Complete interior swap

So Ike destroyed the inside of my project Cherokee. It is molded over and it wont come off. I tried every cleaning agent I could think of....not that my interior was nice in the first place but now its pretty much unusable. I would like to know what year Cherokee (and anything else) is a almost direct bolt in? I don't mind drilling holes in seat rails but I don't have access to a welder so I cant fab any seat rails or mounting brackets. I am looking to replace the seats front and back (could live with the back if need be) and all the panels..console...basically everything. help me fix what nature chose to mess up. hah






that is after cleaning and cleaning.

eeeww....thats uh pretty bad

just go find a newer cherokee to get some panels off of

I can not see the pics you posted due to damn work filters, but if you have a 96 down XJ you can put the interior out of a 97 up XJ into it without much work, minus the dash. I put a 97 up interior into my 93. The console does not line up 100%, but it worked out great for me b/c my CB mounted perfectly into the space that was a gap to begin with. The plastic interior panels will screw in just the same except for door panels. I put the carpet in as well and I had to fab a simple bracket to bolt the front of the sliders to for the front seats, the rear seats were direct swap as well as the seatbelts all the way around. The 97 up interiors have the adjustable upper seatbelt mounts and there are hole from the factorty that will allow the use of these in a 96 down. I am sure I have forgot something, but all in all it is a pretty straight forward swap. I do remember that the console requires the use of the e-brake handle out of a 97 up if you do the whole conversion, and that is a bit of a bitch to get the 96 down e-brake componetns to work in unison, but it can be done. Unfortunaly I am not able to post pics at this time due to teh damn filters, but hopefully someone will chime in on this as well. I know that BIGSLVRXJ has experience in the total 96 down to 97 up swap including dash.

It's a 1990 XJ by the way. Thanks for the quick replies. I am liking what i am hearing so far. I know there are wrecked newer XJs at pick-a-part all around so I guess I can go that route.

Maybe with a steam cleaner or a detailer?

It's mostly interchangeable although there are a few differences between the years. Pre-95 has the front seat belt tensioners outside at the bottom of the B-pillar while later models having the tensioner inside the B-pillar about halfway up, so the B-pillar trim has to match your year/setup. The door panels and the handle/lock mechanisms changed in 97, although the panels can be interchanged if you take the rods from the donor and drill new holes for the panel clips. The spare tire mount changed in 97 too, so the left rear kick panel is slightly different. Etcetera.

Basically you can make it work, but you may need to mix a few pieces, do some slight modifications, etc.

I forgot to add that the 97 up rear hatch trim panel will not work in 96 down hatches, I found a gray one out of a 96 that was the same color gray as the 97 interior that I had, so it color matched great. I also took a gray dash out of the same 96 and used the gray panels minus the dash pad and it all matched up great as well, and I vinyl dyed the top dash pad black to tie it all up.

FYI when I bought my waggy about 6 yrs ago it looked just like that(exept my int is tan). Believe it or not after all else had failed I tried GLASS CLEANER (arasol) with AMONIA (sp?). It took a couple cans but it took all the crap off. Just spray it on, let it foam up for a few seconds and rub it off with a clean rag. Since then I always keep a can in the shop for quick clean ups. It also does a great job of getting grease off paint without damaging the paint, and it works on carpet as well. Again spray it on, let it foam and rub it up with a clean WHITE rag.(some other rags my bleed their color into your carpet). Good luck and let me know if it works for you.

Gonna make sure you pull the dash and ESPECIALLY the HVAC ducting to clean all that crap out? You do not want to breathe that in...

Any thought of just totalling and starting with a non-submerged vehicle? Be ready to chase electric gremlins on this one for years to come.

Jim www.yuccaman.com

Wasn't under water...window broke and it put a couple inches in the floor boards. Power was out for 2 weeks and couldn't get to getting the water out for close to 3. I have put too much money into it to total it out. hah

I suppose that's better than being totally submerged then, but I'd still clean the crap outta the dash and ducts.

Most 96-and-prior interior pieces will fit or adapt easily, with the biggest exception being the seatbelts as mentioned earlier, and the seatrails from 93-later since the floor changed. However, you should still be able to bolt a later seat to your rails.

Jim www.yuccaman.com

I pressure washed my seat belts.. and it made them look like new..

the biggest problem i had with swapping to '97 door panels in my '95 was the front door panels. the handles and locks a positioned farther forward. yes, you do need the rods and will have to drill new mounting hole clips. biggest issue is that the pre '97 door will need to have a hole cut to accomidate the lock/handle panel. back panels are a direct swap.

Could I do a complete door swap? My right passenger door is busted up and has a giant rust hole.

The hinges and striker are different but otherwise they are the same. Unbolt your old door from the hinges, transplant the striker, and bolt the new door to your old hinges.