Son of Stink

[Gjeep]

Headliner and overhead console in place. After I don’t remember how many times measuring prior to paint, then tacking the rear-most bracket into place on the roof of the MJ all lined up. Screwed into place.

 

 

 

 

On to the carpet – so far 8hrs into it and I figure I have another 4-5hrs to go to get it to fit as it should. XJ’s are a ton easier to lay carpet out in that’s to the back seat area. MJ’s tight quarters.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Another day of working the carpet. It’s getting there. Rollbar (highbeam) switch grommet surround is in place as is its pedal pad. All-in-all a good day, though I do feel a fur-ball of insulation in my throat and my fingers look like they’ve been chewed on by a small animal. Onward…

 

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

Carpet is 95% done. I used a scrap center console to test fit the console to carpet. I wanted to remove any gaps between the two using insulation. Then I buttoned up the trans tunnel area using zip ties (like shoelaces) to snug up the sides. The final cuts of carpet at door sills and back of cab will happen when those interior panels are installed. Clean up of all the lint/ mess is a work-in-progress.

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

Back to the visor project – I went into this a while back, but basically the first 1.5 years of the shorter style sun visor that arrived in the XJ/ MJ in 1990 was somewhat different than those thereafter up to 2001 (not counting the maddening ground wire/ no ground wire variations throughout the years). The shorter visors initially had interior (color matching) mounting points. (The 3-hole screw in base was the same color as the interior…so, if you had a gray interior, your base was gray; cordovan interior, base was cordovan, etc.) The reason I'm using these first gen visors is that I can use the Lincoln Town Car vanity mirror assembly in them as they are identical and were available in black. I don't want to deal with painting a part that can scratch/ chip from use. (As side note, in 1992 the sun visor base became black across the board, as did manual window cranks in 1993-1996.)

 

My hope, instead of painting the sun visor base, was to swap them out for the black ones since the visors are already disassembled, but at second glance that’s not possible. The newer (black) bases have more plastic on the arm and a slightly different retaining clip than the old. Main problem is the visor shell retainers for the bases arm are smaller and won’t surround the newer base assembly. Final result is me painting the older (interior color) bases black. I needed to do the same for the visor post retainer clips that mount beside the overhead console, as the closest to black ever available was a dark gray used on the ’98 XJ with the contrasting mist gray interior. Life goes on.

 

 

First step in visor recovering process for me will be cleaning/ detailing the plastics inside and out/ vanity bulb replacement. The bulb is a Ford only bulb – not available in auto parts stores – but fortunately there are many still available out there in Ford inventory land. I stocked up as who knows how long they’ll be out there. Once I’m done with all this prep, it’s on to recovering them in the black headliner material.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Wrapped up in black – Looking forward to seeing this interior together. Don’t know why Jeep didn’t keep this color as an interior option for more years. Final steps on the visors will be inserting the post at visor ends and installing the vanity once the new light bulbs arrive in the mail tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

'Tis the season for slow progress on the MJ... But, I got the visor vanity mirrors in and tested as good. Thank you blue oval for making mirror assemblies molded in black that fit Jeep sun visors. Woo-hoo!

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

NOS 97+ XJ door seals and glove box attire top and bottom with new lock cylinder.

 

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

I may change direction on the head unit I use for this build, not sure. Jeremy's Radio Emporium will be adding an aux line to an AMC era radio (yes, I changed the cassette door to later model so to have a Jeep logo...It looks crooked in the pic due to the angle/ shadows. Also removed chrome from the knobs as an option). I'll be able to bluetooth through Rockford speaker line RCA's and high to low level adapter add-in's so I can run the same setup with only minor wiring mods backside. 

 

 

Also rough cut a scrapper driver side step-in interior panel backside, reducing some of the plastic reinforcement webbing so it could fit/ sit flat around the wad of extra wires I ran down the drivers side. Along with this was a whole lot more cutting to the carpet to fit right around these driver and passenger side panels. The last carpet area I'll need to trim up is up against the back of cab wall.  

