FJ62 Interior Restoration (1 Viewer)

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It took some work, but I now have the HVAC system totally removed. After removing the system, I completely disassembled the four primary assembly units.

1) Intake blower
2) AC pass-through
3) Air mix/heater
4) Rear blower/heater

The entire system was loaded with so much foam dust and lots and lots of other crap. Unreal!!! I cleaned every component, and removed all the failed foam that still remained. I have a new AC evaporator ordered, and currently shopping for replacement foam. Next, I plan to remove the firewall heat shield with the intention of pulling off the original insulation padding, and replacing it with new better padding.

Now that I know the source of all the foam dust isn't the dash pad like I assumed, I'm going to seal all of the edges of the cap covering the original dash pad, no need to replace or recover it!!!
 
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I think this is one of the most satisfying projects I did on my truck. Every time I turn the fan on I feel good knowing it's not blowing 30+ year old foam dust, mold and who know what else in my face.
Great point! I'm enjoying the process. Now that I have taken it apart, I think I can get it back together twice as easy. Definitely a level 10 Ninja move though, not for the faint of heart. Question..... when applying new foam to the baffles, how closely.... if at all, should I respect the factory cutouts in the foam. There are several and seem very specific in the shape and placement. However, I don't see the need. pic's attached of the factory adhesive after the foam removal.

foam cut out 2.jpg


foam cut out 3.jpg


foam cut out 1.jpg
 
Question..... when applying new foam to the baffles, how closely.... if at all, should I respect the factory cutouts in the foam. There are several and seem very specific in the shape and placement. However, I don't see the need. pic's attached of the factory adhesive after the foam removal.
I followed it exactly. I was very careful to tape everything off before spraying adhesive and cut the foam to match. Some of the tolerances are fairly tight as the flaps open and close depending on where airflow is to be directed. If they bind due to foam in the wrong places it would make for poorly operating controls and bad air flow.

That was my thinking anyway.
 
"Just Dashes" does dash refurbishing. They do good work but are expensive. And you'll be responsible for shipping both ways.
Very much so. I was quoted $1500 for my 62 dash pad a couple years ago, plus two way freight.

$400 got me a brand new OEM part from Partsouq.
 
HVAC system went through a 100% disassembly, completely cleaned, a few small repairs, and most importantly, all new foam inside and out!!!!!!! Ready to be installed after a few more big steps concerning the OEM firewall shield.

side note....after a full disassembly of the HVAC control unit, I discovered that the front facing pops off and learned there is a light behind it. Awesome!! The interior of the light housing was white, but only partially. I brushed on a bit of chrome paint to give it a bit more reflection.

***I used a dry Teflon lubricant from PB Blaster on all the moving hardware components on the control unit.......which worked great. I I also used a touch of the Teflon on the A/C button which was sticking a bit after a cleaning, this also worked great.

HVAC 1.jpeg


HVAC 2.jpeg


HVAC control unit 1.jpeg


HVAC control unit 2.jpeg


HVAC control unit 3.jpeg
 
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I did the dirty work and removed the OEM heat/sound shield in order to clean out ALL the nasty foam dust. There was much more trapped behind the heat shield then I thought was even possible!! I did my best to keep from tearing it up as I hoped to rehab and reinstall. Unfortunately, the rubber facing was easy to tear, and I had to use a razor to cut around the steering column supports. It was originally just 2 pieces......oops. Now that it's out, I can see it's too far gone to be restored then reinstalled without tearing it up more. I'm looking into to other more modern sound and heat barriers. Big job for sure!

firewall 1.jpeg


firewall 4.jpeg


Heat Shield 2.jpeg


firewall 2.jpeg
 
Hi George…beautiful work on your HVAC. I plan to install a new dash pad and instrument bezel next week and wondered about the number of additional hours you took to remove and refurbish your A/C. Can you share more in the removal process?
 
HVAC system went through a 100% disassembly, completely cleaned, a few small repairs, and most importantly, all new foam inside and out!!!!!!! Ready to be installed after a few more big steps concerning the OEM firewall shield.

side note....after a full disassembly of the HVAC control unit, I discovered that the front facing pops off and learned there is a light behind it. Awesome!! The interior of the light housing was white, but only partially. I brushed on a bit of chrome paint to give it a bit more reflection.

