'95 Sahara, 1st YJ

I wanted to install a CHMSL since mine came without one to improve visibility for the fine folks driving behind me and maybe reduce the odds of being rear-ended.

I ordered the parts from Deadjeep and probably overpaid. First they lost my order so it was about 6 weeks later that I received it.

It had mild superficial rust and the electrical contacts were corroded a bit. The bolts holding the top plastic lens to the metal bracket were completely fused by rust.

I prepped and painted the plastic and metal with SEM Trim Black, replaced the rusted hardware and cleaned the contacts.


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But my main problem was that it did not come with terminals or grommets to put into the tailgate bracket.

I found overpriced Omix grommets on Quadratec, but couldn’t find replacement terminals. I found a thread on the TJ forum where a guy made his own out of furniture bolts and a redneck lathe, so I followed suit.

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Nice. It’s a bit different bolt pattern, but I like to use the TJ 3rd brake lamp because it’s that plastic housing. Would be bolt on if using combined with the TJ tailgate carrier which is bolt on if using one from 97-02.

The YJ lamps are notorious for rust and they aren’t as bright despite having 2 bulbs. But if you got it cleaned up nicely then you should be good. Regardless, nice work.

I was able to find some terminals a few years back, that’s a shame if they are no more.
 
I removed about 0.4mm of diameter to fit into the female wire connector with the little sanding drum, and used a cutting wheel to make the narrow part near the end.

These posts are aluminum so I won’t have rust in the future.

I traced and cut a gasket out of some spare gasket material to cushion the metal on the spare tire carrier as well.

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Nice. It’s a bit different bolt pattern, but I like to use the TJ 3rd brake lamp because it’s that plastic housing. Would be bolt on if using combined with the TJ tailgate carrier which is bolt on if using one from 97-02.

The YJ lamps are notorious for rust and they aren’t as bright despite having 2 bulbs. But if you got it cleaned up nicely then you should be good. Regardless, nice work.

I was able to find some terminals a few years back, that’s a shame if they are no more.
I used a mild polishing compound on the red lens, and it seems fairly bright with both bulbs in place.

Not a dramatic mod, but it makes me feel better in traffic, and it’s legal.
 
I used a mild polishing compound on the red lens, and it seems fairly bright with both bulbs in place.

Not a dramatic mod, but it makes me feel better in traffic, and it’s legal.
Yeah it’s not bad, I just did some comparisons (I have both on the shelf) and determined I thought the TJ was a bit brighter. But I also wanted to use a led bulb and the YJ wouldn’t fit the bulb I wanted, so not an exact fair comparison.

I’m definitely with you, 3rd brake light is a good idea. I really notice the difference when a car has its 3rd out. That’s the one that usually catches the attention.
 
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Not much happening to the YJ recently; just driving and enjoying it. I do need to pull the dash and get the heat/vent system in working condition, but I haven’t decided whether to install A/C so that’s on hold.

I did have a seat belt lock up permanently, so I got a set of 4 replacements from Seat Belt Planet. Took about 3 weeks to arrive and they look nice.

I’m not a fan of the ‘84 Buick-look to the buckle buttons, but oh well.

I got dark green to match the Sahara look.

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boy is that a" good looking wrangler" it will take a pile of money to make all the changes, good luck and safe driving.
 
The green belts are a nice touch. I replaced my fronts with tan belts as thought they looked better than the factory black. I removed the back seat but I keep thinking about ordering new rear belts in case I just want to toss the back seat back in.

Looking good.
 
I’ve tackled the heater/vent rehab. I found some nice photos of the location and number of studs attaching the assembly to the firewall (apparently there are 4).

My flexible defroster duct is disintegrating; hopefully there’s a simple replacement for that.

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My main problem is that the bracket anchoring the blend door broke off the housing. Any ideas on the a good way to reattach? Maybe small bolts/nuts?

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The coolant coming out of the heeater core is pretty rusty. I just flushed the whole system last year. Can the heater core be rusting internally or am I just seeing rust from the block?

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Last year after I got the Jeep i used 50/50 green Prestone / distilled water. The old coolant was rusty brown, so I should probably just flush it again and replace the fluid.