Dickinson County Comanche

Well, it seems as if the swap is going to be more of a necessity now. Engine ran really hot going the 20+ miles home at 70. I don’t think anything is broken, i.e. head gasket, head cracks, etc. But to add insult to injury, the PukeGoat absolutely refuses to stay in 4th, you have to put your feet on the floor and pull it in order to keep it in. So, it looks like when I get the tractor sold, I’ll know what to do. Also, @Pete M my donor truck does have a full set of decent red fender flares, if you’d want them. I’m parting the truck out (1990 eliminator) in order to see if I can make money off the swap in order to put back into other areas of the truck. (Like shocks) so they’re all game if you want them. They’ll probably have to be repainted though, unless they’re one color all the way through, which then a good buff and maybe some clear coat will fix them.

Well good, I’m glad that they aren’t spreading a virus into my truck. I already have one to worry about...

I went and entered my first Cars&Coffee with it today after ripping the bench all the way out. Had a blast, and a surprising amount of positive feedback. I wasn’t sure about cars and coffee at first, but it’s basically a car show without the day drinking, and entry fees.

I don’t think so. But then again, I’m no rodent expert. I live by one simple motto: ”If I see it, I kill it, because if you don’t, it’s going to be back”

I’ll probably do it when I pull the motor, since it won’t be used and thus the carpet can sit and dry out. It’ll also be a great time to look at the floorboards to see if anything needs to be done (probably not, but I’m going to check anyway) Also, I wanna note here, I don’t have A/C in the thing, so it’s a windows down all the time kind of driver (especially because it’s bloody hot here in KS, even when it’s raining) so if that helps my point for breathing in the air, but I will agree, hopefully I’ll stop getting stuff in my eyes while driving. (I always thought it was headliner glue, but I think I could have been that)

I will have to put that on my: to do eventually list. Overall the carpet is actually in surprisingly good shape considering how it was used. There aren’t any tears in it and even the rubber pad for the petals isn’t even worn. But, I might have to do that to get the slight odor out of it. Pros and cons of it being parked in a barn, the interior isn’t sun faded, but is full of rats.

I think I just sucked up about 17 pounds of rat poop. Yuk.

Sure, although it might have to be tomorrow, I’m a bit held up at the moment...

Well, it must have been a busy day on the 26th because according to the sheet, it wasn’t completed until almost 18:00. I almost though the reason why it kept braking down was because it was built on the rear end of a Friday. I’m just glad it’s there. The panel has been off before and I’m surprised that they didn’t take it off at that time.

There’s a bunch of 3-digit build codes for (I’m going out on a limb here) all Chrysler vehicles of the era. I was able to make out a few for the MJs, but not a ton.

Door panels hold mysterious surprises... Factory build sheet. This says it was built on Jan 27th, not the 26th. for people who know more than me, how many of the sheets are around the vehicle? This is #2. The first one I found was under the drivers seat and all that remained was smaller than that piece of tape that held it on.

Swing arm straight up vertical. I bled only the rear brakes and my rear brakes returned, couldn’t get the front bleeders loose with my little ratchet. The brakes are manageable now and my light is off, so I’d consider it a success. Hopefully the grass doesn’t die from all the brake fluid on the ground now, and I’ll have to bleed the fronts once I get some time. (And maybe some more leverage)

While my Comanche was parked over the course of 2 days I almost completely lost my brakes. The rears are worse than the fronts. The fronts will lock up, I'm not sure the rears are working at all. Parking brake also doesn’t work anymore. Any ideas? It must be both rear brakes as it doesn’t pull while braking. The reservoir was low, but not empty and hasn’t lost any fluid since I topped it off. Can’t see any leaks, brake proportional valve is still installed, but is tied up, and is also not leaking. (When I checked initially, it was down, but brake pressure never increased when putting it back up. None of the lines are leaking up to the master, nor is the master. The brake light on the dashboard is illuminated, but will go out if I pump the brakes. I didn’t want to get pads yet, but if I have to I have to. Don’t really want to drive it like this up to the Cars and Coffee meet. Pedal basically goes to the floor and I have maybe 1/2 of decent brakes. Brakes worked like a dream before this.

Yes. Oh. Thanks for telling me. Luckily I haven’t lost any of them and they all seem to be in good condition, if not a little sun faded, but if I do, I’ll have to give it a look.