 

 

[Gjeep]

It’s been a bit since I tinkered on the MJ… During my hiatus I decided that I want to use a stock head unit from my favorite era of Jeep audio, AMC. The 4 dial AMC era radios I think are the best looking of all XJ’s first gen. Classy looking and the font used on the radio and texture of the faceplate is identical to the HVAC and other rocker switch pods. Took some amp gain fine tuning of the Rockford Punch 4-channel to make my aftermarket backend sound good with a near non-amplified factory head unit. To keep connections clean I used the proper plugs for that era along with female RCA adapter wiring and a high to low level RCA adapter for the under the seat woofers. In addition to the AMC era radio, I wired in a NOS factory quartz clock to keep things looking classic on the dash.

 

 

 

Then from my arsenal of old junk I remembered the one and only XJ sun visor spacer I have even seen/pulled from the wrecking yard. Way back when Cash for Clunkers was taking many an XJ off the street, I was pulling goodies off a ’96 Classic when I found this spacer. Fast forward to now, I asked Dzimm here on CC to reproduce a couple for my MJ’s (note he has them listed on eBay), so that when I installed my sun visors I wouldn’t bend/crease my headliner. I’ve noticed the MJ crinkles easier when battening down the visors possible because of the arching shape of the headliner. Not sure. Anyway, many thanks Dzimm, what you produced was spot-on and worked like a charm. I just put some ¼” 3M double sided tape metal-facing side and stuck them in place. Installed the visors – and all good.

 

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

I wanted to confirm all was good with the woofers before moving forward on the interior, so I grabbed my spares…and they thumped away. Cranked it up and sounds awesome. I’ll be using these same under the seat type subs for the final install though they are painted black to match the rest of the interior. Really happy also that at a glance everything looks bone stock inside.

 

 

Also, been absolutely starving for some visible momentum lately as I’ve had been buried myself in the weeds of crazy-land detail work. AND, FINALLY…Driver seat is bolted down, kick and door step-in panel into place – with all looking factory fresh.

 

 

 

New HVAC panel, switch pods, and cigarette lighter (mostly in place) – all tested/working. Can’t install the clock just yet because the factory radio/bracket needs to go in first. And I’m waiting on an R/C car metal ‘Jeep’ emblem to place on the display of the radio where the old painted non-‘Jeep’ logo was.

 

 

Onward! And plenty more to do!

[fiatslug87]

What’s the first switch to the left of the steering column?

[eaglescout526]

I’ll admit G. Your MJ is an inspiration for me to take it slow on both the XJ and T/A to get all the details just right. Love watching this build. 

[Gjeep]

Many thanks. The switch immediately to the left of the steering column is manual aux fan on/off. 

[Airborne Janitor]

18 hours ago, Gjeep said:

I wanted to confirm all was good with the woofers before moving forward on the interior, so I grabbed my spares…and they thumped away. Cranked it up and sounds awesome. I’ll be using these same under the seat type subs for the final install though they are painted black to match the rest of the interior. Really happy also that at a glance everything looks bone stock inside.

 

 

Also, been absolutely starving for some visible momentum lately as I’ve had been buried myself in the weeds of crazy-land detail work. AND, FINALLY…Driver seat is bolted down, kick and door step-in panel into place – with all looking factory fresh.

 

 

 

New HVAC panel, switch pods, and cigarette lighter (mostly in place) – all tested/working. Can’t install the clock just yet because the factory radio/bracket needs to go in first. And I’m waiting on an R/C car metal ‘Jeep’ emblem to place on the display of the radio where the old painted non-‘Jeep’ logo was.

 

 

Onward! And plenty more to do!

 

What kind of subs are those? Do they have an integrated amp or are you running a separate one?

[Gjeep]

The subs are Pioneer TS-WX010A -- they've got a built in 160W (50W rms) amp, but I'm running a Rockford amp to them for more thump.

