Moosieus

Been a minute since I posted an update on the world’s slowest Comanche restoration! Over the winter, through the holidays, weddings, work related things and etc, I took apart my interior, and… The floor pans are done. I suspect this was a result of rain leaking through the rear window, and soaking into the carpet for who knows how long. I’ve been all over this truck and nothing looks remotely this bad, even in spots one would expect to see lots of corrosion. I had lots of discussion with folks I know. Some recommended structural adhesives to glue in new floor pans, but I couldn’t quite get over my doubts about that. Ultimately I decided to learn me some GMAW for great good First practice beads on my own machine: I feel as though I have a lot to learn before I can get the floor pans redone properly, and I have lots of practice projects lined up exactly for that. All in all, I owe it to old Daisy. I feel extremely fortunate to have secured such a rare breed of MJ, and a survivor at that. So nothing short of my best work will do.

Lights in action:

Another day, another late night entry. Bumper off, broke every speed nut, ordered new speed nuts, cleaned every fastener religiously and applied anti-seize. Got bumper back on straight with a jack, jack stands, and a bit of ingenuity. Oh yeah, I also put the fog lights on. That being the whole point of the exercise. I need to get some proper photos taken, but these will do for now. Front profile with the Baja Designs S2 SAE pods on: Some new boot goofin': The dog would like to extend her unbridled love to all of Comanche Club: Quick photo while I was adjusting the fog lights.

Baja Designs S2 SAE Pods in selective yellow. Will get a pic of them on when I'm able to do so.

Front profile for reference - got some Baja Designs fog lights to replace the factory ROL housings.

Too late to take nice photos outside, but we're back in business! Had to get new brake cables, old ones were seized. Took it for a spin out tonight and bedded in the ceramic shoes. Stopping distance no longer feels like "eventually". Onto the fog lamps next...

Gotcha, tyvm!

Started in earnest on fixing up the axle seal and brakes today, having taking sweet time to educate myself. How today started: How it ended: Pending review by friends, family, and forums I did err against swapping the brake cylinders. I sided on "leave well enough and working alone" on account of my newness.

Oh yeah, it took me entirely too long to deduce that this is was indeed gear oil and not brake fluid as I'd initially thought. Thing is, I know the smell of gear oil. I even thought to myself "ugh, this brake fluid smells like complete butt, reminds me of gear oil". A bit of internet research later and TIL the rear axle shafts ALSO have gear oil in them, not just the differential. Such is the nature of my cross-sectional experience

Prior to today, the brakes were... bad. I assumed it was a combination of bald '08 tires plus worn brake pads/shoes perhaps. The symptoms were as follows: Some shuddering that was ebb and flow, come and go. A general stopping distance of "eventually". On the way home from a day trip a few weeks ago I got caught in a downpour on an interstate, in infamous Maryland traffic. I made it home safely, but the utmost ginger application of the brakes would lock and skid. Some folks I know kinda just waived off the latter as an "old truck" thing. I was simply too accustomed to fancy-@$$ electro-missile modernity and braking late... Which had me feeling a certain amount of uncertain. Like man alive, I know this thing won't stop for grade schoolers of its own volition, but a wet road shouldn't feel like total ice. Fast forward to Friday, I picked up the wheels and was driving home. At one point I felt a strong I'm-going-to-need-a-tow-truck shuddering from the right rear. It stopped as quickly as it started though, and I wrote it off as just a patch of rough road. I noticed some fluid near the right rear tire when I got home though. Thought I'd perhaps ran through some engine oil - think I have a small leak from the oil filter adapter O-ring (known to be problematic). I was very, very wrong: In case your smell-o-vision's on the fritz, that's not brake fluid, it's gear oil, F***! Unrelated, through my Googlefu I've come to learn that the height sensing valve was "deleted" and the line capped at the rear: At the same time, they kept the stock MJ distribution block: So priority is as follows for now: Fix the right rear axle seal. Fix the rear drum - clean and install new hardware. Not sure if brake cleaner can salvage the shoes and drums though... I reckon I should refurbish the driver side rear drum to match. I don't intuitively understand the consequences of no-rear-proportioning-valve. Probably no bueno, and I gotta discern the best recourse there. Seems like the topic's been beat to death, perhaps without reaching a great consensus. All said and done, I'm starting to feel more "like a truck person" on account of having very real truck problems now. I'm learning so much!

