Mossy Green XJ

[Gjeep]

New transmission hard lines in and first gen XJ trans cooler connected up. I prefer this style of cooler over the newer XJ style that completely bypasses the radiator connections and is hung through the fins.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Fired up Mossy Green today after the make-over...Idled and sounded great. Couldn't drive it as the front suspension is bare minimum -- axle, springs and tires. Getting ready to swap over a low mileage Dana 30 and install all the new stuff. 

 

In between time, we pulled the overhead console and headliner. There were a couple small bubbles starting, and I just wanted to be done with it. The board was in near perfect shape once I buzzed off the old foam.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Had some quality Dremel tool time carving out the extra 1 3/8" needed for the factory 97+ XJ tow hooks to clear the bumper corners -- and the fog light openings. Dremel tool, followed by an assortment of flat and round files, and finished things out with a varied grit wet sanding. Final step is the SEM Trim Black rattle can to get things back to factory finish.

 

 

[fiatslug87]

Is this really for your daughter? 

[Gjeep]

I wish her luck getting the keys from me... I mean, yes, it is for my daughter. 

[Gjeep]

Interior side overhead console gets the same treatment as my '97 XJ... Handsfree mic. The microphone grille is from a '04-'10 BMW 5-series and looks right in the XJ. Headliner and overhead console will be out for a recover by end of this week.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Been chipping away at a mix of things – added rear passenger factory footwell lighting – similar to the ’97 XJ I’ve got. Also ran the dual front power seat wiring for the Country edition mist gray seats. Dual power became available from the factory in ’00; Prior to that if there was a power seat option, it was driver’s seat only. As an FYI, there’s a guy in Ohio who rebuilds these seat tracks and does a heck of a good job freshening them up. NOS seat switches round up that upgrade.

 

 

I couldn't help myself and decided to refresh the entirety of the interior panels with a fresh spray of color/low gloss clear coat. Started with the driver/passenger step-in trim, driver interior quarter panel, and power seat switch trim/bezels.

 

 

Finally, as I dig through things it gives me the opportunity to clean up PO work. Rear sound bar wiring and replacement of one of the rear seat belts -- guessing this was a warranty repair, but difference was in the color of the seat belt quarter panel trim (one agate, one mist gray -- replaced the assembly with dual agate insert trim). Not terrible, but drives me nuts.

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

Removed the door handles, key cylinders, and roof rack so Mossy green got a much needed compound polish 3x, followed by wax. New badging to go on next. And headliner, overhead console and visor recover should be ready by end of week.

 

[Jesse J]

On 3/15/2021 at 9:22 AM, Gjeep said:

who will be driving soon (in about 6 months)

hey me too with my truck. more like 5 now. wow the takeover is soon. progress looks good!

[Gjeep]

Got the recovered headliner, overhead console frame and visors back from Harold's Upholstery out in Santa Clara, CA. The guy is top notch, never an issue, even for this perfectionist. (He's the same guy that did my MJ seats and '97 XJ headliner et all.)

 

 

Decided we're keeping the Country edition cloth seats over upgrading to Katzkin leather, so I took an upholstery cleaner/ vacuum to probably what I would consider the least used seat panel in the vehicle -- the back seat upper portion and after an hour and a half a cleaning the waste water was unbelievably filthy -- and these seats actually looked clean to the naked eye. I have a feeling the seat cleaning process is going to take a bit longer than expected. It's not clean until the waste water looks clean.

 

 

Still waiting on the custom coil springs, and the new carpet I need is on back order until mid-May (color is out of stock).

[Fernando87mj]

40 minutes ago, Gjeep said:

Got the recovered headliner, overhead console frame and visors back from Harold's Upholstery out in Santa Clara, CA. The guy is top notch, never an issue, even for this perfectionist. (He's the same guy that did my MJ seats and '97 XJ headliner et all.)

 

 

Decided we're keeping the Country edition cloth seats over upgrading to Katzkin leather, so I took an upholstery cleaner/ vacuum to probably what I would consider the least used seat panel in the vehicle -- the back seat upper portion and after an hour and a half a cleaning the waste water was unbelievably filthy -- and these seats actually looked clean to the naked eye. I have a feeling the seat cleaning process is going to take a bit longer than expected. It's not clean until the waste water looks clean.

 

 

Still waiting on the custom coil springs, and the new carpet I need is on back order until mid-May (color is out of stock).

If you don’t mind me Asking , how much did he charge you ? I need to get the one on my zj redone 

[fiatslug87]

2 hours ago, Gjeep said:

Harold's Upholstery out in Santa Clara, CA.

Wow, good to know. He's only 2.5 miles from my parent's house where I grew up.

[Gjeep]

Cost of the headliner/ overhead console recover was $300, but know I remove the old material and clean it up/ repair if needed before bringing it to him.

[Fernando87mj]

38 minutes ago, Gjeep said:

Cost of the headliner/ overhead console recover was $300, but know I remove the old material and clean it up/ repair if needed before bringing it to him.

