SoloRiderForever

Pete M, I don't have to take a pic now. Simply look at the pic above - the red & white piece - it would hit the xfer (231) case when trying to go into 2-High. I simply ground an 1/8" or so off it, just at the top. But, ya know, you take it off and put it on several times before you figure out to grind it - just a little frustrating.

Eagle, I only get that impression from those that don't like that I've asked in person - that's the face they make as they're shaking their head "No"! And, since you don't like it, I assume you made the same face when you looked at the pic (there I go assumin!). But, look, that yellow that's all over this thing - it's too much. I'm looking at 90's Cherokee's right now to find a daily driver that can serve as spare parts to the Manche. Today I say one that, I like the color - but it was ALL blue! Okay, many years ago, I spent just over a couple of years putting vinyl siding on houses. If the customer wanted everything a single color, we were happy to do it. But I can't tell you how much those houses looked like a plain blob of color sitting on the lot. It didn't matter what color they chose. And it was so easy to make the house 'pop' a little bit - simply make your window trim and corner-posts another color. I simply can't emphasize what a second color would do. And it's the same with vehicles. A neutral color 'breaks' things. That's why car companies do it and that's why there are so many after-market decal kits. And look at how much they do it on Harley's - and I'm a biker. If you're painting things in one color and re-selling them - add a splash of color to break things up and sell it for even more. And more quickly - I'm convinced that cars, trucks, and bikes wouldn't come with so many color options if it weren't popular. The idea for my hood stripe - straight off the brand-new Jeeps!

No, Gjeep, I said delete when I meant a blank. I was forunate enough to grow up with a 'bumping & painting' expert (as they used to be called) as a next door neighbor. I know to be careful when trying to rub off a decal, and I know the ultimate cost! But the ultimate cost is already achieved as - like I said - it's a Blank! It was painted black underneath, the letters were taped over (as a blank), then the truck was painted yellow, and the tape was pulled off before the clearcoat went on. The only way to get that nasty word 'Classic' off of there is to repaint the entire fenders. Dang it! And, while I am nothing near rich (especially after buying this build), I might just get this paint matched and re-paint the dang things! I really hate it that much! That word 'Classic' looks so tacky!

I just followed the link provided by ghetdjc320. It showed the window, but when I went to 'proceed to checkout' I couldn't make the page take any of my information. Click on the name field, it puts the cursor there but won't show any characters I type. Then I went to both ebay and amazon and the windows didn't show up when I searched for them. Two weeks ago someone nearby posted one on Craigslist for $80. I sent four messages but couldn't get the poster to reply. BTW, according to his post he had just totalled his Comanche, so there's one less out there.

I took about 6 pics today - and not one showed it well enough to see the issue. Problem is, I can't see a thing on my phone when I'm outside, so I take a bunch of pics and hope for the best. Today it didn't work. I'll get a pic of it tomorrow.

Okay, today I went out and got a couple of rubbing compounds because I feel like the least tasteful part of this build is this emblem that got put on the fenders. The word 'Comanche' looks fine, but the word 'Classic' looks like it was done with a marker and I really hate it. So, rub it out, right? Nope. It's a delete. Painted black, taped over, and painted yellow all around it. I really hate it. The very day I bought the truck I immediately thought I'm going to have to rub that out. I don't like it and the only way to get rid of it properly is to paint both fenders again. Dang it!

I appreciate it, Eagle. That's why I ask. And I ask strangers at the gas station - not just in here. Basically I'm getting two responses - yours (which, in person looks like "Why don't you just throw yer truck in a bonfire!"), or I get a basic agreement that it looks good and that it needs something to break up the yellow. The ones that like it all say 'break up the yellow' and that last part is how I feel. I've seen lots of other hoods where they paint the two large rectangular parts of the hood differently. I think that looks kinda weird. I really do think that asking for opinions can save an entire weekend of rubbing it back out! But, Eagle, check out the next post by me in this thread!

No I couldn't! I'm no designer or artist. I'm too scared that if I were to try and get that fancy it would come out looking like an un-talented 3rd grader did it.

Because MJGomer has has a paint gun!!! Seriously, I have looked at some of the decal kits and have considered going that way. But I'm in Colorado at over 8000 feet in elevation. While I know that decals have come a long way in longevity improvements, our sun is especially harsh here. While sun damaged cars are everywhere, there's really a high percentage of them here. Plus I feel that the 'texture' of the Satin/Matte finishes more aptly matches the powder-coating of the bumpers. But mostly because I have a paint gun! That being said, I just thought - those new ugly jeep cars that have the flat-black on the hoods, are those decals? They're holding up well here if they are.