Boy golly, today was full of revelations. I picked up four 10-spoke "Turbine" wheels a while back (and eventually one more for a full-size spare): Bought some 225/75/R15 Firestone Destination LE3s to put on them. Scrubbed the sin out of them and got them professionally refinished: Got around to putting them on today. The studs took a fair amount cleaning (sans lubricants, surfactants, or solvents) and the coat had to be knocked down a tad around the center to fit a few. I snugged the lugs to 88 ft-lbs per the service manual I've handy. I started on the right front rear and worked way around. I took a quick break before wrapping up to get a drink, and snapped a quick glam shot: Things went sideways with the right rear - more to follow in a moment here.

TIL, TYVM. I probably should've ran with that stuff instead. This was my rough super flush process: 1. Drained and added a bottle of Prestone 'Total Cooling System Cleaner' w/ distilled water, drove for a good while. 2. Drained and flushed the various paths with a garden hose nozzle. 3. Refilled from the garden hose, idled for 10 - 20 minutes, drained and sampled. 4. Repeated steps 2 - 3 a nauseating amount of times. 5. Blew out residual water out with compressed air and filled with Prestone coolant. Evaporust (Thermocure?) probably would've expedited this process dramatically with better results.

One of the prior owners installed a cheap Bluetooth head unit and made this rat nest in the process... Speakers were cutting in and out and generally sounded like death. I'm guessing they blew some fuses in the process b/c I found this as well So began the process of stripping and soldering up the harness for the new head unit. I learned in retrospect that well executed crimps may have been preferable, but I went with what I knew in the moment - perhaps whoever used wire nuts would've said much the same. All considered, I think my soldering skills are good enough to hold up. Here's the completed harness given what I had to work with. Finally, the fruits of my labor. I know floating screens aren't for everyone, but I'm partial to my Apple CarPlay. I'm also fixing to install backup camera. Visibility is amazing out of the rear, but I'm deathly paranoid about dinging up the rear end. The screen slides up need-be, but the climate controls are otherwise operate by feel.

One look at the coolant was distressing enough to warrant a "super flush". I ended up replacing all the coolant hoses in the process, admittedly later than I should've. It took more time than I care to admit, but I got this money shot for my labor. Pic was taken after the samples had time to settle. Fresh water's on the right for reference. In the months since I've replaced the water pump and swapped in a new old stock 195F Stant Superstat. I also hosed the radiator and condenser (what's left of it) out with A/C coil cleaner. The condenser was especially packed with grit and grime, blocking airflow from the radiator. All said and done, even with the E-fan out of commission, I'm operating solidly between 195 - 210F.

Here's an interesting anecdote - I've a cheap Borescope I purchased at one point to chase down a plumbing issue in my house. I ran it down cylinder #1 on June 1st, and it looked like this... Pictured from bottom to top: The piston, cylinder wall, head gasket, (covered in gunk), and the cylinder head. I'm no ASE Master Tech, but to my untrained eyes, that looks awful. Everything was covered in oil and gunk, spare the valves (not pictured): Here's #1 as of today, September 1st :O There's still apparent carbon deposits on the piston and cylinder head, but the cylinder wall is clean and the head gasket's visible. Also looks like the carbon's starting to disappear near the edge of the piston. And yes, the engine still has oil in it... I checked Now I can't empirically identify what fixed this, and I've no idea what cylinders #4-6 look like... But I am extremely pleased.

Alright, time for backfill: For day one the engine was running rough and idling around 1k. Initial investigation revealed an improperly seated air filter, and black residue on the intake hose and throttle body. Spark plugs looked fine. My dad and I ran two cans of intake cleaner that’d been sitting in the garage for time immemorial. After some choking, sputtering, and careful application of throttle, she was idling happy at 500 and running much better. Got a new air filter installed and properly seated. I’ve stuck to fueling up at “Top Tier” participating gas stations, treating each fill up with Lucasoil injector cleaner, and avoiding short trips. In the months since I’ve taken the truck out for day trips, and several late night Italian Tuneups on the interstate ;) It's all together made a TREMENDOUS difference. At some point an earnest rebuild’s warranted, but for now she’s running well within tolerance of a high mileage example.

Interesting! If I'm reading this right, "SELLING DEALER: FCA US LLC" + "YALA | EXECUTIVE LEASE PROGRAM" + "YAN | ACTIVE LEASE VEHICLE (NBU)" + "4BAA | COMPANY CAR TRACKING" + "4E3 | ASSEMBLY PLANT TRACKING" = most likely a pre-production test vehicle leased to a Chrysler employee? That could explain why the first registration on CarFax was dated to '93. Perhaps I'm reading into this too much. Would "WJHP" be the code for 10-slot wheels? I've no idea what was on there originally. Everything else seems about on point. Thank you so much for this!