***I used a dry Teflon lubricant from PB Blaster on all the moving hardware components on the control unit.......which worked great. I I also used a touch of the Teflon on the A/C button which was sticking a bit after a cleaning, this also worked great.

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I did a very similar AC duct job awhile back, consider using a dark/black foam on the two center duct outlets. I used white/gray foam tape as well and you can see it through the center vents when reassembled. I changed those two to a dark foam tape.
Just a minor FYI.
 
I did a very similar AC duct job awhile back, consider using a dark/black foam on the two center duct outlets. I used white/gray foam tape as well and you can see it through the center vents when reassembled. I changed those two to a dark foam tape.
Just a minor FYI.
I looked for a dark color foam, and will keep an eye out.
 
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any pictures available of the
I think this is one of the most satisfying projects I did on my truck. Every time I turn the fan on I feel good knowing it's not blowing 30+ year old foam dust, mold and who know what else in my face.
Any pics of the new sound / hear shield installed, and of the installation process itself? This is the way I’m leaning.
 
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Any pics of the new sound / hear shield installed, and of the installation process itself? This is the way I’m leaning.
I left my original deadener installed. It was in great shape so I didn't feel the need to remove it. But I'll follow along here to see how things go. Keep up the good work.

Hi George…beautiful work on your HVAC. I plan to install a new dash pad and instrument bezel next week and wondered about the number of additional hours you took to remove and refurbish your A/C. Can you share more in the removal process?
I'm not sure if you meant me, or @LCABOVEALL. But I'll answer with my own experience. Taking off the dash pad and removing the bezel is not that big of a job. But it's a lot of work to get all the HVAC boxes out. I'm not sure if you need to remove the steel portion of the dash or not, though I did in my case as I was changing from a brown interior to grey so I was taking it all out anyway. One of the biggest issues is that you'll need to re&re the heater core, which can open a :worms:. Either way, if you have the time and the truck is not your DD, I highly recommend doing this. As has been mentioned, 30 + years really takes its toll on the soft bits.
 
I left my original deadener installed. It was in great shape so I didn't feel the need to remove it. But I'll follow along here to see how things go. Keep up the good work.


I'm not sure if you meant me, or @LCABOVEALL. But I'll answer with my own experience. Taking off the dash pad and removing the bezel is not that big of a job. But it's a lot of work to get all the HVAC boxes out. I'm not sure if you need to remove the steel portion of the dash or not, though I did in my case as I was changing from a brown interior to grey so I was taking it all out anyway. One of the biggest issues is that you'll need to re&re the heater core, which can open a :worms:. Either way, if you have the time and the truck is not your DD, I highly recommend doing this. As has been mentioned, 30 + years really takes its toll on the soft bits.
Same story on mine. I pulled the metal dash frame, changing it from grey to brown. After taking mine apart in full, I saw there is an intended order for disassembly. Of the three primary under dash components, the unit is the middle should be the first to come out........which is the AC unit. I was only able to recognize this now that I'm planning the install. However, I remember there being some tricky screws to get to on the back of the AC unit that I would have had a hard time seeing without the blower unit taken off first. When I reassemble, I will take some video and post.
 
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After getting the HVAC system out, and the OEM Heat/Sound shield pads removed, I removed all the seats and seat belts and went about cleaning out all the debris and foam dust that had covered everything at this point. After several passes of sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, .......... several rounds, I felt good that I was ready to plan and proceed with reassembly. I was very wrong!! Before I explain, I'll tell you what materials I have ordered to manage heat and sound reduction.

1) KILMAT 80 mil 36 sqft Car Sound Deadening Mat, Butyl Automotive Sound Deadener, Audio Noise Insulation and dampening. I ordered three boxes and intend to apply to the firewall, inside all doors, the entire ceiling, and inside the rear quarter panels.

2) FCHO Car Sound Deadening Roller Metal Installation Tool 3 Pcs Seam Roller with 66 Feet Aluminum Foil Tape Finishing Sealing Tape, for Car Sound Deadening Installation. For application and seam sealing of the Kilmat.

