Hi, everyone!
I joined this forum a while back when I first bought my Comanche, and I'm finally getting around to posting here. I bought this truck from my grandpa not long before he passed away.
My grandpa had bought it new in 1990 when I was just a baby. I grew up with this truck. When I was little, he'd take us kids out for ice cream at a restaurant in their little town, which was called Poor John's. He used to go there every day. It was the place all the old men used to hang out to smoke cigarettes and drink coffee. (He wasn't a smoker himself.) He'd always put me in the middle seat because I was the smallest. I'll never forget the scent of that place - the combination of cigarettes, coffee, and vanilla soft serve.
A couple years ago, I found out that my grandparents had listed the truck for sale. They had decided he wasn't in any condition to drive. I'm guessing my grandma pressured him into selling it to remove the temptation. I didn't know about this until they had already listed it. I called them as soon as I found out. It was really important to me to keep this truck in the family. They were already waiting for a buyer to come pick it up. Thankfully, the guy never showed up, and they gave it to me for $4,500.
I've never been much of a mechanic myself, so owning this truck has been a learning experience for me. It was in excellent condition. He had kept it in the garage all of those years and it only had 129k miles on it. But it had some minor issues from not being driven much over the past several years. My father in law did some work on it when I first picked it up. We changed the spark plugs, we cleaned out the coolant reservoir that was full of mold, pulled out a chipmunk nest, repaired the AC, replaced the window regular, replaced the tires, and a few other things.
After he passed away, I became hesitant to make any changes or improvements for a long time. Every change just seemed to make it less of grandpa's truck. Recently, I've finally started to accept the change. It doesn't smell like grandpa anymore, and that really makes me sad sometimes. But I know he'd want me to restore the truck as much as possible. So I've slowly started making some changes. I glued the knob back onto the gear shifter. I replaced all of the lights and the original gas springs on the cover. I took the cover off for a bit - the first time in my life I've ever seen the truck without it. I replaced the foam strip underneath it and gave the bed a good scrub, then I gave the truck a wax. (First time I've ever done it, and it looks like crap. I need some practice.)
Anyway, I'm here today because I need to replace the weather stripping. The reason we had to change the window regulator was because the window was leaking. I haven't driven it in the rain or snow since I bought it because I don't want the new one to rust out. (It wasn't easy to find a replacement!) I found a post from a decade ago where people were recommending Team Cherokee. It seems they used to have a kit for the Comanche, but I don't see one now. Could someone let me know which items I have to buy to replace all of the weather stripping on the vehicle?
Some more things I need to repair:
- A tab broke off the driver's side courtesy light, so the fixture won't snap in.
- Some of the lights in the radio don't work, including the backlight on the display. I tried replacing the bulb, but it isn't receiving power.
- I'd like to replace the visors, but only if I can find some that are identical to the originals.
- The female end of the middle seat belt is missing. I haven't been able to find a replacement online.
Thanks!
Josh