Son of Stink

[Gjeep]

Finally found the patience to pull down the fuel tank skid and replace those tank straps. Many posts back I flagged that although the Spectra replacement tank is a think of beauty, those straps though appearing similar in bend and shape to the factory straps simply don’t take shape as the should. For my install that meant the frame rail side of the fuel tank sat over 1/2” lower than the other side. While having fun with swapping those CC member RedMistress suggested putting rubber on the straps to prevent wear. I found that the XJ, ZJ, and TJ all shared all the same width strap and once tanks went plastic, all had the plastic sleeve around the backside of the strap. Interesting to note that the aftermarket did not have any correct width sleeves. I went with Crown ZJ tank straps and removed the rubber from them and trimmed down to fit the MJ’s.

 

Being a perfectionist always means stuff takes 100x longer than it should. Like 3 hours in this example. I carefully removed the skid plate and ended up having to disconnect a whole lot more from the fuel tank than I was hoping to. The front strap was easy to slip out and replace. The rear was not. Then I got to experience the reverse with the two straps during installation – Since the rear strap is more mid-tank there was no issue with rubber sleeve twisting as I tightened the j-bolt. The front strap however, since it’s placed just at the round corner of the tank was no fun. I lost count how many times I needed to reposition the rubber strap so it didn’t sit funny. Finally got it done to my liking…

 

 

 

 

 

Also swapped out the way too taut rear axle brake soft line with the custom one I had made. The upper retainer clip corner broke off when removing so a new one is on order. Will bleed the brakes, fill the tank with gas, and hopefully take it for a quick spin some day soon. Looking forward to bugs in my teeth as I don’t yet have a windshield. Just around the block is probably best. (Know that the sway bar isn't anywhere near touching the rear axle. It just looks that way in this photo.)

 

 

Lastly, I finished up the second layer of insulation that sits under the carpet/ carpet-backed insulation. I cut out triangular pieces that will be glued into place on the carpet board.

 

[Gjeep]

Taillight trim repainted black as the factory’s coverage and quality wasn’t the best. It took some time masking each up to prevent overspray. In the end it came out great. Taillight at left has been painted; the NOS one on the right hadn’t been refinished yet.

 

 

 

Also got to refinishing the seat tracks… Thoroughly degreased and removed springs for total access to slide area. I’ll replace the release lever end cap once all is dry and grease the slides up prior to seat assembly (which is the next project on the ‘to do’ list.) Seat and track hardware refinished as well.

 

 

Onward…

[Gjeep]

Hard to believe 2 years has passed since I got this upholstery done. Damn times flies... Finished up re-assembly of the seat tracks, cleaned up chalk lines and extra threads on the vinyl -- and took my sweet time opening up holes that were needed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used some small round black Velcro soft-side dots on the underside of the seat back where it meets the stainless steel latch bezel screws to keep them from carving into the material.

 

[Gjeep]

Cut tow hook openings and winch line cut-out on air dam. Came out great. I just need to wet sand the cut lines to smooth them out. Pic shown has it held on by only one stainless, but will be four across as factory had. Lastly needed to drill holes for winch mounting bolt so air dam sits flush up against the crossmember.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Had some time to get the fuel tank skid plate up over the weekend after the Spectra tank strap debacle. Glad to see the tank sitting level within the skid. Exhaust and driveshaft re-installed also.

 

 

 

 

For the interior -- one thing that had been haunting me since I had these Jeep logo’d door panels made was the fact there was no padding under the carpet. It looked fine without. Just didn’t look quite right to me, so I bought an upholstery staple gun, 1/2” foam, and went to town un-doing the bottom portion of the panel and making it look more factory in appearance. All came out great, but one nit was being able to see the green foam ever-so slightly when the speaker grille is in place. So, I did a carpet wrap from the back side so all looks proper. This was the ‘original’ carpet panel.

 

 

This is the revised version.

 

 

Couldn’t resist… Mind you the only item ready to go is the door panel itself. The other items still need to be painted, conditioned, and installed (versus just being placed on top of the panel as shown).

 

 

[Gjeep]

Switch pods came together -- NOS XJ rocker and SJ momentary (winch in & out) switches.

 

[fiatslug87]

Nice!!!

[Gjeep]

Tore into my ‘90/ early ’91 XJ lighted visors to confirm the ‘90’s-‘00’s Crown Vic/ Marquis/ Town Car mirror units not only were the same dimensions, but actually have the same assembly functioning – Meaning they can be directly swapped into our MJ/ XJ’s – and they can. The main benefit of this for me (and probably only me) is I don’t have to paint the visor mirror assemblies I have. My goal to this project was to find a black molded plastic vanity mirror (to match my black interior conversion). Later XJ mirror assemblies are much wider. In photo's below Lincoln visor on top, XJ below.

 

 

 

 

[Red Mistress]

Totally mind blowing top notch ideas and execution !   As always.

[Gjeep]

Next project up will be a fun one to get right. Bumpers, flares, and grille will all be black, but I think the front end of the truck needs some silver to break up the monotony of the black. Did a rough trim-out of all the grille slots and the plan is to fit the stainless mesh grille for some color pop. Tough part will be getting the plastic cuts of the main grille filed and filled smooth so it looks 100% right. 

