89 MJ

Mmm, 40 GMC, I have a 40 Chevy. Any chance you have an extra windshield frame that isn’t rusty? Sorry to be off topic. I suppose your options are to replace the starter to try hitting it lightly with something to try and free the Bendix up, although the latter is not recommended.

Huh, I updated that I put the Eagle away, but I never said what I did before the Eagle went away. I got a new driver seat and some other interior trim pieces in the correct color that are much nicer than mine.

That would look pretty good!

That makes the interior in my truck look pretty tame! I dig it for sure.

Great save! Looks like a pretty solid truck. What are your plans for it?

Otherwise, the ACC reproduction carpeted floor mats seem to fit well and keep the dirt off of the carpet quite nicely. You probably don't want them if you have muddy feet often, though.

The rubber flooring isn't particularly rare. It's just what the base model trucks had instead of carpet.

Nice! I also have a build thread of my dad's 53 Chevy COE on here. They are neat trucks for sure!

Very nice. That seems to the a great size on these trucks. It seems to be a good balance between offering more ground clearance and giving a good stance without sacrificing much for performance or fuel economy.

For anyone wondering, it is the son of Matt from Matt's Off Road Recovery. He does pretty cool work with the editing too. I like watching his channel about as much as his dad's.

Indeed he did. I believe between him and my father, they had like 5 or 6 of these trucks over the years. He also had a 67 Chevelle SS396 in Marina blue that he got from—get this—my great-great grandmother.

The bed is on. I do have rear fenders for it, they should be in my dad’s enclosed trailer. The truck didn’t have the bed on when we got it because my grandpa was doing some work on something towards the rear before progress on the truck stopped. The bed had to go on though because my parents bought a “new” truck. It’s a ‘17 Sierra that’s been hit on the right side. So we have 77 years of GM truck technology sitting in our driveway. And the fuel pressure regulator got replaced. The hood got warped when that middle piece got welded in, so it’s going to be replaced by a stock hood. Yup, that’s a 2” receiver on a street rod. I told you we use our hot rods for work. And I also see that this has the pre-54 bedsides. I thought it had the post-54 bedsides. My parents’ new truck. It’s a double cab, so it has the shorter rear doors, with a 6.5” bed. 5.3, Z71 package, 6 passenger interior, and heated seats. Should be a good truck. The right side doors are in the bed. The right rear is straightenable, but the right front needs replacing. As does the fender and front bumper. The rocker panel is also pushed in. It also mangled some of the suspension, but that was fixed pre-picture.

Those wheels are going to look great on that truck! I don't remember if you already said, but what tire size are you planning on going with?

If it makes good oil pressure (I believe 20lbs at hot idle is considered sufficient), I would leave it. No sense in spending unnecessary money, and the newer aftermarket parts tend to fail quicker than OEM do.

We've shipped wheels at my work back in WI. We would box them and put packing material around them in the box. Never had one damaged, but we usually shipped steel wheels. We boxed them individually and the price usually came to $50 per wheel.

Looks great! Still liking not getting up with having to go to work everyday? You sure are making a lot of progress in a short period of time without that job, so I'm sure that feels good at least.

That sucks that it took 14 months to get basically nothing done and that it can't even be one color when driving it. Do you have a new plan for painting the truck?

If you are going for 33s, I'd gear to 4.56s. My truck is on 31s with 4.10s and it is happy with that. I'd also do the original color; there are soooooo many grey vehicles on the road.

This line made me lol

Check out an AuVeCo catalogue, I think that’s what mine are.

