coheed

So I got off work this morning and decided instead of going to bed I'd fiddle with the truck for a bit. I wanted to see what I could do with the kinked frame section where the bumper mounts. Before pic: After using a bench vise, recovery hook, and a 4 foot pipe: Not perfect, but it's straight enough to mount a bumper to. Also I cleaned the Hella 500's inside and out. Before: After: And bonus picture of Dribbles hanging out in the bed. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be picking up a set of 31x10.5's and a factory grill guard from a member here.

Since AutoZone was having a 20% off everything on orders over $100, I ordered a whole bunch of stuff for the Comanche. All new brakes front and rear with hardware, new front and rear shocks, steering damper, trans filter, plugs and wires, carb rebuild kit and a rear main with a few gaskets. Hopefully I'll actually start working on it soon instead of just collecting parts to work on it.

Personally I like the machined finish, doesn't seem too flashy to me. Now if they were chrome or polished they would be too loud for the truck. Machined aluminum has just the right amount of "flash" for me. But if you're not sold on it, how about getting the centers powered coated black and leave the lips machined? Edit: By the way, I think this build is awesome. I've always wanted a "mini truck" style Comanche. There's a guy local to me that has one that has 4" blocks on the rear, and matching lowering in the front (not sure how he accomplished this), and it looks so cool.

Maiden checking in. Though the Comanche is far from running.

So I got the 98+ door seals on about a week ago, and it has been raining for 2 days here. And the door seals seem to be doing a pretty good job of keeping the rain out. The vent windows are still leaking because I haven't gotten those seals in yet, but the floors are just moist instead of having standing water in them. I'm almost positive these aren't my only leak spots, but they are the most obvious, so once I get them remedied I'll start tracking down any others. Also I'm getting all the money from parting out my last project soon (damn Paypal wait periods). So I'll be ordering quite a few parts soon.

1986, Comanche XLS. 2.8 / 904 / NP228 / D30 / D35 / LWB Build date: Unsure, sticker is illegible Location: Maiden, NC Status: Awaiting "Restoration" Notes: Charcoal Metallic, Tan interior, Buckets w/ full console, had all factory chrome trim but some will be going away.

Was driving the shop truck (F-150) at my last job back from a 3 hour road call. The rear end had been whining for a while, but nobody bothered to fix it. Coming down I-77 at about 75mph and hear a loud pop, then a horrible grinding noise. Immediately throw the hazards on and start pulling to the shoulder. As soon as the rear tires hit the grass the rear froze up and I spun into the ditch. Hop out to assess the damage and the whole rear end is smoking. Call my boss and tell him it's locked up and he says "Give it about 30 minutes and see if it'll drive". :fs1: Well of course waiting didn't do anything so then I had to wait another 3 hours for the wrecker to come pick me up of the side of the highway. So now a 3 hour road call is 7 1/2 hours. Get the truck back to the shop, and as we are unloading the truck, the right rear main leaf decides it a good time to snap in half. The worst part is, I was only 2 miles from the shop when she locked up.

#3 A truck that clean is a rare find.

Made a little bit more progress. Slapped the dash and associated parts back together. Then I stripped interior pieces and pulled my carpet up to see the damage to the floor pans. A lot better than I was expecting, should be a simple wire wheel/ POR-15 fix. Although I'm disappointed both my A-pillar pieces broke. I also found this super sketch B-pillar fix. Since I am sub-par at body work this will have to get fixed when it eventually goes in for paint (whenever that'll be). Also managed to grab some FSM's off ebay for $60 shipped. . :MJ 1: .

So I went junkyard hopping today and ended up spending around $230 but I got a lot of stuff I wanted/needed. I wasn't going to go the the third and last yard, but it was on the way home so I figured why not. And lo and behold there was a Comanche waiting for me. Ended up getting: Non-broken header panel Non-broken wiper cowl Extra set of cab vents Set of vent visors Set of vent window seals (I know it'll probably still leak, but these are a sight better than the ones on the truck) Park-brake release cable and handle Extra black gauge surround 98+ door seals V8 ZJ front coils A nice set of Hella 500 fog lights And a decent condition tailgate. All in all I spent a little more than I was planning to, but I got a lot more than I thought I was going to. And had I bought an engine as planned I probably wouldn't have gotten any of this other stuff. None of the Camaros or Firebirds had 3.4s worth spending time and effort to get out of the cars, so I'll have to keep looking for an engine.

