'Rusty'

first off, sorry for the un-original name, it's what my wife dubbed my truck upon seeing it the first time. i figure i've been lurking long enough on the projects to start posting. so here's what i'm working with:

1990 MJ long bed.

4.0L auto 2wd, which i bought on here.

came with new alternator, battery cables, rear brakes & lines, brake master cylinder, front calipers, and rotors and pads ready to slap on.

Note the 87 Cherokee in the background...

and the parts truck:

1989 Jeep Cherokee

4.0l Jasper reman engine with 60k miles on it

aw4 Chrysler reman with 61k miles

np231

d30 & d35 w/3.55's

it will be a 4wd by the time i'm done. remeber the 87 in the background a little ways up? it came with a d44. currently, the d35 from the parts jeep is under it, and the 44 is going under the comanche eventually.

so far, i've:

-replaced water pump

-installed fuel tank & bed (not installed when i bought it)

-swaped semi-full gauge cluster in (no tach)

-swaped the front axle and installed a budget boost from the parts truck to level it out. also installed RE adjustable trac bar and have a rusty's tie rod ready to install

-modified and installed 16x7 aluminum rims from a 2002 ranger fx4 with 245/70r16 pathfinders

-got an over-the-rail tool box for $1

other mods to come:

-install d44 from the 87, engine/tranny/t-case from 89

-bucket seats from 89

-stereo system from 87 (pioneer cd player, 5.25" front spearks, 6x9" rears)

-cb

-rear slider window (already have)

-either replace the bed & repair rust, or make a flat bed eventually

-repair minor rot on driver's floor and along rockers

-paint to match

aside from the bed and the rust repair, i already have everything i need (except time :teehee: )

total cost so far:

$150 for truck,

$75 to get home and running

$400 for parts jeep

-$400 for stuff i've sold off the parts jeep so far (plenty more left :cheers: )

$0 for tires/rims (traded some parts and my old wheels as rollers)

$1 for toolbox

$25 for rear driveshaft and slider window

$50 misc hardware and brake rotor for front

=$301 so far :banana:, plus time to do the work

the name fit the truck

the bed makes it look worse than it is. that bed came off a truck that had a salt spreader on it, but only 56,000 miles IIRC. oh, and it has a factory bed liner in it.

yeah, i'm amused by the fact that someone WANTED to put that bed on it. not amused, amazed.

the guy i bought it from took the bed from this and put it on his other truck, and i just needed something to strap the fuel tank to and get it driving, it replaced my nissan after an accident. the inside of the bed is still fairly solid, except one spot on the driver side.

Holy rusted metal batman! :eek:

You might want to get that off the truck before it spreads. :redX:

J/K :D Nice parts vehicle though and nice job on the expenses.

:cheers:

I thought I was pretty bad off with the floor boards and rockers on my 87!

Good luck, sounds like you got a good game plan figured out.!

If you have problems finding bed panels to patch that one with, there is a JY in Cadillac that has three SWB trucks. None of the beds are perfect but they would be better than trying to work with the rust that you have. Just an FYI if thats the route you planned to go. Best of luck, Brent

If you have problems finding bed panels to patch that one with, there is a JY in Cadillac that has three SWB trucks. None of the beds are perfect but they would be better than trying to work with the rust that you have. Just an FYI if thats the route you planned to go. Best of luck, Brent

yea but he's got a longbed and he'd need the entire panel, not just small sections of it (btw, a shortbed one will fill in most of the longbed one, but it will effectively move the gas filler door and cap)

there's also a local yard that had 3 mj's, including a long bed but he didn't want to part the bed because i think it just needed brakes? it was an 86 if i recall, and this was awhile ago. i could probably get sway with the side panels, if i can come up with some good ones. the inside only hwas one area with holes in it, and with the sides off i could clean up the metal between the outside panel and the bed side. i'm also talking with mike in indiana (he's on here) about getting a long bed from him, bu theres always the $$$$$ factor. where is the extra length on the long bed, in front of or behind the wheel wells, or both?

