Interior

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On first inspection, I found that the Chief needed new window weatherstripping, the driverside vent window latch was broken, the interior was destroyed by heavy smoke and moisture exposure, one of the rear panel windows was broken, and the headliner had fallen. A closer look into the interior revealed that the dash pad was intact and crack free, but the metal dash was mangled at the glove box catch and the cardboard box was destroyed. Loose wires were hanging from below the instrument panel, and the radio was nonoperative. The steering column was loose at the tilt knuckle, but otherwise worked - even without an ignition key!  Both the inside and side rearview mirrors were rusting and loose. The front seats were trashed and leaned backwards at crazy angles. The door panels were partially assembled -  probably because the door lock posts had broken and the doors would automatically lock whenever they were shut...a very common FSJ thing, the owner probably had to partially disassemble the doors to get to the lock mechanism.  In contrast, the rear seat appeared to be in rather good condition!

The steering column was removed, and replaced with a column from a cruise control-equipped Wagoneer of the same vintage. I added a new OEM cruise-control/turn signal stalk, in hopes that later I will be able to retrofit the Chief with OEM cruise control. The column was repainted with Satin black Rustoleum (it takes a long time to dry, but it has a bulletproof finish when it does dry!). I replaced the ignition switch (not the key switch)  and transferred the original key switch into the new column. 

The doorlatch problem is a common FSJ thing, and is well written up in the tech pages of www.ifsja.org . I went to the juckyard a scavenged two functional door lock assemblies. This problem is due to wear and breakage of a small hair-spring that keeps the latch from dropping. A simple swap and problem solved.

The moldy front seats and center armrest were removed and stored - perhaps for a day when I may want to have them reupholstered and reinstalled. The rear seat was in reasonable condition, and was removed for cleaning and repainting of the black vinyl with spray dye. The cardboard backing of the side interior panels were in fair condition, and the panels were removed for cleaning and repainting. The carpeting was a moldy musty loss, and was entirely removed. I discovered that there was an extensive subfloor underneath the rear seat and cargo area composed of foam backed particle board that was rotting. All of this was removed, as was the covering for the inside of the tailgate, and the subfloor pieces and metal trim were saved.

Following removal of the panels, all the accessible interior surfaces of the fender wells and rocker panels were sprayed with a thick coat of Eastwood restoration-quality rubberized undercoating. I drilled a couple of small drainage holes in the fender flares and fenderwells just in case water found its way inside.

I wanted a durable "hose out" interior that could take the rigors of offroading and still protect the sheetmetal from corrosion. I wanted to coat the floor with polyurethane liner and  chose Herculiner ($99 from PepBoys) over the more common spray-on types simply because of price.  I had seen other Jeeps and truck beds covered with this stuff, and they all seemed to wear well.  But first I had to remove all traces of the old foam backing, and scuff the painted surfaces with a wire wheel grinder. There was some surface corrosion on the footwells that I ground down. Finally, the interior was handwashed with soap and water and allowed to dry before the corroded footwell surfaces were coated with Corroless rust treatment.

Be sure to follow the directions in the Herculiner kit to the T! Cover any bolthead that you ever want to have a chance to remove later, and fill all bolt holes with a bolt. I removed the access covers to the tranny, fuel sender unit, and rear tailgate hinges and Herculined them separately. Tape off any edges that you want to protect, and wipe the entire interior off with xylene before starting. Herculiner is a thick black solution with bits of tire or asphalt that has to be suspended with vigorous mixing. WEAR GLOVES and be very careful about where you drip the stuff!!! (I accidentally had one drop fall onto the new paintjob, and the xylene removed not only the drop, but also the top layer of paint!).  The kit comes with a roller than really makes the work easy, and a small paint brush for corners and gaps. Be sure to dab, not paint the stuff on. 

I covered all the holes that were drilled into the floor (to gain access to the body bolt nuts) with fiberglass cloth which was then covered with Herculiner. After letting the first coat dry for an hour I added a second coat. Before this layer set I cut some 1/2" PVC irrigation pipe into short lengths that will function as electrical conduit for future accessory wiring, and laid them down in strategic locations alongside the tranny hump and rear footwells. These were then covered with fiberglass cloth and sealed in place with more Herculiner. Be sure to remove the masking tape quickly after the second coat is applied - or it too will be sealed forever! I was able to complete the job with a gallon and a quart of Herculiner. 

I bought a set of early Cherokee Chief side windows off Ebay, and replaced the broken driverside window. I found out that even though the body style didn't change much during the 10-odd years that Chiefs were made, there was enough variability such that the replacement weather stripping didn't quite sit as flat as the original piece.

Finally the rear seat and seatbelt hardware was all reinstalled. I had to scrounge a replacement driverside buckle to replace the broken latch of the original one. Without the subfloor and carpeting, the safety belts hung rather loosely on their floormounts.

For front seats, I used a pair of old YJ Wrangler (TJ or CJ seats will fit too)  seats and sliders that were a clean bolt-in to the original pedestals. These seats are not as wide as the original ones, but they're much more comfortable and leave quite a bit of room on either side. There is a problem with these seats: the original units incorporated a fold-forward seatback into each chair, and their low-back design made ingress and egress from the back seat very easy. With the highbacked YJ seats only the driverside chair had a fold-forward chairback - the passengerside chair had a tilt-and-fold mechanism that was incorporated into its pedestal. The newer TJ's both have a fold-forward and recliner mechanism built into both seats. I bought a pair of OEM seats off a 2000 TJ that I will swap in later.

For a center console I used a 10" wide Tuffy Stereo Security Console (for a CJ) that was a perfect fit between the seats. I had to trip one of the attachment brackets slightly to maintain the correct height and tilt of the console.

The remnants of the cardboard glovebox were removed, as was the radio, ashtray, and panel for the optional LCD clock. The ashtray faceplate was modified to fit as a backing plate for the B&M tranny temp gauge, and the clockface was just the right size for the Edelbrock air/fuel mixture meter. I had planned for the radio to be installed in the center console, so the original radio faceplate was removed and a black aluminum switch panel was installed in its place.

I drilled hole in the floor immediately behind the rear seat and installed steel u-bolts for use as child seat anchors for my three kids. Additional eyebolts were placed in the corners of the rear cargo compartment for securing objects while offroading.

Later plans are to replace the dash with a custom aluminum unit from Z&M, and filled with Autometer gauges, and to repair the headliner and install new overhead lighting.