13 Legion

Got the rad installed. I purchased a Spectra. Direct fit for my 2.5. The only items you need to keep and reuse are the old radiator support bushings and bolts. Fit perfect. A special thanks to Hornbrod who sent me a link to purchase this rad at a fantastic price. Although I had already purchased I hope someone that's looking for a 2.5 rad will check out his post in the classified section here and take advantage. Finished product installed. Now onto interior...patch floor, rust proof, redo headliner and visors, maybe dynamat(or some like product) padding, carpet, rob bank, upgrade stereo system and put interior all back together!! The saga continues....

Nice work!

Rescue the MJ if it's in good shape! I'd rather have a solid body to start the build. It sounds like it's already getting picked apart though so it may not be running. I know a lot of JYs puncture the fuel tank as well. Maybe post some pics. How much are they asking? It sounds like your planning a swap regardless. So are you asking buy a Comanche than find a donor XJ for swap or buy XJ than look for an MJ to swap everything into?

Nice job on the headliner! You do it yourself... Spray adhesive and some fabric? Did you put sound deadener up there as well? If so what material did you use?Just asking because that's one of my projects. Is most of the work on this build just cosmetic?

Thx bro for the ID of wires!!! Planning on putting rear speakers in. I looked through schematic in my Haynes manual. The wire colors were different for what was listed as speaker. Pretty sure there may have been discrepancies in wire colors especially with options available as well as years covered.

Identification help please? Thanks.

Good job making the best out of this situation. Those welds were marginal and showing porosity. I can't believe they didn't clean that product better before shipping out. If you make a bad pass grind it out and start again. Not sure about that 1 inch weld. Could have been a tack to hold that verticle weld to keep that piece squared up so it didn't pull to one side or another. Still would have ran that weld full if anything just for a good looking visual. Could you post a pic of finished installed product?

That's it! Parts guy at Jeep dealer ordered me a couple. Just waiting for my Rad to get here....Than I can continue mission.

the bushing mount I'm talking about makes into the rad and into that hole on lower right to support rad. This is the bushing...I believe that bottom nut is suppose to be sealed inside bushing.

Address the overheating problem. Check all facets of your cooling system. Is coolant just low,old?Act as if the PO did zero maintenance on this system. Replace thermostat. Check your water pump for leaks. Check radiator for leaks. Replace hoses as well as flush and refill with fresh coolant. Than at least you have a fresh starting point. Do this prior to just doing an expensive( time and money) rebuild right off the bat. I have an 87 2.5 and currently just did all of these things. It's not expensive and you can do all the work yourself. Your only big expense in this may be buying a radiator or water pump if needed.

Still pertaining to my radiator... Didn't want to start another thread here. There are bushings that attach the rad to the frame with bolts that go through them one on either side. Any idea where I can find replacements? I'm not even sure what they are referred to as. I've searched using radiator bushings with no luck. If anyone knows a part number for replacement? Searched the JY today but as you know most of the time it's like looking for unicorn parts! Thanks

Thanks for the input from the Great White North!(enter Rush with the McKenzie brothers) I ordered the Spectra from Rock Auto. Thanks as well for your review Frank!

As far as the trans lines on the bottom.... All the rads I've seen show them. I won't need to utilize them since I have a manual. Are these just left open? Or do I need to cover those fittings?

87 2.5 4spd. I'm looking to replace my radiator. Have seen both the Spectra as well as a Napa brand in my search.Thoughts,comments or reviews? I actually looked for a radiator shop around town. They use to be a dime a dozen growing up. I may as well of been looking for a movie rental place with beta. There's no money any more in it. Just looking for a nice drop in replacement that won't break the bank. Thank-you.

