coolwind57

I chose to replace my gas tank strap bolts with stainless steel. These had complete eyelet tops, which I cut and made them into a slight hook to better bite inside the bed pockets. I might highly recommend replacing your rust-prone originals next time you mess with your tank. I had to drop the tank twice already and it sure was nice not having to fight a corroded nut and VERY long thread shaft. I also coated the tank straps with POR-15. They were in decent shape so I chose to retain them.

And compare this pic of the spare tire carrier with the BEFORE pic posted earlier. Much better. I chose not to top coat. Shouldn't loose much UV color loss with it being under the bed. And I wouldn't really care anyhow.

As mentioned earlier, the bed underside was in really good condition. It was the top of the frame and certain installed parts under there that took to the rust significantly more. Anything that took on rust, I hit with POR-15. Muffler hanger: I had just enough left over to get those spring shackles:

Here's an update on my Rock Auto inner fenders now that I got them installed. Check out this pic: I suppose they just don't make "em like they used to. The other side isn't quite as bad. I'll throw some black Gorilla tape on there until I can figure out a more permanent solution. Maybe a mud flap or something. Looks like PO maybe had some on at one point based on those drilled holes there.

Picked up mine locally from a dealership, although they had to order it in....two times. PITA. Anyhow, I chose to use the huge Wix 51773 filter. Yea, that sucker was on there good. Took some effort to break her loose.

Pics of her back on the road this morning. All is well, except when I attempted to fill the new tank. Pretty obvious that I didn't get that dang sender/tank gasket on correctly.

I removed my license plate harness lights. They do have bullet connectors. I also have a second set of bullet connectors and I'm not sure what they were for, as nothing is plugged into them. Anyhow, removing the light harness didn't solve my problem. I drove the truck last night for the first time in weeks. Here's more info on what's going on with my screwy lights: 1. Pull on headlight switch and headlights work as designed. Rear brake lights not illuminated. No dash lights. 2. When I press brake pedal, rear brake lights activate and driver's front turn signal activate. And dash lights come on. As soon as I let off pedal, these lights deactivate. 3. Driver's side turn signals do not work. Passenger side does. I remember that I had accidentally pulled my ground wire from my new relay-driven headlight harness on the driver's side. I did this when I was pulling my air box. I reinstalled it ok. Since my problems seem to be focused on the driver's side, I think I'll inspect my harness closely tonight at that location. I'll also check the connection of the main wiring harness going to the rear end. This terminates to a connector that isn't far from the rear tail lamps. I disconnect this to remove the bed. Perhaps I don't have it connected well. I also need to check the aftermarket trailer harness connections, as a PO had spliced into the rear harness section. I have a feeling it wasn't done so well. Absolutely worst case scenario is that I smashed the wiring behind the fuel tank or something. I had to pull the new tank twice as I struggled to get the rubber hoses connected and aligned well at the gas cap. Good Lord above, I cringe at the thought of having to remove that tank to access possibly damaged wiring. So that's my plan of attack tonight. I certainly welcome more troubleshooting ideas, friends. I am dying to have this thing back on the road! Ok, got her figured out. As I was going through my troubleshooting steps, I found that a 2057 bulb had seized (looked partially melted) inside it's socket. Driver's side rear. Had to break the bulb and removed the metal housing with pliers. It was seized in there really good. Cleaned out all the hardened goop from all rear sockets --my fronts are all new. Checked fuses under the dash. Sure enough, Running Lights fuse was blown. Put a new one in there, and she's totally back to life! I almost shed a tear of joy. Just so strange that this all caused the weird dash and front-signal-lights-coming-on-when-the-brakes-were-applied. Perhaps I'll never know why this happened. Just thrilled to have her completely back to life.

Sounds along the lines of what I have been thinking. Cable clamps are pretty fresh and clean, with some OxyGuard lubeing the two mating surfaces. I figured that the tail lamp wiring and the wiring going to the fuel tank probably wouldn't effect the actual cranking of the engine, but hey I'm still a MJ newby. Thanks a milllion, Pete M and Cruiser54!! 'll take a close look at the starter and starter relay connections tonight. Just weird that it may be coincidental. Sure hope that's the case. Thanks to you guys, I got her cranking over last night. Removed, cleaned and oxyguarded starter relay connections. Removed, fiddled-with and reinstalled my negative battery cable at battery. She cranked over just fine and EVENTUALLY started. Took about an hour of off-and-on cranking to purge air after that brand new fuel tank install. Engine finally fired and now she runs like a scolded dog. Noticed that the negative engine ground cable is in really quite bad condition. I need to replace that entire cable soon.

