Automan2164

Yes. Updated my signature with the current MJ roster. Also have a 1948 CJ2A, '90 W250 Cummins 5 speed, and my '06 2500 Cummins auto.

Greeting gents. Been awhile. So, diesel MJ's you say... Interesting. What is there to know?

Rumor has it Automan2164 still has one, but he's not active much here anymore. Wait. Rob

Just peeking in here, but I see your route will be pretty close to my place in Harvard, and also near Scott's place in Woodstock. I'd more than welcome a cc gathering at my house, have 5 acres for plenty of parking. Marginal off-road park about 35 mins away. In McHenry, IL. Also have the turbo diesel MJ and 2.5 others on the property. Rob

Sorry to hear about his passing. He was a long time friend and adopted family here. Rob

Thank you for the updates. Don is among the small group of us that go all the way back to the Yahoo group. I hope that things are going better for you buddy, and that you find this thread. Keeping you in my thoughts. Rob

Hmm... Makes me wonder if the effect was amplified for me because along with the bar I also replaced the bushings each time... Maybe the new bushings amplified the effect because the old ones were shot. Rob

I started bringing a really cheap caliper with my in my yard bag for when I needed them. I plucked all my bars out of XJ limiteds of various years. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1292839&KPID=981061&cid=CAPLA:G:Shopping_-_Precision_Tools&pla=pla_981061&k_clickid=0ee28179-4ec1-dee8-fb21-00005b07ab2f&gclid=CjwKCAiA-KzSBRAnEiwAkmQ150agyuUKfiEPRIMfbxsJrKqLzOU1PvOsdz0dxJpAPNaCMCkRM8XdyBoCEjMQAvD_BwE Rob

That would have been a good score for someone. Once I picked up my first 28 MM bar at the yard, 'errything I owned XJ/MJ wise got one. Makes the whole thing feel noticeably tighter. I also did an aftermarket addco rear bar on my XJ before I sold it. Felt like a gokart. Rob

That is fixable... Looks like you missed most of the frame rail. If you can spot weld and drill... You can get it back to what once was. I know. Rob

I've always pined after an original flat-fender, relegating them to something I would only get years down the road. I search every once and awhile looking around, but nothing ever really seemed interesting. A couple weeks ago, a little fella washed up in Iowa and I had to go check it out. The body appeared well weathered, patina for days. The seller didn't know much about it, only receiving it in trade for a pickup he had. At first glance it looked pretty rough, but looking at the pictures I could see new seats, gauges, wiring harness, and exhaust. The rear axle was fresh black satin paint, as the trans/trasfercase... Battery new, generator redone... Enough to see there was more under that wrapper. I made the 3 hour trip for me, and discovered a worn soul with a heart of gold. It clattered to life in a garage filled with a '63 Split window vette, and a later model vette next to it. A Willys sign hinted at the Jeepster nearby under a cover. Chrome and flash abounding. Then there was this little bruised and discolored tin can humming in the corner. My hunches in the pictures were accurate. Beneath the body riddled with 69 years of work, "Just fix it" repairs, and stress cracks was a redone driveline and electrical system. New tires, new wheels... Sure, the body has seen better days... but what it lacks in structure it makes up in raw character. Oozing with stories. The frame had been repaired up front by the crossmember, as in back by the right leaf spring hanger, but nothing because of rust. Just stripes from nearly 70 years in the working class. I dug it. Without so much as a drive, we talked money, and agreed upon an adoption fee. Now that I've bored you with text... Pictures baby. I don't know much about the history of it other than I was told it came from Wyoming at some point, and that someone put a ton of money and time into the hard parts, while not touching much of the patina at all. My kinda person. So far I flushed the coolant, changed the oil (HOLY CONDENSATION in the dipstick tube, about had a grabber), and just got parts in today to rebuild the bell crank, the drag link socket, and the right inner tie rod to get rid of the wander in the steering. I'm in love. I've never experienced such eyes, pointing, and neck breaking in a vehicle before. I am a purist at heart with a love for a story. My plans are to keep this thing as original as I can. As long as the body can hold itself together on top of the frame, the history it has will continue on. Rob

50 Cent Ice T

1986 MJ - "The Diesel" because of obvious reasons. 1987 MJ - "The Farmer" because the guy I got it from bought it from a melon farmer. The melon dropped off. My 2012 WK2 gained a nickname stemming from my cousin's Grand Caravan, which has limo tint all the way around, save for the windshield. I started calling it "50 Cent's Minivan" because it looked like a murdered out hood van... which turned into "50 Cent". I got the windows on my WK2 tinted, but not as dark, so he started calling mine "Ice T" because "It's dark, but not as dark as 50 Cent". Rob

