dagr8tim's 97 XJ Build Thread

[dagr8tim]

I've already started modding my 97 XJ, and I won't bore you with all the details. Basically I've swapped alot of the interior, and made afew upgrades. You can look over the pics for the interior mods here.

I've also got a set of v8 ZJ coils and an extra set of XJ leaf's to do a home brew lift.


I also scored a set of TJ Flairs.


Now that I finally have a house and a garage, I can start doing some real work. But first I have to get done with the 98 XJ that I'm parting out.

[dagr8tim]

I finally got the chance to do some work on my 97. I needed to fix the steering wheel cruise control buttons, and I wanted to swap some dash trim.


The little bracket that holds the button and bezel assembly on has broken off and the button assembly can be pulled off the steering wheel.


Here's how the factory dash trim looked. I was never a fan of the tan interior, and was less impressed after swapping the seats, carpet, and console.


Here's the new cruise buttons installed. Not only is the one no longer loose, but the replacements are cleaner and the paint isn't as worn down. You can also see the new dash trim.


The dash trim from the other side.

At the end of the day, these mods/repairs were kind of pointless. If not for the fact that I'm getting the replacements from my 98 XJ, I wouldn't have been in a hurry to do the swap. Atleast it sort of ties the gray in the seats/carpet into the harder plastic trim parts.

In the future, I plan on swapping the head liner and upgrading the dome lights. I'm also considering upgrading to power locks & windows.

[dagr8tim]

I started on my tinted glass swap last night & finished up the rear doors today. The pictures are crappy, but you an tell the difference in real life. My 97 had the factory "tinted" glass that may have had a slight blue-ish tint. My 98 had the factory smoked glass. I swapped the rear door glass today. I hope to swap the quarter glass this weekend, and recover the hatch glass for professional installation soon. This is one of those projects that if I didn't have the replacements, I wouldn't have really been searching for the tinted glass to replace it. I can't wait to get the rest replaced.




I had already had the rear glass pulled from my 98. That took about an hour and a half. 1 hour for the first one, and like 20 minutes once I figured out the fastest way to get the glass out. Installation was 2+ hours, mainly due to me trying to install the driver's side glass in the passenger side and not being able to figure out why the glass didn't roll up all the way. Once I realized it was the wrong glass, finishing up the passenger side and doing the driver's side was maybe 45 minutes. Knowing what I know now, I could probably pull the glass from a donor and swap it in less than an hour and a half.

[dagr8tim]

I've been busy for a bit, but here's an update.

Factory Gas Tank Skid Installed

I had ordered a HiCountry set of Xtreme tow hook brackets with D ring brackets, because I had heard great things about them. Personally, I'm not impressed with them. The instructions were worthless. The pictures in the instructions are for a different that the product they are for. The instructions also didn't mention the minor parts you had to remove to install the brackets. They also sent me the wrong hardware pack, so I'm waiting on them to mail me three 7/16th bolts and I had to reuse a bunch of bolts from my XJ's to get the installation done. I also had a heck of a time remounting the steering box. I'm glad it's done.

I discovered that the Rusty's (Rugged Ridge) steering brace I have won't work with the HiCountry brackets. But it looks like I won't need it. The HiCountry brackets seem to do a fine job of acting as a steering brace.

I didn't even get started on the skid plate, but that should be pretty quick/easy. I did get the bumper painted, I just need to paint the bumper corners. I used the same flat black I used for my rims and afew other trim parts.


All torn down and ready for work.


Brackets mocked up.


Bumper Painted


Tow Hook Installed


Front Skid Plate Installed.


All Put back together.


Along the way, I managed to paint some factory steel TJ rims I came across.


I also painted my wiper arms to clean them up.