Okay , I might call and ask , I really like how yours came out , thank you g! 

[Gjeep]

It's taking endless time to clean these seats. Driver's side done. I had two small cracks starting drivers side vinyl that I had the upholstery guy address. He mentioned something I'd never put much attention on -- Jeep made a mistake running the side strip of vinyl with the grain going vertical. That's why cracking on these panels is inevitable (except on the leather/ vinyl seats where the grain does run horizontally.) My passenger side was in good shape/ NOS issues but I had him run mist gray vinyl horizontally on that side strip as well.

 

 

As most of you know, many of the Chry-co cars/trucks of this era shared the same color and grain interior. I found some mint vinyl off the seatback back-side of a Chrysler minivan. Finding this NOS isn't all that possible these days, so I go for the next best -- often untouched areas of the seats. And that minivan stretch was a good 46"x24".

 

[Gjeep]

Took apart then put back together the AW4 shifter bezel -- painting/ detailing it to look as close to new as possible.

 

 

 

 

Also ran wiring to the cargo area where I'll mount an XJ 12V socket.

 

[MiNi Beast]

pretty. 

[89 MJ]

Do you want to adopt me?

[Jesse J]

your daughter is going to have to pry those keys out of your dead cold fingers

[Gjeep]

Exciting times...Just got my Coil Spring Specialties front springs. They're based off the Up Country springs and are 20% stiffer/ .5" lower. (Typically I go 1" lower, but keeping this one a pinch higher in the nose, but entirety of stance will still be a mild rake.) Rattle canned them another coat of Satin Black.

 

 

My hope for the weekend is to have the front end entirely redone and done. NOS/ new everything... and what's not Jeep like the ball joints and I forget what else is Moog goodness. Again, high hopes to knock this out this weekend.

 

[MiNi Beast]

sweet. 

[Gjeep]

Heck of a long day – swapped out the original axle for much lower milage “new”/ used one. Removed the old ball joints and installed new Moog’s. They changed the design of their upper and lower ball joint…can’t say that I like it, but who knows, maybe it lasts longer. The most noticeable difference is the boots are no longer removable and are only a little more then 1/8” tall…hence the gap you see in the photo of the upper. The lower doesn’t have this gap as the boot is a bit taller. The lower’s instructions leave you with the impression it's greaseable, but it's not...though the ball joint zerk hole needs to be positioned/installed for ease of greasing access, BUT they supply no zerk fitting for the hole on top only a threaded cap. (Will be getting a zerk and see how it goes.)

 

 

 

With multitude of jacks and jack stands the new axles and all the controls arms, etc were set into place. I still need to get the steering linkage and front Addcco sway bar set up -- and then tighten everything down to spec. Also need to fill and bleed the brakes. I went with the same PowerStop brake set up I run on all my Jeeps. Hasn’t failed me yet and looks sharp. The slightly lowered/ 20% stiffer coils give the XJ just the rake I was aiming for. 

 

 

[Gjeep]

It’s been a while since I updated… still plugging away on Mossy. Bled the master and brakes and ended up with a braking issue. Fairly sure it’s the master so need to drain and swap that out. Bled it endlessly and no luck. Also, I charged the AC and it leaked – little pin hole in the new condenser up front. And that’s a fun one to deal with as it is connected/ bracketed to the radiator. Coolant in the radiator which makes it heavier/ hard to handle…and let’s not forget the battery that needs to come out, in addition to the trans lines attached to the radiator. I love messes on a Jeep that was damn near done…

 

 

But to distract myself from all the fun re-doing of done stuff I started putting back the interior. Went with the same color carpet choice as my ’97 XJ. The contrasting to the mist gray interior looks much better than the overwhelmingly pale factory carpet color. ties in to the dashboard and door panel color contrasts agate to mist gray. Power seats tracks were swapped in and footwell lights that are attached to the underside as I did with the red ’97 XJ also. Also added a 12V outlet rear drivers corner of the cargo area. It’s coming together. Sloooowly.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

Life is good with the AC, as I replaced the condenser last weekend. Blowing cold now! As for the brake issue -- fixed as well... it was a mix of a bad master cylinder and incorrectly boxed booster. What I had bought was a '97-'01 XJ booster. What I had received was a 95/96 unit with the shorter rod. Replaced both the booster and master, bled and been driving around ever since. Always nice when you make it past frustrating set-backs.

 

Back when I had my '97 XJ headliner and visors done by my upholstery guy, I watched and learned on the visor tricks and managed to pull off the recovering myself for this XJ. Here's a couple shots to show how I went through the process. I guess one of the most important things to note -- is you need to pull the visor clip peg BEFORE you unclip all else and try to open the split of the visor. Both are now installed and life is good. Onward to finish up the exterior!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

Though MJ's rear axle is significantly more recessed in the wheel-well than the XJ, the XJ is about 1" off both driver and passenger side at the rear axle versus the front. I just don't like how that looks, so tracked down some quality 1" wheel spacers that brought things back to visually good.