Jake's XJ build.
- Thread starter Jakeleverett
- Start date
JakeC
Member
I redid my headliner, and have a decent little write up of it on the JeepForum on my very SLOOOOOOW build thread. Mine's also a ZJ, but it should be relatively the same. I used DAP Weldwood Contact Cement and I used a paint brush to brush it on, though it has started to sag again and I'll probably need to re-do it. I believe I may have pulled it a little too tight during the drying process, causing it to pull apart. I've heard better results with 3M spray adhesive.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f197/jakes-1997-zj-limited-build-thread-1359678/
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f197/jakes-1997-zj-limited-build-thread-1359678/
Jakeleverett
Adventurer
@Coyote 6, thats a good option, I was thinking about getting some "fun" fabric while keeping it tasteful. It is very easy to go redneck with camouflage but a fabric store down the street from where I work has some nice "3 color desert" camo that the military uses and I think is tan enough and fairly subtle to not be too noticeable or tacky. That or I may go with something totally crazy like a zebra print or something like what Meekerfam posted.
@88Xj, I couldn't think of a better place to put it and since my sunglasses holders are useless as well it is the best option!
I haven't looked too far into it but I know there is one similar to mine that I saw on amazon right after I realized that they didn't all come with weather channels(and that the one that I had bought didn't have them) I think that I just amazon searched, "compact cb radio with weather channels" or something like that.
Haha and I bet your female will definitely be happy when you get rid of it from her space!
@smokestack, yeah this is the best height/tire size for my uses and budget. I bet yours looks pretty good without being too nuts! And is still very useable while looking good.
@Meekerfam, thank you for posting that, that is pretty much exactly what I may end up doing! I am really liking the crazy red fabric you chose! It really looks good on yours with the grey interior and red exterior paint. Nicely done for sure!
@JakeC, thank you for posting that as well, that also looks pretty good! There is very little that 3M doesn't do extremely well!
@88Xj, I couldn't think of a better place to put it and since my sunglasses holders are useless as well it is the best option!
I haven't looked too far into it but I know there is one similar to mine that I saw on amazon right after I realized that they didn't all come with weather channels(and that the one that I had bought didn't have them) I think that I just amazon searched, "compact cb radio with weather channels" or something like that.
Haha and I bet your female will definitely be happy when you get rid of it from her space!
@smokestack, yeah this is the best height/tire size for my uses and budget. I bet yours looks pretty good without being too nuts! And is still very useable while looking good.
@Meekerfam, thank you for posting that, that is pretty much exactly what I may end up doing! I am really liking the crazy red fabric you chose! It really looks good on yours with the grey interior and red exterior paint. Nicely done for sure!
@JakeC, thank you for posting that as well, that also looks pretty good! There is very little that 3M doesn't do extremely well!
Jakeleverett
Adventurer
@Tmacphee, Thank you very much! I am pretty happy with them as well.
They are treadrite "BFG"s at 31x75r15 i believe, I am extremely happy with them!
The only thing that I am less than happy with is the center console's cup holders...
The only thing that really fits in them is an iphone, which is perfectly fine... until I have a water bottle or my girlfriend has coffee or tea or something.
So I am looking for something that will better suit us.
I am thinking about trying to mount a couple bicycle water bottle holders on the side of the center console or down by our feet in front of the door jams.
Or possibly even taking one of those little cup holders that retract out of a BMW or Range Rover. I have seen some cool cup holders in them.
Has anyone else solved the XJ cup holder dilemma!?
Pictures!?
They are treadrite "BFG"s at 31x75r15 i believe, I am extremely happy with them!
The only thing that I am less than happy with is the center console's cup holders...
The only thing that really fits in them is an iphone, which is perfectly fine... until I have a water bottle or my girlfriend has coffee or tea or something.
So I am looking for something that will better suit us.
I am thinking about trying to mount a couple bicycle water bottle holders on the side of the center console or down by our feet in front of the door jams.
Or possibly even taking one of those little cup holders that retract out of a BMW or Range Rover. I have seen some cool cup holders in them.
Has anyone else solved the XJ cup holder dilemma!?
Pictures!?
I've retrofitted slide-out cup holders from various generations of 4runners into half-din spots below the radio on a few of my own cars. Never into my Xj, but there's no reason it couldn't be done. Check old camrys too. I don't have pictures, but an afternoon at the junkyard will explain everything. Nice build btw, very inspirational.
