Damien Ristaino

New member. I have done extensive searches one this. I have the JK manuals.. as detailed as I can find anyway. Google and yo tube searches and through various forums. I have a RHD 2009 wrangler I'm in the middle of converting it to LHD. I do know mostly what I'm in for this. On the inside I'm down to the dash reinforcement panel has anyone been that far into their dash for any reason? The driver side won't budge at all. I can't seem to find any more bolts holding it on, The pedals are free and the steering column is completely out. I can't continue with this project until i can get this part out because it requires a new new one to do the conversion.

Mr.T

Pic might help, don't know what reinforcement you're referencing. Haven't had the dash that far apart, but here's a thought: Cut it off with a saw, then figure it out after more is disassembled. Maybe welding will be required???

Damien Ristaino

It's part number 7. That's the part that everything is mounted to then it is mounted to the body. I just figured it out though. After all the obvious bolts are out, the steer wheel and column removed, brake pedal disconnected, there are 4 studs holding the mounting plate for the brake booster those studs are also screws holding in the dash reinforcement.
No welding required. The cowl that has to be replaced is welded to a couple other parts but the new LHD cowl, the pieces it is welded to, and the cover can be had from a junk yard and bolt in. At least that's my educated guess from the parts manual.

I really wished I taken some progress photos and taken notes so I can do a write up. Even if someone isn't doing a drive side swap a lot of the procedures are useful to know.

Mr.T

Right on! Take those pics on re-assembly, this sound like an excellent write up!

Damien Ristaino

Yup. I'll start taking pics and notes from here on out.

Andyaka

I need to replace both heater and AC since the heater has a anti freeze smell when the heater is on and the AC has a very slow leak....takes about a year to loose freon. I really do not want to do this myself but I may have too since I do not trust a shop unless I know they have done many of these. My track record with general shops is that they are not specialist in this kind of work. Any suggestions on how to find a good place who should have experience with these Jeeps? welderreview.com

DBluesmi

Yes the recirc door housing can be removed without removing the dash (from on top of the blower housing) by taking out the 4 phillips screws (2 rear ones are near impossible to get to but it can be done with a stubby screwdriver and patience/sore arms). The housing itself can be twisted out but is really not meant to come out that way and may be hard to get back in. The rightmost rear screw may be too difficult to get back in but you may not need it. It's a PITA and requires some reaching, swearing and micro-turns of the stubby phillips screwdriver (once you are lucky enough to get it into the screw head slot). but it can be done. I will probably caulk the screws in the holes prior to reinstalling so they are in place when I try to screw them back in. Getting the housing back in may be a challenge as it took some twisting and force (yes a heard a crack) to get it out over the cabin filter holder. The stupidest design ever created IMO. Jeep engineers are just bad IMO. Good luck.

BTW - the white accordion looking recirc door is not sold by itself and Jeep wants $350-$450 for a new blower housing. I broke my recirc door stubs (which it pivots on) trying to pry it out of the housing (STUPID but it was broken and I was not thinking - it not a flexible plastic like the glovebox plastic is) and had to be creative with some locktite plastic bonder (great stuff), fashioning a thin aluminum backer/support for the stub and some screws through the metal into the recirc door plastic + JB Weld plastic epoxy to repair the broken stub. I also had a cracked stub on the actuator side and had to use epoxy and zip ties (on inside of recirc door) to reinforce the shaft so it would not flex/pry apart when motor was activated. What a total pain. I loved my Jeep and did so much customization to it - BUT- am sick of all the little nagging fixes (2X replaced the EGR which almost gets you checked into the looney bin - if you have had to do this, you know what I mean). I'm selling this damn Jeep while I have it working and all cleaned up with no CEL's. Bummer because I'm sort of emotionally attached to the damn thing after all the fixes and upgrades I've done but the issues are never ending and it's just too much hassle considering it's 13 years old. Goodbye Wrangler :-( it was nice knowing you but I may be looking at a Tacoma or 4Runner next. That being said, all cars are created by the devil and suck to no end.