coheed

Technically a group 78, but same same. This is the interstate battery I have in there currently. This is the battery tray that was in the truck when I got it. I also have the tray out of my grandad's truck in the shed and it's the same style, even though this truck is a late 86 and my grandad's was an early production.

I have a group 34 in my 86 and it fits perfect. Can't remember which side I used on the hold down, but I am using the stock hold down block.

I've got some grand ideas for it, but I have no idea how long it'll take me to get to them. It's what it does best Part of it is really seeing how much I can get out of the 2.8 till it pops. I'm amazed it's done as well as it has considering what I found under the valve covers 2 years ago. Yeah I'm very stoked about all the room I have for activities in there.

Man, that's rough. I've always really liked how your truck looked. If it were me I'd try and repair what I could and keep the wagoneer panel. I've got an ok set of those hella lights if you're interested in em pm me.

It was a blast. I'm genuinely surprised this little 2.8 has been as reliable as it has. I'll almost be a little sad to swap it out lol

Unfortunately not on this trip. He gets very car sick because I didn't get him used to it when he was younger. I had been conditioning him to ride in the car for months, but I think the switch to how differently the truck handles and rides was too much and the couple weeks before the trip wasn't enough time. He'll be on the next trip though for sure.

Total was 4556 door to door. And aside from that little bit of overheating the truck made no fuss about it.

When I got back, I installed the door extensions. They no longer install them at the shop, but I was fine doing it myself. Losing the tailgate offset some the weight of the camper I'm sure. Collapsed I have 50" from bed floor to ceiling making it easy to crash in the bed if I don't want to or can't pop the top. The main door opening is 30"x40" making it super easy to get in and out. Popped I have a full 6'7" of standing height. With the bed platform put up I have the full length of the bed, and with it pulled out I have a full queen-sized sleeping area and 47" of standing space at the end of the bed. The side hatch I got added makes it easier to get to cargo stored at the front of the bed, and the sliding windows make it so I can reach outside and latch the camper like I would from the outside. There're locks built into the doors to use from the inside, but's it's nice piece of mind. Plus, the pup will be able to see out the windows. I have plans for a build out in the future, but for the time being I'm just gonna wire up the fan and the 3rd brake light and use it as is. My main focus in the short term will be getting the 3.4 swapped in.

Then, unfortunately, I had to start heading home. Stayed in Northern NM for a day and a half and my only fellow campers were the birds and chipmunks. Same story in Oklahoma. Only had a family of geese with 2 goslings for company. Oh, and this guy. Stayed at a gorgeous state park in TN that I'd like to revisit.

The sixth and seventh nights I stayed in Kaibab national forest but spent all my waking time in the Grand Canyon. Hiking, taking in sights and seeing wildlife and nature. Accidentally interrupted a pair of grouse mating in the middle of the road. These Kaibab squirrels are the cutest things I've seen in my life. Size comparison of a lifted Comanche with a sizable camper vs what's considered a medium sized sprinter van. Watching the sunset in the Grand Canyon was simply amazing. I stayed so long after the sun had gone down to star gaze, I realized I had been the only person on that side of the park for over an hour. And it was still another hour and fifteen drive back to camp from there.

I wanted a real shower at least a few days on the trip so the fifth and sixth nights I found a decently cheap 70's themed motor inn in Flagstaff. Had some good pizza. But one of the main reasons I stayed in Flagstaff instead of going straight to the Grand Canyon was to pick up my Ovrlnd camper I had built. For years I've gone a few different routes on camping setups in this truck, and I didn't like them for one reason or another. Camper tops are hard to come by and don't really give me as much room as I wanted. I bought the Coleman pop up for the extra room, but admittedly I bit off more than I wanted to chew with that project. This is useable as is, and I retain full use of the bed while it's installed on the truck. It came in at only 340 pounds, so much lighter than 99% of campers of comparable space. And they custom build it to the truck's dimensions, so it fits perfectly. I've measured the 86 trailers bed, and it should also be able to be swapped onto any other longbed if something happens to this one. First addition to the camper. I decided to do the North Rim instead of the south. Two reasons, people and weather. Never been a huge fan of crowds and the Grand Canyons south rim is one of the most visited places on earth. Also, can't stand the heat and the North Rim was about 15 degrees colder on average the few days I was there. But the North Rim is much further drive than the south. On the way up the truck started to overheat a bit. I think the altitude, the prolonged driving at high speed, and the outside temps were to blame. This thing is used to just puttering up a mountain, not doing 75 in a desert at 7000ft. So, my solution was to get more air flowing through the engine bay. I pulled over, loosened the hood, and stacked quarters between the hinge and the hood. I didn't have any washers, which is what I wanted to do, but I had these left over from going to the laundry mat the day before. For a total of $3.50 this dropped the coolant temps by 10-15 degrees and the truck never really got over 210 for the rest of the trip as long as I kept adjusting ignition timing and paying attention. The Colorado First time popping the camper at camp. No matter how many times I drive across this country I'm still amazed at how beautiful some of it can be. Not a bad spot to cook and eat dinner.