September 2022-The SoCal Build Build Thread – https://comancheclub.com/topic/66920-1988-socal-jeep-comanche-build/ Year/Model – 1988 Jeep Comanche Pioneer. Found it in rough shape in 2018 from a guy who had just bought it from the original owners (supposedly a farm in Southern California) but couldn’t handle all the maintenance it needed. All the plastics were dried and cracked and the paint was heavily oxidized. The engine also ran very badly and had a few sensors clipped off. There was also fine dust in places that I didn’t know existed! But, no rust whatsoever and the body was mostly straight, and it had the elusive Dana 44 axle and the Short Bed/4.0L/AW4/4WD combo I was looking for. Drivetrain – 4.6L ATK Stroker, AW4, NP231, D44 rear, HP D30 front (vacuum disconnect “locked” in place). Stock gears for now. Original engine encountered a cracked block/head around ~210k miles which resulted in a large amount of coolant in the oil necessitating the replacement. Also running bored throttle body and Flowmaster muffler (basically whatever I can get away with and still pass smog). Cooling – Mishimoto open cooling system conversion, bypassed heater valve, 97+ overflow canister, aux PS cooler, electric fan wired to override switch (in addition to built-in temp switch/AC trigger). Electrical/Ignition – Way too much time went into this. I rewired the entire RENIX electrical system to eliminate fusible links and leverage a 97+ PDC and shorten/eliminate all unnecessary wiring (both in-cab and engine harness). Took way too much time and probably wouldn’t do that again. I’m sticking with RENIX ECU because I need to pass CA smog (which necessitates keeping EGR and the RENIX system). REM for monitoring sensors. Also running an auxiliary relay center for the front lights/fogs/horn. Keyless entry/remote start installed. 97+ power windows/door locks/mirrors all functional. Suspension/Steering – 2” lift shackles and coil spacers. Stock ZJ steering and RC adjustable track bar. Bilstein shocks up front. JKS sway-bar disconnects. Will be doing 5-6” lift with long arms and rear SOA in near future. Interior – Full 97+ interior swap minus the dash, as well as leather power/heated 2014 Cherokee KL seats. Custom labelled switches in the dash. All interior parts painted SEM grey to match. New carpet and headliner, as well as adhesive insulation on floors, ceiling, doors. JBL 6.5” three-way speakers in the doors and rear panels. Brakes – WJ booster and master cylinder. Eliminated load sensing and proportioning valve (replaced with Wilwood manually-adjusted prop valve under the hood). Lighting – LED headlights, 3” Amber RIGID LED pods in front and rear bumpers, LED signal/brake/blinker lights all around (with inline resistors to maintain proper blinker speed). Exterior – 97+ front clip and doors. JCR bumpers front and rear painted with Rustoleum Hammered black paint. The rest of the body is Chrysler Flame Red PR4 paint, including door jams and underside of hood. Professional spray-in bedliner. Key Parts tail lights. The original tailgate was very beat up from farm work and slightly bent and I was lucky enough to find a mint tailgate from a ’91-92 MJ that had never been used to swap in prior to paint. I kept the original tailgate as a memento for the wall of the garage. Wheel & Tires – JK Rubicon take-off’s (255x75r17 BFG Mud Terrain on Jeep “Hardrock” wheels). I like the look of these wheels but may likely consider upgrading to the wider Quadratec version with 33x12.50r17 tires. I also am using 1.5” adapters to run these, which gives me some angst… Misc – Still a ton of remaining things to do on the truck. I’m planning to build up the axles/suspension next (non-disconnect HP D30 with WJ outers/brakes and selectable locker, re-gear front/rear to 4.56, ~5-6” SOA lift), as well as re-doing the original headliner (perhaps with overhead console). Best MJ story – I haven’t driven it too much as I’ve either been in the process of building it or moving around the country. But every time I take it out I always get at least one compliment and people are surprised when I tell them it’s over 30 years old (most think it’s a new truck). CC is Awesome! Why? Great group of enthusiasts that are always willing to help and treat each other with respect. The build threads and how-to guides cover a huge expanse of mild restorations to wild V8-powered off-road toys. Pics (newest to oldest): At the paint shop: 97+ parts installed prior to paint: When I bought it: Admittedly, 97+ swaps are not my favorite, but man this truck can pull it off 100%. Congrats and beautiful truck @SoCalJeepComanche

Looks like a good solid foundation. What's the story with the dentside? I love those trucks too.

You actually have to rebuild the hub assemblies. You can buy new bearings and seals and press them into the hubs. They aren't difficult if you have access to a press and can get the hub off. I even figured out how to do it without removing the CV axles. Otherwise you can modify the knuckle to accept an MJ/XJ wheel bearing. I was planning on doing that until I saw that Rare Parts had the correct ones. I was going to look at other vehicles with 2wd that I could use the lower ball joint for.

That's exactly the way I look at it too. And people think finding MJ parts is difficult (which it is). Finding Eagle parts makes finding MJ parts look like you're trying to source parts for a 69 Camaro

@acfortier, I don't know if you need them or not, but Rare Parts has lower ball joints in stock. These are stupid hard to find and they are the only company that reproduces them. They are $116 each, plus shipping. Their stock is off on their website, so you have to call them. Their phone number is 800-621-2005. The upper ball joints are reproduced. They have at most 4 pairs left, so you'll want to jump on it soon.