vanquishings

In the middle of doing my cabin lights. Anyone know how to get these connectors out without snipping them? Feel like I might be able to get crafty and keep them original while wiring up the Euramtec A-7180-BC s I got to slot in. Got a bit fiesty with a flat head, but no luck. Didn't want to press it before I snapped something. Not the end of the world if I have to cut them, just figured I'd take the right approach before I put out the hammer and angle grinder.

I saw a post when stock was dwindling, so I'm glad to hear they'll keep making them. I'm gonna try to keep the 3 pane just because that's what came with the truck, but if something horrendous happens, it's always good to have options. I wish the same could be said for some of the other comanche specific parts! Well I'll be damned, sounds like a need to find a new glass shop. But I probably called about a dozen places. Only 2 were even willing to discuss installing a junkyard sourced rear windshield. The custom place wasn't even interested in cutting a single pane for me. Another place wanted $1200 for a CRL 4 piece installed. It's been a journey to say the least. The junkyard that had the damaged one removed it from the car-part registry, so maybe someone snagged it. Oh, sorry, yeah I meant in pittsburgh, it's not too far out of my way. I'll shoot you a DM about it! Bah! I appreciate you looking! I'm not even sure I'd know what to do if I had the separate pieces, anyways. Thanks, though!

One of the glass guys I talked to had actually mentioned that, but said he couldn't order them. Also said quality was so-so. But I haven't looked into that. I'm trying to retain the 3 pane, just because it's original, but saving that as a back up option. Is the quality that bad, or was he just a cranky glass installer? I'm driving to the Lancaster area, so will be on I70-E for a good while. Would definitely be interested if you'd be able to meet on Friday or the following Monday!

I've been told from a couple of different glass places that the left and right are one piece. The middle is replaceable, but most places won't even do that, due to the fact that it's not something you can just get another of. Proving to be a headache. Frustrating when ones on ebay are $400, and junkyards are $75 but won't ship them.

I know this is a longshot, but my back glass is shattered on the driver's side. Looking for a 3 piece slider to replace it with the gasket, as well. Located in Ohio and willing to drive a bit to pick it up, or if you know someone willing to ship, I'd be interested. Already tried local junkyards, found one 90 minutes away, but when I went to pick it up, they didn't realize it was broken.... Headed to PA in a weeks time, so willing to snag it there or on my way back, as well. Any leads would be appreciated!

@cruiser54 Been using the renix tips thoroughly the past few days. Appreciate all the write ups you've done. This whole project started as me replacing my old and busted 46003 and 4. The rest of the wiring was quite a mess, but I got all the ones on the surface at least. MAP was plugged into the totally wrong spot. I appreciate the help!

Thanks for the picture, jdog. Looks like I've definitely got some tinkering to do! As you can see, one hole on the throttle body was going to the vacuum motor, and the other port on the throttle body is also headed towards the front of the truck. Not sure where it ends, as I'm not with the truck, but I'll be using that photo tomorrow!

Anyone got a decent diagram of the vacuum lines? Was replacing my vacuum harness and as I was linking things back up, things seemed a bit odd. Watched this video to get everything lined back up, and noticed the PO owner may have gotten some things wrong. I have a line going from the vacuum motor at the front of the airbox, to the bottom hole of the throttle body. Pictures below show it. Is my vacuum wiring totally off, or am I looking at a bad video? Circles just show which line I broke and need to replace, so I don't forget the routing. Any help is appreciated. I can swap most stuff out easily enough, but trying to find an easy to follow vacuum guide is trickier than I anticipated!

Ahh, gotcha! @eaglescout526 sending a PM your way. @500 MJI wish I had known. I just bought some Dorman 68181s to use. I've been told they should fit into the plates, without issue. But if I run into a snag, I'll be all over yours.

Oh, perfect! I'll keep an eye out!

Black is more than fine with me. I'm not fancy.

