'Da Chief . . . So it Begins again

[cu4whln]

Jeep has been parked in the garage for roughly 2 months now. I had not started the engine.

It was decent out so I started it up. Fired right up! Put it in gear and drove around the block a few times...
No issues, just start, put it in gear and go.
Gotta say, I love the reliability!

So have well over 1000 miles on the Chief now.
Had a few check engine lights on start up last year. Talked with Mitch at Swap time and explained the codes [ He did the wire harness mod and ECU ]. Nothing serious btw.
He says send me the ECU and I'll take care of those, no charge.
Cool!

My body work is on hold as my step mom is ill right now, and I just don't have the time/motivation to go out in the cold to work on the Jeep.
Maybe I need to run that gas line and install the furnace I bought ?? Hmmm

So, doing research for front bucket seats that have a recliner, lumbar, head rests.. and maybe heated seats.
What have all you guys done for a modern updated seats?
Of course, the issue is the pass side with the WIDE tunnel that inhibits seat mounting.

Also researching various dash gages to update as I move to interior work.

That is all .. for now. Stay warm !

[threepiece]

Originally Posted by cu4whln

Uh Oh ! Sorry !



Unfortunately, I think the plan is to fix JUST the rusty areas. The flairs are really good everywhere except the bottoms ....

I recommend you point out to the person doing the work that the truck and Cherokee do not share the same body side shape, particularly near the bottom.

I have seen others try to fit the spot weld locations on the truck flair to the flange of the Cherokee and they don’t fit right. The Cherokee body rolls inboard more than the truck near the bottom where your repair will be. The drilled spot weld holes from the truck will be exposed when the flair is in place on the Cherokee. They will need to be patched up. I suspect this is where some of the false belief originated that the flairs are different.

To elaborate a bit more, be sure when trimming the new flair that extra is left on to accommodate the new body side location.

[cu4whln]

Originally Posted by threepiece

I recommend you point out to the person doing the work that the truck and Cherokee do not share the same body side shape, particularly near the bottom.

I have seen others try to fit the spot weld locations on the truck flair to the flange of the Cherokee and they don’t fit right. The Cherokee body rolls inboard more than the truck near the bottom where your repair will be. The drilled spot weld holes from the truck will be exposed when the flair is in place on the Cherokee. They will need to be patched up. I suspect this is where some of the false belief originated that the flairs are different.

To elaborate a bit more, be sure when trimming the new flair that extra is left on to accommodate the new body side location.

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Got it Dan.. Thanks.. Hey, IF you want to part with a donor wide track flair text me and I'll run over...

I did leave extra on the trim from the truck part.. Filling in a spot weld will be no issue.
I have noticed the profile is less aggressive on the truck flair. ie - the lower profile seems to be "flatter" on the truck parts?
The bed they came from was an older one btw.

PS - I am still interested in the power seats if you can get to them now. Text me and I'll come over again...

[cu4whln]

In Today's News . . .

It's been a cold crapola winter. This has kept me out of the garage as my furnace has yet to be hooked up.

Also, my step mom has been fighting a serious health issue and we have been trying to help as best we can... However, the Jeep is never far out of my mind.

I did remove the engine ECU and send it back to SwapTime.
Mitch did his magic to removed any lingering fault code issues.. and it worked!
No latent faults on every start now.. very cool. { Well, to me anyway .. I'm a dork for details }.

In other news...
My buddy Mark did some photoshop work for me..
This is a great way to see things BEFORE you spend 12 to 13k on a paint job...

Like last time, I am combining a few details from different years...
What do you guys think? Like the color ? Basically Hugger orange.
Probably starting serious paint work late fall, but planning is always critical to me.

A few things of note:
Putting original chrome wheels on, and it will have the "Billboard" Cherokee Chief on the rear tailgate.
The "southwest" pattern will be modified to not wrap around the back of the Jeep.
The black around the windows will be a bit lower like the stock black out treatment.

[IMG][/IMG]


When it gets warmer, I am gutting the interior, fixing any issues on the floor pan, then clean it all up, then POR it.
Part of this exercise will be getting some modern, adjustable seats mounted so we have some comfort on our 5,000 mile RT 66 trip.
I know roof needs to be cleaned up. Not sure what to do on the headliner yet - cardboard crapola, or get a shop to custom build one.
I will add sound deadener to doors, floor and roof.

Slow progress .. I am not happy it's taking me so long, BUT.. moving forward.

Yes, I am impatient and want this done !

[bigwalton]

That looks killer. I am partial to the slots but this is going to look insane.

[FleetFox]

Can you email that pic to the guys running Fiat/Jeep please???

Fleet Fox

[rang-a-stang]

Your ideas are fantastic! It looks gorgeous!

I really like the black stripe along the bottom, up on the flares, front to back. It's like an homage the original chief stripe but more subtle. I notice chrome around your front door window frames; are you going to add that? Mine (like yours currently are) are blacked out. Is the black around the windows and the lower stripe going to be a satin or gloss? I only ask because factory was stain but yours looks gloss in your early pictures.

[cu4whln]

Originally Posted by rang-a-stang

Your ideas are fantastic! It looks gorgeous!

I really like the black stripe along the bottom, up on the flares, front to back. It's like an homage the original chief stripe but more subtle. I notice chrome around your front door window frames; are you going to add that? Mine (like yours currently are) are blacked out. Is the black around the windows and the lower stripe going to be a satin or gloss? I only ask because factory was stain but yours looks gloss in your early pictures.

Lower black paint is much better than the original decals. I can flow the paint line from the body to the flair seamlessly.

Black out treatments - Most likely will be gloss. Why? It is so hard to clean/wax satin paint... Need to discuss with painter.

Chrome on windows.. I will most likely leave them black like they are now. The picture he used was not my actual Jeep...