Smash6

The Comanche won a trophy at the local Jeep show today!

That's a beautiful bumper. I can't wait to see it mounted. As for the wait time - I have Hanson bumpers on my LJ and they are very, very well made - I'd happily wait for their products.

Sweet rig!

This mount is brand new and at the time I purchased it, very back ordered. I went a different route so this has never left the bag it was shipped in. See the link below for product information. $60 Shipped anywhere in the continental US. PayPal/Venmo/Zelle https://www.jegs.com/i/Crown-Automotive/077/83505567/10002/-1?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19684926646&gbraid=0AAAAAD6OBRFvUaC9_Zs1TViNYrtCBeCEq&gclid=CjwKCAjwwpDQBhAuEiwAa-4Wo3WxPP0-nhz1ORJAWCTqci8E5ggFBt78sY45ETw-rzN7ykNIcZqjiRoC8IcQAvD_BwE

AC HVAC controller. Untested, but all levers move things as they should. Has two mounting ears broken off. All levers move smoothly and connectors are solid. $20 + shipping from 99224 Paypel/Venmo/Zelle.

Center console in pretty descent shape. $40 + shipping (from 99224) I accept PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle.

The headliner is the last part of the interior puzzle. It’ll get there. In the meantime, the Comanche left the garage for the first time in 6 months. It ran like a dream and the best part, it doesn’t smell like old cigarettes anymore. My son was beaming.

I managed to epoxy the cable sheath back into the retaining clip on the HVAC head unit which allowed me to get most of the dash back together. I need to sand and repaint the lower dash piece, then the dash will be pretty complete.

I managed to epoxy the cable sheath back into the HVAC retainer clip. I’m hoping it’ll hold. So far, it’s working well.

I found this cable which looks very familiar to the Comanche cable. https://www.dixierestorationdepot.com/product/Detail.aspx?s=DM00062&srsltid=AfmBOoq5QFKxfuZzZ6RO1p2_80jJECdVAr7MwKfPlP1XPfCztDr7f-yC

More interior bits are in. Today’s big problem is that the blend door cable sheathing has separated from the plastic bit on the HVAC control rendering the cable inop. I did find this one and am wondering if it’s the same cable… https://www.dixierestorationdepot.com/product/Detail.aspx?s=DM00062&srsltid=AfmBOoq5QFKxfuZzZ6RO1p2_80jJECdVAr7MwKfPlP1XPfCztDr7f-yC Today’s big win was getting the Raybuck seat cover on. We added 1” high density foam as well as some foam in some high use ruined spots (under the driver’s @$$) to revive the seat cushion. It looks great.

So my outer cable sheath came apart and I can’t get the cable to work properly now. My cable is solid core. I'm trying to find somewhere to purchase a new one.

A lot of wire chasing and the new stereo works as it should. A PO hacked the old harness way back in the dash. It’s sorted now.

Soak it in PB Blaster. Give it a day and soak it again. Use a wire brush and clean that nut and stud up. Then see how the nut looks. It looks like you have a vinyl floor, so be careful with using heat. Using the wax trick (google it) may work out for you and doesn't require as much heat as turning it red hot with a torch. Good luck!

The courtesy lights now work as they should. 6.5” speakers in the rear using heavily modified boxy Jeep adapters. The Raybuck seat cover and foam has arrived and I’ll get that together soon. Progress is slow, but it’s progress!

I looked at that, but I'm not sure it'll follow the contour of the floor properly. Appreciate the thought.

I’m looking for a shift boot for the 4wd shift lever. With my current setup, I can’t run a console. Has anyone used one off a ford truck or something similar? Link below for an example. https://www.ebay.com/itm/317773193736?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-166974-028196-7&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=317773193736&targetid=2274951440814&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=9033697&poi=&campaignid=21169638466&mkgroupid=161124236057&rlsatarget=pla-2274951440814&abcId=9402633&merchantid=5070431118&geoid=9033697&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21169638466&gbraid=0AAAAAD_QDh-ZSBUc4jWPVKLkKitaqKLb2&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1ZjOBhCmARIsADDuFTCUWYAsBHJy59zUwybMBWfCtGhTVRQISzwLNdgmREEFsyO4qp4IALoaAkudEALw_wcB

I got the seatbelts back and they look great. The courtesy lights are wired in. There wasn’t any voltage because there wasn’t a fuse! The door jam switches are testing bad so I ordered two new ones. I’m not convinced that they’re the issue. The lights come on with the headlight switch but that’s all. I likely have bad switches and a bad ground. Installed a new headlight switch (that sucked!) and the dash lights now work very well. Some other minor odds and ends done tonight. Every night I start with a goal and have so many smaller things to tend to and never achieve my goal, but I can see the end.

1. Courtesy Lights: My next struggle is the courtesy lights. I'm not seeing any voltage to the courtesy light plug. I'm struggling to find a wiring diagram for the lights. If someone has one, it'd be very helpful. 2. Heat Controls - We got the new HVAC control unit wired in and I can now adjust the fan speed and temp, but I can't change the vents (I'm assuming it's vacuum). 3. Stereo - I had planned to throw a Chinese apple play unit, but I'm going to put the old Kenwood in. The harness is hacked all to hell so I need to unfornicate that mess. 4. Seat Belts - I sent the seat belts out to Safety Restore. They should be back this week. I'm hoping the new webbing and restored springs make them like-new again. 5. Seat Cover - I ordered a new cover and foam from Raybuck. I'm hoping that it'll be here in a few weeks. 6. Cup Holders / Center Console - I can't figure out a center console solution right now. In the future, I may find someone who can 3D print something awesome. For now, I'm trying to figure out a cupholder solution. I'm thinking two pistons on connecting rods bolted to a plate, that's bolted to the floor. Also open to ideas.

Carpet is mostly in. When the rest of the interior goes in, I’ll finish trimming the carpet.

Sean sealer down. Hopefully sound deadening material goes in tomorrow.

Great looking rig! I'm rebuilding my interior - I'd love to see some pics of your interior.

This is an awesome project! We had an 04 with the 4.7L and I loved that rig. It was amazing and I regret selling it. Out of our 4 Grand Cherokees, that one was my favorite. Can't wait for more updates!

It's taken a long time to have any substantial updates. The floors are welded in. I learned more than I expected. I used KeyParts XJ floors and everyone was right, it was a lot of work to get them to fit properly, but in the end, this isn't a show truck and it's no longer a Flintstone Mobile. Welding was challenging. I'm a novice and when I combined that with my HarborFrieght welder, things didn't start well. I started on the driver's side, which was way worse, because I wanted it out of the way. I'm not sure I ever found a welder setting that I liked. On the passenger side, the frame and cap were solid so I just cut out the bad bits of floor, used the floor pan to make patches, and welded them in. I found a better welder setting and buzzed the patches in without much work. The remainder of the floor had some surface rust that I hit with POR-15. Tonight we installed the Boxy Jeep tunnel cover which was a breeze. The hard part is figuring out the lower shift boot. I cannot get the shift arm off the AX-15 shifter. I'm going to try the two-pickle-fork technique. We tried using a monkey wrench and a pickle fork and the sucker is stuck on. We also installed the BoostWerks t-case linkage and it was surprisingly easy. It's a high quality product. Next steps: 1) Figure out how to remove the shifter on the AX-15 so I can install the lower shift boot 2) Get the courtesy lights to work. 3) Install a stereo and rear speakers 4) Install carpet 5) Recover headliner and install interior pieces 6) Recover seat and install 7) Find a center console...the XJ console I got won't work.