Year, Make, and Model: 1991 Jeep Comanche Eliminator. Images: Candid photo prior to swapping light fixtures: Door sticker: New light fixtures, front: New light fixtures, rear: Config: 4.0 Litre HO / AW4 / 2WD / Chrysler 8.25" / Short bed Build date: 10-90 Current Location: Montgomery County, Maryland. Status: Runs and drives. Not in immediate duress and is road worthy of interstate travel. Registered with Maryland historic tags. Notes: White exterior paint with Eliminator graphics. OEM wheels MIA, replaced with later model "Ecco" wheels. Factory fog light housings, bulbs and reflectors MIA. Gray interior with bucket cloth seats. Floor Shift. Fitted with AC (non-functioning at time of writing). Manual windows, door locks, and remote adjust mirrors. Fixed vent windows. Modifications deviating from stock include JW Speaker 8910 LED headlights, Oracle LED tail lights, LED turn signals (OEM unknown), and an Offgrid Research LED flasher module. Head unit is a BOSS Elite BE9ACP.X which replaced another aftermarket, single DIN head unit. Current owner: Yours truly, with love. 3 or more prior owners.

For a while now I've wanted a classic car - classic to me at least, maybe "enthusiast" is more appropriate taxonomy. Unrelated, I wanted a practical truck for hauling stuff when occasions warranted. I don't have space or attention for both, ergo I started mulling over ideas for a classic truck. I grew up in a '97 Cherokee Sport that my mom has to this day. I've memories in that thing from childhood, to high-school, to commuting to my first career job. In spite of that, I somehow made it to TYOL 2025 without learning about the MJ. One evening I'm scrolling Facebook Marketplace while chatting with a friend, and... "Holy $#!&, they made the XJ into a truck!?" "Oh yeah, the Comanche." Everything came together in an instant: I'd found a capable and unique truck with good parts availability, and a throwback to my childhood at that. It's also a relatively simple beast fit well to my novice skill set. I was smitten to say the least. I introduce you to Daisy, circa the trip home in May: Daisy was daily driven around Southern Maryland from 1993 to 2001 per my recall of the expired CarFax report. In 2003 she was sold at auction to a couple who retired to North Carolina. They drove Daisy gingerly over the next two decades (~2,000mi/yr IIRC), but did no more than what was needed to keep her rolling. That's my guess at least, based on the "next service" card in the glovebox and general condition of things. She was sold to the now prior owner in October of last year who replaced the alternator, fixed the headliner, and drove her to college for a semester. As a fun aside, they said they took Daisy off-roading in North Carolina sand dunes exactly once before deciding consolidate projects. For context, Daisy is an automatic, 2WD, open diff Comanche. You can probably fill in the blanks as to how well that went :) I'll backfill my progress here soon, but it's more than I can do in this immediate sitting - I've a laundry list of stuff done, and a laundry list of things to do. I'll conclude this post with my vision for Daisy: My aim's to keep Daisy street-able with some modern niceties, learn as I work, and take the time to do good work.

I’m looking for some 1991 4.0L HO airbox photos to compare against. I couldn’t turn up any conclusive results when looking for images of the same model year. The changes between the Renix years, HO, and later revisions don’t help matters. Mine’s been hacked together in some fashion, definitely not factory. I’m new to automotive stuff, so I’m still actively learning

What’s the tell that it’s been repainted? I don’t have a trained eye for it.

I peruse Facebook Marketplace for idle fun and save each Comanche I come across. This one stood out as worthy of mention, appearing to be highly original and in good condition: https://www.facebook.com/share/1D6XDm1GWF/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Someone recommended I look at the (Blank) Slate on account of wanting a truck and already owning EVs. Someone else said it kinda looked like a "Comanche". At that moment I discovered Jeep made a truck based on my childhood car ('97 XJ my mom still drives), and was immediately smitten. I'm now the proud owner of a Comanche Concerning the Slate, there's a lot that concerns me just on paper. The retail price is closer to ~$27k, with the ~$20k figure being after a $7,500 non-refundable credit on your federal tax return. The base range is purported to only be 150 miles, with an "available accessory battery" extending that to 240 miles. Based on the architecture of contemporary EVs and my layman knowledge, that's a pipe dream and unlikely to happen. I've more concerns, but I'll leave it at that. It's nice to see a truck that lends itself to customization though, lots of straight body lines and relatively easy colors to complement.