Well, I’m a liar. Though I would have done stuff by now, but “you can’t rush art” so, here we are. I’m having a love-hate relationship with the paint. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s really bad. I pulled all the trim off because the adhesive is starting to get weak and the off-roading I did started to make some of the pieces start to peel. I don’t know if they recreate them or not, but I’d rather not take the chance. I did a drag race against my friends HO XJ, and I lost. Oh well, mines rarer? I suppose? Also, I left my windows down and it rained, that allowed all the rat smell to leave the seats, so it’s been sitting in the shade with the windows down in order to get the musk out. Yuk. And sense I’m going to have to clean it anyway, I pulled down the headliner. It’s a bit annoying when it falls down in front of you and you can’t see. It was more of a safety thing. Also, the TPS went kaput so it doesn't idle worth a damn when hot. So that’s your local nincompoop driving around his truck for this week. Have a nice week, be safe, and please wear your seatbelt. (Added info: I used it as a tow rig. It hated that. Maybe the 430 is too heavy?)

Thanks. No, go right ahead. I’d be honored.

Ok. I know I haven’t been retroactive on my original plans for this, (I said I would start doing stuff in, like, June.) but I’m finally taking initiative to get there. I hope to buy my parts truck sometime soon, one I sell my old diesel Garden Tractor (John Deere 430, I’ll provide a pic) to get some funds. Once I have that, I’ll get to pulling the motor out, putting the tranny in and then probably driving it for a while before I continue on the “period correct” part. I will need, however if they are here, a schematic for the original SWB roll bar. There are several good welders near me who can whip something like that up. Paint will probably happen next summer (that way it’s hot for the paint to cure) and most of the other things’ll happen before then. But for now, I’ve driven it a bit and figured out that my fan clutch is bad, but it won’t stop me from driving it. Took these pics tonight during a cruise. It’s surprising how little I know of the scenery by me just a few miles to the north. (Also, my hard tag arrived)

It looks like the trucks equipped with the old Atari-style wheels had black column. The nicer ones with the brushed spoke wheels had the honey columns.

That’s a big 2.5L...

I know it’s late, but I was kept up thinking about this trucks color. Did the forest service ever purchase Comanches? The area code is apparently lost to time, so it could be a real possibility. I’ve just never seen another Comanche in this color. If it’s been repainted, they tore this whole thing down to do it. (Interior is green inside) it could also explain the nice motor but overall cheap package. (Column shift, bench seat, non-chrome steel wheels)

I’d like to ask specifically if you’d want to be next to the ocean. If a lake suits you, north Central Kansas would be nice. Milford lake is big, you can fish on it, and has several nice beaches (if you have a boat, you can get to the nicer beaches) Flatter than a pancake, lots of open dirt roads to cruise around on. Topeka would be pretty close, but it’d be on the lower side of 100,000, and you can get there in less than an hour if you roll down I-70. Housing is relatively cheap, and you can probably get your hands on a nice ranch (With no farmland) with a couple out buildings for less than $500,000. Then again, I’m not a realtor, so I’d take this with a grain of salt, or maybe the whole shaker.

After 4 months of ownership, my truck is finally road legal now, with my new (temporary) tag installed, haha. First time it’s been registered since 2002. I also am considering buying that 86 to part out, if anybody’s interested in parts, PM me and I’ll see if it’s there. If I have enough interest I’ll buy it. Although, some parts I want, such as the chrome grille corners... I also took the Comanche for a little bogging. Had about 3” near me recently and I took it down a path that was slicker than a bald-tire semi on a mile of wet asphalt. And she just floats. I guess the wide tires and 3600 pounds helps. I also would like to get the old dealership stickers remade. I don’t know what they exactly looked like (or if they even made any) but I want to get some mocked up to put on before I eventually get it repainted. So that’s this week. I might go and do some 4wd torque slides in the mud, and then probably a wash...

Personally, I’d try to find a new column. Manual or floor shift auto columns are pretty common, and are a pretty easy swap. I’ve never done it, so I don’t have any experience, but I have looked into it for my Pioneer.

So, I made the startling discovery that there was gas in my oil when I went to swap my oil filter. It isn’t too much, but it is gassy-smelling, has a foul taste, is way too thin to be 10W30 (I had a bottle on hand and compared), and doesn’t smell, taste or even look similar to other oils in some of my other vehicles. I’m guessing one of my brand new injectors has failed and is causing the excess fuel pressure to run out into the cylinder after I shut it off. I’m going to pull plugs and see which one is washed. (Or, at least, see if one is washed.) to find the culprit. But, the damage has been done. I just recently changed the oil and the oil pressure didn’t recover. What kind of damage would this cause? If it’s too bad, I have another 107K Renix motor I’ll swap in, but I’m a bit afraid to since it was in a rollover accident, and it smoked pretty good the last time I saw it run, which, I suppose, could be oil he put in the cylinders, but I highly doubt it, but It’s probably stem seals, which I could just swap over my head since it doesn’t leak or smoke.

Does anybody know why there’d be gas in the oil? Does the Renix run at a lower pressure than the HOs do? I put in the later style sender. Also, what could be the damage that that would have caused? Should I consider putting a new motor in?