3) Noico RED 150 mil 36 sqft Сar Sound Insulation, Heat and Cool Liner, Self-Adhesive Closed Cell Deadening Material (PE Foam Sound Deadener). This will be applied as a second layer on top of the kilmat.

4) Front to back SOR Molded Carpet set along with their felt under lining.

I don't plan to apply the kilmat to the floor pan and wheel wells.......for the time being. The reason is that the previous owner had the floor pan covered in a spay on truck bed liner. I plan to remove this stuff for a couple reasons, but the big one is that the OEM floor pan sound barriers were not removed before they spayed. The result is the plastic liner has separated and broken away around all the edges of the OEM barriers. Removing this spay on plastic is a very BIG job, and needs to be done in a comprehensive way, which I will do, but this will most likely have to weight until summer if I'm going to get to enjoy driving this rig over the winter. So for the remainder of the year, the under liner and carpet set will do the trick.

stripped interior 1.jpeg


stripped interior 2.jpeg
 
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Why I was very wrong about being ready for start reassembly? I discovered, to my dismay, I did not fully understand all of the underlying factors that led to all the foam failing so significantly and the source of all the other debris.

As I'm thinking about the order of reassembly, I wanted to see just how the the blower intake married up to the firewall. I'm 6'3 so getting my head up under there was tricky but I wedged myself in there and got a good look. SHOCKED!!!! to see a huge problem, that has to have been the first domino to fall leading to this mess in the first place. This is what I saw, and the assumptions I drew.

The air intake under the windshield , I learned, has an expanded metal mesh dome tack welded at the top. Clearly this was intended to keep debris from entering the blower unit. Unfortunately , the openings of the mesh are too big to stop a lot of debris that enter though the hood vents, but small enough to catch leaves, which were pilled and packed in all around the outside of the mesh dome which then behaved as a catch-all for dirt, debris, which totally blocked up the drain behind the air intake. Now that the drainage system is failing in a massive way, water was trapped under the hood vents and forced into the air intake and distributed throughout the ventilation system, for years and years. all the foam seals and baffle coverings was regularly getting wet, then drying and on and on , which led to the foam truing to dust.

Accessing the interior of the hood vents and the mesh dome required removing the wiper motor unit and trying to pick out all the crap that was packed in there. I messed with this for about an hour and not making much progress and decided the mech dome had to go. So I pulled the welds away from the inside and got the sucker pulled down and out. An entire pile of stuff rained down on the my freshly cleaned floor board. I was then able to spay our the rest of the tightly packed dirt and other junk, which opened up the drain and released what has to be decades of dirt and debris build up. I flushed out both sides of the hood vests to make sure both drains were opened up and working as they should.

More to come regarding what I have planned as a solution to keeping this from ever happening again and to best protect my fully refreshed HVAC system....

mesh mess 1.jpeg


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mesh mess 4.jpeg
 
I wouldn't use any butyl rubber mat on the ceiling/roof or under the dash and think carefully about putting it in the doors. This stuff melts and drips when it gets hot (hot here as in parked in a parking lot in 95 degree day or in an unisulated garage). It will lose its adhesion and fall down. Better off with mastic spray adhesive and tradional jute or other felt like insulation for the roof and under the dash.
 
That area in the cowl is notorious for plugging up with debris. There is a thread around detailing how someone used a K&N filter screen that wrapped over the wire mesh. I wonder how that worked out.

I seriously think this type of work is almost mandatory to owning these trucks. Think of all the moisture trapped in there. Mould can make you very sick, and this is literally blowing it in your face.

To take this a step further, there are a bunch of body seams in that area that are very prone to leaking, which shows up as puddles on the floorboards. The crap part is that to access this area to clean and seal it requires removal of the front fender. Not actually that big of a job, but there are a lot of bolts involved. Here's a picture of that area after I primed it getting ready for seam sealer. Do not use silicone here. And there are a ton of threads on this.

