Smash6

It has taken too many hours to get to this point. The spot welds suck and the PO’s patch work made it more difficult. It’s nearly ready for POR-15 and weld-thru primer and then I’ll start welding and sealing.

Great looking rig and great story!

I haven't taken any pictures recently, but I ripped the driver's side floor out and the unibody frame is solid. The cap was annihilated though. The previous floor patch just went right over the old rust just making everything so much worse.

Everyone waves. Older ladies walking down the sidewalk have waved at the Comanche. It's funny and I dig it.

Nah. Just some POR15 and it’ll be good as new! I ordered KeyParts floor boards. I sanded the rear half of the cab a bit and that rust is merely surface. I got to bare metal very quickly. The driver’s side was so badly patched before it made the situation worse. This won’t be an easy fix.

Farts. I just ordered the XJ half pans instead of the full Keyparts MJ pans to save coin. Oh well, they're enroute. Guess I'm in for some cursing and hammering.

I think they're just different communities. I have an LJ Rubicon that I think looks really good with some 35s and bing bong on it. I get waves and the forsaken ducks (and kids point at it, which is the best reason to drive cool stuff). When I drive the old Comanche, which is nothing special, I get a lot of waves from people in the 40ish plus crowd (nearly as cool as a kid liking your rig!). Older Jeep folks will point, wave, or wink. But the "youngins" didn't grow up with Comanches on the road and there aren't many left.

You're moving right along. This looks super rad.

Last night we started on the interior. Every bolt I removed I got more frustrated with the previous “repairs”. 1. The stereo harness was just chopped and done so really far back in the harness. 2. The HVAC control module is broken. It can’t move the cable and something caused the blower switch connector to melt. 3. The driver door needs a new hinge spring. Minor, I hope. 4. The floor has some nifty speed holes. The driver side has been poorly patched before. The passenger side isn’t as bad. I need to do some cleaning and grinding to see where the good metal starts. I'm pretty intimidated about replacing the floor pans. At some point, I have to dive in head first.

Is there a stopper or just a strap that the factory radio mounts to? If it's the factory strap, just cut it out so you can slide a new stereo in. Eagle looks killer. I've always loved them and I'm glad to see some still out there on the road.

I just read your thread where you had oil in the distributor. I also had a similar stumbling and oil in my distributor - my dizzy was bad. See the below thread. There's a video of the stumbling as well.

New track bar and drag link end at the pitman arm were installed today and the steering is so much better. There’s still room for improvement, but I’m very happy. The Jeep’s enjoyable to drive now!

It's really impressive that you went from an empty shell to a driving rig. Kudos. My favorite is "still need a driveshaft and my temp gauge doesn't work". haha. I laugh every time I read it. Well done!

I read this entire thread and I dig everything - the vibe, the effort, the fact you're keeping it alive, the DD aspect. No notes. Awesome! Thanks for posting it all!

Tonight I put a Napa steering gear box in and new power steering lines. The steering is a little tighter, has a better feel, makes less noise, and it should stop one of the many fluid leaks. the steering still sucks. The upper track bar mount is moving like crazy in the mount so that’s next and I think it’ll be close to steering properly. Close.

Does it even try to return at all or is it truly stuck there? Caster will affect wheel return but I don't know how they could have adjusted put in that much negative caster to affect the steering so much. I assume you don't have aftermarket adjustable control arms? My next guess would be that the outer tie rod (or some component...have the balljoints been touched?) is wrenched down so much that it's causing a binding issue. I'd recommend jacking the front up and see if you can feel any binding. I'd think it would be pretty obvious.

Using all thread is smart! This project looks great. Bummer about the emissions.

Front bumper is killer!

Those fog lights are excellent. This is a great project!

I started another thread about the stumbling issue and a phenomenal member, ohm, pointed us towards the distributor. We replaced it and indexed it using Cruiser's writeup and the Jeep runs amazing. There's still a few motor things. The IAC died, the TPS isn't quite right, and lots of seals to replace (this thing leaks oil like nothing I've ever owned). But for now, she runs and shifts. Next is getting the 4wd back operational and the teardown of the interior.

OHM, YOUR A GENIUS! If we ever cross paths, beers on me. You completely pointed me in the right direction. The distributor was bad so we took the opportunity to index it per Cruiser54's instructions. The Jeep fired right up and drives so well! We've been chasing this problem for AGES and I was at a complete loss. My son and I truly thank you for your wisdom. Thanks to the others who also posted. What an awesome cummunity. Now we're off to the next project - follow our bucket of bolts thread for updates!

Thanks! Peaked in and it isn't too bad. I think the long block is about 13 years newer than that distributor. It isn't perfect...but at this point, if that cam is hosed, the motor is coming out for a rebuild. F-it.

So we removed the distributor. I didn’t like how much play there was. The gear shows some wear and there was oil in the distributor housing. It appears to be the original motorcraft. So we’ll be replacing it.

Building on this sage some more: I pulled the cap and rotor. Before I had only done a visual inspection and saw they were new. Now that I've pulled the rotor, I have concerns about how much play there is. The distributor shaft has about .15" rotational play, .03" vertical play, and no lateral play. This feels like a lot in my hand, despite how it measures. Been a while since I've had a vehicle with a distributor and I don't remember ever feeling play like that. Thoughts?

The rear most exhaust manifold bolt was not completely tight. It is now and it made no change. Ohm, thank you for the response. I'd really appreciate you taking the time to look at the below video to see if you still think it's a crossfire issue. With your volume on, you can clearly hear the problem. After chasing sensors, grounds, connections, and vacuum I think you're onto it being an ignition issue. What's baffling me is how well the Jeep runs outside of that specific RPM range under that specific throttle setting. If I holeshot the Jeep and keep the pedal mostly down, it runs great and never stumbles. I'm capable of driving it in a way that mostly avoids the misfire. THANK YOU!