I removed my license plate harness lights. They do have bullet connectors. I also have a second set of bullet connectors and I'm not sure what they were for, as nothing is plugged into them. Anyhow, removing the light harness didn't solve my problem. I drove the truck last night for the first time in weeks. Here's more info on what's going on with my screwy lights: 1. Pull on headlight switch and headlights work as designed. Rear brake lights not illuminated. No dash lights. 2. When I press brake pedal, rear brake lights activate and driver's front turn signal activate. And dash lights come on. As soon as I let off pedal, these lights deactivate. 3. Driver's side turn signals do not work. Passenger side does. I remember that I had accidentally pulled my ground wire from my new relay-driven headlight harness on the driver's side. I did this when I was pulling my air box. I reinstalled it ok. Since my problems seem to be focused on the driver's side, I think I'll inspect my harness closely tonight at that location. I'll also check the connection of the main wiring harness going to the rear end. This terminates to a connector that isn't far from the rear tail lamps. I disconnect this to remove the bed. Perhaps I don't have it connected well. I also need to check the aftermarket trailer harness connections, as a PO had spliced into the rear harness section. I have a feeling it wasn't done so well. Absolutely worst case scenario is that I smashed the wiring behind the fuel tank or something. I had to pull the new tank twice as I struggled to get the rubber hoses connected and aligned well at the gas cap. Good Lord above, I cringe at the thought of having to remove that tank to access possibly damaged wiring. So that's my plan of attack tonight. I certainly welcome more troubleshooting ideas, friends. I am dying to have this thing back on the road!

Yes, i agree. Every once in a while I can see some very tiny bubbles that had formed and popped, but this is not noticeable unless you really look hard for them. I also see a few places missed by the second coat. Again, very minor and hard to find. The biggest tip I can give when using Monstaliner is this: roll slowly. Fast rolling causes problems. Change out rollers frequently. Rollers are very stiff in the beginning and soften after 10-minutes or so. That softening is actually the material chemically breaking down. When that happens, you get debris from it into your finish. Buy extra rollers and take your time. I had no rust through on the body to start with, which is nice (and rare). No dents on the cab forward. My bed had several dents. I beat the worst ones out a bit, but I chose not to take the time to do any real bodywork to fix them. I actually wanted a "road-worn" retro-type of look, believe it or not. Plus I haul stuff on occasion, so I wasn't wanting a trailer queen.

Update: My brakes ROCK now! Got my MJ running last night and took her for a spin. My brakes were not so bad to begin with. But now they are excellent! Feels like I have 4-wheel disc brakes. Many thanks to Cruiser54 for the advice on ridding the front proportional block. I have killer good brakes, and I now have the ability to adjust the rears (or shut them down if I choose to).

I got her running last night. My lights are all screwy, so I have to dig around and see what's up with that. After a bad contact somewhere, either my ground wire going to battery or starter relay, she fired to life after A LOT of cranking. New gas tank, new filter, so I expected this. Took her for a quick spin and the brakes are AWESOME! Thank you, Cruiser54! Here's what I had done to the brakes: 1. Remove front proportional block. Install inverted flare T to the front brake lines. 2. Remove both rusty lines going to rear (Height Leveling Valve had already been bypassed by PO). 3, Install single brake line to rear, with adjustable proportioning valve installed under the hood near the master cylinder. I've now got awesome, unrestricted pressure to front brakes and much better, controllable pressure going to the rear. I am not kidding, it feels like I have four wheel disc brakes now. I would recommend this mod to those stock brake guys not so interested in going rear disc brakes and/or upgraded master cylinder. I actually was planning on eventually upgrading my master cylinder, but I swear I have no intention to do so now.

Low, low miles on a very clean truck. You reckon someone moved the 4X4 emblems to the back quarters? Hadn't seen them there before. https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/d/jeep-comanche-pioneer-4wd/6419946473.html

Pretty cool, -check this out: https://kokomo.craigslist.org/pts/d/fiberglass-jeep-comanche-hood/6420789588.html

It's cold here in Southern Indiana, below freezing point the last few days, but I've got the truck in a heated garage. I have all new sockets up front and will give the rears a good cleaning and relube tonight when I get home. Battery is less than a year old. I just remembered that I crushed a rear bulb over the last couple of weeks. I replaced a backup bulb and possibly a brake/turn signal bulb since I had it running last. I'll go back and recheck that i put the correct replacements back in. Maybe that has something with the funky front turn signal lighting up during braking..