So, the main reason I have this Comanche aside from sentimental reasons is so that I have a decently capable camping/ getting way out to get away vehicle. And two weeks ago, I did exactly that. I packed all my stuff up and headed out on a road trip, destination: The Grand Canyon. I stayed in two state parks, four national forests, and visited two national parks. The first two nights I stayed in Alabama and Texas. Crossing the Mississippi Halfway through Texas the smokers window bonding gave up the ghost, so I stopped and fixed it with RTV. These picnic areas in TX are life savers sometimes. Third and fourth night I stayed just outside Roswell. You don't really realize how much light pollution you deal with until you're somewhere without any. Not the best example of astrophotography, but not bad for a phone. And of course, had to hit up the Official UFO Musem to see what they had going on. The fifth day I made my way to Flagstaff but went through Petrified Forest National Park, where I got to see this Willy's pickup that was originally used as a fire fighter truck. Unfortunately, it's been parked there for about 8 years, but the attendant said they have plans to fix it, and the rest of the small fleet they have, up. Original Rt 66 poles. Got a surprise treat coming back from a short walking detour. A mated pair of ravens deemed my truck the proper place to do some grooming with each other. It's crazy seeing remnants of trees that predate a lot of dinosaurs.

There's also the option of getting an auto Camaro and getting an adapter from Novak to run a Jeep transfer case on the back of the 4l60e if you want a transmission with overdrive. That's the route I'm going. The Novak kit includes all the parts necessary to keep the factory Camaro PCM to run the engine and control the transmission. The 93 Camaros can also be found with the 3.4 and the 4l60 with no e, meaning that it's not electronically controlled, so less wiring would be necessary.

It was the McGraw compact one here. I got that because I was worried about the longer one not fitting or working as well in the trans tunnel

So the 16 and the 23 are actually the same size. The vent tube is just lower in the tank making it so you can't fill it up as much. I had a 16 in my 86 and swapped a 23 in with no issues.

@jaredt37 unfortunately no. It's still mid restore and other things have taken priority. I've also realized it's not exactly what I needed out of a camper so I'm going a different route. That said, it's for sale with all the parts I've bought so far for anyone that's interested in it.

Brand new windshield with the rubber gasket. It's like having glasses for the first time. OEM slider. Having more airflow without a/c is great. Mostly complete interior. This is the most interior I've ever had in this truck lol. I want to get some carpet and make a back panel out of plywood or something so I can mount stuff on it. The headliner from @a1500ram fits great and matches the honey perfectly. Gonna slap some spare industrial carpet squares a buddy has on the dog platform tomorrow before we head out for a weekend camping trip.

It's a stock D35. It may be the icon wheels too. They're only 16x7. The wheels look super sunken in especially coming from the 8 inch wide gamblers and inch wider tires.

I mean if time and money are no object the best option would be to cut the fiberglass and extend it to meet the cab. That's a lot of work for a $20 cap though.

That's much better. Ended up with a set of 235/85r16 Sumitomo encounter at's. They're essentially a 32x9.5x16. I wanted to get some 215/85r16s, but I ended up getting these on closeout cheaper than the cheapest 215/85s discount or tire rack had. Even with an E load rating they ride way better than the stock size KO2s on the wheels when I got them and the 31x10.5x15 KO2s that were on the gamblers. They're mostly road biased but had good rain and snow reviews, so we'll see. 80% of my driving is on road and the other 20 is mostly fsr or decently maintained 2 track, so I didn't feel like I needed to go with as aggressive of a tread as the KO2s. They're much quieter than the KO2s, so that's nice. They don't rub the control arms while turning since they're skinnier. We'll see if they rub anywhere else down the road.

I would need honey for my interior, no clue what filament would match that. Suppose they could always be painted. I have a smooth pei sheet on mine and the factory magnetic sheet that creality has that makes a little texture, but it's not as rough or close to original as yours.

Parking this thing next to modern lifted jeeps really shows how small this truck is.

That's fantastic. Are you gonna make these available for purchase, either the finished ones or an stl? What kind of build plate are you using for that surface finish?

Scraped of the rear cab seams as @ghetdjc320 recommended. Pretty clean compared to the floor and firewall. Got a used toolbox to throw my stuff in when the camper isn't on the back. Reinstalled the front flares with new Crown hardware. They weren't the best quality, but got the job done. Since my flares are cut I had to mod the front retainer a bit Built a little platform for my dog and it gives me a little storage spot in it. Getting some new tires tomorrow, and a new windshield Tuesday. The shops also gonna swap my back window out for the slider.

I ordered one maybe 4 years ago and have had no issue with mine. Not the best welds, but they're fine. The "skin" of the bumper is 14ga at best, but the frame is much thicker. Very minimal silicone to cover seams on it. I assume with everything in the last few years they've switched to a different production facility that doesn't have the same QC, but hopefully yours is a one-off miss. I would try and get it swapped without paying on my part and hope I don't get a crappy one. If the second was the same quality, I'd get my money back. I know a few people that work in aerospace and power generation facility building and they are struggling with these issues, so it's easy to assume a company that sells bumpers would have the same problems.