Jakeleverett
Adventurer
@Mon_ster, toyotas may be easier to find and cheaper at the yards, thank you for the other vehicle possibilities for those cupholders!
Now that I think about it, rather than having those single cupholders, my parent's newer model f150 has some nice slide out cupholders, they are quite a bit larger but could possibly work
Now that I think about it, rather than having those single cupholders, my parent's newer model f150 has some nice slide out cupholders, they are quite a bit larger but could possibly work
Jakeleverett
Adventurer
A Small update... I tore into my interior to start measuring for the rear storage system.
While doing this I also stretched out my ceiling fabric and used this fabric/finishing tape stuff to tack it back in place, which seems to have worked well so far.
I put most of the interior back together because I couldn't handle the constant vibrating and rattling, it is amazing how much of a difference that the insulation of the chincy little headliner makes.
I also have seen somewhere that someone hung a shelf up in the ceiling. I have always thought that the ceiling was a fairly unused place in a Jeep or vehicle in general.
I cut the rear portion of the headliner off in order to gain an extra few inches that I could store rain gear, emergency stuff, blankets, emergency food, cold weather stuff, etc.
Basically lighter things that I need easy access to but want out of the way. I think this will be a good location for these type things.
I will try to get some pictures of this up soon.
While doing this I also stretched out my ceiling fabric and used this fabric/finishing tape stuff to tack it back in place, which seems to have worked well so far.
I put most of the interior back together because I couldn't handle the constant vibrating and rattling, it is amazing how much of a difference that the insulation of the chincy little headliner makes.
I also have seen somewhere that someone hung a shelf up in the ceiling. I have always thought that the ceiling was a fairly unused place in a Jeep or vehicle in general.
I cut the rear portion of the headliner off in order to gain an extra few inches that I could store rain gear, emergency stuff, blankets, emergency food, cold weather stuff, etc.
Basically lighter things that I need easy access to but want out of the way. I think this will be a good location for these type things.
I will try to get some pictures of this up soon.
Jakeleverett
Adventurer
So another ExPo member reminded me that I never posted anything about my girlfriend's birthday Yosemite trip.
I will be doing a more in depth report on it but here is a teaser for now...
Driving into Yosemite Valley:
Ride to Mirror Lake:
Glacier Point right before sunset:
I will be doing a more in depth report on it but here is a teaser for now...
Driving into Yosemite Valley:
Ride to Mirror Lake:
Glacier Point right before sunset:
Jakeleverett
Adventurer
@88Xj, It is well worth the drive, if you go, spend at least a week exploring the valley.
It is more civilized... If you are looking for something a little more rugged though, check out the upper yosemite wilderness via the John Muir Trail.
However, if your female is anything like mine then the valley will be more desired haha.
Glacier Point would be a pretty amazing place for the big question!
Let us all know how it goes when you end up doing it wherever it is!
@96XJ11C, Thank you, I really appreciate that, but I still have a LOOOOOOOOONG way to go!
It has only just begun for me!
I want to get out more often, I grew up in Boy Scouts and with a high adventure club where we would try to get out into the wilderness once a month at least!
So going camping/off roading only a few times a year is driving me nuts!
@Everyone, I am supposed to be working on a 10-15 page Business Law term paper so obviously I am distracting myself on here... Sooooo...
Get ready for my latest Yosemite experience!
It will be coming in installments so be prepared for lots of text and pictures!
There was so much to do and see that I am having trouble remembering it all.
After this trip, my girlfriend and I decided that we will be getting a journal and write in it daily while on our trips/vacations.
This will hopefully help refresh some of the memories!
Here we go!...
It is more civilized... If you are looking for something a little more rugged though, check out the upper yosemite wilderness via the John Muir Trail.
However, if your female is anything like mine then the valley will be more desired haha.
Glacier Point would be a pretty amazing place for the big question!
Let us all know how it goes when you end up doing it wherever it is!
@96XJ11C, Thank you, I really appreciate that, but I still have a LOOOOOOOOONG way to go!
It has only just begun for me!
I want to get out more often, I grew up in Boy Scouts and with a high adventure club where we would try to get out into the wilderness once a month at least!
So going camping/off roading only a few times a year is driving me nuts!
