Finally got some time today after work to tear out the dash, which wasn’t that bad at all. The only thing that sucked was the bulkhead connector that connects the fuse box with the rest of the engine harness, and it wasn’t hard to get out, there just wasn’t much space to fit a 1/4 socket on the bolt.

Also, all of the mounting tabs that mount the dash to the lower portion of the windshield were broken prior to me removing the dash. Looks like I’ll have to JB weld what’s left of it. I’ve seen others say this exact same thing, and it seems that all of those plastic mounts break on all of these XJs.

Anyway, once I got the dash out of the way, I was able to peer inside of my heater box, and found some weird goopy **** that looks like dum-dum all piled up near the heater core. And by the looks of it, it appears that there is also no insulation around the heater core either, so maybe that’s why I’ve always had poor airflow. I’ll know more when I get the heater box out and disassembled.

Once I get the heater box removed, I’ll get my windshield replaced and fix any rust I find back there, and start cutting out the floor boards when they get here. And since I’m modifying the mounting points for the seats, I’ll have to weld supports on the bottom of the floor pan so I’m not just sitting on flimsy metal.

More to come!

Heater box all out in the open

All of the remaining pieces that I don’t have space for in the shop

The weird goopy ****. Not really sure why it’s all piled up like that, and I’m not sure what it is to begin with

 

Is the goop melted plastic?

 

I don’t think so. I reached in there and pulled a whole bunch out and it was really sticky, almost like dum-dum or weatherstrip adhesive. I’ll know more once I yank that box out

 

Aww ok, maybe it's some sealant that got hot and oozed out, weird nonetheless.

 

I know it’s been a while since I updated this thread, and that’s because, well, I got into another accident. Rather, a lady failed to stop and rammed into me from the back at about 30 mph. Totaled my beloved Avalon, ruined my back and my finances. I haven’t touched ol Blue since I pulled the dash out, and I’m hoping to start back on her once I get my back “fixed”. It’s been really hard being a mechanic with 2 herniated discs, and an unappreciative boss that thinks I’m faking it doesn’t help.

Regardless, I hope to remove the heater box here soon, gut it and replace the heater core, scrap the evaporator, and get to work on replacing/patching the holes in my floor. Then line the entire interior with insulation, and put her all back together.

I’ve also been toying around with different brackets to adapt the older 94 and lower seats to my floor boards, and the best candidate so far is to make 4 sub brackets to bolt to the seat, and then bolt them to the floor board. Not entirely sure if that’ll work, but we’ll have to see. Maybe I’ll end up replacing my floor board and then making new mount positions.

 

Bummer

 

Sorry to hear that... Whatever you do DO NOT try to deal with the other insurance company... They're not your friend and will try to get out of paying what you should be getting for medical and lost wages.. They'll even resort to downright tricking you into giving up rights...Lawyer up and let them deal with it... They need to make it right...Typically the law firm will take a percentage in the end after you've been made right. Herniated discs are nothing to fool with especially at your age you've got a whole career ahead of you...

 

Yeah, a lot of people told me to get a lawyer and I did very early on. They kept trying to lowball me and get me to settle really early on, and I’m glad I didn’t. I ended up having an epidural injection to the bottom most disc that was the worst. It appears to of mitigated most of the pain, but the only true way for me to feel 100% is to get that excess material removed, and I’m not going to do that unless I loose all feelings in my legs.

But as an upside, since I’m feeling a lot better, I actually managed to work on Ol’ Blue today

 

So after months of pain and telling myself “I’ll do it eventually”, I finally removed my HVAC box. Had my Jeep towed back to my moms house where it can sit, and I unloaded everything and took out the 5 bolts holding the HVAC box to the firewall, took it apart, and found some nasty ****.

Turns out, that goopy stuff I saw when I pulled the dash was the insulation that goes around the heater core. It somehow melted into goop, either because of the nasty overheat I had that somehow didn’t pop my head gasket but managed to melt my heater core, or just age. Regardless, this heater core was beyond its usable life. I didn’t get to tear the box all the way down to the evaporator, as it was getting late by the time I was done. Plus, I had other things to do that day and couldn’t frolic around with my Jeep.

Im returning soon to finish stripping the interior, which is just removing the pedals and the steering column, then start stripping the floor pans down to bare metal too see how deep the rust goes. That’ll tell me what I need to cut and weld, or just straight up replace my floor pans

I also was happy to see that my windshield wasn’t leaking or that the fresh air intake or blower motor housing wasn’t leaking water into the interior. I currently have just door seal leaks and some window seals leaking, which will be fixed before I patch and or replace the floor boards