Welcome! Look around the site, tons of info! Lot of DIY tips as well as searching info in the MJ tech section. My advice to you is do http://comancheclub.com/topic/48463-cruisers-mostly-renix-tips/.... Also check out your floors (driver and passenger side!) Lift that carpet up!!!!!!!!! As far as your steering goes check out front suspension. Your problem could be from a worn out gearbox as well. Word of advice I was given day 1 here....'Don't just start throwing money at random parts thinking that may be the problem' A second opinion always helps. Lot of knowledge here in these forums. There are no stupid questions... Cause I already asked them here!

Sorry bro. Looking at the way that guy left your truck turns my stomach. Hind site is 20/20. Let this be a lesson to not only you but the rest of us as well. In some countries they chop your hand off for stealing...of course their probably not stealing Comanche's there. Best of luck.

Thx Jim! Yet another loose wire. Has ran fine without it.

87 2.5 4spd RWD This is an orange wire which is hanging lose from a wire loom. It separates from the wire loom and is hanging loose. This picture is taken underneath front passenger side. It has a small boot on the end. Any ideas?

Well I finally got to working on getting my steering gearbox out. It's manual and I was just gonna swap out with another manual. Had my brother over helping me. I've been off the last 2 months recovering from a broken arm as well as knee surgery. I'm hopefully going back to work May 1st. Going stir crazy because this is the longest I've been off work since being an 18 yo kid. I use the term "working" lightly on my Jeep. It was more my brother as I basically handed tools to him as well as giving morale support :banana: !! Well took off the airbox to gain some access as well as removing front drivers tire. Note to self front coils are pretty shot. Put it on the list. Anyone know of a good replacement? This is not an off roader but I would like some opinions on coils and shocks if you have one!! I also tried to mark the linkage as best I could. Made a mark in the engine bay. Well that's when we ran into a problem. Besides rusty bolts (only broke two to get to the gearbox!) the steering linkage wouldn't separate from the gearbox. It has 1 bolt holding the linkage on to the splines of the gearbox input shaft. We were able to remove bolt and you can separate a bit with a screwdriver but neither piece, the gearbox or linkage would budge. Everything was seized at this point. So after a lot of :fs1: :hmm: we took a small beater(sledge hammer) as well as a piece of round stock and beat on the spline on the end where it made into the linkage. Not how it probably should be done, but we were kinda out of ideas(other than some heat) to separate this. After about 5-10 min. of hitting it finally broke loose. Checked the inside of linkage and looks fine. A little rusty but after almost 30 years I can't complain......Wait yes I can!! Well there it is out, in all its former glory. We had to rent a puller to remove the pitman arm. That was just as difficult as the steering linkage side.Just age and worn out parts, kinda like me. I'm thinking most people keeping their Jeep stock will never have to deal with that. thanks to my bro for helping me out and I hope I can return the favor when I'm a 100% Stay tuned for next weeks installation...How bad could it be???? :brows: List of things I also realized that I need to get done. In no particular order. Leaking oil pan gasket,leaking coolant from area around water pump( thought just the lower hose clamp may be loose. It's not I can see some seepage above the hose leaking down on it.) Change fuel filter. It looks like the PO has changed it at least once. Pretty sure the connections on either end are NOT factory. I also as earlier stated need to check out my brake lines. Nothing leaking there..yet..but I have to move a bit to get them away from my floorboard when I cut out and patch. The last thing I need is severing a brake line with a cutting wheel!!! If you look on the right of this last pic you can see the brake lines underneath.

Thanks for letting me know. I couldn't figure that headliner out with those sheet metal pieces. It looked very 'non-factory!'

Decided to have my bench seat repaired. Well of course as with everything one thing leads to another..... I pulled bench out. Ripped up rubber floor and padding. Took off visors and took down headliner( which was shot)

Thx! Bought a couple. Grabbed the T-50 and that's the ticket!

Thanks! I'm heading to the parts store myself. Guess I will do some searching there.

Anyone know what size torx fits the seat belt mount below the interior side lights? Are these typical on all years? 87 2.5. Thanks

'Next week on Gas Monkey Garage....' Richard probably talked the guy into paying him the 200 bucks to trailer it back.