70barracuda

I drove the truck for a good month. Manual was new to me so a big learning experience. Didn't have one issue except that the suspension was extremely clapped out. I traded rust for dried out bushing. Fine with me. So I took it off the road again and started the suspension. Now this is where I wanted to start changing things. So I did my research on lowering and began. The rear got all new poly bushings in everything. XJ shackles to lower slightly. The front I cut down some old lift springs from the xj and just cut till it leveled out. I got kyb shocks. F150 for the front and Tacoma for the rear. The fronts are a tad short but work, rear were way too short. At this time I also picked up a 8.25 to swap in. I spent a good time cleaning it up and cutting off the old brackets. Moved the truck to my house before I really dug into the rear end swap. I pulled the 35 out and got the 8.25 fitted in. I also put in some 2 inch lowering blocks for the rear. I got the pinion angle set and tacked the location of the perches in. Then took it all back apart to have them professionally welded in. While I got that done I also dropped the fuel tank to replace the pump. But also ended up buying a new tank. The original was kinda crusty and had a jb weld repair on it so why not. New one was only 80 bucks. So with a new pump I got that all in there. Also did a rear level sensor delete, splitting block delete and ran all brand new lines. Rear end also received a complete drum kit. In order to control rear bias I got an adjustable prop valve from wilwood and plumbed that in. Finally got the rear end in and got the truck on the ground for the first time in 2 weeks.

Once I got the interior in and the engine all buttoned up, I moved to the brakes. My goal for this truck is to make it a street/racer style truck. But before that I really just wanted to start driving it around. So I just wanted it good enough before I started to upgrade and change things. But me being me I hate to get into a job and put old parts back. Also if I could upgrade I wanted too because I don't wanna spend the money and do the job twice. So for the front brakes I did a full rebuild. New calipers new bearings new rotors and pads. WJ master and booster. Just cleaned the rear drums for now as I wasn't invested in the Dana 35 at all. After I got the brakes done all that was left were wheels and tires. I was trying to copy the Archer Bros style and found the same wheels for sale and went with a low pro tire. Kumho 225 50 15s. I love them. Got them on the truck, made sure everything was tight and fluids topped off and drove!

Once I got the engine running good i moved on to running wires and cleaning up alot of the factory stuff. I replaced the mechanical fan with a new electric one. It was a universal flexalite with a built in shroud. Amazingly it fit the radiator absolutely perfect. I made some mounts, wired it in, and installed a temp probe in the thermo housing. Works great and the truck barely gets over 210. So from there I moved on to the interior. Factory was grey but I did not like it at all. I wanted tan. So I found a guy parting out one in South Jersey and pulled every plastic piece I could minus the dash. Before I put the interior back together I welded up the floor hole (my first welding job, don't make fun of me), cut out all the old insulation, and dynomatted the entire truck top to bottom. I actually used a knock off brand but it worked just as good. Once that was in I bought a brand new carpet and it fit really well. The stock shifter console was not in good shape so I left it out. Just cut a hole for the boot to fit through and it came out good. Put in all the tan pieces. Orginally I wanted to paint the dash black but I actually like the grey tan combo now. The buckets were in ok shape but covered them in crappy covers until I found new seats. Recovered the headliner and sunvisors too. New aftermarket but old school radio installed as the one the PO had in there didn't really work. New speakers too. I think it came out really good. A couple weeks later I found the seats I've been searching for and got an aftermarket console for some cup holders.

Continuing with engine I tore that down to just the block in the bay and got to scrubbing. Probably went through 3 gallons of purple power. Having my Cherokee was great. Usually I could never really get involved because I had to drive it to work the next day but this one I could keeping going day after day. After I got it cleaned up I started ordering parts. Like an insane amount of parts. I got a header for a YJ which fit great except for one bolt hole. Just wallowed it out and boom. Perfect. NJ doesn't have any inspection for this old of a vehicle so I gutted all the emissions on it. I replaced the power steering pump, power steering lines, alternator with one from a 80s Caprice (105 amp). Steering box. Steering shaft. Timing chain. New seals. Rebuilt the TBI. Put in a WJ booster and master. Engine and trans mounts. Full new exhaust. Replaced every sensor except the TPS. Just adjusted that one and it was good. Cleaned all grounds. Cleaned the c101 connector. Bypassed heater for for now to eliminate the valve. yj valve cover. Definitely more stuff I will list as I remember.

after I got it home I drove it around the block and while it made it, I probably wouldn't have trusted it another block. It shook like crazy and the power steering leaked. Like full on empty the resevior in 30 seconds leak. Also would not idle unless gas was held. So I parked it in the driveway. It had been sitting under trees so it had a layer of sap, dirt, and grime all over it. Engine bay was absolutely nasty with grease. Interior was alright, but the carpet was wrecked. Spent the first week just cleaning it with dish soap and stripping it down. Took off the bed box, bed liner, front bug catcher, cb antenna, and also gutted the interior. Carpet was absolutely soaked under the mats. Only rust on the entire truck was a half dollar sized hole in the floor. That's it on the whole thing. Degreased the engine best I could before the tear down on that. These were from the initial tear down once home. The bed was in immaculate condition. I feared the worst when I pulled off the liner, but after cleaning out the 20 pounds of leaves and ants nests, it amazed me.