IMG_20181012_160646.jpg
 
I'm not sure if you meant me, or @LCABOVEALL. But I'll answer with my own experience. Taking off the dash pad and removing the bezel is not that big of a job. But it's a lot of work to get all the HVAC boxes out. I'm not sure if you need to remove the steel portion of the dash or not, though I did in my case as I was changing from a brown interior to grey so I was taking it all out anyway. One of the biggest issues is that you'll need to re&re the heater core, which can open a :worms:. Either way, if you have the time and the truck is not your DD
Thanks @georgebj60 you've answered my question, but above all thanks to @LCABOVEALL for the detailed summary and pictures as he goes through the effort of redoing his interior. In my case, my car is amazingly our most reliable and my daily driver (our other car is a 2006 Land Rover). I don't drive it all that much actually and now that I'm retired I might have enough time to dig a bit deeper if I see that the foam bits are in bad shape. I'm really pushing to get my FJ in "near new" condition from top to bottom.
 
Thanks @georgebj60 you've answered my question, but above all thanks to @LCABOVEALL for the detailed summary and pictures as he goes through the effort of redoing his interior. In my case, my car is amazingly our most reliable and my daily driver (our other car is a 2006 Land Rover). I don't drive it all that much actually and now that I'm retired I might have enough time to dig a bit deeper if I see that the foam bits are in bad shape. I'm really pushing to get my FJ in "near new" condition from top to bottom.
Happy to
I wouldn't use any butyl rubber mat on the ceiling/roof or under the dash and think carefully about putting it in the doors. This stuff melts and drips when it gets hot (hot here as in parked in a parking lot in 95 degree day or in an uninsulated garage). It will lose its adhesion and fall down. Better off with mastic spray adhesive and traditional jute or other felt like insulation for the roof and under the dash.
G-Man, you're breaking my heart!! Just got all the materials in, and have been planning a weekend's worth of application. But now, I have to do more research. Thanks for the note bro!!!

Everything I have read points to the fact that this type of application is what the product is designed for.......Dynomat being the Name brand name, and KilMat being one of several less expensive alternatives....KilMat being the first runner-up. Based on what you are saying, I was about to make the same type of mistake the previous owner made by rhino lining the floor of the rig.

The OEM heat sounds/heat shields on the fire wall and floor pan, any idea what they are made from? I have read they are asphalt. They are in great shape.


oem HEAT SHIELD 1.jpeg


oem HEAT SHIELD 2.jpeg
 
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That area in the cowl is notorious for plugging up with debris. There is a thread around detailing how someone used a K&N filter screen that wrapped over the wire mesh. I wonder how that worked out.

I seriously think this type of work is almost mandatory to owning these trucks. Think of all the moisture trapped in there. Mould can make you very sick, and this is literally blowing it in your face.

To take this a step further, there are a bunch of body seams in that area that are very prone to leaking, which shows up as puddles on the floorboards. The crap part is that to access this area to clean and seal it requires removal of the front fender. Not actually that big of a job, but there are a lot of bolts involved. Here's a picture of that area after I primed it getting ready for seam sealer. Do not use silicone here. And there are a ton of threads on this.

View attachment 2831398

Thanks for the Thread. You nailed it. I have designed a custom filter that will slip on. But that is only a half measure. The hood vets need to have a mesh backing to keep the big stuff out. Full leaf's should not be getting that far into the system with no way out. The filter over the air intake is the easy part. Getting to the hood vents with a mesh that will stay put is proving to be a puzzle. I am on mark 3 of this vent solution. May need a couple more rounds. The trick being, for them not to be noticeable from the exterior.

Now that I know about these design issues, I plan to check them regularly, and clean them out regularly. Maybe these points are in a maintenance guide somewhere.....but not in the the few I have. If they aren't, they should be.

I do plan to take the body off the the frame as part of the this restoration, as I have already Identified some frame repair that is needed, and have a full suspension replacement planned. When I do this body off work, and the fenders come off, I will address the body seams. This ol'lady isn't cutting me any slack, so I'm sure there will be work to do!

Funny Side note, as I was poking around between the body panels trying to get to the the drains, before I realized the little side vents that screw on and off is the intended access point, I spotted something odd. I was able to fish it out from the inside under the hood. Wedged in-between the fender and the wheel well.......I found the OEM antenna assembly. I have no antenna port on the fender, which I assumed had been filled and painted over like a lot of the LC60's I see. the antenna itself is long gone, but I tested the moter....it works. The rest I should able to restore.....which is cool because the OEM units I see for sale are $$$$$. Pic attached.

part found.jpeg
 

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