A-V

Small update to this topic. I've been driving the Comanche all thru the freezing winter, rainy spring and then on to summer. No problems whatsoever and I've been REALLY satisfied on how the 2.5i engine has performed, all from hauling wood to rabble and all sorts of furniture/etc. I did take the time to continue the pre-paint work of smoothening the bumps around the truckbed. Took about 2 days and there's still more stuff to do, but getting there. After the hammering+bondoing+etc work I re-primered it and it may go into a paintbooth late this summer for a entirely new look... ;) Here's a few pics. PS. I even sold the Patriot, so this is my only daily-driver nowadays.

plain gasoline out of the pump? 8.06 USD / US Gallon (that's 1.45 EUR / liter). So stop whining about US gasoline prices :banana:

Neither did I, and you might guess the trouble I had routing the wires to the doors since I was missing a rubber boot between the doors and the body... so I stole a set of boots from a chevy stw.. ;) didn't quite fit but almost so...

Installed a stereosystem to the truck. 5.25 MDS mid+tweeter setup in front Alpine MP3/CD player in dash Alpine power-amp behind driver MDS 10" subwoofer in a closed box behind passenger +tons of wires.. ;) (will get them sorted out to look 'cleaner' soon) Costs in total were around 300USD. I am guessing some of you already know the challenges of installing a decent stereosystem into a Comanche without ruining the practicality of the truck. Took me a while to make the subwoofer box from scratch to the specs I decided on, it's 26.5liters and the 10" sub was rated at needing a 25liter box so the sound is excellent out of it. ;) Here's a few install shots. No speakers option updated... ;) Original door panels had holes and all, I all needed was to make a hole in the fabric and staple the extra on the back of the board. This is how the door looked before the 'doh!' when I closed it for the first time (see above pics for the change I needed...). btw, I installed newer and more 'luxurious' hand rests.. was giving me a headache before taking the door apart on how to attach the top part.. and look what I found under the plastics.. (i used to have the smaller type handrest without the upper handle)... Also decided on a color for the J e e p decal in the back... I don't think people will mistake me for a Toyota Hilux from the rear anymore... (they do know it's a Jeep from the front already...) Text looks a bit blurry, but that's due to JPG compression.. it's well done in real life. :brows:

Looks VERY good! Clean and rustfree. There aren't many like that left...

That's a good looking driver mate, with a bit of TLC that'll be good as new.. :) Looks like the metal is all there and the sides are straight - which is more than I could say about my Comanche when I started... ;)

lookin' sharp!

Nice to see another '86 Custom in the build :) Keep up the great work! Although I'd save that bench seat, they will be very rare in the near future (no XJ's had them and most MJ owners are getting rid of them..). I found one in Europe and just had to have it (my Custom had buckets originally) becouse I need room for my dog (and wife).. :brows: ps. that's one very cool interior color on the panels/dash. Have not seen another one with the same...

Sounds like a reasonable plan indeed... I'll propably go ahead with increasing air-flow (intake/exhaust) to maximize what the current renix system can do... Already removed the air con and have been thinking about ditching that mechanical fan too, your comment only strenghtens that idea. Thanks mate.

Progress. Fixed the exhaust leak, which was suprisingly easy with a few welds to strenghten the old welds in the catalysator. I'm guessing it's not working that well anymore, so it might be a good idea to replace it anyhow in the near future. Also I found a full gage cluster from a 2.1 turbo diesel XJ, which I got for next to nothing along with front springs which i'll most likely cut to be the lowering springs for the front. Back will be lowered by replacing the U-bolts with longer ones and adding a small block of metal between the springs and the rear axle. I was looking at other ways to do this too (like redoing the leaf spring hangers in the rear and/or redoing the leaf springs themselves), but realized this is propably the best way to go. These mods should lower the truck some 4-5 inches. Not really sure when I get the time to get them done, but good planning if half of the job anyhow :D Oh yeh, to the point, does that diesel '87 full gage cluster with revmeter and others work on my '86 2.5L gasoline version? I do understand that it will be different, but just curious on if it will work at all (it's in the mail, haven't tried yet). btw, I noticed when accelerating hard with this truck that I can smoke the tires on first gear, then accelerate and when swapping to 2nd gear the tires spin again (on the move, amazing)... I might have underestimated the potential in this 2.5L which has gotten me into thinking about turbos... Anyone turboed the AMC 2.5L ?

Lots of good links, but none seem to be a direct fit for me. I've got a 1986 MJ with a 2.5L renix injection. Which one of these injectors might work with it...? Any ideas?

On my MJ I carry a spare belt for the alternator/waterpump, a good pair of vice grips (Knipex Cobra), about a dozen zip-ties, some electric tape, 2 screwdrivers and that's it. On my Hornet I have the same, although with an added spare tire/jack/X-key for the wheelbolts. Although on my MJ I do have a new alternator, new waterpump, etc so less stress about those. I used to carry around a box *or two* of spares for my AMC Hornet, but I seemed always to break something that I DIDN'T have with me however much of gear was in the trunk - so at one time I just left everything at home. Haven't regretted it and saves me in fuel (less weight).

Nice setup mate! ...Even though I really dislike the infinity grille on those speakers (if it were mine it would be black already..heh). Now that my truck is a daily driver I've been thinking of installing a stereo system in it. It's a '86 Custom model (meaning the very base) and I'm 100% sure that it has never had a stereosystem in it, quite funny if you think about it with 105k miles on the truck... I'd gone mad without music on my trips. It doesn't even have holes or grilles anywhere (except for the dash-knee speaker spots). I've been thinking of installing a cerwin vega 12" subwoofer behind the bench and infinity reference series (they're about 8 years old) 5.25 in the front with hi-tweakers on top of the dash. Possibly some USB capable MP3 player in the dash and my trusty 4x120W Autostudio amp under the bench seat. Only thing I've been worried about is the box for the subwoofer, since the truck has VERY limited space behind the bench seat and that CV! 12" wants a big box, so it's possible that I'll just get one of those newer type subwoofers which need a much smaller box to operate with efficiency... How big is your box for the subwoofer and what kinda gear is the amp+sub? How's the sound quality / bass pressure..?

funny thing, sealed beams are illegal in Europe (at least in Northern Europe) and almost all cars have H4's. the set linked above looks to be a typical headlight setup in any European XJ/MJ. Have a similar one on my MJ and had it also on my previous XJs.

truck looks good mate. On the engine "gunk" buildup issue, if there's buildup inside the engine I found out that the only way to do something about it was to remove all lower freezeplugs (the big ones on the sides) and use a round wirebrush and/or screwdrivers to remove all that you can find. Those engine cooling flushes usually just clean up the places where the gunk is loose. One of my engines had more than an inch (up to 2 in places) of gunk that had gathered on the bottom of the cooling 'canals' around the cylinders. Removed that and after new freeze plugs noticed an instant change in the cooling. The gunk was almost like fine sand, composed mostly of rust and it was blockin fluid circulation around the cylinders. This is what happens when people run the engine cooling with just water and/or never change their coolant fluid.