SiXJaK

Began process of swapping fenders off of 97 donor Cherokee. For whatever reason, this is one of those supremely satisfying jobs. Nice thing about the newer Cherokee fenders is not having to cut the front lower bottom to fit aftermarket bumper.

Ummm yeah those look like they may not be in the best of shape lol. I’ve got a few more items that look similar to take care of lol.

Cool. I’ll try it out. Both driveshafts are in and hooked up.

It looks dope AF so there’s that. I’ve got it all tightened up. It’s a well sorted out kit and if you get hung up, customer service is excellent. No 45 min waits on the phone “due to COVID”. hooking up the front drive shaft tomorrow and temporarily securing the fuel tank and see what she does. Had to cut off the exhaust to install passenger side of TNT long arm kit. She already has headers so it won’t be quiet at all. We’ll see if the previous owner was being truthful about it having 4.88 gears. After looking at the Dana 44 in the silver Comanche and looking at the Ford 8.8” rearend on mine, I better understand why people do the swap.

It’s in. (That’s what she said) OMGosh this drive shaft has been an ordeal. So happy to finally have it installed. Getting this and the long arm kit installed means the truck can finally move under its own power. The next big thing is removing the wiring harness from the 97 Cherokee I bought back in early July and installing it into Tulsa along with nose fenders hood and doors. The tell of two 87’s👇🏼The silver Comanche is so pure. I believe it has around 50k miles on it. I hope the owner never screws with it. Mine is a rescue. It has no shot at ever being pure. The previous owner was trying to turn it into a trail buggy I guess. All hacked up and sad she sat when I got her.

Excited to see how that turns out. Had to adjust track bar. Truck was sitting over to passenger side by about 2”. Finally got that sorted today and then tightened the long arm kit down so that’s all buttoned up. Again it is not a long arm kit for average Joes. If you are an average joe with average tools and a driveway, this ain’t your vibe. Wasn’t my vibe either but at least it is in a professional shop with literally almost any tool that exists at my disposal. I just make sure there’s always at least 1 12pak of Michelob Ultra Longnecks in the break room fridge. up next: rear drive shaft.

Update. Been picking away at the TNT long arm kit since June/July and FINALLY!!!!!!! Holy frick!!! It’s installed. I’ve had a lot of issues with my own company occupying my energy thru all of this so there’s that. Just never seemed to have a block of time to get in and get focused and get into a groove. Had to do a bit of fabrication but it’s on. Had to cut the old short arm mounts out otherwise these long arm won’t clear. I would have gone through about 4 blades and about 5 hrs of cutting with a grinder. My buddy was kind enough to pull out a blow torch and do it in about 20 minutes. Anyway this Lang arm kit is not for people like me. I’m not a skilled mechanic with fabbing credentials. Definitely for advanced. I wouldn’t have ever been successful if my truck was not in a professional shop with real tools at my disposal and the fine people at tnt who patiently walked me through the steps and no doubt endured my stupid questions. They are a great company. Anyway, next up: straightening out the front suspension so the truck is sitting squarely over it’s front axle. Then hooking up the rear driveshaft so the truck will at least move under its own power. Such a long road ahead. Still need to swap wiring harness, front fenders, nose clip, hood, doors etc in from 97 Cherokee. Looking for a bench seat too. I want my grandson to be able to ride with us and my lady to ride close if she wants. I’m still waiting for my rear Fox 2.0 shocks. I ordered these thru Quadratec on April 30.🥺 not Q’s fault. Fox as been hit hard with COVID apparently. They’re supposed to be in in 2 weeks 🤞🏼. Will keep plugging along with my P R O J E C T.

Love it!

Can’t wait to see them. Have no welding skills. Wish I did.

Took off the front bumper and just had to get an idea how the JCR front bumper looks😍. Going to have to do some cutting to get it to fit correctly. It’s Stingray and linexed along with the rock sliders fenders and rear bumper. Also just got my Baja Design work light flush mounts for the rear bumper. They fit but they don’t. Gonna have to do a bit of fabbing but I’m sure I would have with Rigids or KC’s too.

Haven’t installed them but they are quality crafted.

Well got these back from paint the other day. Notch Customs fenders JCR front bumper DirtBound sliders Dirtbound rear bumper Mopar StingGray with protective texture. The rest of the rig is getting painted StinGray.

Finally got the TNT long arm kit started....main plate is up.

Thank you

JTMP65P1HT116273 1987 dark blue Pioneer long bed It’s a project ppl. The door info is unreadable. It supposedly has a 96 power train in it along with 96 Cherokee dash seats console. It’s cut up pretty bad thought I’d save it from its abusive environment and make it a nice restomod with aftermarket bumpers and fender flares, long arm kit 35’s and a 6” lift. This is how she sat when I bought her back in Nov 2019 I’ve just been working on her when I can. She doesn’t look much different now. But I have done a lot to her so far.

I feel like I’m watching paint dry but thanks. At least I’m staying interested. I’m going to get the truck running and moving with the 4.0 liter and slow build the 427 and do it right. Found some weld in motor mounts from TRD (no affiliation with Toyota) and yes much beefier springs up front for sure and probably some frame strengtheners from TNT.

Track bar finally arrived so installed that today and started in on tnt long arm kit.

Nice rig. Congratulations on sticking with it.

Frame rails are 25” wide and according to Hal that’s wide enough. 427 has 15k miles on it and is 500.00. RV cam, ignition and intake manifold supposedly wake these truck motors right up. Or just keep 4.0 and terry to marry 87 truck to 96 motor. Either way I have to start over with wiring. started frame clean up yesterday

Wow! Exceptional work, sir.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=329299 I’ve heard this too but I’m not sure those claims are valid or relevant to this application. I also talked to an old guy (older than me he started fabricating and building in 1965 -the year I was born) at Summit Racing (Hal) earlier today for a good while about Chevy big blocks regarding motor mounts. He was very helpful. He’s built several 427’s, a 427 truck motor and a decent amount of 454’s. He said the low rev low power rap on the truck motor is “hogwash” and that his made over 570 on pump gas. I don’t need or want 570 but 400-450 would be fine with me. I’m not sure the Comanche chassis can handle that. He’s been working from home because of COVID but told me to call back and he’d get a catalogue from his office of an oddball company that specializes in marrying Chevy big blocks with various Jeeps. Anyway I’ll do some more research before I pull the trigger and go this route. Ultimately are the frame rails wide enough! Will be measuring tomorrow to see if it’s wide enough.

Got the inside of the rear bumper properly coated. The inside of the front is next. Toying with dropping in a 427 big block. It’s a 69 truck motor with 15k miles on it. My friend who owns the shop my MJ’s been living in for 6 mos now also has a tow business and a scrap yard with some things “laying around”. Like this old fire truck with the 427 Chevy big block truck motor Sitting in it as well as a 400 tranny and transfer case. So.....if my Comanche was more pure when I got it, then I’d say no. But it’s an 87 with a 96 motor along with a mediocre attempt at a 96 interior, massively cut out fenders that all are useless for anything other than swamp buggy duty. I guess go big or go home. That is the question I’m grappling with.

Ha ha.

Finally! Geez Louise this bumper took forever. Still waiting on long arm kit and and rock sliders.

Ha ha.