my radar until I found the sticker I made while cleaning up around the house. Doesnt matter to me who gets them made, either way I'll make a couple just to see what the end result looks like. I have all the materials and equipment already so my only costs right now are time. If whoever you're going thru is gonna charge you a bit of money then I would say just wait until you see what I can make before you go spending your own cash.

A few years back I acquired this Comanche Fourwheeler of the Year static cling decal. The decal's days of clinging to anything are long over, but I thought it was a cool item to have. I have access to a vinyl cutter so I started the process of cutting a vinyl version of the decal. Is there are interest if I made some "reproduction" vinyl versions? I was going to try for a 2 color white text/black border and black text/white border, but could cut them to any color you would want. Trying to gauge interest so let me know.

I tried the Rustoleum Dark Gray and I liked the color, but didnt care for the gloss. I am planning on painting all my plastic trim one color so I don't want a super glossy finish. Did you try either of these SEM paints? Closest I could find to a match for the mopar dark charcoal.

A little sneak preview because I'm impatient.

MODIFYING THE HEADLINER Of course your new OHC won't fit unless you're willing to cut some holes in your headliner. I drew as straight of a line I could down the middle of the headliner to use as a reference. I used tin snips and metal cutting shears to cut the holes. Thankfully everything looks good and the MJ OHC is a tight fit. Now to get the MJ OHC and headliner reupholstered. Hope to drop them off at the upholstery shop tomorrow.

here's some better pics of the repair.

Correct. The picture shows the problem, not the solution. If you look in the picture you can see a faint white horizontal line where the bottom of the blower motor sat/sealed. In the bottom right you can see some of the brownish seam sealer where it would interfere with the blower motor seal. You can see traces of muddy water below it. I used a grinding stone on a dremel to dig it out, which revealed there is a section of overlapping sheet metal that will have to be "resealed". You're basically grinding out the protrusion of seam sealer, then resealing it as flat as possible with the rest of the firewall to have a clean fit of the blower motor seal.

INSTALLING XJ SUNVISORS The MJ sunvisors are longer than the XJ ones, and will interfere with the installation of the OHC. However you will need to drill some holes to mount the XJ sunvisor retainer clips. I reinstalled the headliner and the XJ sunvisors, then snapped the retainer clips onto the sunvisors to mock up their place on the headliner. I used a hammer and punch to center punch all holes for accuracy. Removed the headliner then used a stencil, square, and scribe to mark the holes. INSTALLING THE OHC BRACKET I took the following pic from the donor XJ I pulled the OHC out of. Proved to be a good reference for mounting the bracket. You did grab the mounting bracket for the OHC right? Using the bracket itself as a template, I was able to mark all the hole locations. I basically eyeballed it with the above photo.

I mean it makes sense that the passenger door lock needs constant power. But I wonder what makes a 97+ XJ switch/light turn off? Maybe theres something in the XJ fuse block/PDC that halts power to the switch/light, until the switch is activated?

I'm curious to see what they looked like.

I know the 97+ handles are a little different than the pre97s, but are they interchangeable? Could you put chrome handles on 97+ XJ doors?

Got the power doors completely wired up and functional. I used this thread as a reference and added some details and images as well: I also installed the overhead console wiring harness, and I am currently documenting my OHC install and build in this thread: And one of my favorite mods, the Rubbermaid cupholder for bench seats: Short term goals are to wrap up all the interior projects, including rebuild and reupholster of the OHC, reupholster headliner, repaint all plastic trim and reinstall. Still working on finding the right shade of gray to use...

If you're pulling one of these from a junkyard rig chances are it's probably in rough shape, at least the upholstery probably is. You will also have to cut the OHC down to fit in the cab of the MJ, and rebuild/reshape it. So if you want an OHC done right you'll need the right tools and skills to make it work. Disassembly requires 3 tools really, a Philip's screwdriver for the dome light housing screws, and a flathead screwdriver and a small pick to undo the little plastic clips that hold the OHC together. But you'll need something to cut the console with precision, and something to rework/shape the console. I am using an electric cutoff tool (dremel could work too) and a plastic welder, I know some have used resin/fiberglass. OHC DISASSEMBLY There are 3 Philip's head screws for each dome light housing that needs to be removed. 1 small Philip's head screw to remove the keyless entry circuit board. After that its careful prying and manipulation with a flathead and pick to remove the OHC into multiple pieces: the shell, the sunglasses/garageopener/computer housing, the front computer/dome light assembly, rear dome light assembly. Take your time and be careful, the plastic may be brittle and not flex without cracking. Be especially careful when removing the main housing from the shell, start with freeing the rear housing tabs then working your way forward to computer. Then pull it down and away from the shell. don't try to force the computer parts out. Once you remove the housing it's easy to see how the computer assembly attaches and removes. Theres also a small plastic plug that sits where the front OHC screw goes through. I found using a pick and gently prying it out was the best way for removal without damage. Once the parts are free you should just have a shell and the upholstery should peel off easy. Scissors help too. OHC CUT AND REWELD Now for the fun part. Since the XJ OHC is too long for the cab of the MJ, it has to be cut down to fit. If you don't want to have a hacked off piece of plastic for the rear of your console, you'll need a way to shape it. If you're skilled with fiberglass that's an option. I'm not, but I do have a plastic welder... My wife got it for me as a gift from amazon a few years back. I wanted it to repair the torn mounting tabs on the flares on my XJ. Since then I've used this kit for all types of projects, even fixing broken battery doors on remote controls. First, I cut my OHC into 3 pieces using an electric cutoff tool. Then cut the rear piece down the middle since it was too narrow to fit properly. I treated all the pieces as if I were dealing with welding steel, which meant beveling all the joints to allow a place for the filler to fuse. I used a dremel with a grinding wheel. Tacking the pieces together... Running beads... Welding it all together then sanding it smooth. Note I did cut up 2 OHCs to do this. I planned on keeping one of them as a "parts donor". Then more cutting with the cutoff tool to fit the contour of the headliner. Picture of the inside of the console to show off the ugly (but strong) welds. After welding the outside (but before sanding) I used a dremel to quickly groove the inside joint then ran a plastic bead. I decided I wanted to reuse the rear "paddle" portion of the XJ OHC so that the fit of the modified MJ OHC would be tight against the headliner. The plastic welder is generally used for butt joints, but a cool feature of this particular model is the use of a flexible steel mesh and a universal fiber flex plastic that can make all types of unconventional plastic repairs. You basically melt the mesh into the base plastic, then melt the fiber flex on top of the mesh, essentially sandwiching the mesh. The repairs are very strong, as strong if not in some cases stronger than the base plastic. I used this method to essentially fillet weld the paddle mount to the MJ OHC. I just had hernia surgery (hence the free time to pursue this project) and I felt like the surgeon made a similar repair to me...