Thanx Eagle. Replacing heater cores is usually a pain, but in talking with Gjeep it sounds like these have a little extra pain to them. Fortunately with the temp swings in Colorado you usually use the heat and air if you simply drive day and night. All you guys give awsome advice. On cars/trucks I'm mostly a decent part-swapper that's willing to make mods and customize and fabricate, but mostly a part swapper. I've gotten about 3 pages thru one of Gjeep's builds and it's like art. I suspect most of the people in this forum strive to be similar. Simply put, you have to know how much guys like me appreciate guys like you! Thank you. And I hope to thank you more in the future! PS - In my own defense, I suspect that this cable that was sometimes slipping on me is a 'fix'. The stock cable must be a stock length, right? My has a screw 'tightener' on the cable end. That can't be stock! (MJGomer Defense 101).

Okay, in about a month, MJGomer here is planning on picking up a paint gun again. I've got two 1980's model Harley's that I'm stripping and prepping right now. Well, MJGomer always feels that when you pick up a paint gun you should paint things. So, I'm asking for opinions on a simple stripe that I'm considering adding to the MJ. The pic on the left is how it looks now. In the pic on the right, I've taken a couple of pieces of cardboard and painted them black and placed them in the center of the hood to decide if I like it or not. Yup, just one little stripe up the center of the hood. Satin (flat) Black - whatd'ya think? Thanks to all those with an, uhh, opinion!

MJGomer strikes again! First off, thanx to all that replied. To all of you that said, "Hey, Gomer, it's yer blend door", you were right! But one of the members here, GJeep, had contacted me about another issue. And he dogged me! "It's the blend door he kept saying." And I kept giving my Gomer responses. Well, it was cool here this morning and I got impatient waiting for thermostat to open so I took it for a ride. I got the AC blasting and I'm headed for several miles of uphill driving. And the damn AC stayed on and cool and the cab was cool the whole way!!! WTF! Well, I finally got it to fail again and found that the cable screw needed tightening - that was it! (My apologies to anyone reading this that might be named Gomer) Thread closed!

I was looking thru this thread, and remember that MJ you got to park next to? I'm pretty certain that lives here in Evergreen now, but I haven't met the owner yet. Just thought it was interesting that I looked at a two year old pic you posted and said to myself, "Hey, I know that truck!"

Things gonna be a beast!

That, cruiser54, I don't know. Havn't had the dash off yet and not looking forward to it. Do you have any more info on that Vacuum Head that you were talking about?

Even tho my truck is a new build my xfer case linkage was wonky. I looked at it, and all of those rubber gromets were new, but one was missing, causing the wonkiness. I took one look at the Borg-Warner linkage and laughed at how companies will keep engineers that make problems harder than they are and I ordered the Azzy's Design Works linkage. They tell ya it'll take about an hour. It should have. Well, I got mine on and couldn't shift to 2-High. So after several times of taking it off and re-mounting it with something turned different, I kept getting the same issue - couldn't get into 2-high. I looked at Azzy's videos and couldn't see any with my problem. What problem? The dang piece that they give you to replace the shifter - it's too wide and would hit the Xfer case! Simple fix - get out the grinder and take a eigth-inch off of it. Easy fix. Frustrating time waster. There's no reason for the part to be shaped as it is. And Azzy's didn't warn me about this issue. It could have saved me a couple of hours. I did find another video of a guy that ran into the same thing - his fix was the same as mine. And, it your crossmember is in like mine was, it's a pain using two wrenches everywhere! I didn't find it until after I had ordered the Azzy's, but I wish that I had gone with the cable shifter. It looks like a really simple and elegant fix. I'm not unhappy with Azzy's, but not happy either. ...just giving my two cents worth.

