jbain

Thanks Marine, I retired about 4 years ago and came back home to West Virginia. Good luck at Paris Island.... keep your eyes forward and your mouth shut and you'll do fine. Good luck.

I used to own that White Comanche, it was a basket case so I gave it to my buddy Doug. He Bobbed it added a full cage, aluminum dash and racing seats The drop down tire carrier was added to use up the empty space between the back of the bed and the rear bumper. He's a fab guy (does it for a living) so it's all custom front to back..... he also didn't get to paint before Harlan his is going to be painted Yellow and I've already designed his Mall Rat decals. As for the paint job Marine feel free to make it as similar as you want. In the Navy we had old saying "Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery".

Thanks man..... I've noticed that unless it's a restore or Daily Driver than your rig isn't recieved very well on the Commanche Club.... glad to see a few of us enjoy getting our Jeeps dirty.......

Just wanted to post up a couple pics of our Harlan Trip over the weekend. The MJ did great and I'm glad to say that other than a clicking u-joint I came out without a scratch. Now that I'm done with that it's time to get Ole Chief ready for paint. Here's a pick of me working a small obstacle in a creek bed, the scenery was awesome.... Here's a pic of our group taking a break at the entrance of Mason Jar...... Here I am recovering a Toyota out of Rail Bed after it broke a Burfield.

Thanks 88whitemanche, I'm a sucker for decals...... I was able to wire up the front Elocker, install my CB Radio, install my rock rails, and mount up the new beadlock wheels over the weekend.

My brother just finished stuffing a 4.0 into an 85 2 door..... he just too a couple measurements and since the dash was already out of the project and the donor he just cut out a section of the upper tunnel section with a cutoff wheel and welded into the project Jeep. A little grinding and some paint and it looked as good as the factory without the hammer. In all it took him about a days hard work but he felt it was worth it especially when it came time to replace the crank sensor.

Thanks, I hoped to get it painted before my Harlan Trip next weekend but I ran out of time. The first thing I'll do when I get back is yank the dash and harness and install a 98 Dash. I already have the doors and I've sourced a 2000 Dakota Bench to finish off the inside. Then I'll hang the tailgate and the new hood.... here's a couple pics of my buddy finishing up the primer work (I'm considering painting it Matte black / Matte clear) I've already bought the paint (Candy Apple Red Base Coat Clear Coat) and my buddy just has to mold in the 98 XJ lights into the bed and she'll be ready. Once the paint cures I'll hang a few decals, the top one will go along the bottom and the one below will hang on the sloped part of the Cowl Induction Hood. I'm really excited to get it out of the paint booth........

My bad....I had planned to bumpstop but when I flexed it for the first time I realized the shock bottoms out and keeps my tire from getting into my fenders. In this pic you can see how tall the shock is compared to my tire so for now no I don't scrub at all. I will still end up adding a bumpstop but for now no rubbing on the front or back. Image Not Found

I changed over to 97+ doors and swapped the strikers. I searched but couldn't find alot of info on this but did find a random post that had you use the existing hole. You unscrew the striker and use that for one hole and then drill another. Since I wasn't going to paint till after our Harlan trip I just unbolted the new style striker and screwed my old one back in so I could mount my old doors. I was never really happy with how it looked so when I hang them again I plan to drill the spot rivets out of the old striker plate and tack in the new style one and weld a patch in to cover the hole. Another Option I'm considering is just cutting out an entire section of the door jam and welding it in. So long story short just take the new striker and bolt the top bolt through the existing hole where you unscrewed the old striker. then line things up as best as you can and drill the bottom hole.

Thanks, I'll be heading down to Harlan Ky on the 27th of this month for a long weekend..... can't wait......

Thanks guy's, I've already upgraded to the 97+ shifter and cable before swapping to High Output the first time (originally a column shifter truck) so that part is already complete. I guess I'd better go talk to my buddy with the 98 parts Jeep and find out how much the dash and harness is gonna cost me.

I would like to do a 97+ Dash and harness swap but I've already installed the motor. Has anyone done this conversion without removing the engine? I can remove the engine again but would rather not. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Jeeper, I didn't spin but from the pic you can see the front tire starting to fill up with dirt as it began to loose traction. But with the locker in the back it helped push the front at the same speed as the rear keeping the loss of traction to a minimum.

Thanks whitemanche it's been alot of long hours.

I swapped my doors but decided to stay with a 96 dash and column, however, after reading this post and seeing how you made a template to modify the firewall I will have to rethink my decision.... Nice Build, keep up the good work....

Any chance we could get some closeup shots of those tail lights, maybe a couple with the tailgate down..... I go to paint next month and I would really like to do this modification.

Just wanted to say hello and post up a couple pics of my 88 MJ also know as Chief. I've always wanted an MJ but was stuck in a XJ until this Comanche Chief turned up and I bought it. After about a year I finally have it to where it moves around and last weekend it made it's way into the woods for the first time. It's scheduled for paint next month and the only thing I have left to do is hang the 98 doors, bolt on the cowl induction hood and mount my new front bumper (this one is borrowed). But first I'll put it through it's paces in Harlan KY the end of the the month. The truck sits at about 7.5 inches of lift on 36 inch TSL SX's. I installed an 8.8 with Spartan Locker out back and a Dana 30 with an Elocker up front filled with 4:88 gears. Here are a few "Poser Shots" I took before it's maiden run last weekend. I don't post alot but I've searched and found alot of information here that's made this build much easier so thanks to everyone for that. Image Not Found Image Not Found

I just finished up swapping a 91 Harness and HO into my 88 MJ and I have power everywhere except the rail, the distributor, the fuel pump (hot wired it and it works) and when I cycle the key I get no lights or buzzers. The Engine rolls fine and I know the harness worked in the old Jeep and the Crank Sensor has already been replaced. I Changed the complete engine Harness and Dash from the 91 Donor but I did not change the column because everything plugged in correctly. Any help would be greatly appreciated.