Mudrig150

Well, I know this is not the update anyone wanted to hear, but I guess it was inevitable: the Comanche went to scrap today. Frame was so thin that it was buckling under the weight of itself, even if it was welded with frame stiffeners it would surely just find the next weakest link and crack there. Everywhere on the frame was splitting apart. After 38 years of neglect I decided to put it out of its misery.

Went out and got one.

Tempted to order one, but no idea what color my interior is. Know it's gray, but not sure if it's smoke gray or light gray. The build sheet says charcoal but it definitely isnt.

Forgot to post this, but I had a small victory. Got the doors off with no broken bolts and no damage to the doors, and also found some parts I was missing for my power steering pump. Next course of action is mass rivet removal to get the window mechanisms out and swapped, though that's gonna be a little annoying considering the power got knocked out to the shed...

Yet another little annoyance with this truck... I have one gray door panel that's been torn up to get to the door speaker without taking the panel off, and one red one. Probably gonna see if anyone wants to trade the red one for a pair of gray ones, or maybe just sell the red one and buy a pair of gray ones. I started pulling the doors off the parts Jeep because the door shells and locks on my doors are completely shot. Only got 4 bolts out, and of course the last 2 on the driver's door stripped.

1988 Pioneer 2.5 carbureted (Swapped to 4.0) BA-10 5 speed manual (Swapped to AW4) 2wd, Dana 35 rear with 4.10 gears (Swapped to NP231 with Dana 30 front and 8.25 rear) Sterling silver with red decals (Currently black) 6 foot bed Options: Sliding rear window, fog lights (missing), towing hooks (missing) No further info, build sticker on door blank from being painted over Owned by me, awaiting restoration

Probably will just torch them out when I get to the rust repair. I think what I'm gonna do for now is work on the doors, the shells are shot and the lock cylinders are broke, so I think I'm gonna swap the internals and windows from the MJ doors to the doors off the parts XJ, which is gonna be super fun.

Frame is gonna be my biggest hurdle. Definitely gonna be getting full frame stiffeners the whole length of the truck. Really need to get the bed off to figure out where to go from here, but all the bolts are rounded off.

Bit of progress has been made, but not a lot. D30 is in, and tailgate is hooked up properly and latching with a set of used tailgate brackets. Still need to get the axle fully bolted up but it's not of major concern for now. Unfortunately but also fortunately, I ended up buying myself a sweetheart of an XJ that is gonna be great for getting back and forth to work until the MJ is finished, and it should be super nice for figuring out where connectors and other things go or are put together, especially considering that the parts XJ was half torn apart already when I got it. At this point, the MJ project is on hold until key parts releases the floor pans for it, and until it cools down enough for me to finish cutting all the bodywork out of the parts XJ that I need for both vehicles (mainly the rear quarters and trans tunnel).

Been pretty busy with work lately, but I've been slowly making progress and gathering parts. D30 is out from under the parts jeep and ready to go under it. While I'm under the MJ with the front axle off, I'm gonna start working on the frame work, though it's gonna be a bit annoying working around the engine.

I've got things that need tackling more that my money is gonna be going into...

Gonna swap just the rear in for now and leave the 2WD front under the MJ until I can get the front Dana 30 rebuilt from the XJ, and run 3.73 front and rear.

Don't have a junkyard around here, and the one junkyard we did have didn't have any KJs... I know the XJ axle isn't bolt in, I know I have to modify the spring perches, but I'd rather modify an axle I already have than spend $800 on a rusty junkyard axle from craigslist or marketplace. The ratio in the truck currently should be 4.10, and if my calculations were right the XJ has 3.73 gears. I don't need a crawler axle, I just need something to daily the truck, as the current axle is very... grindy. It's near death, that's for sure.

CENTRIC KIT499D Drum Kit Rear; w/o Anti-lock Brakes; 9" Rear Drum It seems right, my rear axle seems to have the that size drums and doesn't have antilock brakes...

Are these the correct brakes? It doesn't specify if it's for an 8.25 or a Dana 35.