Those are the ones! Held in with four screws. Have an oval hole for lamp. I think I have a picture of one of my trashed ones, somewhere.

Looking to grab a set of these. Ones on my truck are pretty beat up. Don't need the lamps, bulbs, or wiring, just the plates themselves. If anyone has a lead on a pair, let me know.

Not much done today except for counting some empty screw holes that need filled and getting the types of bulbs nailed down. Retractable hood light is a 90 Courtesy lights are a c5w License plate lamps are 194 For whatever reason the inner fuel cap door was total filthy, like abnormally greasy. Rest of the truck is fairly clean, so I'm not sure what happened. Took some wet wipes to it, and cleaned it up. Not perfect, but the best I wanted to do in 10 minutes or so. Here's a before and after:

Good call! Would hate to have useful info buried in here! Thanks for the tip!

Well, after trying to fill er up today, realized I had a leak in my gasket. Pumped slowly just in case, glad I did. I was able to pull the pump and reseat everything without spilling any fuel, so that's a plus. Drove back, tinkered with the new gasket some more, and got it right. Turned out I had missed one of the three tangs on the lock ring. Didn't even have to pull any lines to get it set right. Drove back to the pump, and it's holding fuel fine, now. There's gotta be a better way to hold a new gasket in place that I'm just unaware of.... That being said, decided to tackle the retractable hood light. The one I had was bound up inside. Other people have redone them, but there's a disturbing lack of photo evidence around, so I snapped some. Took a 5/64th drill bit to the rivets and popped them all off. Opened the case and the cable was just shoved back in the housing, causing a rat's nest of wire. One I had that straightened out, I was delighted to see that the clock spring mechanism was working fine once the kink was gone. Still gotta get some replacement hardware to seal it back up, as well as figuring out how/why this mercury switch works. But everything seems intact, save for the old lens housing. PO seemed to hold it in place with electrical tape, and removing the old adhesive was a chore, but a little elbow grease and rubbing alcohol solved that problem. Gonna grab a new bulb and do some googling on this mercury switch and see what happens!

Figuring one of the guys who have done a steering column rebuild or swapped one out can help me with this. Have a column shifter, and the gear indicator is hopelessly outta whack. Anyone got a decent break down of how to adjust/fix this? I assume it's some sort of cable adjustment, but I didn't know if it was in the column, or under the dash and figured I'd ask before I start tearing things apart. For reference, this is what my car looks like when it's in drive. Not exactly beautiful.... Thanks in advance!

PM Sent, as well! Need a few tans, can get you a better number tomorrow.

Fuel pump got sorted today. Was curious had bad the fumes would be, I'll just say I'm glad I had a respirator handy.... Old pump and sending unit worked fine, but the fuel gauge was backwards. So, I waited until the gauge read full and then cracked open the pump. First time tackling something like this and it wasn't so bad. Using the new MTS unit. Dropped right in. My only critique would be how close the send/return tubes are on the MTS. My fuel lines are thicker, and fitting two lines AND two hose clamps provided to be a tight fit, but doable. Also, had no clue how useful hose pliers were until this. Tried to take shots along the way! But let this serve as a reminder that if I can do it, anyone can do it. Apologies for the lighting. Working with what I can!

As promised, here are some shots of the transfer case sensor switch. You can see how worn out the old one was. 27mm, but I just used my trusty Knipex pliers wrench because my 27mm socket had gone missing. Didn't give me any trouble once I broke through the undercoating/grease that was on the old one. You can also see some of the leaking I'm experiencing on the transfer case. Nothing major, and definitely isn't an output seal problem. But we'll cross that bridge on a later date with more photos.

Can't say I have any experience with clock springs, but seems like this one is a doozy. I was just gonna ziptie it, but nuts and bolts sound a little more efficient.

This is phenomenal. I have WAY too many tabs opened up right now, so I'm happy to add these. Nice to know other people have cracked it open. Probably much cheaper than one of the ones on eBay at $125ish.

