86 XJ Project

[Greenjeans]

One more note that I need to get out of the way now before all of the plastic is reinstalled… the color on this kick panel is the new repainted color for most of my interior plastic.  I know a sharp eaglescout eye will notice that it doesn’t match the beautiful original door panels.  I won’t spray the door panels because they are too nice and I like the original color (honey?).  I selected “camel” from the Krylon fusion collection for all my plastic trim because it’s available at Walmart for six dollars a can. And it was the only thing that I could find local that was a close match.  Their tan was too close to an FDE and had no red or brown tint so it was too far off.  We’ll see how this looks completely installed.  Either way, I won’t be respraying all that plastic trim any time soon..  

 

[eaglescout526]

You know, I did catch that. I wasn’t gonna say anything because I actually like it. Chunk is gonna be a couple different tones for the interior color but I agree with you, the honey is a nice color. Honestly the tans do better in multi tone colors than the others. Maybe the blues and burgundy interior but that’s it. 

[Greenjeans]

In the gun hobby it’s called “50 shades of FDE”.  Having a bunch of flat dark earth parts from different manufacturers is just the way it has to be and it’s fine 👍 I’m not painting these door panels.   The next guy who owns it can 😁

[Greenjeans]

Well I took out the factory vinyl mat from the rear compartment for the first time since owning this Jeep today.  A few rust spots, and about a dozen non factory screw holes were found.  I treated the rust with Ospho and rtv’d the holes.  I cut an old table top and tossed it in there temporarily…. I don’t really like it and plan to get a “cargo area  weather mat” from Quadra tech at some point.  Don’t mind all the jute padding, I’m going to order a vynil mat for the front later this summer.  Anniston Auto Carpets shows one for the 4 door, but everyone on the 2 door Cherokee FB group says it’s the same 🤷🏼.  
 

I also added a 1/4 resonator pipe in the exhaust and the droning is gone.  Cruising with a “full interior” is a lot quieter now as well.  I do not plan to run the back seat so the area under the “back seat” will be for the Jack and a small assortment of tools..

 

I also changed the toggle switch mount because it was hitting the trans tunnel once the seat was installed.  Good news is the heated seats work!

 

[Greenjeans]

OK, sorry for the novel but I wanted to go back and talk about my seat belts for anyone out there in TV land like myself that just HAS to do something about their seat belt situation..  my originals didn’t retract and were disgusting..

 

It may have been possible to eventually find some belts in a junkyard that would have adapted to my XJ.  I did actually find a mint black set from a GM car and thought that I was going to use them.  However, what I didn’t know was that retractors are designed to work (inertia reel) mounted either horizontal or vertical (like ours).  The ones I got at the junkyard were mounted in the rear dash area of a sedan.  The retractor will not function mounted vertical.  
 

So what junkyard options “may” work?  Possibly a small pickup or SUV if you have time to research the mounting bracket etc before you go to the trouble to get them out of a junk car..

 

So what new options are there?  Not many…. I ended up ordering a set from seatbelt planet.  I think they were nearly $300, which is crazy until you consider the alternative..  no seat belts.  My life is worth $300.. 
 

I called the vendor and was told that these belts were outsourced to a vendor in Florida..  that should probably have been a red flag but I’m not too smart sometimes 😁.  I received the belts in about 3 weeks because they are “built to order”.  Ok cool.  I have already posted a picture of the bolt hole for the mount that didn’t line up...  After much consideration, I decided it wasn’t a big deal so I carefully dremel’d the hole out until the bolt would go in.  Snugged the bolt down, everything is fine…. Until I went to put the trim back over the retractor assembly.  The assembly stuck out a good 1/2” due to the shape of the mounting bracket offset.  It’s difficult to explain but the retractor has to sit into the bulkhead so your trim goes back on flush over it.  No way, no how that was happening.  And the bracket can’t just be bent inward, the retractor will then contact the sheet metal and won’t retract.  I basically had to cut and weld the bracket to get it in there “sort of” flush.  The offset is just bent wrong on the bracket.  
 

when I took the bracket off for modifying, I can see the part number for the retractor they used (and see where they enlarged the bolt hole).  A hit on the Google pipe turns it up as a aftermarket seat belt used in the back of a handicap van.  Just a $50 assembly (that’s a retail price, they are probably getting them cheaper in bulk) with a custom/wrong bracket attached.  As well as they sew a make end on and provide a matching female end.  
 

