Super8 stopped by with his family and brought some seats! (We also had some good times talking Jeep and drinking some good beers. )
One set of seats was his old ones, the other set was purchased a while back and he was holding them for me. Out of the 4 seats, only one was salvageable. I can’t believe how flimsy the frames are! But- yesterday I called on a Facebook ad, and ended up with a set of 86 ‘7 seats. The pass seat looks like no one has ever sat in it, although the frame is separated at the front corner. The drivers seat is pretty worn but the frame is solid! And the rear seat is great too. They came with a pair of fold-and-tumble bases.
View attachment 83808View attachment 83809One of the seats Super8 brought down. I thought it might be garnet but it looks more like chocolate! Date says 1981, but I’ve never seen this color before
View attachment 83810View attachment 83811View attachment 83812These are my Facebook score. If I can find another OEM cover to match, I’ll run them that way. I would prefer that. If I can’t find another cover, I’ll carefully remove this one and get a set of the EBay leather Laredo covers. Hopefully if I go that way I can sell the perfect cover to make up some of the costs.
Next on the agenda- I welded in stiffeners between the front shackle plates. I also welded up the slots in the front spring plates and drilled more precise holes.
My 4 bolt box arrived this afternoon, and to my relief it was actually a 4 bolt casting.
It came from back East and the pitting on the front retainer is awful. But, it doesn’t show and as long as it works... I filed the fluid fitting bosses smooth and installed the banjo fittings.
View attachment 83814I bolted the box up to the MORE 1” forward mount, and bolted the assembly into the frame. It’s nice not to have to cut the frame to clear the lines.
View attachment 83815Last on today’s list- the sway bar. Added some JKS quick release links while I was at it. Thanks CJ7pilot! I also found a Prothane poly kit for the sway bar in my stash. Then- beer ‘30!
I got addicted to the printable heat shrink tubing for labels when making up wires where I add my own connectors. Wiped out a cartridge of it when I did the power distribution block under the dash
It’s an 8” booster from A-Team. Looks the same as most of the others out there, and aside from the adjustable pedal link everything fits well. The pedal link has a stacking of tolerances around the pins and the hole on the pedal end. This leaves me with excessive free play and a rattling pedal. I’m thinking that reaming the holes and using nylon bushings will fix that.
Next was the steering column. This is my XJ column. I am using a J20 steering box, and it turns out that a YJ intermediate shaft will mate them both together like they were born that way. I was interested in the seat clearance with my stock seats. So in it all went- and I’m pleasantly surprised. The Stock seats fit and feel great, there’s plenty of room with the column installed, and the intermediate shaft clears the power steering pump with room to spare! Of course, I forgot to take a picture up top of the column in place 
I also finalized the shifter install. Nutserts for the brackets in the floor of the tub, and the trans cover I built was plenty thick to tap. A grommet from a factory Ford cable completed the install. 
Finally, I wanted to see the clearances between the Vintage Air unit and the dash and gauges. The A/C bolted right up, and I put a couple of guide rods covered in tape and slid the dash on. Success! Everything clears, plenty of room behind the SpeedHut gauges, and the dash looks sweet! 
Well, now Im all caught up. It’s about time for some plumbing and wiring!
