TheDirtyJeep401

Looking around on other AMC inline engines since there isn’t a lot out there for the 2.5. The 4.2 has the same thing, coolant line coming from the thermostat housing, and out the back to the heater core. But if you look at an aftermarket manifold, like an offenhauser, it does not have coolant ports or passages. That’s about the only thing I’ve found so far on something with a similar style coolant set up with aftermarket intake option, even though it’s carbureted, the set up is the exact same. (About the only thing I can find in comparison since the 2.5 never got a “performance” manifold) Makes me wonder more since after market got rid of it. And those bigger manifolds for running bigger carbs are just going to cool it down even more with more air and fuel.

It’s got me wondering. I’ve got an extra intake that I was looking and and thought about it. I know older GMs that had TBI had the same thing. But other TBI set ups don’t. I have a feeling in the summer it would be no problem, but in the winter, it might not want to do much till it’s warmed up. I kind of want to try it for “scientific purposes” but really don’t want to pull off. Put back on. And possibly pull back off back and install again.

Would re routing the coolant hoses that run into the intake effect anything? I’ve got a leaking manifold/intake and while I have it all apart, i was going to block off the passages in the intake manifold and running a 91+ 2.5 water pump that doesn’t have the outlet for the manifold heater. Hoses would be re routed like on a MPFI motor. Is it worth the time and effort? Or is it something that shouldn’t be deleted and it will hurt performance if done? Just curious on if anyone else has done it. I know the MPFI motors don’t have it, but I know running TBI means the intake runs cooler and that’s why the coolant passages are there. But figured that much heat would be hurting it, rather than being beneficial.

Thank you all! Bought a tool box for it. Wanted something that I can keep stuff dry in, since not a lot can go behind the cab. Not sure if I like the look with it in. I’ll probably get a different style one later on. But for now, it works.

I sent you a message.

After getting it all sealed I thought about changing the carpet. I had a brand new carpet in black that I originally bought to put in the other 86. Thought it would change it up a little bit with the red interior. Figured it wouldn’t hurt. If I didn’t like it, I could just pull it out and put the original in. I'm actually pretty happy with the way it came out. I will say I had to do a lot more trimming than I have originally anticipated to get it to fit. I’ve heard of others saying that, and they definitely were not lying. The sound deadening did make a difference on road noise. The carpet I put in I ordered with extra mass backing too. I plan on doing the whole cab, but need to fix all of the dry rotted weather stripping to get some of the noise down. I’m pretty sure a Wrangler with a soft top has quieter wind noise going down the road than this thing does.

After drowning the truck with a garden house I found a total of 4 leaks: -Both rear lower corners of the back window Water would run down the inside of the panel and into the corner. -A plastic Christmas tree clip that was panel bonded over from the factory right below the fuse box - And from where the blower motor is suppose to seal up against the firewall. Looks like someone had the dash out for a heater core replacement and didn’t get the seal put back properly, and cracked the HVAC box. Got the holes and window seal taken care of. The HVAC one I have temporarily sealed until I can find a nice red dash to replace the cracked one. Would only like to pull the dash out once and be done.

Noticed one day after a good rain storm that the back of the cabs carpet was wet. With spring coming I knew it was something I wanted to tackle before we got more rain. Went ahead and pulled the carpet out (Needed to check the floors anyway). Floors were about as good as could hope. No rust all they way through. Passenger side looks bad, but is actually pretty solid. While looking for the leaks, I went ahead and cleaned it all up sealing it with POR-15. And added sound deadening mat to the floor.

How long has it been since ignition components have changed and or been inspected? Plugs, rotor, cap and wires? Even the coils condition. I recently had the same issue. And found that most of it was caused by old plugs and a weak coil. Would not run at all in the cold till it got warmed up. Replaced all the worn out components. Actually idles when it’s below freezing now.

Thanks! The louvers you can actually still buy. They are plastic that just slides into the rear window seal. Actually pretty nice for keeping the sun off the back of your neck.

Ever since I got my 86 my dad always wanted one. But was always too picky on what options he wanted. Found him one and told him to get it as it was the closest thing he was going to find. Finally, my dad got a Comanche. Over the past few years he would drive it occasionally buy new parts for it, but never get them installed due to his health. I’d work on it and fix it for him and install parts that he got, until his health made it to where he could drive anymore and the truck sat for months. In early October, he passed suddenly. Something that we did not expect to happen so soon and caught us all of guard. If it wasn’t for my dad, my passion for Automobiles wouldn’t exist. Jeeps, AMCs, all of it. Was because of him. This truck was one of the many projects I have that I was to build with my dad. For my dad. So I’d like to introduce my dads MJ that I’m going to continue to build. The Silver Bullet. . The reason for the nick name other than the color of the truck is (obviously) silver. The silver paired with the red interior reminds me of the old Coors light cans. My dads favorite beer. As she sits a bone stock 86 2.5 Auto 4x4 with 31x10.50R15 on factory turbines. Lived pretty much her whole life in Oklahoma. No rust other than a few surface areas, and a few bumps. But by far ones of the cleanest bodies I’ve ever found around here. I don’t plan on cutting it up. I plan on installing the plethora of parts he ordered for it, keeping it clean and nice. It’s a daily driver that I plan to use camping, taking on road trips, fishing trips and taking it on some off road trails. But for the most part, make it functional, and look pretty while doing it. It’s been a while since I’ve been here, and been a while since I’ve been in a MJ. Almost forgot the pure joy of driving one. I’m excited to build and share it with the world. Hopefully inspiring others. As many of your builds have inspired me over the years.

