GrandBoost98

Tried to swap out the mini console for a 97+ center console. I thought they were bolt in but it seems like Ill have to drill some holes up front, trim the rear driver side to clear the seat belt and make a bracket for the rear to bolt to

I got the original driver door back on and decided to go with the 97+ mirrors. I also spent some time cleaning the interior, it was kind of nasty. Messed around with the tailgate a bit. Those straps are a real PITA. The passenger side keeps binding up and bending the bracket. Also the passenger side hinge is really loose and you have to pick up on that side to close the tailgate And I discovered a few cracks in the cap and noticed the top of the passenger side window isnt sealed at all. Trying to decide if its worth fixing or not

I think the most important thing for these old motors is that it has some type of oil and it gets changed somewhat periodically lol While I mostly agree with the article, I don't put our old N/A inline motors in the same catagory as a new v6 or v8, especially boosted ones. These motors don't rev all that much higher than a diesel motor under most circumstances. I have 100s of thousands of miles clocked over several of my jeeps that have all used Rotella T5 diesel oil. My wifes 18' subi on the other hand, that gets full synthetic car oil

I need to get some side mirrors on this thing. I have a few different options. The original doors had the small sport truck mirrors but both are in need of replacement. The green doors have the regular comanche/old cherokee manual mirrors. And I also have 97+ doors that I can rob the mirrors from. I was thinking about ordering replacement sport truck mirrors but kinda leaning towards the 97+ mirrors now. So thats probably what Ill be messing with this weekend along with getting the original drivers door back on

Besides mine and the one my neighbor has, Ive never seen another one in person

Awesome build here! Curious as to why you went from external to internal slave? I would have traded you!

In CT they don't issue titles for vehicles 20 years or older

FWIW, I just registered my MJ yesterday with just a bill of sale from the previous owner

Registered

Got it registered yesterday! Now to start driving it and see what else needs fixing

1988 Jeep Comanche Sportruck 2.5L/AX4 2WD Connecticut The PO was daily driving it and I have an appointment tomorrow to register it myself

I took the passenger door apart again. I wanted to put the chrome exterior handle on, new exterior window wipe and a new front window channel. Got the driver seat and mini center console in too

I literally just held it up and banged some nails in

I seem to be having a hard time uploading pics from my phone. Even after editing them to make them smaller. So here's all I got for now

I hung one up in my garage but never did lighting

Great progress! Years ago I made a cardboard template and re clocked the trans while sitting under the Jeep lol I'm sure you could do it without the jig as well

This definitely wasn't in the plans Almost none of what I did this weekend was planned for. My plan was to rob the bench seat brackets and use them on the bucket seats that the PO just drilled holes the floor and bolted down. Those brackets didn't want to let go without a fight! And then I find out the passenger seat and center console weren't mounted at all! After removing the seats and console, I noticed the floor was a little wet which led me to pulling up the vinyl and finding all the cancer this thing wasn't supposed to have. I vacuumed and wire brushed and vacuumed over and over and ended up with this (Pic to be added) Then I find out that the seats that were in the comanche were the newer style XJ seats and wouldn't work with the MJ brackets. So that led me to stripping the donor 2 door XJ apart. Looks like I'll be swapping to tan/spice interior in the future. (Pics coming) Then I turned my attention to the passenger door that was held shut with a ratchet strap. I inspected the original door and decided there was nothing wrong with it other than a gummed up latch mechanism. So I took the window regulator out of the green doors and put it in the original and stole a door latch from the donor XJ and got the original door all mounted up and aligned nicely. (More pics to come)

My wife has one on her XJ. If you install it correctly, there will be no leaks. Stable at 80mph? I don't know, the jeep isnt even stable at 80mph lol and you can't hear it over the tires or exhaust

I swapped the wheels out and I was pleasantly surprised. They don't look as small as I was expecting and it's a lot easier to steer. I haven't registered it yet so I can't take it on a main road that I can get it fast enough to check for death wobble. I did take it up the road for a little 2wd flexin

Well I got the bench seat but there wasnt really anything else left. The front driver floor bracket is a bit crusty but salvageable. I'm supposed to meet up with the PO to get the original bench seat too so I will have all the brackets I need to mount bucket seats properly in this thing. I think I'm going to take off the Wrangler wheels and adapters and put on a set of old turbine wheels Ive had for awhile now. The Wrangler wheels do look cool but with 33s they rub and the PO said theyre the cause of death wobble over 50mph. He said with smaller 31s it had no wobble. Might look weird though going down to 29s lol

The local parts store had the gasket in stock so I picked that up after work and got everything back together last night. At first start up, it was smoking a lot. But after several minutes it cleared up and idled nice and smooth Supposed to check out a comanche part out today or tomorrow, weather pending. Doesnt sound like theres much left but its nearby and he has a bench seat I want to rob the brackets out of. Keeping my fingers crossed that he still has the 3 piece slider window

well the idle started surging again. I got a better look at the lower manifold bolts and while one was tight, it wasnt seated at all. Turned out the threads were all messed up. I tried tapping the hole without removing anything and broke the tap off. So I eneded up having to take everything apart to extract the broken tap. The manifold gasket was shot so I ordered a new one. Hopefully I'll get everything back together this week

Had to mow the lawn after work but couldnt help get a few minutes on the MJ. I plugged the vacuum line that went to the heater core valve and snugged up the manifold bolts. The two towards the front of the jeep I got a good 1/4 turn out of. The rest were pretty tight. It took a minute but the idle smoothed out! Then my wife sent me a link to another MJ near by. An 88 pioneer I was soo close to convincing her we needed it. Told her we could swap most the parts from her XJ into it too. But 10 vehicles seems to be her limit

@The86manche You are correct. Everything changed in the 90s. I was referring to the early YJs with TBI. The early YJs were kind of thrown together with whatever AMC parts they had left before switching to Chrysler stuff. For example, you could find v belt or serpentine belt setups for both the 4.2 or 2.5. My 89 YJ with the 2.5l has v belts

Thats good to know! Interesting configurations though. On YJs its opposite, integrated reservoir on the 2.5l and remote for the 4.0. I should have all the parts I need then from the donor XJ. I started going through your little red wagon thread. Youve done some amazing/inspirational work and I'm not even halfway through it yet! @eaglescout526