Round 2

[damianriel]

41 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

You can still get them to work. I zip tied them to the frame and the flap just hangs there.

Yeah, my concern mainly lies with the portion it looks like you cut on the sides. The covers I have are in fairly decent condition and are probably worth more to someone not all cut up.

[fiatslug87]

Nothing was cut.

[damianriel]

6 hours ago, fiatslug87 said:

Nothing was cut.

Are you sure? The Velcro portions on the covers are vastly different on the black vs the burgundy that came on the seats. I'll go take pictures in a minute.

[damianriel]

@fiatslug87 

 

The Velcro portions on the bolsters exist in the exact same spot the hinge mechanism exists in. When I fold the seat down there is a ton of tension as is stretches against this fabric.

[fiatslug87]

I looked back through your post, you have the seats without the bolsters all of mine are the “wingback” seats. I guess they are different, sorry for the confusion.

[damianriel]

5 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

I looked back through your post, you have the seats without the bolsters all of mine are the “wingback” seats. I guess they are different, sorry for the confusion.

I noticed that while I was looking at my seat covers and comparing to the earlier picture you had posted. I did find some local upholstery shops that seem to be pretty highly rated so I may inquire about what they can do.

[Eagle_SX4]

It is news to me as well that not all covers are interchangeable. I have a set of tan seats that are same as your maroon seats. I also have some 4 door XJ bolstered seats that have the same lower cover design as the folding seats.

 

What year was the XJ you got those black covers from? It may be that early on the folding seats and non folding seats had different covers.

 

Black seats are very rare you will have a very hard time finding another set of covers. That pattern was only used by AMC. Chrysler switched to something else. I would take them and the seat frames to an upholstery shop and see if they can modify them to work correctly. 

 

I saw @89 MJ posted recently about some non bolstered navy blue XJ seats. Maybe you could take some pics of those seats and see if they are the same as the black or maroon ones above.

[89 MJ]

I sure did and I’m getting ready to install them in the truck soon. Let me know if there’s anything in particular you need pics of. 

[damianriel]

2 hours ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

It is news to me as well that not all covers are interchangeable. I have a set of tan seats that are same as your maroon seats. I also have some 4 door XJ bolstered seats that have the same lower cover design as the folding seats.

 

What year was the XJ you got those black covers from? It may be that early on the folding seats and non folding seats had different covers.

 

Black seats are very rare you will have a very hard time finding another set of covers. That pattern was only used by AMC. Chrysler switched to something else. I would take them and the seat frames to an upholstery shop and see if they can modify them to work correctly. 

 

I saw @89 MJ posted recently about some non bolstered navy blue XJ seats. Maybe you could take some pics of those seats and see if they are the same as the black or maroon ones above.

I'm not sure what year XJ they came out of, as I bought them off someone in a FB group in 2018. I would assume 84-85, I don't see any tags or such to confirm and I'm not sure if they came from the same truck the dash I bought from the same person did. 

[eaglescout526]

10 minutes ago, damianriel said:

would assume 84-85,

86-87. Black wasn’t an option on 84-85. 

[damianriel]

25 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

86-87. Black wasn’t an option on 84-85. 

Right, completely spaced on that one.

[Eagle_SX4]

7 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

I sure did and I’m getting ready to install them in the truck soon. Let me know if there’s anything in particular you need pics of. 

Just a pic of where the back seat cover attaches to the bottom of the back. Like was shown here.

 

11 hours ago, damianriel said:

 

[89 MJ]

I’ll try to get some good ones shortly. 

[89 MJ]

Here’s the best photos I could get without having the adjustment handle. Looks more like the black seat cover. 

[damianriel]

11 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

Here’s the best photos I could get without having the adjustment handle. Looks more like the black seat cover. 

It appears to me the 4 door seat frames are narrower than the folding frames. I'm not in a rush to get this resolved but it's something I'll have to think about in the future.

[damianriel]

I'm beginning to believe my quest for a clean black interior is a fools errand. The dash I bought on eBay came in today and to be frank, it's less than stellar. I was under the impression it was in much better condition than it is. It's partially my fault for not seeing that half the mounting screw holes were cracked, and will need plastic weld repair. However I did notice that there wasn't a picture of the top of the dash in the listing. Upon chatting with the seller he assured me it was in good condition and free of cracks, the actual verbiage described it as "perfect" This isn't entirely incorrect however was deceptive, as there is a VERY obvious repair to the vinyl. 

 

 

Now, I still have the dash I bought in 2018, in which the underlying structure is in much better condition, however it appears the vinyl dried and cracked while in storage in RI and I didn't notice until I unpacked it in AZ. I'm thinking I may use the eBay dash temporarily while I look into getting the original dash refinished by either JustDashes.com or possibly a local upholstery shop like @Limeyjeeper had done.

 

 

I would have liked to keep it OEM but I'm pretty sure I now have over $1200 spent on trying to get a clean dashboard for the truck and I want the next cent I have towards my fools errand to be a well spent one.