31x10.50s will fit, but with minor rubbing on the lower control arms at full lock. Most people swap lower control arms from a WJ Grand Cherokee to help with the rubbing. But other than that, they fit with no problems.

Awesome! Just wanted to make sure. Thank you guys!

That’s what I thought too. Went out and grabbed the owners manual for it just to check. I figured it was the same as 727 and 904s in earlier AMCs

86 with a A904 transmission. According to the service manual, it says Dexron II. I know that they changed to Dexron III saying it is a replacement for II. I’ve found 2 types of III, Dexron IIIH and IIIE. Is E just an extra additive for corrosion resistance, and are interchangeable? Just wanting to make sure, can’t find much on the old A904s.

86 2.5 AX4 2WD Dana 35 from the factory. Current location Joplin Mo Currently rebuilding from wreck. 97 front end swap, floor pans, 4x4 conversion. Broken, but not done yet. Unknown build date. Owner for the past 9 years. Pics to come soon of the past/current. Sent from my SM-A515U1 using Tapatalk

Any new updates? I need more inspiration to get mine going. And well..... This truck is one of my biggest inspirations lol.

I joined this forum when I was 16 years old not knowing anything about the comanche that I had. But I wanted to learn. 7 years later I have gathered so much knowledge. And a lot of that from Don. He inspired many things that I want to do to my truck. Always was willing to help solve a problem. I saw the news today on Facebook. Wish I would have seen sooner. I will still go back and look at the info that he has given me. He is a big reason why kids like me understand these trucks. And that is something that he has given us, and will be here for ever. Rest in piece Don, and thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world.

Been loooking forever trying to find a good header panel. has anyone ever found one that's new for a decent price? Everywhere I look there all on sites I've never ordered from. A lot of the local yards panels are broken and want an arm and a leg for ones that are broken. I know they had 2 styles pre 97 where they have the holes for the emblem, on ones that are for the later years where it's smooth. Any body ever ordered a aftermarket replacement one? How did it fit? Just getting opinions on new ones.

Question that I can't remember the answer to. I've got an 2.5 out of a 93 or 95 YJ MPFI. Don't have the engine harness to it. But I am able to get one out of a 99 TJ 2.5. I can't remember if they changed the connectors from 97+ for OBDII. Would it still work if the sensors and senders were swapped with the 99 or will the 93 or 95 work?

Which side door trim are you looking for?

Will the axles shafts from an 04 grand cherokee fit in a XJ non vaccum D30? I know instead of u joints it's cv style. Both are 27 spline I believe?