@Everyone, I am supposed to be working on a 10-15 page Business Law term paper so obviously I am distracting myself on here... Sooooo...
Get ready for my latest Yosemite experience!
It will be coming in installments so be prepared for lots of text and pictures!
There was so much to do and see that I am having trouble remembering it all.
After this trip, my girlfriend and I decided that we will be getting a journal and write in it daily while on our trips/vacations.
This will hopefully help refresh some of the memories!
Here we go!...
Jakeleverett
Adventurer
Yosemite.
It has that kind of name that intrigues, but only scratches the surface of how amazing it is to see the valley and almost everything that occurs in the area to be honest.
You are literally in awe every time you visit Yosemite. There are very few other places that really have the ability to cause your jaw to immediately drop.
It is literally like the first time you see the movie Avatar. Every time you enter that tunnel and the excitement starts to build... Then you start to see the expressions of all the people in the car in front of you. You can literally see the expressions on their faces in the mirrors and see as they all lean forward to try and see more of what is coming.
And then you come out of the tunnel and see it for yourself. Shivers are sent up your spine and the hair on your neck and arms stand up. And it happens, every single time, jaws drop and everyone says in unison, "wow."
It isn't even the type of wow that you say in excitement, "WOW!"
It is completely calm and serene as you start to realize what you are witnessing. The music stops, the roar of the car in the tunnel stops, your mouth opens in awe and you both say, "wow." Just, "wow."
...And then you realize that as everyone in front of you is going through the same thing and realizing that everyone in front of them is doing the same thing, everyone slams on the brakes trying to avoid a 50 car pile up! This has yet to happen to me but I have seen two people get rear ended in the three times that I have been to Yosemite so be careful!
SO, this trip was a present to my girlfriend for her birthday. She had been to Yosemite once when she was younger, but didn't remember much and I had been there once with my family(I think during the summer leading into high school) doing the usual touristy stuff and a second time with some friends(Summer leading into junior year of high school). This time for a 87 mile backpacking trip over 10 days. It was intended to be entirely in the Upper yosemite wilderness as one of the guys that was with us had some good friends who were able to get us waaaay up into the closed sections of the few valleys north of the Yosemite Valley. It was an amazing trip and we only saw one other human being that wasn't part of our group(a ranger who was scouting the area for emergency trail availability). We unfortunately had to head into the valley after only 7 days because one of our group members got hurt. We still had fun messing around in the valley and in the river though so it wasn't a bust.
Anyways... We planned to leave at 10pm the night before but we actually left at about 1am(women). The thinking behind this was that there would be less traffic and less heat to deal with which ended up being an awesome idea! This is most likely the route that we will be going in the future.
This gives you an idea of about how far away it is:
Let me tell you, it was a BRUTAL drive, at ~6.5 hours, the longest drive that I had ever done before this was ~2 hours away to Big Bear.
I normally am a passenger for longer trips like this. I had no idea what I had gotten into!
This was the majority of the drive:
Except darker!
Here is what I saw when the sun finally came up, a whole lot of nothing:
This drive was perfect at night because there is literally nothing to see. Except more NOTHING!
I was so excited when I saw this sign, I literally yelled and woke my girlfriend up.
This is the scenery before you head up into the mountains which is pretty serene yet somewhat grim at the same time. It was a relaxing bit of the drive.
Once into the mountains there was this cool little town that was having a farmers market and antiques show which we of course had to stop for.
We got some fruits and veggies, as well as a flag for my window, a gorgeous black and white drawing of the valley on a canvas and this cool little watering pot. My girlfriend decided that she/we were going to start collecting watering pots while on this trip? It was her birthday so I didn't complain too much.
So we finally pulled into our residence for the week, The Tenaya Lodge. It was definitely the place to stay and where we will be staying every time we got to Yosemite in the future.
I would have been fine camping, but that would not have flown for my girlfriend's birthday.
I know that because she literally told me, "We had better not be camping on or anywhere near my birthday." She was quite serious when saying this.
I am very glad that we stayed in a hotel because we definitely packed a lot into the week and it was nice to be able to jump into the jacuzzi, take a shower, eat a nice dinner, and get into a big warm, clean bed!
The lodge had multiple restaurants including one nicer restaurant that we ate at for her birthday dinner.
I am normally not a salmon person. I take that back, I am NEVER a salmon person.