So I am a tad behind on documenting my build of the Comanche. I'll upload everything I got till it's all caught up to present. Timeline might be a bit off as I try to remember everything I did, so I'll try my best. Wasn't necessarily looking for a Comanche, as I just wanted a new project car and it had to be manual. I was all over the place until this one caught my eye, being a Comanche for me was the deal sealer. It was all the way in Virgina, 4 cylinder 2wd and a 5 speed ( later found out it was actually a 4). Listed at 1300 for who knows how long, I messaged him just to find a little bit about it. No rust, runs and drives, and clean title. All I really needed. I offered him 900 bucks and said I can be there Friday. Deal. Rented a u haul and towed it home to NJ with my grandpa's grand Cherokee. Must admit the 4.7 did an amazing job, no issues at all. Here's how it was when I picked it up

Well looks like I'm making a build thread. It's gonna be a huge text picture dump until I get caught up to today. As for the bar, I did find a belltech for the Blazer, and an addco, and hellwig too. Any difference between any of them? Looks like they are all 1 inch

Nah. I've thought about making one but I am bad about posting updates so I decided against it. Maybe I'll change that. Anyway just message me with what you wanna know. It's not super involved but I've been digging through threads like crazy for ideas and am getting it done.

Gotchya. Well post up once you do it. I'm already lowered so I wanna get the suspension dialed in. Rear sway bar is last on the list ( for now)

I thought about that too but being in the Northeast finding a non crusty bar is kinda tough. I'd like to buy new if I can I almost pulled the trigger on it but decided against it on the way it mounts. I got a front one for now on order.

So looking to add a rear sway bar. Found the two main write ups for short and long bed. And also how the addco kit isn't great. I have a front addco bar on order so I would like to have an addco out back too. Can't seem to find a blazer one, but the WJ one is plentiful. I have a short bed. Would the WJ work on the short? I know the shocks are located different but from the long bed write up it seems, at least to me, that I can just move the axle mounts a tad more inboard and have them clear the shock. I could be totally wrong tho. Any help here?

Definitely have drooled over that build since they posted it. But I'm saving that for my Cherokee.

So my Comanche has the 2.5 in it right now, ax4. I got the Comanche as a second vehicle but also as a fun one. I want to swap out the 2.5 for something a little more rowdy. But I can't make up my mind. I have a Cherokee with the 4.0 so not really interest in just a stock 4.0 swap. So far on my list I have a amc 304, Dodge 318 magnum, and the AMC 4.2. These choices bases on the fact I can use a ax15 and not worry about adapters and making trans mounts. The 304 would be cool but aftermarket support is limited(expensive) and it's measly output. The 4.2 would be cool as I love the straight six, keeps it a tad different from just the 4.0, and has more speed parts than the 4.0 ( at least from what I've found) also it keeps it easy to swap as I don't have to worry about making motor mounts. Now the 318 is definitely the best for modifying but will be hard to get in. I've found some threads about it but nothing too concrete. Also alot of time devoted to making mounts. But these are super cheap and speed parts are the cheapest. All of these will either be carbed or aftermarket fuel injection. Not interested in 350/ls swaps, and I know it would significantly easier. Just looking for some feedback.

I had a crowd of people asking what was in it. Eyes went wide when I said a 210 thousand miles 4 banger lol. Dyno guys where laughing too. Tried to make it to 90hp but it shredded the belt on the second run.

Just in case anyone was wondering....89HP 120FT/LB

Interior was all grey and pretty trashed when I got it. Only thing left is some sun visors and it's done (on the inside)

Does anyone know if the 89 to 90 2.5 ecu offers the same benefits as the 4.0? Or is it strictly a 4.0 upgrade? And I'll be putting up the one I got for sale soon too

Got it! Took me a bit to figure it out tho.. And ah that sucks. For some reason I thought the computers could interchange. Maybe I was thinking manual vs auto. Well now i guess I gotta swap to a 4.0 lol

Just picked up a 429 computer from the junkyard and was wondering if it will work for the 2.5. I could have sworn I saw it somewhere but can't seem to find the info again. Anyone know if it'll swap?

The gap looks way bigger in the pictures

my bad https://www.ebay.com/itm/ICI-Innovative-Creations-BR18TB-Truck-Bed-Rail-Cap/282708858059?epid=216135657&hash=item41d2c2d4cb:g:~wkAAOSwLJ9aLpxU Price has gone up a bit but theres another seller for 83 too, just search the part number br18tb no gaps at all, they are a little thick and i think the shadow makes it looks off. But they sit all the way flush. Ill get more pics up soon

they no longer make those actually. I had ordered them probably a month ago and within 2 days i got a refund and email saying they are disconntinued.

Just to let everyone know first gen s10 pickup bed side caps fit really well on our trucks. I had a hard time finding info and eventually came to a thread that said bed toppers from the S10 fit so on a whim I bought some rail caps on eBay. Fitment is great in my opinion and they were only 80 bucks. I'll post a link too.

Does a diecast count?? But for real no :/. It's my dream car, I will have one some day!

Looking for a 2wd ax4 preferably with lower miles. In the NJ/PA/NY area.