89 MJ

On the topper looks much cleaner, IMHO. Plus, the third brake light is up high on trucks anyways.

I used a brass punch and a brass hammer. Brass because it won’t create sparks.

The thread from the adventure:

June 2024 - Keep it Stock Stupid The Travelling MJ Owned by @GonzoTheGreat Build Thread- https://comancheclub.com/topic/72817-keep-it-stock-stupid/ Year/Model – ‘89 SporTruck Drivetrain- 2.5L AW4 2WD, stock Dana 35 with factory 4.56 gears Cooling- 4.0L open cooling system with stock, 4.0 electric fan with stand-alone sensor/relay Electrical/Ignition- 100amp alternator, clock panel REM II, fresh tune up, grounding improvements, battery cable upgrades, 4-pin tow harness, bluetooth amp under the dash for rear speakers while keeping factory AM system in-tact, deep-cycle battery in the bedcap/camper shell for the vent fan and LED strips, deep-cycle charging from a Victron DC-DC charger under the hood. Suspension/Steering- mostly stock, but all recently replaced, with 1” lift shackle to compensate for weight of the cap Interior- Key Parts floors, sound deadening, ACC carpet, DIY headliner, XJ laredo illuminated vanity mirror visors Brakes- CuNi lines, XJ prop valve, load sensor delete Lighting- Headlight relay harness, LED bulbs everywhere except headlights and front directionals, late-model alternating directional mod, Euramtech dome lights, courtesy and glove box lights installed Exterior- factory paint with a couple rattle can touch ups, FEY rear bumper, DIY trailer hitch with Krusty’s plates, ARE contractor cap (with vent fan and LED lights), manual side view mirrors, AVS smoker vents Wheel & Tires- Stock steelies and snow tires, and YJ “5-star” alloys with summer tires Misc- Cruise control added, power steering added, Ebay exhaust header, KJ muffler Best MJ story- Although I have countless stories from the daily driving days of my ‘88, I think the best MJ story would actually have to be driving from Boston to Costa Rica in this one. I never imagined I would be doing that at all, let alone in a 35 year old Comanche, but the truck held together perfectly, and we only had a couple of small issues. Plus I found a couple Central American MJs along the way to add to the CC registry! CC is Awesome! Why? When I first found CC, I was a super novice in the automotive world, but I had bought a Comanche, and things needed fixing. This website provided and incredible wealth of knowledge, and the people here are actually weirdly kind to one another. CC is by far the only webforum I’ve found where people have patience, and really try to help the inexperienced folks learn. There are way too many people on the internet, and especially on car forums, that just want to belittle people and make fun, but this site is different. I’m happy to be a part of this oasis of humanity.

An alternative to this is buying a high altitude CPS. It advances the timing 5 degrees.

The wheeling event didn’t happen because of rain, but I did get the tires mounted up and tested in the yard. Plenty of traction, but they look strange. The cable transfer case shifts so much smoother than the XJ/MJ linkage does.

That made a huge difference!

I bought the entire set up from JB Custom Fab. I went with the flush mount one. It includes everything you need, including hardware.

Thank you! It is a cable shifter. Actually works very well, but it’s all a tight fit.

Picked up some UTV tires for trail only use. Planning on giving them a good workout this Saturday.

You’ve got that right! I was really hoping it would look similar to your twin stick set up in your Jeep, even though one of my shifters is for the transmission.

231 is installed. To my fellow Eagle owners: don’t do this, it’s really not worth the work of trying to make a shifter fit and work. I’d recommend an NP229 or NP228.

@fiatslug87 might be able to tell you. If you post this in the registry (or if @Pete M or @eaglescout526 or someone moves it there), we might be able to find out from the build sheet.

Oscilloscopes are super cool! Pretty darn useful too.

NP231 swap has been completed. Well, that’s not true. But the transfer case is in and I’ve got low range. I do need to install the shifter and get the proper u joint straps, all before going wheeling this Saturday.

As did I. I was searching for a sport bar or an original topper. I ended up with both shortly after giving up the search.

SYE has arrived. Hopefully I can get my transfer case put together tomorrow and then installed another day. It should be in before the next wheeling trip on the 8th.

I hear that’s a common issue on SX4s. Second or third time I’d heard of it in the last month or so.

I kept the aluminum Renix valve cover on mine when I installed the 96 block and head. I think it looks cooler and is more period correct. I’d sandblast it and clear coat it first though.

Any chance you could enhance and use his profile pic? Just an idea.

One in the limited would be sweet!

Performed some rust repair. The blowby that this engine has is now much worse. Time to start looking for a new engine. This rust repair was on the outside of the frame rail near the steering box. One of the bolts was above the hole, the other two below it. Patch welded in: And all painted with Chassis Saver:

May 2024 - The BMW Powered Comanche Build Thread- https://comancheclub.com/topic/69669-1988-comanche-bmw-m57-swap-rear-coils-bobbed/ Year/Model - 1988 Laredo 120,000 miles Drivetrain- BMW M57n engine, the one from the last e46's 204hp stock. Not sure what it has now but I believe around 250-270 if I go by what the guy making the tune/ews delete box said. Straight 2.5inch exhaust from the turbo. AW4 gearbox with an adapter plate to the engine, sadly can't run it in automatic mode until I make an arduino to convert the signal from the electric BMW gas pedal to the AW4 tcm. So for now I am manually shifting it sequentially with an arduino thru nicks niftyshifter. Will be running a racing sim sequential shifter. Dana 30, trussed, non CAD, OTA track bar mount, Chromoly U-Joints, 4.88 Gearing. Dana 40 from ZJ, trussed, E-Locker, 4.88 Gearing. Home made driveshaft in the rear with double u joint for the SYE. Cooling- Mechanical fan from the M57 engine with the jeep 2.5 diesel fan shroud and electric fan in front of it. 2.5 diesel radiator so I get the in/out ports on the radiator in the right spots. Stock 4.0 renix expansion tank. External radiator for the gearbox, intercooler for the engine. extra fan in the hood. Electrical/Ignition- Removed all the fusible links and running real fuses, I think almost every cable it replaced except the ones inside the cab to all the interior stuff while doing the engine swap. Suspension/Steering- Ironrock offroad long arms and 8 inch springs with 2 inch spacers in the front, long arms and springs in the rear. Heim joint steering, WJ knuckles and hydro assisted steering. Braced steering box with a bearing holding it under the pitman arm. Interior- Not a lot has changed in here so far, no stereo, some gauges around the dash. Brakes- WJ brakes in the front, ZJ Disc brakes in the rear. Lighting- China headlights, lightbar etc. Exterior- External roll cage, steel fenders, rockslider. Wheel & Tires- 37 inch Nankang FT-9 on steel rims with diy beadlocks. Misc- Fuel tank mounted in the bed instead of under it, bed shortened 40cm. CC is Awesome! Why? I have gotten a lot of inspiration from many interesting build threads on here, I have not written a lot on here but I read everything :) This is a super cool build, @colthrax! I really like how the drivetrain is unique compared to what we're used to seeing. I look forward to future updates on this truck/

I’m with Pete. Pull the spark plugs and post up a picture. Make sure you label what hole each one comes out of.

Thank you so much for getting these posted! RIP Cruiser54.