meljr

Interesting that you should mention that. The refresh of the teardrop put my Comanche repaint on hold for a few weeks, but we will probably finish up the MJ body and paint work sometime next month. I have some extra paint left over from the work we did to my JK earlier this year and I will either paint the frame to match the JK or MJ. By the way, I got your PM about the parts and will try to set something up around the end of the month. Perhaps I'll take the teardrop to NorthRidge and you can see it in person. Shot of the bed trim on the MJ taken about 10 days ago. My JK on a past adventure. By the way, these wheels with 31" KM2s are going on the Comanche. -meljr

Well, except for a little wiring inside (installing a new RV entertainment center that one of the local Jeep club members gave me), the first phase is done. The exterior has been completely skinned and sealed, the interior has been refurbished and paneled and the chassis serviced. These pictures were taken over the past weekend. I'll take it out for a shake down over-nighter later this month.

I actually read that series (it was a two parter) on the web recently. Several people have scanned and posted pdfs of the original articles. A slightly different version was published in Australia also, with terms like caravan substituted for trailer. This is turning into another of my obsessive/compulsive endeavors. Thanks to the magic of the interweb, I am now reading the TT&T (Tiny Trailer and Teardrops) and Tearjerkers forums. This thing should be on the road in a week or so and I am already planning on building an off road version from scratch since I have access to a decent shop and several friends and Jeep club members are currently underemployed in the RV manufacturing industry and will work cheap for cash. -mel

I've always liked the FCs. I have had my eye on one sitting in a field on the way to the coast for some time now. From the road it doesn't look that bad, but up close, I'm sure it's a different story.

Got the teardrop dried out, disinfected and generally cleaned up. A friend of mine bought some discontinued RV skin, aluminum siding and diamond plate from a local RV manufacturer, so he and another friend started redoing the teardrop's exterior while the plant is shut down for a week. Next up, some new paneling and cabinet facing on the interior sleeping compartment and rear galley. Note the creative use of my Comanche tailgate in holding the roof skin in place before applying the adhesive. The teardrop should be ready for a test run later this month. My wife wants to go casino camping for Thanksgiving. I think we will be able to do that. -mel

Since my plan is for some medium wheeling on rocks and the tight trails in the Pacific Northwest, we decided to chop the rear lower corners of the bed. Too bad in a way, but I really think a long bed will need more clearance and fabricated sliders, so out came the blade.

I'll be darned if someone didn't buy my friend's XJ tube doors out from under me on Craigslist. Oh well, I wasn't sure I wanted them anyway, so now I don't have to worry about going in that direction with my build. Since this was the first truly wet weekend here in Oregon for a while, I spent both days with the same friend, John, doing body work on the MJ and mucking out my newly acquired teardrop trailer. We got a lot done. OK, John is the body man and I'm the grunt. The driver's side of the bed didn't need much more than a few minor dents pulled and a light coat of bondo. The passenger side of the bed took considerably more persuasion. I also removed the front fender flares in preparation for trimming to fit the new winch bumper and cutting the driver's side front fender for the ARB snorkel. -mel

My dog is allergic to bleach, so I invested in some concentrated "organic" cleaner, put on some latex gloves and disinfected the galley today in between fussing with the bodywork on my MJ. After a couple of applications and a lot of elbow grease, it looks much better. -mel

I bought a new front bumper that is marketed for an XJ for my MJ build. Of course, the vacuum canister "ball" that was mounted in the passenger side of my stock front bumper had to be relocated. The XJ specific instructions, which appear to be for a well optioned XJ with cruise and A/C, would have me reroute most of my vacuum tubing and put the canister right about where my washer fluid reservoir lives ahead of the master cylinder on the driver's inner fender. This was more relocation than I was in the mood for, so I looked for an alternate location. Since my 89 Base Comanche still has the Renix era cooling system puke tank located on the passenger firewall, it looked like there was plenty of room to mount the vacuum canister under the puke tank, so I removed the bracket, painted it with some rust inhibitor and drilled a couple of holes to secure the vacuum canister. After remounting the bracket and puke tank, I connected the vacuum lines and patted myself on the back for a job well done. -mel