I was forced to eat salmon at this restaurant and I have to say, it was absolutely delicious!
**This is unfinished for now... Photobucket is being lame so thats all for now folks...**
It has that kind of name that intrigues, but only scratches the surface of how amazing it is to see the valley and almost everything that occurs in the area to be honest.
You are literally in awe every time you visit Yosemite. There are very few other places that really have the ability to cause your jaw to immediately drop.
It is literally like the first time you see the movie Avatar. Every time you enter that tunnel and the excitement starts to build... Then you start to see the expressions of all the people in the car in front of you. You can literally see the expressions on their faces in the mirrors and see as they all lean forward to try and see more of what is coming.
And then you come out of the tunnel and see it for yourself. Shivers are sent up your spine and the hair on your neck and arms stand up. And it happens, every single time, jaws drop and everyone says in unison, "wow."
It isn't even the type of wow that you say in excitement, "WOW!"
It is completely calm and serene as you start to realize what you are witnessing. The music stops, the roar of the car in the tunnel stops, your mouth opens in awe and you both say, "wow." Just, "wow."
...And then you realize that as everyone in front of you is going through the same thing and realizing that everyone in front of them is doing the same thing, everyone slams on the brakes trying to avoid a 50 car pile up! This has yet to happen to me but I have seen two people get rear ended in the three times that I have been to Yosemite so be careful!
SO, this trip was a present to my girlfriend for her birthday. She had been to Yosemite once when she was younger, but didn't remember much and I had been there once with my family(I think during the summer leading into high school) doing the usual touristy stuff and a second time with some friends(Summer leading into junior year of high school). This time for a 87 mile backpacking trip over 10 days. It was intended to be entirely in the Upper yosemite wilderness as one of the guys that was with us had some good friends who were able to get us waaaay up into the closed sections of the few valleys north of the Yosemite Valley. It was an amazing trip and we only saw one other human being that wasn't part of our group(a ranger who was scouting the area for emergency trail availability). We unfortunately had to head into the valley after only 7 days because one of our group members got hurt. We still had fun messing around in the valley and in the river though so it wasn't a bust.
Anyways... We planned to leave at 10pm the night before but we actually left at about 1am(women). The thinking behind this was that there would be less traffic and less heat to deal with which ended up being an awesome idea! This is most likely the route that we will be going in the future.
This gives you an idea of about how far away it is:
Let me tell you, it was a BRUTAL drive, at ~6.5 hours, the longest drive that I had ever done before this was ~2 hours away to Big Bear.
I normally am a passenger for longer trips like this. I had no idea what I had gotten into!
This was the majority of the drive:
Except darker!
Here is what I saw when the sun finally came up, a whole lot of nothing:
This drive was perfect at night because there is literally nothing to see. Except more NOTHING!
I was so excited when I saw this sign, I literally yelled and woke my girlfriend up.
This is the scenery before you head up into the mountains which is pretty serene yet somewhat grim at the same time. It was a relaxing bit of the drive.
Once into the mountains there was this cool little town that was having a farmers market and antiques show which we of course had to stop for.
We got some fruits and veggies, as well as a flag for my window, a gorgeous black and white drawing of the valley on a canvas and this cool little watering pot. My girlfriend decided that she/we were going to start collecting watering pots while on this trip? It was her birthday so I didn't complain too much.
So we finally pulled into our residence for the week, The Tenaya Lodge. It was definitely the place to stay and where we will be staying every time we got to Yosemite in the future.
I would have been fine camping, but that would not have flown for my girlfriend's birthday.
I know that because she literally told me, "We had better not be camping on or anywhere near my birthday." She was quite serious when saying this.
I am very glad that we stayed in a hotel because we definitely packed a lot into the week and it was nice to be able to jump into the jacuzzi, take a shower, eat a nice dinner, and get into a big warm, clean bed!
The lodge had multiple restaurants including one nicer restaurant that we ate at for her birthday dinner.
I am normally not a salmon person. I take that back, I am NEVER a salmon person.
I was forced to eat salmon at this restaurant and I have to say, it was absolutely delicious!
**This is unfinished for now... Photobucket is being lame so thats all for now folks...**
jeepdreamer
Expedition Leader
Now imagine how the settlers felt doing that "drive" in a slow covered wagon! 