[Gjeep]

Continuation of assembly… Got the passenger side kick and lower panel in, in addition to the b-pillar panel for both sides. Happy to report the MJ shoulder belt bracket swap I made on the new outer XJ seat belt assemblies bolted right in like they were direct from Mopar. The lower seat belt anchor needed a simple mod – hammer the post that prevents XJ shoulder belt swivel flat – and tuck it in to a black Seat Belt Planet (brand) bezel. I used a 1” sleeve on each mounting torx bolt to provide proper space between the anchor point and the b-pillar panel. Jeep in my opinion should have sleeved it from the factory for better fitment. Buckles aren’t in yet. I’ll put those in after the center console is installed.

 

 

 

 

Also installed the tumble bezel on the seat installed. Almost used black screws, but I decided to go with the mild bling of stainless.

 

[Airborne Janitor]

6 hours ago, Gjeep said:

The subs are Pioneer TS-WX010A -- they've got a built in 160W (50W rms) amp, but I'm running a Rockford amp to them for more thump.

 

They look like they fit perfectly behind/under the seats without sacrificing too much of the cargo area.

[Gjeep]

Wrapped black carpet around the new masonite backwall board. Since I relocated my jack under the hood, I wanted a straight board for the back of the MJ cab. Will let glue dry overnight then install.

 

 

 

Also, I’m adding a USB charger in the center console (rear-most metal bracket). This will fit just fine as the MJ center console has no ash tray at the rear (as XJ does), so plenty of space to install. Drilled the 1” hole and refinished satin black.

 

 

Finally, I decided to use my ‘tester’ charcoal console to cut-to-size some left over carpet for the bottom area of the center console.

 

[Gjeep]

Got the carpet and upper panel into place. I do like the jack-less look behind the seats.

 

 

For those curious about the Pioneer subs I used… Basically I mounted them (nearest point) 4” away from the cabs backwall ledge (as measured with ruler flat on the floor). Here’s some photos of it from various angles with the seat in my 5’8/ 5’9 driving position. Plenty of clearance/ somewhat tucked under seat. Keep in mind that the passenger side taken photo is how it looks without the center console in place. It will be more ‘hidden’ once that’s in place. Passenger side mount is similar, same 4” away from back wall ledge. (There was absolutely no way to fit these under the seats without seat track modification by the way – maybe if you carved away some of the flat metal of these rear most mount. But not sure that wouldn’t impede the sound having it underside of the seat.)

 

 

 

 

Here’s reference with the seat track as far back as possible. Arrow is reference point of seats lower-most frame tubing. The sub still clears at this position. I probably could have moved it slightly closer to the seat, but I wanted zero risk of the seat hitting the sub enclosure.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Got the Hurst shifter back in as it’s easier to install carpet without it there. Been back and forth on which door panels to use. Stock black with hockey stick armrest. Or the matching ones I had made to go with the seats with the same hockey stick armrest. Been hanging these panels on/off the driver door many times today to see which is the favorite – and I’ve yet to decide. In the second pic of the upholstered panel, I added the map pocket and speaker grill hoping to get a better sense of how they’d look installed. Door handle bezel on each will most likely be black. I’m leaning towards the logo’d panels, but solid black would look sharp also. Just not sure.

 

 

 

[89 MJ]

I’d run the logo’d panels. It ties it in with the seats nicely. 

[GrandBoost98]

I also like the logo'd panels

[Red Mistress]

Can't go wrong with either, both look real nice.

 

However IMO nice OEM trumps anything, especially a BLACK with power windows, super rare to find.

[fiatslug87]

How about the best of both worlds?  

[Gjeep]

I almost did that using some ‘87 XJ Laredo black door panels I have, replacing the inserted ‘Luggage” fabric with the Jeep logo’d. Thankfully I kept my selection/ decision to just 2 options. And even that I’m having a hard time with…