I've only had the thing a few days, so I really haven't formulated a plan other than to clean and disinfect the interior, fix any obvious leaks and correct the issues with the sketchy hitch wiring and lights. Some things I will probably do this winter will be to use some of the diamond plate we have in the shop to cover the lower front, extend the tongue and replace the axle with something a little more stout and a JK bolt pattern (5x5"), I am using spacers on my Comanche to fit JK wheels and have several sets, complete with tires. Of course, this would involve changing the fenders and then the madness continues with laminating a new, aluminum faced skin over the 3/4" marine plywood shell. For now, I'll try a few, close-by trips to trail-head campsites just to see if I like the experience as I expect I could just flip the cleaned up trailer for a tidy profit that could be applied to something newer and nicer. -mel

It might have been mildew, but there was not odor and we cleaned it up later this afternoon after I took the pictures. One of the club members who rents the shop with me is a supervisor at the local Forest River RV factory and he thinks it just needs to be aired out and used. He is going to help me with a few upgrades. By the way, because is weighs less than 1,500 lbs. and doesn't have plumbing, I don't even have to license it in Oregon. -mel

I'm tired of sleeping on the ground and getting to a campsite when it is dark, rainy and/or windy and having to struggle setting up a tent, so I thought it might be a good idea to start looking around for a hard sided trailer that was small enough to haul around to trail heads and campsites behind my JK or MJ. After a lot of shopping around, I came across this 10' home built (on a Harbor Freight frame) teardrop in Craigslist last week that was practically in my back yard. One phone call and two Ben Franklins made it mine. Here it sits in the shop next to my Comanche (which is in the process of being repainted). The side storage area above and behind the cabin is full width for storing lots of gear without having to throw everything inside the sleeping area. Nicely finished cabinetry inside with 12v, 120v and audo/video outlets conveniently located throughout. 120v and 12v electrical panels with an inverter, that is barely visible above to distribute power from electrical plug in or 12v Marine deep cycle battery with a trickle charger mounted below the galley. My plans include rewiring the trailer from 4 wire to 7 and also be able to charge the on board battery via an isolated circuit from the tow vehicle. The galley with the rear hatch open, upper cabinets closed and lowers open. Note the battery tucked away in the lower left side storage cabinet. Dewey the Dog seems to approve and is ready to hit the trail in our new to us teardrop!

2, 3 and 4 for me at the moment. When I get it out of the shop and back on the road, my MJ will probably be used a little more seriously for wheeling than I originally intended.

Gee, that sucks; I hope you are OK. I was rear-ended at a stop sign Thursday on the way to work. Don't know what the guy's reason was, or if he had one at all. Fortunately for me, I was in about the heaviest vehicle I own, a Dodge Cummings pickup. The other guys Windstar minivan was no match. The Dodge's rear bumper got dimpled and twisted in a couple of places, but the WindStar folded like a bad poker hand. Oh yes, it wasn't his van, but it turns out to be insured. I did receive a concussion and couldn't see very well for a couple of days. Apparently somewhere in the back of the head is where visual information is processed and that is where I took the brunt of the impact. Hopefully, you won't get jerked around when it comes time to settle on the damage to the MJ; it is one of my favorites. -meljr

To me, that's amazing. I'd be interested in buying a set when you think you are finished with the design details. -mel

Been a little more than a month since I last posted. This week, my OR-FAB front bumper came in and we started to get serious about the body work. Pulled the tail lights, exterior trim and the doors in order to paint the jams and paint over the POR-15 that I will be applying to the cab floor this week. One of the guys who rents the shop with me has a set of Warrior Product XJ tube doors he used once and wants to sell. We are about $25 apart on price and he has them listed on Craigslist, but I suspect we will end up painting them to match my MJ after he decides to accept my generous offer. ;)

I ordered a Hanson MJ rear bumper in early July from NorthRidge 4x4 and am still waiting. It's not holding up my build and my stock bumper is OK for now, so I'll just continue to wait. NorthRidge did charge my credit card and this is the only item on the order that has not arrived to date. I am considering the MJ version of the Full Traction FTS720601 6" XJ long arm lift. Full Traction is related to Hanson, but I don't expect this kind of delay as this particular lift has been in their offering for a while. -mel

Nice MJ, cool dog and great country. I'm headed out to Moab and Four Corners next month, including Southern Colorado. I just bought several Charles Wells trail books for those areas and another guide to the Canyonlands. A person could spend the rest of his days wheeling in your neck of the woods. Thanks for sharing those pictures. -mel

You made it look easy. I forwarded the Youtube link to some friends in the Salem Jeepers club who saw your MJ at the "Don't Fear the Jeeper" event recently. The Salem Jeepers are headed to Moab next month (October 15th - ? as some of us are going on to Colorado. New Mexico, Arizona and returning home via Panamint Valley, California. I won't be taking my Comanche this trip, however, as it is pretty well tore down for bodywork and paint. -mel edit: this post was in response to H3ResQ's Moab video of his MJ clearing the Widow maker. I just hit the wrong button and posted a new topic instead of a reply. Thats what happens when I can't sleep at night. Obviously I don't compute all that well either. :oops:

That's pretty interesting.