Thank you for all the times you've done these posts. I've looked into and bought a few things, including a factory brush guard from PA to IL... And then found one for 1/4 of the price, 1000 feet away from my work, in better shape... Lol. I'm going to miss the posts, but there is a limit to the time you can spend doing something like this. I'm sure I'm not the only one whom you've helped along the way. Rob

I can't say for sure about some things, but the Chrysler or AMC PN's didn't cross to anything. Rare/Vintage parts by Mopar only had the one parking brake strut. Because not a lot crossed to the OEM numbers, and I didn't have the actual parts, it was hard to source suitable replacements. Late last night I was doing my thing again after posting here, and discovered that Google searches of the part numbers popped up with some Omix-Ada parts. When I looked closer at some of the Amazon listings, the part numbers from Omix were right, but the reasons they hadn't been crossing was that the would leave off the "J" prefix letter, or when a PN was "0000XXXX" they would list the crossing number as "XXXX" so it wouldn't show up on the searches. Last night I ordered 4 wheel cylinder pins, 2 parking brake levers, and 2 parking brake strut bar springs. I still cannot find the other side parking brake bar. If it all comes in and appears to work, shipping a little bar should be easy if someone has one. I'll update as I can. Rob

I may have found what I needed... I'll let you guys know. I was bored in the late hours of last night and running part numbers. The only one I haven't been able to find is the right parking brake strut bar. I'll update once the parts come in. Rob

Hello all. I am in need of the factory big brake rear parts. I am in the middle of a 7 year MJ rebuild. I took the D44 rear axle apart for refinishing, and while everything was off, I discarded the whole pile of parts thinking that I would be replacing it with new hardware... Sounds decent right? Nope. When I cast away all the used stuff, I never removed the parking brake bars, the parking brake linkages attached to the rear shoes, and the wheel cylinder arms, all of which are not available anymore. The only thing I was able to source was a left side parking brake bar. I need all of that stuff for the 10"x2" big drum brakes found on the D44 and select D35's. I have the entire truck re-brake lined, and ready to roll around, but I am missing the rear hardware that you can't get in the generic kits. Pics for attention. Thanks in advance. Rob

In no particular order... And these rotate in and out with my attention span... But here are the current winners: Hoovie's Garage... Dude who used to be a used car salesman turned restaurant owner... Now has a youtube channel where he buys really high end cars for cheap needing fixes... Most work out great. Bought an XJ for $300 at an auction, AWD Chrysler Minivan and put BFG's on it, some really interesting supercars/high end stuff so cheap that it makes your gears turn. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdEczn3MVkx_4PnMZ10MVFA Cody's Lab... Really cool science stuff from a guy who looks like you met at a Jeep swap meet. In depth, cool experiments. https://www.youtube.com/user/theCodyReeder Bosnianbill... All locks, all the time. Walks you through picking locks, people send him challenge locks and try to beat him. Interesting stuff, tools, locks. Never knew how TERRIBLE master locks were until I started watching his channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/bosnianbill LazyGameReviews... Cool look back at old technology from the late 90's and early 00's. Cool channel for techies. https://www.youtube.com/user/phreakindee iamjake... Guy decides that he wants to road trip the united states, living out of his Jeep YJ. Some pretty incredible footage at times, and very interesting way of life. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbjw-VrJCUb8PTGoiDI2UMw ChrisFix... Average guy who started making videos about cars. Simple, not overproduced... And a super nice guy to boot. https://www.youtube.com/user/PaintballOO7 Rob

I was never a fan of this from the beginning... Basically turned a popular and fun thread into a thread no one wants to chase through 3 doors to get to. If it is popular, the forums will keep it as such. If it drifts away or down, it's because people grew tired of it and let it. Rob

Ask and ye shall receive.