there's also a local yard that had 3 mj's, including a long bed but he didn't want to part the bed because i think it just needed brakes? it was an 86 if i recall, and this was awhile ago. i could probably get sway with the side penals, if i can come up with some good ones. the inside only hwas one area with holes in it, and with the sides off i could clean up the metal between the outside panel and the bed side. i'm also talking with mike in indiana (he's on here) about getting a long bed from him, bu theres always the $$$$$ factor. where is the extra length on the long bed, in front of or behind the wheel wells, or both?

extra length is both front and back. of the wheel well

I'd builda flat deck. Or loggers box.

How about a new thread with some details of your flatbed... Truck I'm looking at has rusty bedside issues...

I'd builda flat deck. Or loggers box.

How about a new thread with some details of your flatbed... Truck I'm looking at has rusty bedside issues...

 

I'd builda flat deck. Or loggers box.

See here. http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopi ... ht=flatbed

I never really explained a lot about it, and there's a lot of things I'd do differently to do it again. If you want to chat about it, feel free to bring that old thread back to the top.

a few up to date pics. you can see the rims off a ford ranger i picked up, and note the slight height boost and tool box. the driver fender has some damage from a tire blow out, but is still usable, especially once i trim it. how's that for a rusty bed?

what bed? where are the rockers...are they hiding? :P

what year rims are those ranger rims? backspacing and width?

2002 ranger fx4 package, not sure the backspacking, 7" wide as i recall. i had to clearnce the inside around the hub because the hub is a little larger on our trucks than the ranger.

those wheels are nice

My Dad and I just picked up another Comanche yesterday. Its a Longbed. He is going to strip it of its driveline components to put in his Willy's Pickup as he builds it up over the next few years. The MJ is toast. Both fenders are junk, the cab has been smashed in by the roof which also smashed in the top of the drivers door. Floors are rusted out of it and rockers/cab corners and tailgate are MIA. The only good panels on it are the passengers door and the header panel. I'm gonna strip this puppy clean before I watch it go to the crusher ( what we saved it from) of anything that I could possibly use, but I have no need for the bed on it and neither does my Dad.

The bed has big rust holes in it along the drivers side but the passengers side is not too bad. The passenger side has a big dent in the panel. The hoops in the front of the bed have been pulled on by something really bad and it pulled up the inner boxsides with it. BUT the floor has no holes in it and I think it might be something worth working with. I can get pics if ya want.

IDK if you are interested in the bed off of this or not. The truck is a perfect donor for a "cheromanche" cause the back of the cab is good and the rear portion of the bed is savable. (If nothing else I'll torch the back off of the bed and the back of the cab off so I can possibly sell them to someone wanting to do the conversion and save another MJ from getting cut up in the future.) It just really makes me want to help when I look at the bed you have on yours and know all the work that you have ahead of ya. This one isnt much either but it is better than the salt spreader one ya got in my opinion. We arent far, just an hours drive up 131. Let me know what you think.

Dad says $25 would take the bed if you come and help pull it.

I've also toyed with the idea of making a trailer out of it for mine :brows:

if you can get some pics of it, i might consider it. dfreeman616@gmail.com , and i'm also interested in the console if you have one.

Bed pics are in the "Manche parts" post, let me know what you think.

well i picked up that bed from brent ($500 mj)...not much to look at, but it's a lot better than what i have, and i can take my time to prep it before swaping the bed over :cheers:

still have a rotted out tailgate, but i got an extra exhaust pipe, trailer hitch, and rear speakers with brackets while i was there.

i think panama has a tailgate on ebay

unless it's 10 bucks or less to my doorstop, it's more than i can do right now. my wife and i are going on vacation in two weeks up to canada's algonquin provincial park, so we've pretty much exhausted our expendable money for now...but thanks for the info.

not much happening lately, but it should be getting something in the flavor of a factory d44 soon...