replace window/vent in 88 comanche with a window from 97+

[Submariner]

I am looking for any info on changing out the window/vent from my 88 comanche to a 97+ window.

I don't want to change the door just the window.  the vent don't open so it is no good to me and I would like to have more room that the 97+ window has to offer.

 

my door is good, the hinges are good(so far) and i don't want to deal with with differance in paint scheme. 

 

So if I can just change the window that would be great.   Plus i have a door from from a 98 that is messed up just waiting to be a donor.

 

Thanks

[Dzimm]

The internals are way different so it wouldn't be an easy swap at all.  You'd have to gut the doors and weld in all the internals from 97+ doors.  Honestly you'd be better off going 97+ doors and repainting them to match the truck. 

 

If you are super lucky, you could find smoker vents that open but they are very hard to find. 

[Minuit]

24 minutes ago, Dzimm said:

If you are super lucky, you could find smoker vents that open but they are very hard to find. 

And leak.

[Darren]

I've also wanted to do this, and if it were simple everyone would do it. If you look at the insides of both doors you'll see how much work it would be to swap in the later window. Like Dzimm said, it is less work to swap the doors and paint them.

[MeanLemons]

4 hours ago, Minuit said:

And leak.

Very hard to leak? 

[Eagle]

1 hour ago, MeanLemons said:

Very hard to leak? 

 

No, very hard to make the operable vents NOT leak. I went through it with the factory rep when my '88 XJ was new. The factory "fix" was to replace the operable vents with the non-operable windows.

 

Scout's honor. They leak, the factory knew they leaked, they charged extra for them (at least in the early years), and there was NO WAY to stop them from leaking. (Except to seal them shut with silicone.)

[Gjeep]

I’m not a fan of the 97+ XJ door panels. Too much plastic. I wanted to keep my older style vinyl panels but have the newer full windows. I started this project expecting and measuring door dimensions and depths to put a 97+ power window regulator in an older door shell. Lots of precise holes to drill and shims to place. I still have all that detail if anyone is interested. 

 

While researching the web for a similar conversion back in 2003 I came across an interior photo of a Beijing XJ and it seemed they were using the older style door shells. I took a gamble and hired a Chinese exporter and purchased a couple power regulators to play with. They were an immediate bolt-on to the older style door shell. No new holes or sims would be needed. I also noticed the build materials of these were much better that the plastic tracked regulators Jeep was making for the 97+ XJ. Though the Beijing regulator did have 2 mounting holes for the glass, I was surprised they weren’t a match for the US XJ glass. So, I fabbed a simple adapter plate to mate everything together. 

 

To complete the swap of the new style full windows, I went to a wrecking yard and pulled all the necessary window channel weather stripping and inside/ outside window wipes. 

I noticed the newer XJ had a channel on the front side of the larger window. I took placement measurements and then cut several out, driver and passenger side. It took all of drilling out 2 spot welds and cutting the top of the channel where it met at the mirror corner. 

 

As a side note, the 97/ 98 XJ had a 2 piece channel weather stripping, then it went to one piece in the later years. Basically, if your MJ’s existing channel rubber is good, you can pull just the front channel rubber for your truck. I should mention that I fully tested this install way back when and the window had no issues withOUT the front channel, but I chose to install it. I’ll be doing a full write up in the next couple weeks when I do this conversion on my 92 MJ and will post it on both the build thread and as a DIY article. 

 

[Dzimm]

3 hours ago, Gjeep said:

I’m not a fan of the 97+ XJ door panels. Too much plastic. I wanted to keep my older style vinyl panels but have the newer full windows. I started this project expecting and measuring door dimensions and depths to put a 97+ power window regulator in an older door shell. Lots of precise holes to drill and shims to place. I still have all that detail if anyone is interested. 

 

While researching the web for a similar conversion back in 2003 I came across an interior photo of a Beijing XJ and it seemed they were using the older style door shells. I took a gamble and hired a Chinese exporter and purchased a couple power regulators to play with. They were an immediate bolt-on to the older style door shell. No new holes or sims would be needed. I also noticed the build materials of these were much better that the plastic tracked regulators Jeep was making for the 97+ XJ. Though the Beijing regulator did have 2 mounting holes for the glass, I was surprised they weren’t a match for the US XJ glass. So, fabled a simple adapter plate to mate everything together. 

 

To complete the swap of the new style full windows, I went to a wrecking yard and pulled all the necessary window channel weather stripping and inside/ outside window wipes. 

I noticed the newer XJ had a channel on the front side of the larger window. I took placement measurements and then cut several out, driver and passenger side. It took all of drilling out 2 spot welds and cutting the top of the channel where it met at the mirror corner. 

 

As a side note, the 97/ 98 XJ had a 2 piece channel weather stripping, then it went to one piece in the later years. Basically, if your MJ’s existing channel rubber is good, you can pull just the front channel rubber for your truck. I should mention that I fully tested this install way back when and the window had no issues withOUT the front channel, but I chose to install it. I’ll be doing a full write up in the next couple weeks when I do this conversion on my 92 MJ and will post it on both the build thread and as a DIY article. 

 

This is extremely interesting.  Definitely will be watching for a writeup on it

[JMO413]

Can't wait to see the write up! Very interested I like the older trim much better.

[Submariner]

well I guess i will put my project on hold until the write up.  Sounds like he has a lot better plan then I do.   I will get a donor door and have it in hot stand by ready to start.

 

Thanks for all the replies

[Eagle]

I can't help thinking that a potential product for those members who are skilled at making things could be a bolt-on (or weld-in) adapter to facilitate using the late-model XJ doors in the MJs. I'd love to swap to the new style doors, but I decline to make a hack out of changing the latch location, and I don't have the fabrication skills to do the job the way I would want it to be done.

 

May the dung of a thousand camels be dropped on the people at Jeep who decided to move the latch location.

[Gjeep]

Snapped a couple pics of the main conversion parts...

 

The 2" x 6" adapter plates I made...the smaller holes with the nuts on the backside fasten to the Beijing regulator and the larger holes to the US glass. 

 

 

Next is what mounts into the glass and is sandwiched by the bolts. The 97+ XJ uses what is on the left to mount the regulator to the glass (a metric bolt), the older XJ's use this torx bolt which is what I will be mounting into the adapter plate. I chose this bolt because it has a more secure mount into the plate (look close at the photo of the bolt on its side...there's a lip on it).

 

 

And finally there are photos of the Beijing regulator. This is a single side regulator that I took front and back side photos of.

 

 

 

[SatiricalHen]

I’ve been wanting 1 piece windows, but really like my door panels and manual windows. I wonder if there is a manual window Jeep 2500 or whatever they’re called. It would be cool if someone got a bunch of these regulators imported and made the swap more readily available to all of us here.


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[1989commanche]

On 12/13/2018 at 5:05 PM, Eagle said:

 

No, very hard to make the operable vents NOT leak. I went through it with the factory rep when my '88 XJ was new. The factory "fix" was to replace the operable vents with the non-operable windows.

 

Scout's honor. They leak, the factory knew they leaked, they charged extra for them (at least in the early years), and there was NO WAY to stop them from leaking. (Except to seal them shut with silicone.)

It costs .50 each. 2 quarters stuck between the release knob and the little striker plate to pull it tighter. I even hot glued them together so I didn’t have to pick them up off the floor every time I opened the vents.