97+ dash in my 90 MJ without the motor and harness
Thread Starter
MJ>XJ
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 17,836
Likes: 7
From: Griffin, G.A.
Year: 1990
Model: Comanche
Engine: 4.0 I6
Searched for a long time but could only find where people changed the engine, harness, and AC/heat all over... I had no interest in doing this...
One my donors engine was gone and harness cut up....
Two I had no interest in breaking into the AC and heater core system...
Three I'm doing a V8 swap next year anyways so I didn't not want to mess with a full HO swap...
Here is the mess with I started with when I pulled the original dash out...
Attachment 222363
And my donor as I pulled it apart... it's much easier then the 1990 model by far..
I went through and gutted all the wiring... if I found a plug that was attached to nothing i cut it off... Anything I did not want aka clock wiring, idiot light panel, radio, cab lights... gutted it all all the way to the fuse box... found that the factory harness is literally duct taped together... In one spot there is I bet 12 ground wires duct taped together...
Afterwards it was much much cleaner and better... I used all aviation splices to replace the duct tape...
The radio I gutted it all a since it was all jacked up anyway... now that the dash is in I plan to run all new wires for it including speaker wires to the B pillars so i can have music while being doorless...
My AC and Heat will not be normal anymore... XJ and MJ's default to the defrost setting... well its a MJ so I'm good with that... if u want to sit and play with the vacuum lines and try to splice them to the OEM 97+ switch go ahead but I didn't care enough...
That being said the 97+ is almost identical fitting at the AC joint for the defrost.. just 1 in short... The old one does no good... I left the gap alone... Air will be blowing at a pretty good rate and I don't care if I loose some to the dash or not... it's gonna fill the cab one way or another.... so I left it alone...
The newer dash is air blown molded so that your side vents flow through the actual framing to it... makes it fat back there so around the back radio area and above the column I had to trim a lot away... not gonna use them anyway so what do I care...
This part is the back side of the defrost section... drilled three plastic rivets out to remove some more defrost tube that I can't use now... well actually I didn't try.. goes to the door windows...
I then just started installing it all... holes under the windshield are different so drilled all new and screwed it down...
I put the side pieces back on so I could drill the bottom mounts to the A pillar with it lined up the best... then just installed everything...
Note: steering wheel must get pulled!
Headlight switch I just hooked back up to the 01 switch and everything works fine lol... haven't checked dash lights but...
To get the right passenger side up high enough to screw in under the windshield the very bottom right side of the new dash was catching on the AC box... This is the only metal I had to trim and it was very little...
The glove box door I had to trim so it would shut all the way...
The fan speed switches look like I can use OEM stuff if I splice it all in... heat and AC temps are on a cable which can easily be done and the compressor can get put on on a toggle...
Hardest part will be making a Guage cluster or just going afternarket... The 01 is digital and the 90 is digital except for the speedo... thinking of trying to wire up all the other gages and figure something else out for the speedo... The 90 oem one looks like it may come out in one piece and I can fab something up...
This is where I'm at thus far!
One my donors engine was gone and harness cut up....
Two I had no interest in breaking into the AC and heater core system...
Three I'm doing a V8 swap next year anyways so I didn't not want to mess with a full HO swap...
Here is the mess with I started with when I pulled the original dash out...
Attachment 222363
And my donor as I pulled it apart... it's much easier then the 1990 model by far..
I went through and gutted all the wiring... if I found a plug that was attached to nothing i cut it off... Anything I did not want aka clock wiring, idiot light panel, radio, cab lights... gutted it all all the way to the fuse box... found that the factory harness is literally duct taped together... In one spot there is I bet 12 ground wires duct taped together...
Afterwards it was much much cleaner and better... I used all aviation splices to replace the duct tape...
The radio I gutted it all a since it was all jacked up anyway... now that the dash is in I plan to run all new wires for it including speaker wires to the B pillars so i can have music while being doorless...
My AC and Heat will not be normal anymore... XJ and MJ's default to the defrost setting... well its a MJ so I'm good with that... if u want to sit and play with the vacuum lines and try to splice them to the OEM 97+ switch go ahead but I didn't care enough...
That being said the 97+ is almost identical fitting at the AC joint for the defrost.. just 1 in short... The old one does no good... I left the gap alone... Air will be blowing at a pretty good rate and I don't care if I loose some to the dash or not... it's gonna fill the cab one way or another.... so I left it alone...
The newer dash is air blown molded so that your side vents flow through the actual framing to it... makes it fat back there so around the back radio area and above the column I had to trim a lot away... not gonna use them anyway so what do I care...
This part is the back side of the defrost section... drilled three plastic rivets out to remove some more defrost tube that I can't use now... well actually I didn't try.. goes to the door windows...
I then just started installing it all... holes under the windshield are different so drilled all new and screwed it down...
I put the side pieces back on so I could drill the bottom mounts to the A pillar with it lined up the best... then just installed everything...
Note: steering wheel must get pulled!
Headlight switch I just hooked back up to the 01 switch and everything works fine lol... haven't checked dash lights but...
To get the right passenger side up high enough to screw in under the windshield the very bottom right side of the new dash was catching on the AC box... This is the only metal I had to trim and it was very little...
The glove box door I had to trim so it would shut all the way...
The fan speed switches look like I can use OEM stuff if I splice it all in... heat and AC temps are on a cable which can easily be done and the compressor can get put on on a toggle...
Hardest part will be making a Guage cluster or just going afternarket... The 01 is digital and the 90 is digital except for the speedo... thinking of trying to wire up all the other gages and figure something else out for the speedo... The 90 oem one looks like it may come out in one piece and I can fab something up...
This is where I'm at thus far!
Last edited by huntingman2706217; Dec 4, 2013 at 08:35 PM.
Thread Starter
MJ>XJ
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 17,836
Likes: 7
From: Griffin, G.A.
Year: 1990
Model: Comanche
Engine: 4.0 I6
And yes I kept the factory column... didn't want to rewire all that stuff... fab the firewall to fit it... and all that mess... Bit of a gap around it but not bad... steering wheel will not work on the old column...
CF Veteran
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 4,169
Likes: 6
From: York, PA
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Wow, nice work!! You must have some patience to do this swap, lol. I think the stock steering wheel and column you have looks way better anyways. I wish my '98 had the older style column/wheel.
Thread Starter
MJ>XJ
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 17,836
Likes: 7
From: Griffin, G.A.
Year: 1990
Model: Comanche
Engine: 4.0 I6
The newer one when I tried it is much larger and bulky... felt like it was in my chest since it protrudes toward u further... guess the 97+ is not as long or something...
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