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

Goodbye 15x6 sized steelies – dropping them off this morning at Stockton Wheel Service who will be widening them to 15x8 at 5.5” back spacing (versus the 5.25” these were from the factory). They'll be factory argent color with a highly polished trim ring, and XJ military style flat center cap. Below is a mock-up photo of the setup.

 

 

[scguy]

That will look really cool. I love the seats and door panels. Keep up the excellent work!

[Gjeep]

Second step in a long-ish process of getting this grille to look right after all the trimming. I used thin modeling Evergreen plastic strips (both 1/4” and 1/2” depending on location) bent to the proper 90 degree angle, then gorilla plastic glued them to serve as back-side ‘support’ for the plastic compound. All this won’t be touched for 24 hours. Once the glue is dry, I’ll compound fill and then contour/ sand. I predict this will take time… 

 

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

Started sanding the grille as plastic weld is dry. Lower backside area and newly styrene ‘boxed’ areas look good, flat, and fit the header panel well. Plenty more sanding and plastic fill to go… and then more sanding, filling, sanding, etc until wet sand of increasing grit to baby’s bottom smooth. 

 

 

[Gjeep]

I kept walking past the cab carpet board I had filled/ straightened…it was nagging at me. Decided to buy Masonite and carve out a new board. 13/64” holes were drilled to place the mounting tabs as the original board had. Difference this time around is I’ll mount those using Midwest Fastener 3/16” screw/posts. The screw will go in from the back side and the ‘post/ nut’ portion will be top side. I’ll use a rivet bit to thin the Masonite, so the hardware is flush and won’t show once the carpet is applied.

 

 

 

 

Here's the difference between the original board and new (in front). After 30 years of that bottle jack being in place the cardboard panel was bent for good. The jack is under the hood now.

 

 

[Gjeep]

I waited for what seemed like forever for Stockton Wheel to widen my Jeep steelies -- worth it though, as they look great/ bead blasted (photo below). Oddly enough Stockton doesn't offer a finishing service once they modify customers wheels. So I sprayed a light gray epoxy primer to keep the metal happy. Soon I'll paint the back and outside of the wheel satin black and the face of course rallye silver.

 

 

 

Also took delivery of some NOS stainless steel trim rings for these. I did a bit of research online and found the best polish for getting the stainless to look near chrome was jewelry polish. The one that seemed to polish up best in looking at video reviews was a product called JNA Sparkle out of Las Vegas. I ordered some up and shined away 3-4x. Though I have absolutely nothing to compare it to product-wise, I can tell you the results were fantastic. Near mirror finish.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

With the temperature well over 100+ past couple days, and to continue for the next several days, I think it best for me to focus on indoor or early morning MJ projects. My goal for the remainder of this week is to paint the steering column and interior panels. 

[MiNi Beast]

Remember chrome don't get you home. 

[89 MJ]

Those wheels are going to look great on that truck! I don't remember if you already said, but what tire size are you planning on going with?

[Gjeep]

31” BFG KO’s 

[89 MJ]

Very nice. That seems to the a great size on these trucks. It seems to be a good balance between offering more ground clearance and giving a good stance without sacrificing much for performance or fuel economy. 

[Gjeep]

California temps are back to near normal double digits, so it was a good time to rattle-can the interior panels with SEM Landau Black #15013 with either a Satin Gloss Clear # 13013 or Low Luster Clear #13023 (meaning if the panel was a ‘main’ panel it received the semi-gloss, and if it was a ‘recessed or secondary’ panel it got the low luster sheen for visual differentiation).

 

 

For the lower dash panel, I’m deciding between the genuine 1987 MJ black interior panel or 1995 XJ style which deleted the duct that blows cold air to your nuts. I like the newer panel a bit better as it looks a lot cleaner. Will see.

 

 

For the main overlay I’ve got NOS black and NOS ’92 Laredo (without the chrome trim) that I’ll be deciding between. The Laredo overlay may get the win for the install as I think it will compliment my charcoal Jeep logo’d denim vinyl perfectly. Again, will see.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Since I'm adding tilt to the MJ, I took the time to make sure all is tight inside prior to paint. Replacing internals and externals (stalks and key cylinder) with NOS components. 

 

[Gjeep]

Well, I thought I had decided on trim rings – ’88-’99 GM C/K. Then, I found a NOS set of ’68-’82 Corvette beauties on eBay and these have the right amount of bling dish I’m looking for. Need a good polish, but they sit right inside the wheel. Many of the generic aftermarket trim rings aren’t as deep and are close to 1” away from the steel, too near the slots. Rims are still in primer for now, but you can see the trim ring difference and depth.

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

Finished up painting the various interior pieces and at long last got around to shooting the rally wheels. Last week I painted the backside and outside of the rim satin black; then after lots of careful masking, I shot the face with rally argent paint. BFG 31’s just around the corner for these.

 

 

 

[NorthwestMJ]

Absolutely mind blowing build! Nice work!!!!