Sounds along the lines of what I have been thinking. Cable clamps are pretty fresh and clean, with some OxyGuard lubeing the two mating surfaces. I figured that the tail lamp wiring and the wiring going to the fuel tank probably wouldn't effect the actual cranking of the engine, but hey I'm still a MJ newby. Thanks a milllion, Pete M and Cruiser54!! 'll take a close look at the starter and starter relay connections tonight. Just weird that it may be coincidental. Sure hope that's the case. Any thoughts on the front turn signal lighting up when I press the brakes? The brakes do operate normally, but the left turn signal wasn't working properly, unlike the right side.

Got my truck re-assembled last night after removing bed, replacing fuel tank, coating body with Monstaliner and reassembling bed. Looks great! Added an additional ground for fuel sender/fuel pump at wiring harness as recommended by Cruiser54. Reinstalled a freshen-up stock ground at rear tail lamp. Finally all back together and I went to start it and....nothing. I ran out of time to crawl around to troubleshoot more and with the symptoms, I'm wondering if I may had missed something MJ-related that I'm perhaps not aware of. Therefore I ask for your thoughts, fellas. 1. Upon turning key to start, I hear a low hum of the fuel pump. Happily, my fuel gauge is registering correctly. 2. As I make my final turn to engage starter, I hear only a very light (and slightly delayed) click in the engine bay- but the engine does not turn over at all. There is simply nothing there. I assume the click is maybe starter solenoid. 3. The only work I'd done in the engine bay was to remove my air box. Reinstall was uneventful. 4. Another weird thing going on is my front driver's turn signal flashes when I apply brakes. That didn't happen before. 5. I have a fully-charged battery. The bed had been jostled around quite a bit with bed wiring flopping around, so maybe the brake light issue has something to do with that. I will remove a piss-poor trailer light wiring install and I hope that has something to do with it. One of the first things I plan to do is to remove my newly added ground wire at the fuel tank harness connector--just to see if this has anything to do with the no start (doesn't seem likely to me) or the weird front signal/brake issue. Perhaps I chose the wrong wire as ground (it was black as instructed by Cruiser54). But I wouldn't think it would have anything to do with the engine not turning over. I guess the big question is in fact this: Is there something I've done over the last few weeks that would affect the engine not cranking over?

it's naval tradition to name ships feminine names. The latin name for "ship" Navis, is expressed in the feminine and probably had something to do with that tradition taking root. I've not came up with a solid name for my MJ yet. I was thinking "Ol' Battleaxe". That's sometimes a "colorful" nickname for a wife, so I suppose it can still be considered feminine in that way. Ha! Back to ships, I delight in this old naval explanation: “A ship is called a she because there is always a great deal of bustle around her; there is usually a gang of men about; she has a waist and stays; it takes a lot of paint to keep her good-looking; it is not the initial expense that breaks you, it is the upkeep; she can be all decked out; it takes an experienced man to handle her correctly; and without a man at the helm, she is absolutely uncontrollable. She shows her topsides, hiders her bottom and, when coming into port, always heads for the buoys.”

BTW, rear custom bumper fabricated by krustyballer16. I had the pleasure of riding a couple hours and meeting him to pick up the bumper last weekend. The dude's got mad skills, and at such a youthful age. I like the more retro military look of this rear bumper versus the stock. Anxious to install it.

Progressing with paint scheme:

Not an additive. Visually, It's not glossy, per sae. I'd call it a Satin maybe.

Ok, got the body coated with Monstaliner. Just sat the bed back on the frame for this picture. Coating came out great, I am well pleased.

Playing around with stencil ideas today. Here's what I have in mind. USMC & Lettering (letters from my actual VIN) on both bumpers. Unit tac symbol on tailgate and again on front quarters (or possibly doors). And you know where the TP-25 goes of course. All in yellow, with tac symbol center filled in red. Letter sizing in 3" with TP-25 at 1-1/2". I used some decals I had laying around and free-handed the symbol. I got some exacto knife work to do now. I was a 3rd Surveillance Reconnaissance Intelligence Group (SRIG) guy for a while, hence the shout out to my 5th Force Recon brothers with their tactical symbol. Accuracy? Likely not so much, but it's a hellavalot of fun.

I bought the Monstaliner roll-on kit. Comes with textured rollers. I did this in my garage rehearsal studio so spraying was not an option. Two gallon kit and I had plenty. I did not do my bed interior, as I want to do that later perhaps in black. I don't think I could had pulled off the body and the bed interior with 2 gallons, but it would've been very close. Probably 1-1/2 gallons to do absolutely everything. .

I didn't have that concern, as I rolled Monstaliner. All in all, I am pleased with the texture and finish. There were a few very tiny, hardened bubbles mostly on top of the cab where one can't easily see them anyhow.