86 XJ Project

[Greenjeans]

Now about these door hinges…..I bought two new roll pins and replaced the old ones..  the top hinge is too tight, maybe because I deformed the “door half” in the bench vise when I was pressing the pin in to get it started..  it may loosen with use..  the bottom hinge is just as “saggy” with the new pin..  and the top hinge was bugger welded by someone in the past, which may be why the door wouldn’t shut right to begin with..  so I think I’ll resort to removing the fender, cutting that top hinge off and try repelling it with my own bugger weld.  There has to be a better way to rebuild these hinges.  I’m considering redrilling the hole in the body side hinge piece and pressing a bushing in to get the hole back to a correct size.  1/4” ID?  Was it originally bigger than 1/4” so the roll pin just rotated in the hole?  Just put a 1/4” bolt in there?  Not sure what to do..

 

on to the lock cylinders..  the door key works perfect in the passenger side door, but won’t even go into the drivers side cylinder.  And I managed to lock the hatch trying out the key, can’t get it unlocked now and barely got the key out in one piece.  Going to a locksmith tomorrow with the door key and driver side lock cylinder.  Old car fun 😁

[eaglescout526]

1 minute ago, Greenjeans said:

on to the lock cylinders..  the door key works perfect in the passenger side door, but won’t even go into the drivers side cylinder

Sounds like my MJ when I first got her but flipped haha. Have you sprayed any lube in the lock cylinders themselves to see if that would help?

[Greenjeans]

Thanks, that was a great suggestion. I got the rear hatch open with some lube, but it was still not easy. I went to an excellent locksmith shop with the driver side, lock cylinder and the door key. He said it look like something may be stuck in the lock cylinder and that’s why the key won't go in straight.  he’s about 70 years old and started the business. I don’t know how many years ago. He said he has an employee that is an automotive specialist and to leave it and he would call me. He did, however, make another dorky from the one I brought him. he said the one I brought him was a re-cut from sometime in the past and it wasn’t done well.  I took the key he made me back to the Jeep and it locked and unlocked the rear hatch like it was a new vehicle.  I am really hoping that they can fix that driver side lock cylinder because then I don’t have to replace all of them to keep the same key.  

[Greenjeans]

Ordered a new lock cylinder, not sure if locksmith can key it to match the pass side yet.  I also ordered a 10 pack of “Jeep” marked blanks for the door keys and a 10 pack of “Jeep” marked ignition blanks. We’ll have to see how this plays out…. Not much more progress today..  

[Greenjeans]

Went to u-pull-it today and managed to get one hinge off the left side of the RHD XJ that is still there.This was the upper hinge, the lower one was cracked.  The good news is that it’s like new, no play what so ever.  I only had a hand held hack saw and a big punch.  It was pretty savage getting it off.  I’ll clean it up and replace my lower driver side hinge that is wore out.  It has a pin with a head on it (‘94).  Not a roll pin like mine has. If I can doctor up my upper hinge, I’ll be in business.  
 

Those leather seats are still in that XJ…🤔, maybe I could dye them brown or something…**edit: I remembered that those are 4 door seats and don’t fold forward.  I’ll leave them for someone else…

[Greenjeans]

Somebody bubble gum welded this up pretty good.  After removing it, I think there were some pretty sizable cracks that they were trying to fix.  Anyway, I cut both off because the bottom one was just wore out.  The upper one seems to be ok now that I have it off.  I will reinforce both when I sew them back on..

[Greenjeans]

[Greenjeans]

[Greenjeans]

Hinges attached, door latches (and opens, also important) properly.

[motownXJdad]

man, ive been gone for a bit. youve been busy on this thing! looking really good

[Greenjeans]

4 hours ago, motownXJdad said:

man, ive been gone for a bit. youve been busy on this thing! looking really good

Thank you!  I feel like it’s never going to be on the road 😁

[Greenjeans]

I ordered a Tom Woods rear driveshaft and taking a 7 day Jeep holiday (no Jeep repair!).  It should be here about the time I get back so I can drive faster than 30 mph with a clear conscious.  my homemade driveshaft is probably not good to be driving at any higher speed with that installed. It was just something to get the jeep moving. Not intended to be long-term use. I’ll keep it on the shelf for an emergency use spare I guess.  I put a Sonnax cable corrector spring on the TV cable and it shifts first to second right on time at 18 mph. I can’t test the transmission any further until I get the right driveshaft in. I have not installed front driveshaft yet, just haven’t gotten around to it. It’s a Standard XJ front drive shaft for my swap. The driver door shuts the way it should, mostly. I’m not completely satisfied with the alignment as it is “proud” on the rear edge.  But I spent enough hours on it for now, I might come back to that.  Important thing is it opens and latches perfectly. I will visit the locksmith with the replacement driver side cylinder and key blanks when I get back. I will also be working on the air cleaner to plug some of the smog equipment holes. The four horns of the apocalypse are also wired with relays and work great.  I tested the transfer case and it also seems to work like it should. Shifting in the into 4-lo was a little hairy because I’m using the jeep factory shifter with a 241 transfer case with some mods. It’s essentially a short throw shifter for that transfer case, Chevy used a much longer shift arm , which slows the transition.  It took a couple tries to figure it out but then went smoothly.  Also all of the short driving I have been doing had some awful rattle in the front end, had me a little worried.  But it was just loose sway bar end links.  Removed for now and it’s quiet…. And signing off for now !

