AZJeff

The easiest fix is to obtain a bunch of rolls of appropriate wire in guages that are at least as heavy as the OEM. Multiple colors will help, as will a wiring diagram for your model year. Do this one at a time: 1. Cut out the burnt/melted wire at each end of the damaged area. 2. Using a wire of gauge the same or maybe one size larger, splice in a replacement wire to replace the cut section. 3. DO NOT use butt splice crimp connectors. I have seen too many of those wind up creating high resistance connections that causes further wiring melting. 4. Either use solder-type butt splices that use low temperature solder (that can be activated by a heat gun) or do the old fashioned solder and heat shrink tubing to restore each connection. I know this sounds like a PITA, but early XJ/MJ wiring was sorta marginal, and fixing wires that were flakey with improved current carrying capacity (and reduced chances of heat damage) is a good thing. My fuel injector harness on my XJ HO engine developed this issue due to engine heat, and after I discovered how pervasive the damage was, I bit the bullet and fixed all the suspect wires. Underhood (or under dash) wiring fires are no joke.

What is driving the need for a replacement harness? Broken/chafed wires, or trashed connectors?

That’s a solid plan.

I assume you are referring to the manifolds on the 4.0, because they are larger. I find installing the exhaust first LOOSELY and then fitting the intake works best. i also ditch the stupid OEM manifold bolts for all of the lower attachment points, and instead use studs and nuts. It makes alignment about a million times easier. The only ones I retain with the OEM bolts are the upper ones that attach the intake only in between cylinders 2 and 3 and between cylinders 4 and 5.

Here is a really detailed explanation of how to rebuild your GM tilt mechanism to work like new again. Fixing a loose tilt column

That is correct. I did this to my MJ about 8 years ago, and it makes a MUCH cleaner installation, and eliminates the potential for rusting where the bright metal trim would rub/vibrate on the painted edge of the glass opening.

The clips are ONLY used on the windshield trim when using the bright metal trim pieces. If you are using the one-piece rubber surround trim, no clips are needed. i would be concerned that your glass installer doesn’t know what he is doing if he thinks he needs metal clips to install a windshield with the rubber surround.

Any junkyard with a 4.0 from an XJ or MJ will fit the bill.

A quick search showed several suppliers who carry this one

It’s odd that your glass guy does not have a line on that rubber surround, given that the seal often becomes permanently bonded to the glass during installation and must be replaced when new glass is installed. A clarification here: that rubber piece is NOT a gasket or seal. Its presence (or lack thereof) will play NO PART in making the glass-to-body joint waterproof. That rubber piece is there strictly to fill the gap between the edge of the glass and the opening in the body shell.

Safelite is a bunch of idiots, obviously. The only real difference in the windshield between the 97+ XJ and the older MJ/XJ is that the later style has a rubber gasket that slips over the end of the glass and surrounds its perimeter, whereas the older style had separate metal trim pieces that covered the gap between the edge of the glass and the body. The actual method of attachment of the windshield to the opening in the body of the vehicle is identical in both variants and employs the usual urethane adhesive. In actual terms of installation, that the rubber gasket, even when present in an original installation, often is permanently bonded to the old glass with excess adhesive, and cannot be reused. That means having a replacement rubber gasket is always prudent if you are the glass installer.

I HIGHLY encourage you to do this whenever you have a mystery coolant loss. It’s about as definitive as it gets, and will give you an answer (via an emailed report) in a few days.

Given that any belt you obtain that is second hand is over 40years old, I would encourage you to purchase a NEW seat belt instead. The old fabric is probably badly sun faded and thus deteriorated and of low strength compared to new. There are LOTs of companies that make replacement seatbelts in colors that will come close to matching your interior. Do a search online.

On most unibody vehicles, the rocker panels comprise a significant part of the longitudinal stiffness of the chassis structure. That is NOT the case on the MJ/XJ vehicles, as they have a boxed rail under the floor pan that constitutes a type of integral frame rail down the length of the chassis. because of this, I recommend fixing the floor pans to increase overall longitudinal stiffness before attacking the rocker panels (which are more cosmetic on the XJ/MJ)

That is a good point. Due to me being in AZ, and having a Comanche that lived it's life in a relatively benign environment, I have never had those worries.