Drats. I suppose I could crack it open and take a look. Worst case, I can always buy a new one, or zip tie this one back closed. Who knew there were so many kinds of rivets!

Anyone ever cracked one of these open? I'm not sure if mine is even functional, but it definitely doesn't retract. I found that out the hard way. Was going to drill out these rivets and see what's inside, but I'm not sure how I'd put it back together, after that. Any recommendations? Pulled it off my 88 from here: Any and all suggestions welcome, if someone has revamped one of these lights, before.

Had always wanted a car to tinker on that had (somewhat) easily available parts. Always really liked XJs, but I already have an SUV, and needed something to haul bigger things. Saw a Comanche one day and knew I had to have one. Spent the better part of a year looking for one, and then I found what I was looking for. Wanted one that was relatively rust free, and a decent color. Knew I wanted the short bed, and the 4.0 6L that I've heard so many great things about. I'd assume I'd have to get whatever I found repainted, and undercoated, but lo and behold, I found an 88 Pioneer in NC that had all of those things, and more, with only 136k on the odometer. Now, it's not all daisies, it's far from perfect, but what Jeep is? She starts and runs just fine, and that was the main concern with me. Everything else I'm fairly confident that I can solve with a few beers, this place, and a haynes manual. It needs a lot of work, and I'll probably be wearing out the modifications and repairs sub forums for help along the way. I'm not a total car nerd, but I can turn a wrench and solder, so how bad could it be? I really love this truck, and plan on slowly but surely getting it back to totally pristine. Every time I look at it, I see another thing that needs doing, but here's the list as it sits now, in no particular order. Some tasks are larger than others. If you have advice or recommendations, I'm all ears. I've already bookmarked a few walk throughs on here, but I'll take all the help I can get! I plan on adding to this thread as I go, as well. TO DO: - Chase power steering leak - Very light transfer case leak - Change oil over to full synthetic - fix sagging rear end. Almost seems like the front got a lift kit with new shocks, and the back got maybe just an AAL. It's a minor sag, but enough to stand out when I look at it. - Was looking at a Zone offroad or rusty's offroad 4.5" kit, just to start from scratch, suspension wise. - fix horrendous steering. Driving straight has the wheel at about 10 oclock. Gave it a quick wiggle test and it seems like the track bar and drag link are both totally shot. - might change rear breaks to discs. The drums look fairly shot. - sort wiring. Everything under the hood is a bit of a mess - clean engine bay. For being in decent shape, everything is fairly dusty. - add a winch to brush bar - replace back glass (this one is already proving to be a doozy) - replace windshield wiper motor (I've only got one speed right now, and it's the high setting. And it isn't very high) - replace wheels and tires - lube hood latch - lube tailgate handle - center tailgate - replace/restore sagging headliner and sun visors - replace/restore bench seat upholstery - clean up/repaint rusted seat brackets - replace license lamps and lamp plates - replace rear fender flares for non 4 door XJ versions - replace interior door handle trim (chrome is cracked) - replace driver side exterior handle (black is cracked) - install A pillar screws and screw covers (missing) - install cabin lights (missing) - replace missing lower dash screws - replace rusted battery hold down - replace cracked driver's side window trim - restore underhood retractable light - replace radio/speakers - fix dash gear shift indicator being off center - fix hood prop holder - remove rust under rear bumper -replace grab handle DONE: - replaced transfer case sensor switch to resolve the Part Time 4WD light always being on. - fuel gauge registers backwards. Assume the PO put the wrong sending unit in before MPS made theirs. Have one of those in bound. - cleaned up inside of fuel tank door I have photos of almost all of the to-do list, just to remind myself. If you'd like to see images of anything, or have any of the trickier parts like the rear window/license lamp plate/lights, please don't hesitate to reach out! The same goes for if you see anything that needs fixing urgently. Yall definitely know more about these beauties than I do. I look forward to following this up, as time permits.