Fall is officially here gentlemen... Cool weather, crisp sunsets, falling leaves, and the smell of bonfires. Be sure to take those MJ's out and enjoy the ride. This month, we feature a member and truck that is clean, cool, and crisp, just like the season. USAFAGumby's 1989 Comanche 4x4 YEAR/MODEL ● 1989 Base short bed 4x4 ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● 4.0L: 60mm throttle body, Dodge 703 injectors, THOR cowl intake, catless exhaust DRIVETRAIN ● AX-15 / external slave swap, Ford 8.8 limited slip, 3.55 re-gear, Novak cable shifter, Rustys trans X-member COOLING ● Open cooling conversion ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● Stock SUSPENSION/STEERING ● Crown Heavy Duty tie-rod and drag link INTERIOR ● Herculined floor, full instrument cluster swap, Euramtec cab lights, 12" sub/component speakers/amp/head unit, airspeed indicator BRAKES ● Rear disk brakes w/ ZJ parking brake cables LIGHTING ● Hella H4 headlights with Putco harness EXTERIOR ● Bushwacker flat fenders, Warrior Products front bumper, two stock side mirrors, Herculined bed, bed rails, body line, fiberglass sun visor, blue MAACO paint job, SoftTopper canvas topper, pitot tube WHEELS/TIRES ● American Racing AR767 with 31x10.5 R15 BFG A/T KO2 Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● Which time?! This has been my first and only vehicle and I've driven the pants off it. I could start with my pathetic and destructive attempt to repair the rust in the floors; I could talk about the several 24hr trips I've taken to and from NC and CO, including the trip I made with the transmission I rebuilt that wouldn't shift into 2nd, or 4th; There is the ice racing trip I took and proceeded to incur some body damage on the way home from the lake; The hopeful Dyno runs with high expectations and realistic outcomes; Or recently when I finally got stuck for the first time and spent several hours in the mud. Point is I love this truck and the stories keep getting better! Never gonna sell it and can't wait for the next story CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● I didn't have any mechanical background till I bought this truck in college but I knew I wanted to work on cars. This site combined with my Formula SAE team taught me everything I know. Literally whenever I have a question, or a no start, or a weird noise this is the first place I turn and somehow I fumble my way into fixing it. Everyone on here is helpful and the tech articles are always super detailed. Keep it up everyone, there are a lot of aspiring mechanics out there who appreciate the help! ====================================================================== USAFAGumby, allow me to be the first to congratulate you on the spotlight this month. This truck had simple roots with a surprisingly clean body for being Chicago-driven. Luckily you saved it from an untimely demise in the rust belt, and made it into one hell of an MJ. Congrats again, Rob :cheers:

As summer winds down to an end, the leaves start changing, a chill is in the air, and it is time for a new MJOTM. This month, we've noticed a member with a clean truck, and a little extra something under the hood... Kansashogan's 1988 Pioneer YEAR/MODEL ● 1988 Pioneer short bed. ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● 350 SBC. Has a Howards .450 lift cam, Hurricane intake, Sanderson headers, Holley 650 cfm carb, roller rockers, and Summit vortec heads. DRIVETRAIN ● 700R4 Trans with a shift kit. Dana 35 rear end with 3.55 gears. COOLING ● Novak radiator and 3 9 inch Spal fans with relays. ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● HEI distributer with MSD wires. The electrical system ideas I got off a website called Mad Electrical. The guy shows how to upgrade old weak wiring in muscle cars but it works great in Jeeps too. SUSPENSION/STEERING ● 2.5 inch Superlift lift. This was just done for clearance of the headers. I still plan on lowering this thing one day. I am following jeeptruck636 to see how he is doing his. The steering is all factory/rebuilt. INTERIOR ● U-pol Raptored floor so no carpet. I plan on having a carpet cover made for the trans tunnel. CJ7? seats for now. Sony stereo with Kenwood 5 channel amp. JBL door and Pioneer rear speakers with Pioneer 12 inch sub. I also tinted the windows with 35% tint. BRAKES ● I did the common 95/96 Cherokee booster/master cylinder upgrade. The rest is rebuilt stock. LIGHTING ● Stock with the upgraded harness with relay. EXTERIOR ● All stock metal with a paint job by me, other than a Poison Spyder hood vent from a Wrangler. U-pol Raptor across the bottom and in bed. I also Raptored the bumpers and flares. WHEELS/TIRES ● Stock wheels with Hankook Dynapro ATM 31x10.5 tires. Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● My wife did not think I was very bright the day I dragged this home. Now she wants a bigger, badder engine in it. How lucky am I? CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● There so many inspiring Comanches on here. We all have different ideas of what makes a cool truck and thats what makes this site worth being a part of. Thanks for the recognition. This is one sweet truck. All the good upgrades knocked out, the simple stuff. Just a good old fashioned MJ that doesn't advertise what is under the hood. Congrats kansashogan... Enjoy the spotlight. :cheers: -Rob

Maker was CarQuest... Probably made by the same company for all house brands. Rob