Thanks for the welcome guys. Planning on taking a trip Saturday to a Pull-A-Part that has 4 Camaros that have the 3.4 so hopefully one of them is salvageable. They also have a 90 XJ so I'll see if I can steal any parts off it. Will the header panel from the XJ fit my truck? I know they switched styles around then but I don't know if it was in 90 or after.

'86 XLS, 4X4, LWB long bed, 2.8 V6, A904/NP228 The story of this Comanche starts when I was 8 or 9 years. My grandfather was a lawyer, and he was defending a guy in court (not sure who or what for). Well the man didn't have the money to pay him in full, and offered this '86 Comanche XLS as partial payment. Being the generous man he was my grandfather said sure. Even though my grandfather made generous money, he never put in importance on the vehicle he drove. Most were $500-600 junkers that would break (a Chrysler New Yorker he had caught fire one day, and when the fire department arrived he told them "just let it burn, it'll be fun to watch") and he'd just buy another one. And by no means was this a nice truck; overheated frequently, went through starters about every 8-9 months (to my memory), smelled horrible, and on many occasions left my grandfather and I stranded on a back road in the middle of nowhere. But to me at the time, this truck was the epitome of cool. From the 80's graphics, to the exhaust that was way to loud, I loved this truck trough and through. My grandfather and I drove this truck anywhere and everywhere. If we had 20 mins or a few days, we would sneak off in the truck (because my grandmother HATED that he owned it) and just drive. Fast forward a few years to when I was almost 15, I would soon be getting a license and wanted this truck with a passion. He told me it could be my first vehicle. Well the 2.8 was about on its last leg, and with only 113XXX on the clock. But before we could fix up the truck together his health deteriorated very quickly, and at the age of 76 my grandfather passed away. It wasn't specifically willed to me, but everyone in the family wanted me to have it. But having no mechanical experience I couldn't really do anything with it, so it sat. Now, 9 years after he passed away, I've decided it's time to roll her out and get to work. This is where she's been sitting for the last 9 years. You can see the pile of trash I pulled out of the bed. Nice and moldy. Well this morning I pulled her out of the corner of the yard, and using a little scotch-brite and dawn I scrubbed the crap out of it. The paint wasn't quite as bad as I had thought it was. Most of the clear coat is gone, but it's mostly rust free. Inside of the bed looks damn good for having a massive amount of leaves and trash laying in it for years. Dent in the back of the cab. Front end damage. Frame is almost spotless. At some point in its life someone gave it an undercoating job. Engine bay is a wreck. Interior is also a wreck. Only cracks in the dash though. Previous rats nest in the glovebox. Standing water in the floor from washing it. Definitely need to figure out where the leaks are, but more than likely all the seals for the cab need to be replaced. This means I'll probably be replacing floor pans. This is going to be a long, slow build. But I have the tools and most of the knowledge from my time as a diesel mechanic. The plan is for a semi-resto. I don't care if it's ever is showroom condition but I want it to be nice. This will not be a wheeler, it'll be a weekend cruiser, with a bit of mild off roading thrown in. Plans include, but are not limited to: Get title finally put in my name Rebuild the 2.8 or swap in a 3.4 Decided I'm going to throw $100 worth of gaskets and a rear main seal and drive it til it dies, meanwhile looking for a newer model 2.8 or a 3.4. Also going to delete as much vacuum crap as possible. Rebuild? the A904 and the NP228 Gas tank and lines (might be able to get them clean instead of replacing) Getting it generally road worthy 2-3" lift Thinking I'll do "Big Ton" springs for the rear and maybe shackles, already snatched up some V8 ZJ front coils for a little lift. 30's or 31's Nates4x4 bumpers? Might do a Nates rear when the OEM finally rots through, but picked up a nice OEM chrome bumper and a factory option grill guard. Possibly swapping out the D35 for something better Might start looking for a AMC 20.