cruiser54 - Rodents? I was almost offended! So, there is now a profile picture! (I have problems uploading foto's - I make it tiny and it still asks me to crop it). scguy - I'm a Gomer, but not that much of a Gomer! I used to keep those old boxy '80's Volvo's on the road (mechanical fuel injection as opposed to electric), and I'm happy to rebuild and wrench on my old Harley's, but this is my first Jeep. Blend door? You can see it and touch it. All is good with the blend door, even the foam. Even Gomer could tell you - the blend door is fine. But what you said about the vacuum control head - That's the kind of info I need! But 'm not sure what I'm looking for. Can you elaborated please? Would there be a nipple with a bolt in it (since it wasn't used)? I don't even know what it would look like. keeponjeepin - thanx! But that doesn't work well in Colorado. Our temperatures fluctuate by 40 degrees or more, every day. It's nice to not have to open the hood to turn on heat. Or did you put the ball valve in your cab?!? Others - I'm glad your heater/AC works well with no HeaterControlValve - mine doesn't. If you can help, I would be appreciative. It's a build. Overall, whoever did it (in Alabama) they did a good job. I've got the new wiring harness, insulation glued to floors, donated interior, donated engine, I can't tell the lift but it rubs early in the turns. It's been gone thru. When I say good, the paint is beautiful, but they didn't let it dry enough before putting things back together - things like that. But they still did a very good job overall - people on the sidewalks take pics of my truck as I'm driving by. It's a beautiful truck - almost show worthy. BUT, the HVAC and cooling systems have been a bit FrankenJeep'd. From what I can tell, I have an Open/Closed cooling system - a radiator with a cap and an overflow bottle with no return line. And it had no power to the aux fan when I got it - the thing on the bumper to turn it on is gone, so for now, I've 'borrowed' the foglight switch to power the fan. I bought it in August, so I got about 1 month of high temps while driving it. It seemed to me then that the truck is hot all around the front of the vehicle, but my temp guage appears to work fine and I haven't overheated. It's been great all winter - but I never have to turn the heat on, just turn the fan up. The truck is an '88, Engine: '91, Interior: '96ish. Is there a reason - something not fitting from year to year, they changed the heater box in some year - something like that, that would have given the builder a problem when they built it? If it's 95 degrees outside and I drive for 20 min with windows up and AC on, then it's 105 inside the cab. Getting the hot water out of the heater core (by adding HCV) seems like a good place to start, right? Now about that 'Vacuum Control Head' as scguy called it, any clue where I might find one? It should be a nipple, right? Size? What's it look like? I can't find it in my Hayne's manual and I've looked for what I've guessed it might look like. This is where I'm clueless - If I get this info I'll have the HCV in the day after I get it!

I know where the heater door is. The 'noise' it makes is just the sound of the door itself closing - which I can see and feel as I'm dialing the heater control from heat to cold. Simply put, on a 90 degree day, deleting the HCV totally 'deletes' my AC to the extent that it's actually hot air that comes out the vents. After a couple of hours of riding, I've touched all wheels, yokes, trans, xfer,... nothing else is overly hot. My question is, will mid-90's dashboard controls work with an '88 heater control valve? I must have vacuum as I have AC, so I'm going to have to find where that vacuum lines is 'pinched' off, right? I know this is pretty basic, but I'm just a Gomer with tools that hasn't had this dash off yet.

I don't get it - I search all over this site and the cherokee site. Everybody says to get rid of the heater control valve. Well, I bought my truck with the HCV already gone - and my cab turns into an oven on a warm day and will totally bake you on a hot day. I mean HOT! Even with the windows open! I've checked my blend door. With the engine off you can hear the thing 'pop' shut. It appears to me to work and be adjusted just fine. But even with the AC on, which is capable of blowing cold, I get nothing but heat out from the heater box. My heat/ac controls are from mid-90's and all work fine. I'm considering putting a HCV back on, but since controls are different... Which HCV (from '88 or mid-90's)? I don't have the vacuum tank on the bumper anymore, so maybe an aftermarket cable-operated HCV? It's truly too much to stand on a hot day - and those are coming! Any suggestions? (By the way - thank you to those that have created/maintained this site!)

Thanks for your response, Brandon (even tho it's a bummer). I do appreciate your suggestion of DB Offroad. They're still priced ok. Thanks again.

I can't find actual contact info for Krusty so I can order so rock sliders from him. Anyone to help clue in the clueless (me) it would be appreciated.

Okay, I'm new here, so I hope I'm doing this right! Anyway, I swear I saw a really good posting here regarding a transmission swap from automatic to manual. Well, I've just spent the last hour searching around and can't find it. Anybody happen to have link or a search that will get me there? Thank you in advance. Also, what are your preferences for a Comanche - Auto or Manual? My feeling is that everyone will say manual, simply because Comanche's are so much fun to drive that you WANT to be an active driver!