Torq_Shep

My old man took plastic bags, hit them with a blow-torch, bondoed over it and would reglue the windshield in his 1990 Cherokee for years... Most rusted out cherokee I have ever seen.

I am very sorry! We had a scare earlier this year with ours and it was a shock how much dogs become family. Definitely wishing you all the best with your time of mourning.

Lol. That is already in Seattle. As if I wasn't sticking out enough towing a truck shell with an "In Tow" piece of paper taped over a license plate and bolted to the back. What I did I think was at least 70% legal, 75% safe, and 80% insured if something did go wrong and like they say C's get degrees!

I have not! I was living in Vancouver, WA last year and working out of Ridgefield. Moving up to Seattle for a year or two and then potentially out towards you in CO after that. Or at least that is the plan.

Alright! I made it to Portland. Spending the night in a hotel here and then dropping it off down the street at my friend's shop in Boring. Mechanically the truck did great. Electronically... Not so much. Managed to lose 2 of the 3 E-Fans and my brake lights have completely failed as of about 150 miles ago. Blows the fuse immediately. To limp it here I was turning the headlights on and off to simulate brake lights. Luckily I have a very short drive tomorrow.

I may or may not have cranked the heat once or twice or maybe a dozen times to try and keep everything in check. It does absolutely great on temp until it gets to about 90 outside. It is a stroker just a very mild one. Butt dyno can hardly tell the difference between it and the other 7 4.0's I have owned.

So I was avoiding posting yesterday but I have made it to SLC for the night. Truck is doing well. Gets to 230F indicated going up hill in 95F weather with the AC on. I just switch to vent when I see a hill coming mid-day. As far as power. It has... Enough. Barely. Most hills I can crest at 60MPH but there was 2-3 that I was spinning 4k in 3rd to get over at 50 MPH

Only 1 spare but all take 5x4.5. If it blows any of the 8 tires on the road I should be able to limp it to a wally world for another tire.

Figured out why the variable speed box got fried... A washer had fallen behind there and it back fed the box... I am not sure when that would have happened as I have never had anything back there. Brake lights were also acting up but I think I resolved those as well. Decided to buy and put shocks on the roller for safety reasons. Towed it 20 miles back to my partners place in pouring rain so at least it made it that far so far. Plan is to head out tomorrow morning.

Updates: I am going the ABQ -> SLC -> Portland route. While I will be unable to really stop if anyone is along that route I would love to connect in case I catastrophically break down and need to tow the trucks somewhere while I arrange transport or repair. I have the bed loaded, strapped, and covered in a tarp. I will grab the roller today and try and get moving towards ABQ tomorrow morning. Truck decided to act up last night, got flashed to pull over by some friendly folks, I thought my bed load was unsecured, turns out my rear tails were not on with the headlights on. Put a new fuse in it and I guess something shorted to the washer circuit as when I turn the headlights on the washer turns on... Pulled the variable speed washer box and that resolved the issue for now.

Also I found one of the two possible dealer badges for the Texas truck and purchased it through ebay. Its the earlier Bruner Chevy, AMC, Jeep badge. Still searching for a plastic Bruner Chrysler Dodge Jeep. Looking at the Bruner history there could be another variation of Bruner Chevrolet Jeep if they dropped the AMC name instead of using up the AMC badges but it would depend on what month they changed the Jeep dealer over in 1990 to know which one is actually correct =P

Plan is to make the decent looking one a bed-less roller and sell it to a member for scrap price so it can be used for another project! I refuse to scrap a salvageable Comanche at this point. But the decent looking one will need fairly extensive work done on the drivers frame rail. Its not rusted through but it will need to be fully cut out and a new piece welded in to be done correctly. Plus it has the engine, trans, drivetrain, bed, etc that I want. The doors and hood are okay on it but they are aftermarket and not originals anyway. But if someone has another perfect bed in the PNW and wants to trade for the North East roller with the Cali bed let me know =P

So I have two paths I can take: SA -> Albuquerque -> Salt Lake City -> Portland OR SA -> Denver -> Boise -> Portland I had a big brain moment also and I am contacting the offsite, gated, airport parking places to see if they can accommodate me parking overnight and I will just stay at airport hotels.

The decent looking one needs rust remediation on the frame rails and floorboards again, the paint is failing on multiple panels, and it needs at least under dash wiring. I will not be tearing it apart until the other one is a perfect and painted roller. My easiest way to the best Comanche is to get the Texas one up to 100% as it has essentially no rust and both of them would need a repaint. edit: only thing coming off the good looking one short term is the bed and tailgate. Plan to fab the tank up so I can still drive it around the property while the paintwork gets done on the bed.

Its been about a year since I last rented one. I did go ahead and just buy a dolly. Unfortunately, no one locally had one with trailer brakes and the one I bought is definitely an EX-Uhaul one but it does have Late 2019 tires on it and an ATV winch which is very useful. As far as legalities. I have a Texas Transport Permit for the truck, a bill of sale for the dolly, insurance on both the towed truck and the truck I am towing it with, Everything is strapped down nicely and the lights work. Hopefully if I do get stopped I have enough documentation to not get in trouble. Probably leave on Wednesday.