Synopsis:  don’t buy these unless you are ok with mods out of the box.  Can you buy the handi-van version and bolt it in for a lot cheaper?  Probably not, as it is most likely configured differently.  Can you use the handi-van version as a starting point (swap the config, make a mount bracket etc)?  Sort of….. you would still have to deal with the male buckle and female receptacle on the floor….   
 

And yes I did send pictures of this to seatbelt planet.  Mums the word and I kind of expected that.  Liability…. I decided to go ahead and modify these.  My welding is at least as strong as the sheet metal it’s bolted to.  And at least I finally have seatbelts..

 

 

 

[Greenjeans]

Retractor part number.  If you can fabricate, you can cut the brackets off your old retractor and weld or bolt them to these cheap retractors.  The buckle end/female end would also have to be dealt with..

[Greenjeans]

So just for posterity and preservation of history:  I present the original 1986 XJ belt retractor …. You can kind of see now where they were trying to go with their “Z” shaped bracket.

 

[Greenjeans]

Tossed the table top and found this foam floor mat at Northern today by chance.  $25, much cheaper than the fancy weather tech type.   Just right for my needs.  I just need to use the old one for a pattern.  Not today though, too cold under the palm trees here…

[Salvagedcircuit]

11 hours ago, Greenjeans said:

Retractor part number.  If you can fabricate, you can cut the brackets off your old retractor and weld or bolt them to these cheap retractors.  The buckle end/female end would also have to be dealt with..

 

Wow, that says it all really. I sent detailed emails to all three of the seat belt shops mentioned here on comanchclub because I wanted to get some new seat belts made, and a new lap belt made.

 

SeatBeltPlus.com reply:

"The belts are made in Jupiter Florida but none of the Jeep belts have a logo on it....The Jeep kits don't come with hardware since you have to use the original hardware, the universal belts can be purchased with hardware packets but you have to opt in for it. "

 

SafetyRestore.com reply:

"I'm sorry, but we provide a service to repair your seat belts and do not stock/sell any belts.

Our cutoff year is 1996 so we won't be able to work on these. 

For replacements, you can try LKQ.com or car-part.com. 

Thank you!"

 

SeatBeltPlanet.com reply:

"Thanks for all your questions.  I would like for you to call me to visit about how we produce these seat belts.  I'm the designer of this product. I look forward to your call.

Thanks, Steve"

 

It really says something if 2 of the 3 companies just use a supplier in Florida.

 

SeatBeltsPlus says on their website:

"We are proud to offer aftermarket seat belts made by Seatbelt Solutions. Seatbelt Solutions began manufacturing seat belts in 2005. All belts made by Seatbelt Solutions are manufactured in Jupiter, Florida. We partnered with Seatbelt Solutions because we share the same values; our commitment to the safety of drivers and passengers. "

 

I do wonder if SeatBeltSolutions is the supplier for all of them, they are in Jupiter, FL.

https://www.seatbeltsolutions.com/jeep

 

[Greenjeans]

Probably so..  

 

if I had it to do all over again I’d fab up something myself using my original brackets.. with my original brackets and their “generic” shoulder belt kit I could probably get it done ..but after modifying the provided bracket and driving it today, I can say that the retractors work as they should and I finally felt safe and legal 👍

[Greenjeans]

Sunvisors finally recovered by a local upholstery shop.  Not cheap but I’m very happy with them. Now I just need to rattle can the hardware and get them installed.

[Greenjeans]

Well I had pretty much no plans to tow much with this jeep but I bought this boat at an abandoned vehicle sale for $100…it’s junk and headed for the dump.  I only wanted the trailer to make a cheap flat bed out of it..

 

I didn’t have to go far and I went very slow 👍 so no problems…

[89 MJ]

Old boat trailers make for terrific utility trailers! My Eagle was towing it, so sorry for the photobomb, but here is ours full of rocks. It is probably our most used trailer that we have.  Yours looks considerably larger than ours, but I'm sure it will be great to have. 

[Greenjeans]

👍👍👍 perfect!!  

[Greenjeans]

I haven’t worked on the Jeep much lately except to finally put a front driveshaft in.  I know, what good is a Jeep with no 4wd…. I got distracted and just never put it in.  So it’s in now and I did a pre-winter check on the heated seats and they still work 👍.  I also took it to cars and coffee for the third time as well as my cat eye Chevy that I built a strong 6.0 in back in February.  Long tube headers, true duals and some parts deleted…and a Truck Norris choppy cam…. This truck makes everyone stop and look when I pull into a parking lot 😁..  before the cruise in I had to wash off mold that was starting to grow on the jeep.  All the wet weather this year and parking it in the shade with that old oxidized paint was starting to grow mold ….

