Thanks! Wish that bumper was closer. Up through ’96 would fit but given the difficulty & cost of shipping I think I will have to go with what I have. The seat material is different for a '96 but I don't recall exactly how different. '91 to '93 uses the same luggage cloth on the Laredo version. Some configurations other than Laredo used different material. He only has the front seats available? Shipping the entire seat is not an option but the seat skins are removable. The front skins more difficult to remove than the rear skins. The front seat shape looks the same as for my ’92 but I would have to research compatibility.

 

Just the front seats are available.He still has his rear seat installed even though it's not really usable safely with his Corbeau 4point harness.
iI installed his stock front bumper brackets and towhooks on my 90.
74Plb

 

With little progress this past summer other than finally getting the rear bumper off I should be making progress as the nice outdoor weather soon comes to an end and I begin on fall/winter projects. I should have the bumper, rear end caps and all fender flares back from painting next week. I need to water test the roof rack mounting and rear hatch areas before completely reassembling the interior.

 

Hello my name is Attila I'm new to the most all of this. The internet the forums and working on my own Jeep. Having quite limited funds I would love to find where my best deals would be any help would help. Thank you

 

Best deals depends on what you are looking for and what your objectives are, and my approach to upgrades will be different than that of some others. I personally avoid upgrades that are just for cosmetic "looks". Also be cautious on parts hyped as providing a performance improvement - they seldom are effective. I also prefer keeping my Jeeps more stock over heavy mods and try not to make any changes that cannot be easily undone in the future, such as cutting sheet metal. Do detailed Google internet research before deciding on a part or a repair technique. There is a lot of poor, incomplete or incorrect info out there.

Salvage yards can be a good source for some parts. Before I go I know what I am looking for and what the new part price is. Some U pick salvage yards have fixed prices where others do not. Unless it is something that is not available new I never pay more that half of what the new part price is. Even at the fixed price yards I can sometimes get a better deal by asking or pointing out the part I found is a lot different that what they are using for pricing. Sometimes I will print out what the new part going price is and use that as a bargaining point.

When working on project one of my key objectives is to do more good than harm. Think through what your doing first and consider could go wrong. Always consider safety first.

 

I picked up a new battery yesterday. Based on the date code sticker on the old one it was probably from 2014 and it could not have been more dead with a voltage reading of 1.6 volts. I did a lot of research to see if I could find a bigger capacity battery than the group 58 size that was OE for the earlier year Cherokees. The battery tray is approximately 10.25" long and 7.25" wide. A battery taller than about 7" hits the upper radiator hose. Up to just less than 8" tall may allow the OE hold down bolts and clamp to be used and there should not be a risk of the battery hitting the hood. The specs for a group 58 size battery are 10 1/16" L x 7 3/16" W x 6 15/16" tall. That is a relatively small battery and there are few others are even close. Some people have used a group 34 which is longer and about 1" taller than the group 58.

I went with the group 58 and am glad I did. It just clears the radiator hose and has practically no extra room across the width of the battery tray. For those looking to fit something other than a group 58 i suggest taking a tape measure with you and measure the actual battery you are looking at. Dimensions do vary some with various manufactures/brands.

 

Past due for an update. Progress over the last year certainly was slow but I have made some headway over the past few months. All fender flares and the rear bumper and bumper ends have been professionally repainted in original dark silver, paint code KS7. The front bumper and end caps were in decent condition so those were not repainted. I put on a new Curt p/n 13084 hitch. The biggest issue was with the rear bumper installation. The hitch must go on before the bumper to be able to get the bolts into the unibody frame channels and hold them in place while tightening the nuts. The earlier XJ’s do not have factory installed nut plates for the hitch as later models do. Once the hitch is on the 8 bolts that hold the bumper brackets to the body are extremely difficult to access if you have the brackets installed to the bumper. I installed the brackets to the body first, then the bumper to the brackets. The difficulty is having enough room to tighten the upper bracket to bumper bolt that must be positioned high within the bend or channel of the bracket. Once you are lucky enough to get the bolt started into the bumper nut clip you can only swing a wrench a few degrees at a time. What a pain. I would like to know how the factory put these on. Once I finally got everything on and tightened I realized that the bumper was not level to the body. There was not enough adjustment available to get it right so it all came back off again to open up the holes on one bracket to allow for more correction. That stalled me for a while until my son gave me some encouragement and help to get everything back together again.

I used new flare retainer brackets from Crown when installing the fender flares. That is the way to go. The kit comes with all the fasteners needed for flares and fender liners. Aftermarket inner fender liners all seem to have complaints regarding fit so I purchased a Chrysler OE front left inner fender liner (p/n 55027153) that fit perfectly. The right side inner fender liner is no longer available from Chrysler but I found a good one from a ’93 at a salvage yard. Front fender liners after ’96 are different.

The front bumper and new tow hooks have been installed.



New OE left front inner fender liner


Repainted rear fender flare

 

The photo below is a metal tag from the area of the lower left front fender. It is held on by the screw that attaches the lower portion of the fender to the brace that goes between the fender and lower radiator support. It appears to have been attached prior to factory body painting and then folded out of the way when the bumper and fender flare were installed. It is typically hidden by the bumper and bumper end cap. I am curious how it was used during production and what info the punches on the tag provide. Anyone know?


Body tag


Location of tag

 

That is a great restoration you're taking on..!!! That XJ looks like it's turning into a show piece !!! Keep digging!!!!!!!

 

I took these photos several weeks ago. I got it out of the garage and cleaned up for the first time in too long. There is still work to do including some interior reassembly. I can proceed with that now that I have done a water test and am satisfied I have no leaks from the roof rack or hatch hinges. I have yet to find a correct year and color rear seat base in great condition. Tan interiors are definitely less common. I may end up having to have one reconstructed from parts I have accumulated.