Alright so I actually have a planned path for this truck and it involves my other truck. For the last year I have been stuck in Portland for work and have been mostly away from these projects. One of the guys that I worked with shares a resto shop with his dad. Big Mopar folks with a bunch of old Dodge's and Plymouth's. His paint and body work is immaculate and as I am still without a shop I plan to have this trucks body done by him. Body Plan: - Use the running 1991 and haul it and this truck to his place near Portland. - This cab/frame, the other 1991 bed from the running truck, a 1986 Junkyard tailgate, 1996 Junkyard doors, 1991 Junkyard header panel, 1989 hood from my old eliminator (sold to a friend), and the fenders from the running 1991 will all get media blasted. - Everything will be sprayed with Eastwood 2-part epoxy primer, and everything will be edge painted with Nason Red Base and re-assembled on a rotisserie. - Underbody and bed frame rails will be Raptor Lined - Body work will be completed and sealed with Nason (or other brand) sealer. - I plan to tuck the harness (custom year 2000 engine harness), and I will also be cutting a hole in the drivers inner fender to accept a 1997+ washer bottle. - BDF Hidden Winch Mount - Factory front bumper (with fairlead cutout), factory fender flares (not sure if I am going to use the aggressive 1996 flares or the earlier normal Comanche ones), Factory rear bumper Engine Bay Wiring Plan: - 2000 Manual Trans Cherokee ECU with HP Tuners and OBD2 - Custom engine bay harness that will be tucked behind drivers fender and through cowl. Based off 2000 model harness but modified and probably will have my harness guy source all new connectors and I will custom fab once I have the prototype finished and working. - Coil packs instead of Dizzy - ECU control to relay for dual factory electric fans (LHD Standard + RHD Standard). Not sure if I will run single relay or dual relay and not sure if I care to individually control fans. I think I may just have them set up to both come on or both stay off depending on ECU command. - Jeep Cables for heavy duty cables - Relay driven headlights and Fogs. Header panel connector will be swapped from the crappy one to a multipin Deutsch connector - Probably an OBA setup that I hope I can shove in the passenger cowl. If I can't fit it there then I may not do OBA. On/Off control will be engine bay only. - Still researching but I am likely to pre-wire for a wet shot nitrous kit as well. Engine Plan: - Running truck has an ATK "205HP" 4.7L stroker in it right now. I plan to use the bottom end on this motor as is (potentially swap for forged rods if I decide to run nitrous). - More aggressive cam, engine doesn't breath at all with whatever they installed on it. Have not dyno'ed it but I imagine that it drops off rapidly as early as 3500 RPM when it runs out of air. - Built head, still doing research on this but I am thinking a late HO head (pre-0331) with Chevy valves and mild porting. Try and keep compression in the same range of 9.3:1 - Coil packs instead of Dizzy, 2000 ECU, etc. - Roller rockers - I notice that I have a small increase in temp at idle (not related to fans) so I think I am just a tad low on coolant flow at that engine speed. I am going to try a high flow T-Stat and housing. Interior Plan: - Relocate factory fuse block to get it away from the clutch master. While I do not like additional connectors I will likely run a Deutsch multi-pin to the fuse block so I can put a bulkhead on the firewall and prevent air leakage around the craptastic fuse block connector. - Standalone audio harness, factory head unit modified to accept bluetooth through a mini-DAC/Amplifier mounted where the auto trans controller would be. Out to crossovers and Morel Tweeters in factory tweeter location and out to Morel 5.25" components in the doors. Behind seat location will have 5x7 Morel Components and a Kenwood self powered sub - Full sound deadening - HVAC fan will be re-wired to have a relay control for high speed with a more direct path to battery. - Clock VFD display will be run from a microcontroller to display AFR instead of time - Modified Cherokee overhead console with a scangauge integrated into it. - Chevy auto-dim rearview with temp and compass - Wire passenger side window for power - Have second switch on power controls on drivers side be for a latching relay for vehicle killswitch. - 5V converter under dash for USB power for phone. - Dash has full gauge set with 120MPH speedo, Oil P in Bar, Temp in Celsius. Black face instead of standard Gray - Otherwise stock gray eliminator interior Misc mostly from running truck: - NP242 from running truck - AX-15 - Dana 44 Rear (may swap trac-lok with tru-trac) - 3.55 gears - D30 non-disco front - Rear discs - May convert to WJ front brakes/knuckles/steering if I can shove them under the stock 15" wheels - Roll bar - Trucklites headlights Where it is now: - I have collected 90% of the above components and most of it will be salvaged off the other 1991 Eliminator. This Texas frame/cab is way better than the one that came with the other eliminator from a rust standpoint. The "Other" 1991 Eliminator (Eventual Donor)

I need to update this full thread with all of the stuff from Limey. I have a plan for this truck but I need to go find my other build thread. Been stuck in Portland for work but I am hauling my trucks up there for my buddy to do the body work on one of them while I work in Seattle.

Man this is a great build!

Wow... I am a year late on this but I left that job and am starting a job in Tukwila here in a week or two.

Sick! I am literally hauling my 1991 and the new frame to Portland for a buddy of mine to do body work on it next week. Working out of Tukwila for the next year or so.

Arkansas is a hell of a lot closer than Portland. But... It is in fact Arkansas =P

I will definitely be going through Wyoming to avoid the steep mountains. My worst case is L+C trail which is still way way less steep than the pass. Not a chance in hell that I would take a Comanche towing anything through the pass.

I have roughly 200-300lbs of auto rotisserie strapped to the rear bed rails. It is probably pretty close to 50/50 but the springs are meant for more weight than they are loaded to. I probably have enough budget shocks laying around at the garage to put shocks on the chassis pretty cheap. Also that VW is sick. I have a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI as my daily.

I think Flat Tow might be the way but I need to hook it up and see if I can get to at least 60 safely. Have 2k miles to travel like that. I have a BDF winch mount I can install to have a really good point for the flat towing but I will likely need to put in shocks and stuff if I flat tow it.

Yeah I think I may go the "tell UHaul it's a 1998 Tercel route so that they don't get upset and let me rent it...