Boy did I have to do some digging to find this old thread. Nothing posted in over 3 years. At this point a lot of things have changed. But not always for the better. I still have it. But with life and working and all the other things it takes to be an adult, things get put on the back burner. But that has already started to change. Some know but many don't of what has happened to the truck. This is going to be the summary of what has happened in the past 3 years (can't believe it's been that long) The last time I posted about this truck I was still a junior in high school. Driving the truck everyday to and from school. Just keeping up on regular maintinence. Senior year rolls around and I'm still driving it daily. Had a couple of problems ( front tires went bad, clutch master cylinder failed on my way home) but fixed them and kept driving it. End of senior year I was already enrolled in college. Starting in August of 15'. Drove it all summer like normal. Then the disaster strikes. It was the day before college, I had to drive to the campus (about 30 miles from my home) to go to freshman orientation. My girlfriend with me as she was going to the same college. Got to the campus, got everything set up, so the next day my first day of college would be like everyone else's first day. On the way back I followed one of my high school friends back home as he was also going to the same college. And that was when everything had changed. I was about 3 car lengths away from my friend ahead of me, with about 3 cars ahead of him. Suddenly I see the brake lights come on, and the back end of a Tahoe raise up under hard braking. I thought I would get it to stop in time but I was wrong. At that split second I had 3 options that either way, would not end well. 1. I try to steer to the left lane praying that none is coming and come to a stop (in which someone was coming) 2. I slide right into the back of my friends Tahoe and hope for the best that we are okay. Or 3. Jump off the highway to the right, with a drop of about 8 ft down. In that slips second decision, I chose number 3. I locked the brakes up and somehow got the truck steered to the right. I ended up clipping my friends Tahoe on the passenger side (my drivers side) and lifting all 4 tires dukes of hazard style down to the ditch at about 55mph. Landing was hard. Got the truck stopped luckily since there was a tree line and a creek about 50 ft from where I stopped. I was in shock. The truck was still running and i got it shut off. The first thing I did was run out of my truck and crawl over it and pull my girlfriend out. She was in so much shock that she could get words out. I got her out of the truck and got away from it, not noing if the truck was going into flames. We crawled out of the ditch. My friend pull to the side of the road and running down the ditch to make sure we were okay along with another man who was in front of him. The people behind me that witnessed the whole thing stopped too. At the end of it we were okay. My girlfriend bruised her arm from it resting on the door, but other than that we were just really shaken up and shocked as we did not believe at what just happened. The People behind me were very nice to call 911 since we were all in shock and one of the EMTs was a guy I knew. Family showed up making sure we were okay and they re directed traffic as they took a police report and pulled my truck out of the steep embankment. Once they made sure we were okay and looked us over, we were cleared to go home. I rode with the wrecker driver with my MJ on the back taking it home. And he told me that he didn't know know how I pulled that off. He said that he had been doing wrecker services for over 10 years and had pulled many vehicles from that exact highway all the time. 95% of them being rollovers. The fire fighters that went down to make sure the truck was not a hazard said that it took it like a champ. Saying that most vehicles just crumble after an accident like that. I finally get him home and unload it. Not being able to inspect it since it was getting late, and it was a requirement for you to be at school on your first day or you would be kicked out and have to re enroll later on. Both of us the next day were sore like no other. And tired. Going to our first day of college was horrible. Once classes released, we went home to inspect the damage done to the truck. I'll upload pictures soon but I can't at the moment due to being in my iPad. The front axle was snapped on the passenger side. The tube completely snapped and the truck was setting on just the wheel. Front divers side of it was smashed. Fender, header panel, bumper, (somehow my grille and upper grill trim were okay) were trashed. So I pulled it into the garage under its own power to hide it from the world. I contiplated on what do with it. Sell it, part it out, fix it, etc.. But the more I thought about it. I couldn't sell it or part it out. Because of the fact of what this truck has done for me. It was my first truck, it got me back and forth to school and everywhere else, and I have so many memories in that truck. But there was one big reason as to why I wanted to give my truck a second chance. Because the more I thought about it, I realized something. That truck saved my girlfriend and I lives. If it were any other vehicle in the same instance, the air bag would have deployed and blinded me from getting the truck stopped at the moment of impact, I would have landed a lot harder in car and ended up through the trees and in the creek. That truck saved our lives. And for that big reason, I couldnt get rid of it. I could not since it did the dirty work for my girlfriend and I to still be here in one piece. After it sat for nearly 7 months I started to tear it apart. Know it would need a lot but not knowing what all it needs. My uncle got me a parts Comanche to use to rebuild mine. 87 Sportruck shortbed 2.5 2 wheel drive 4 speed. So I pulled the axle swapped them out. Put the header panel and fendes on mine from the donor. And finally it was back on a 4s again. I drove it around the block and drove it around for aabout a week. Then one day I looked at it from a distance. And noticed something just wasn't setting right. After looking around on the body more I found that at the point where the axle broke (keep in mind the front passenger tire was the first to hit the ground) had hit so hard that it had shoved the front right of the frame rail up, bending the frame. At this point I was lost and knew it wasnt cheap to fix the frame. And around the same time the master cylinder blew internally, my guess from hitting the pedal so hard. And ever since then it has sat. For nearly a year and a half. But that is starting to change. I have since gotten a quote on fixing the frame. Rebuilt the brake systems. And have bought basically a whole new drive train. And I'm now to the point to where here in a couple of weeks. I'll be driving it again everyday. It's currently in the state of floor patching and new interior. Once that's done, it's straight to the frame straightener. Then once again, I can drive this truck. It's been a long time and I have been on here looking at other peoples projects coming up with new ideas learning more and more about it. So I'm happy to say that it's back. And I can't wait to bring it back from the dead. The day has finally come.

Thank you guys. Ive got more questions Front axles from a ZJ i understand will fit, but does that mean you need the drive shaft from a ZJ and have it modified to have the same U-Joint on the T-case? (NP 231J) Azzy's sells the Transfer case shift linkage, says it works for XJ's, but i havent figured out if it works for a AX-5 and 231J? When swapping in a MPI 2.5 in, do you need to have the throttle cable for that engine (93 Wrangler)? Or Can the TBI 2.5 be modified? If swapping in actual gauges instead of dummy lights, does the dash harness need to be changed too? I know the senders do. Thats about it. Does anyone know if there is a stock color code from the silver on ravine wheels? Is there a link anywhere for removing/ Redoing the fuse box? can't find it anywhere. I know its there. Figured someone might have the link to it. That should be everything. Ive been trying to get things figured out because I have big plans coming up for this thing soon. Havent driven it in almost a year and it has been killing me. So thank you everyone for helping me out!