[Greenjeans]

Drivers door finally done with re-adjusting it again.  Turns out that I was moving the striker post inboard to try and bring the rear of the door in.  And you actually move it outboard so that the latch will grab it correctly, and then give you a nice fit.  It was just giving me a fit until I figured that out. 😁. Humor.  Now the fender is back on and I can move forward to the front bumper and get it back on.  The locksmith is working on my left lock cylinder, waiting on the call 👍

 

I also got the new rear driveshaft so hopefully I can get that in this week.

 

 

[Greenjeans]

Almost forgot the swag that came with it 👍

[Chad R]

I have Tom Wood’s drive shafts front and Rear in my Tj and in my Comanche they are great to work with. 

[Greenjeans]

Put a new driveshaft in, played around with a few things like a new door check for the left side. Mounted the left speaker even though my stereo still doesnt work right. We will come back to the interior stuff later. At least the door shuts nice now.  I had to repair the busted out license plate mount holes in the fiberglass hatch.  And today I put a license plate on it for the first time, I felt like I finally accomplished something when I put that license plate on for some reason.  I test drove it and got to 45 mph for the first time since I’ve owned it.  I thought it rode very good.  Which is kind of surprising considering I have a cobbled together lift.  The rear springs are from a 2wd Nissan Xterra. The rear shocks were fresh looking Monroes from a 1987 2wd dodge Dakota from the junkyard. The front shocks are new Monroe magnums but are for the rear of a grand Cherokee. I selected them for the end mount types and the length. That was just a shot in the dark but I think they are working fine. The front springs are rustys 305’s also from junkyard.   JKS boomerang shackles and Amazon front control arm drop kit.  Rough Country adjustable control arms from the JY also (cleaned inspected and lubed). 
 

I know someone out there is going to cry or maybe faint, but I am going to trim the lower part of the front fenders so they match my front bumper. Without trimming the fenders, they hang down below the bumper, and it looks weird.  The plan is to keep the factory flares and just trim them because I like the way they look.  I do own a few rocks, but I am not a rock crawler per se.   As much as I like the factory numbers, I also like tasteful aftermarket bumpers too.  And this ain’t no show queen.
 

Finally signing off for the night and an interior picture or two of the dash since I have not shown it before.  3 spoke factory steerimg wheel and tilt column coming soon…  It’s all still a work in progress. Keep that in mind. And one other picture of a rock I found on my property (in North GA last week).  it’s about 30 inches across… I don’t know if it’s quartz or lime stone or granite or what 🤷🏼

[eaglescout526]

Forest service green and honey interior? Interesting combo. 

[Greenjeans]

21 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

Forest service green and honey interior? Interesting combo. 

Government special!  I’m wondering if they even picked an interior color on the contract 😁

[eaglescout526]

Black would’ve been the better choice haha. They probably said just slap any interior color but paint it forest service green. 

[Pete M]

it's tan and green.  you know, Jeep colors.  

[Greenjeans]

14 hours ago, Pete M said:

it's tan and green.  you know, Jeep colors.  

Being an 80’s kid, tan/honey is pretty normal to me and I never even considered the “combo” of colors.  Searching for some late model take out bucket seats I can tell you this…. It’s rare today to find anything but black interior out there.  Gray being a close second.  Even looking at new Hondas and Toyotas for the wife, “tan” is about impossible to get.  So I guess there is a retro flavor to the honey and I like it.  I have two black buckets out of a Chevy Sonic that are going to get a semi-resto and then installed.  They have a white or silver thread (may black that out), no electric controls (prefer), tilt forward (obviously a must in a two door), and they’re vinyl (Jeep friendly).  Budget friendly too.  They are very comfy at least to me…  You can even still get oem covers for them for reasonable.  I will get to the seat project in a few weeks hopefully..

[Greenjeans]

Sonic seats waiting for attention.  I’m going to park them out in our brutal sun every day to see if it shrinks some of the wear on the drivers seat.  
 

got the bumper back on today.  Like granny said, don’t judge me till I got all my teeth back in.

 

I need to make some small brackets to hold the splash shields up under the front bumper. Front winch mount will probably go on this week. And I’m going to start shopping for a windshield.

 

that sway bar may be a little too much, I may black it out.  I will maybe do a “final” driveway alignment next weekend and also put all the lug nuts on 😁. I actually have a pack of new lug nuts, just been waiting.

 

 

[Greenjeans]

Funny story about the head rests..  they were missing..   I think someone may have stashed them somewhere in the JY hoping that no one would buy the seats..  if I walked the whole place, I’d probably find them but they are still available from Chevy for $18 each brand new…🤔. I spray painted the grille and headlight bezels but didn’t get them back in yet..  maybe Monday..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Greenjeans]

Grille back in…. Steering installed for the final time I hope..China winch going on next.   I’m unsure about running the power cable for it…

[Greenjeans]

I worked the modified air cleaner set up today.  I cut out the thermal valve (I’m in the south, don’t really need it much.  Sit welded and “rtv” welded the hose end back on.  Got a piece of 3” flex hose from oreilly’s.  I’m using a rubber “snorkel” thing from a F-150 to penetrate the rad support.  It should work good.  I had to take the grille back out 🙄 to get it in.