New user, new to XJ. A family member left us a 2000 XJ Sport 2-door. I’m sorting through it now, but the first order of business is to pull out the interior, both to look at the floors and to get rid of the dog hair/smell. My plan is to replace the carpets, seats, and headliner, but I’m having a hard time getting clear on what will work. Your help is much appreciated.

Carpet: went to Stock Interiors and others, but it seems most product out there is for 4-door. I called Stock Interiors and they said the same, though some reading around here seems to suggest folks have used them for a 2-door. Any suggestions about where else to look?

Seats: I’d ideally like a match between from and rear. I was looking at Corbeau (Moab or Sport), Bestop, and others, but it seems the only fold-and-tumble rear seats out there are for the Wrangler. Am I missing something, or am I looking at a reupholster job? I wanted to avoid that, but if I can get all new foam (my wife will never sit in it with any hint of dog smell), I guess it’s not the worst option.

Other: what lift kits do you suggest for mixed duty (most on-road, but flexibility is always nice). I don’t think I want to go over 3”.

Thanks for your help.

 

For the seats, I would suggest getting used ones. I added leather seats from a Limited to my Classic and sold off what were basically mint uplevel cloth seats. There are many partouts if you can't find a set on your local craigslist.

 

Check with your locally upholstery shop on the seats. I have WJ seats in my 95 which I love way more than the stockers but the bottom seat cushion is collapsed on the left side from people getting in and out of it. Local upholster shop is going to re foam it for me for 80 bucks.

 

The 2 doors dont have fold and tumble seats like Wranglers do. They just lean forward.
Are they tore up bad?


Unless the carpet is really really bad it can be cleaned with alot of scrubbing, pressure washing, the scrubbing again. A mixture of dish soap, ammonia, purple power, and hot water can work wonders. And you can splash in some febreeze or laundry detergent for some smell good.

 

Thanks for all the replies. The seats are not in terrible condition, though the front has a rip in the bottom bolster and what looks like a burn hole in the seat. It’s mostly the smell that the issue. I guess I’ll look seriously at reupholstering. The carpet will need a lot of love, but maybe is also salvageable.

Any my thoughts on lift kit?

 

Pull the carpet, pressure wash the **** out of it and hang it to dry. Assume it'll take a few days to fully dry out if you soak down the padding on the back.

 

If you can find a really nice set of ZJ Grand Cherokee (1993-1998, or more specifically, 1996-1998) leather seats, you should be able to make them fit... they offer more support and are more comfortable than the thinner Cherokee XJ seats.

 

If the carpet is not in bad shape as far as wear and tear, you would probably be best to clean it. Taking the seats to the upholstery shop would probably be your best bet. They will most likely be able to clean and repair them without much fuss. Also, try letting the car air out.

If you want, you can try contacting a detailer or something like servpro, they may be able to recommend a service that could help with the smell

 

Congrats on the new XJ!! I bought a 98 myself a few months ago and have been tearing it apart and putting it back together all summer. Here's what I did for the interior, which was probably not cleaned since 1998.

Seats: If you're thinking about replacing your seats because they smell or are very dirty, try removing all the covers and throwing them in the wash. I put the covers in the wash one seat at a time and washed them in cold water with non-bleach detergent, then hung them to dry in the guest closet for a couple days. They cleaned up very nicely and smell a hell of a lot better. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics of the seat cover removal process but if you're handy it's a pretty simple job to figure out. You'll need hog rings and I suggest picking up hog ring pliers for the job when you put them back on.



Carpet: As for the carpets, mine were terrible but I found a recipe online for a cleaner and it worked great. I can dig up the ingredients for you if you want, just let me know. Here are a couple pictures I took during the carpet cleaning and after.

 

I'm in the process of installing Iron Rock's 3" Premium lift kit with full leaf packs. Picked up a set of Bilstein 5100 shocks to go with it as well. Can't confirm how it rides yet because I'm still wrestling with the from leaf spring bolts still but it had good reviews online when I was researching lift kits. The front went on smoothly and everything is very well made.

 

Excellent work!! Thanks for posting. For sure I am interested in the cleaner you used. I pressure washed the carpets today and it seemed to help a good deal, but there’s more work to be done. It’s truly amazing how much dog hair was in that vehicle and in how many places; I’m a bit traumatized, I think. There’s a big part of me that wants to get new carpets/seats just to feel fresh. Your recommendation for washing the seat covers is a good one. I can see that it won’t be too difficult to get them apart. I suspect I’ll want new foam because I’m sure the smell is well embedded. In fact, I think I’m going to replace all the sound deadening because I can smell dog in those pieces as well.

Has anyone tried the STP or HushMat products?

 

Thanks for that. I will look into it.

Boy, I’m trying not to fall down the rabbit hole, but I’m not sure how successful I’ll be. I don’t want to over do it, but I don’t like half-baked either.

 

Thanks, took around 3 gallons used liberally to get the carpet as clean as it would get. I poured it on, brushed with a stiff bristle brush, rinsed with a garden hose then repeated a couple times more. Here's the recipe for the cleaner, cost me less than $20 to make 3 gallons and I can still make a lot more, just gotta buy gallons of distilled water. Give it a try on a spot first to make sure it doesn't discolor your carpet.
1 Gallon Distilled Water
6 Tablespoons Glass Cleaner with Ammonia
3 Tablespoons Isopropyl Alcohol, 70%
4 Tablespoons Dawn Dish Washing Soap - Lemon (scent is your preference)
1 Scoop OxiClean Odor Blasters Classic Scent

Lol, I think I would have rather had dog hair than all the people hair and coffee stains I had to get rid of! On the seats, carpet and interior plastics. I couldn't image driving around with all that filth around me. That's why I gutted the interior like you're doing, I needed to start with a clean area that I'll be spending most of my time in. As for the odors and seat foam, try cleaning the carpet and seats first and airing out the foam cushions while everything dries. Between the paint sealing the floors, carpet cleaner and detergent for the seat covers, I don't smell anything besides "clean" now. Hopefully your's turns out the same, let us know.

 

Yeah, I hear ya, I'm the same way. Mine started as a "let me clean things up properly" to a restoration project at this point lol