[89 MJ]

I like both vehicles! 99-06 GM pickups are some of my favorite vehicles built. 

[Greenjeans]

Swapped out to some different JK wheels rattle canned black and 31” tires.  My suspension is nice and soft so on the highway my rear tires now just barely kiss the flare if I hit a big dip in the road.  It rides and drives so good. I really don’t want to lift it anymore. I might get away with a 1 inch block or something. I think I will just very lightly trim the bottom of the flare in the back where it’s rubbing.

[Greenjeans]

I finally broke down and replaced the junk yard Pioneer stereo with something high tech.  I can’t believe I paid $25 for that junkyard stereo lived with it for so long and this thing was only about $70 and is like going from an old Volkswagen to a space shuttle.  It has Apple CarPlay with navigation although I probably won’t use it much. The sound difference is amazing. I was able to put a picture of the Jeep on for the start up screen picture/logo.   I can call the Mrs. from the front seat using the microphone, which is kind of cool.

 

I have a 1986 remember so my dash might be different than yours. I had to trim about a 16th of an inch with a Dremel on each side of the radio hole.  Other than that, it goes right in it’s half the size of a factory radio, and weighs ounces.

 

It’s also as a back up camera and I have not connected it yet. I can put it on my license plate bolt pretty easily if I want to use it.

 

I have tried to cut and paste the Amazon link here, but it doesn’t seem to work 🤷🏼
 

 

[fiatslug87]

4 hours ago, Greenjeans said:

I have tried to cut and paste the Amazon link here, but it doesn’t seem to work 🤷🏼

What brand is it?

[Greenjeans]

16 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

What brand is it?

it’s this one.

[fiatslug87]

For those too lazy to search 

Amazon Link

[89 MJ]

48 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

For those too lazy to search 

That would be me. Thanks for the link  

[Greenjeans]

For you V6 guys…..I thought I would share my new “Y” pipe that I had made by an actual exhaust shop.  The pictures may be tough with angle, perspective etc…. Also you can see a bit of burnt trans fluid (ignore that 😁).  If you’ve been following along, you remember that I made my own Y pipe. It was one of the most challenging parts of this project. It was a horrible experience.  It was cobble together from mostly junkyard pieces of pipe that have curves I cut them up and just made something that would work. It was on there for about 3000 miles and it did work but it had some issues. Mainly I could not get the transmission pan off Without dropping the pipe.  Also, it’s too close to the front driveshaft. It was also too close to the trans pan and I thought there was some heat transfer. Anyway, I finally bellied up to the bar and paid an exhaust shop to make a proper front Y pipe and it is pretty much a work of art, considering the challenge of getting all this pipe up in there into a compact fashion. They used a couple band clamps, which I asked for so that I can take it apart to remove it if I need to. Other than that it looks close to a factory part.  By the way, as far as I’m aware, you cannot order a new pipe from Walker or anywhere else. So you’re kind of stuck with making one.  
it took quite a few man hours, but they only charged me $300 which I thought was fair.

 

edit- it has touched the front shaft just a tiny bit but not enough to get it exited 😳
 

[Greenjeans]

Another thing I did was to change the springs in the distributor.  It only takes a few minutes and I’ve been wanting to play around with them.  The original 2.8 spring is the big rusty one.  The silver shiny is the “heavy”, the black is “medium” and the gold is “light”.  They are from a JEGS timing curve kit for GM HEI’s.  I’ve had two of the medium springs in since I built the jeep.  Some people use a combination of one medium and one other flavor.  🤷🏼 I know the Weber and hogged out intake as well as the 2050 stall S-10 converter like timing….  I changed to two gold full spicy spring curve in there now.  I went for a test drive of ten miles and I’m sure it has 3 more HP…. No knock ping or other excitement so I’ll leave them in and monitor for now…. Next HP upgrade is a set of 8.8mm plug wires that were on clearance from RA for $10.38..  

One more note:  the 3.4 I have came with two catalytic evil things so the spark plugs are a certain heat range for EGR emissions reburn ….and I don’t need that.  I recently changed them out for one heat range colder.  👍 (NGK UR6IX plugs)

[eaglescout526]

I love the use of a ford exhaust coupler in the build. Truly in AMC fashion.