I'll probably stop by. I'm taking my JK to NorthRidge 4x4 in Silverdale Wednesday for some upgrades and will hang around until their open house on Saturday. On Sunday, I'll stop in Vancouver on the way home to check you all out. -mel

Sweet looking truck. Makes me really want to put a seven slot grill and header on mine. Nice find and I'm glad it's going to someone who will be able to fix a few things and enjoy it. -mel

Thanks for the link. I'm probably going the full POR-15 route on the floors and rear frame, using their Silverlight to top coat the frame and chemical prep after sanding the surfaces. Someone else posted a link to a do-it-yourself bedliner kit that includes a spray gun, which I will search the forum for again and probably order to topcoat the cab floor and inside the bed. By the way, my SOA hardware kit and supersliders/rock rails from Rocky Road came in this week. They apparently make the MJ rock rails to order, but I received mine within the two week time frame I was quoted. Fantastic customer service. No pictures yet as I have left them packaged until closer to the install. Hopefully, my front and rear bumpers and snorkel will be at NorthRidge 4x4 later this week when I drive up to Silverdale, WA for their big open house on the 30th. -mel

Something along this line should work: http://www.rostra.com/products/universa ... ostra.html Rosta only lists applications back to 1992 on their product finder, but the 1992 Comanche is specifically referenced along with several switch choices that should work, including a factory looking turn signal, wiper combination switch. In addition to Rostra, AudioVox and Standard Motor Products make cruise control kits and components. The Standard Motor Product switches will probably work with the Rostra control units at about 10% of the cost of a Rostra column mounted switch, but of course Rostra won't guarantee it. Dakota Digital, who manufactures digital gages for street rods and race applications, also makes a couple of kits for cable and electronic speedometer equiped vehichles respectively: http://www.phoenixtuning.com/zenstore/i ... QgodBEZK2A For a good writeup of someone who installed a similar JC Whitney sourced universal kit in a YJ, look here: http://www.jedi.com/obiwan/jeep/cruise.html -mel

A couple of days ago, I removed the bench seat in preparation for having it reupholstered. My Base Comanche did not have carpets. Instead there was a nice, thick formed floor mat with insulation and jute padding on the back side. Since this is going to be a light to medium wheeler, I would like to find a nice replacement mat, but may have to settle for neutralizing any rust and applying bed liner to the cab floor. The floor mat was wore out under the pedals and it appeared to be wet under the mat, so I was prepared for the worst. Here is a shot of Dewey the Dog inspecting the old mat after I removed it this afternoon. Nasty. Immediately after pulling up the floor mat, the driver's side floor was cause for concern. The wet looking areas are just that; the jute padding must have wicked a lot of water as the Comanche has been sitting in a dry shop for about a week now. The jute was stuck to the floor in the worst looking places. The light blue "patch" seemed to indicate a previous, sketchy attempt to repair the floor. Here is a shot of the passenger side after I went over it with the shop vac: After hand cleaning the floor with a brass brush, I was able to remove the "patch" which was a square piece of rubber or vinyl held down by an adhesive pad. Apparently, the plug that belonged in the hole was lost or ruined by the previous owner and this was a creative attempt to remedy the situation. I'll be visiting the bone yard this weekend to try and come up with a replacement plug. All in all, there turned out to be little rust. Most of it seems to be surface rust that a convertor will neutralize. The rear floor area and transmission hump looked as good as new. I don't think any patch panels will be necessary -- just a good cleaning, neutralizing any surface rust that remains and finally coating the floor with bed liner. When we got home from the club shop this evening, Dewey and I hiked over to check out this solitary wild flower I had noticed the last several days out standing in this field. Outstanding -- I have no idea what it is or how it got there. We also found some ripe wild blackberries making this all in all a pretty good Monday. -mel