drcomanche

So now both doors have solid paint coats on them. I still need to touch on the back sections, but that will have to wait for a bit. I painted the back of the one door I finished the front of but, despite having sat for about 4 days with the front coat, still wasn't completely dry and the fabric I set it on to prevent scratching ended up leaving imprints all over it. I had to sand it back down again and had a few more tries at painting it before I finally got a good product. I did finish the primer coat on the other and did the paint on that one too. Now all the doors, tailgate, vents, and door latch are finished with full coats. I finished up the latch rod for the other trail door and then went on to fabbing up the door hinges. I couldn't find any aftermarket door pins, so I grabbed some grade 5 bolts from the hardware store that had a long smooth edge. I tacked them on and cut them accordingly for what was needed and then rounded out the ends. Then I sanded and painted them with the rustoleum bedliner. While I was at it, I also eventually painted up the headlight surrounds and the hinge plates. I put a coat of POR15 on the tailgate holder brackets and I just need to finish them up. I got underneath of it, finally, and did a solid coat of POR on the cab underside and the frame a few days later. I still need to do a second coat, but before that, I'm going to use the tie coat primer to even out some patches, then hit it with 2 more coats of POR, then the topcoat. In the meantime, I installed my new clutch master cylinder and bled it out. I also did most of the install on the Bleepinjeep push button hood pins. I put them relatively close to the stock bolt location because it lined up well on the top for appearance. Originally, I intended to simply cut off the excess bits of the old latch system with the built in springs and use what was left of the bracket as a way to provide spring tension to the hood. I sanded off the metal clip edged on the top for a smooth hit and I will install hood bumpers to contact them. It wasn't until I went to place them that I noticed the brackets were slightly off center and that they used the same part in its entirety rather than create one for the opposite side. So now I'm probably going to create a square plate for it to sit on and fasten the spring portion to that. I finally finished out the prep on the interior and did 3 sprayed coats of Raptor liner. I did a couple of coats of acid etch for the exposed metal and one coat of adhesion promoter, just in case. The product turned out looking really good, but I'll have to wait for a few days to really see. My 20 gallon air compressor was way more than enough to complete the job with ease. Seeing the finished product makes me kind of want to spray it on the frame. It just has a nice look to it. I started prepping out the bed while I was waiting for the flash time on it and I think I'm going to cut out my wheel wells and create boltable angular metal wells to go in their place. The ones there are very bent up with a decent bit of rust and holes through them and I don't want to have to redo my bedlining later. After dealing a bit with the hood pins, I decided it was time to take off the front bumper and start prepping that for bedlining too. So now I need to bedline the front bumper, rock rails and door sills, bed, rollbar(maybe), the floor plates for the interior, and then the lower quarters of all the body metal. I also started researching and planning the circuitry for my offroad lights and other electronics. It took a bit to draw out a diagram, but I'm pretty sure I will need to put in another fuse box with relay space. A couple small things I did were cut the corners of my leaf spring plates(they were denting my new shocks) and used seam sealer on the back of the cab. I've also decided to go full PTFE fuel line, so I have some more parts coming. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find the plastic brackets that fit everything, so I finally decided to just build brackets. I bought some small and large steel tube that I will cut in half and tack together to hold all the lines on the frame. The fuel cell holder didn't fit up quite right so I had to dismantle it a bit to get some space in it, so I have time to plan. I also, while looking for a solution to my differential breather issues, found a cool kit from ARB that connects all the breathers into one location, so I bought it. I'll be hooking that up, too. Doors relatively done Hinges all done and some other parts. I'll probably take the hinges off of the current doors at some point and replace the pins. Clutch in and the hood pin install so far. You can see where I want to place the springs. Frame all sanded and painted Underside of cab all set. While I was under there, I cut some of the old LCA plate off. Acid etch Getting ready First coat Final coats how to keep your wires out of the way 101 Bumper prep Clipped plate Sealed cab Bed getting ready Pipe for the brackets My corroded radiator.(It's on a list)

I'm going to try to keep it relatively quick for the update here. As usual, work is commencing pretty steadily and I think I'll be ontime for my deadline. I finished welding all of the stiffeners on. I did a quick spray to protect it until I make it to paint(which is the very next thing on my agenda) but I still have to do a bit of grinding around the structural ridges to make it look at least decent. Then a bit of wire wheel to scrape off the burned up POR and then paint. I'll also be redoing the interior of it too, since the old coating is undoubtedly burned. I finished welding on the bolt strips for the boat side plates which officially wraps up all the metal work on the truck body and frame(for the next few seasons). Once I had them all sized up, I welded on the nuts. I'll probably be recessing the bolts into the plate a little to protect them. I started and finished construction of my fuel cell holder. I decided to just fabricate it myself rather than getting a friend with a cnc machine to do it. The fuel cell I have is a relatively new product, so there aren't any premade ones out there either. I used 16 gauge for the attaching bits and 1/8 for the L braces and bolt tabs. I broke down all my hinges to prep them up for welding the new posts and paint. I tried painting my tailgate a while ago and ended up with a very poor product(fisheyes everywhere) so I ended up sanding and repriming it again to prep for paint. I did the finish sand on it, the hood vents, and the two trail doors as well as shaping up the repair in the drivers side door latch. It was a decent day today and I managed to get a good solid paint coat on the tailgate, the vents, one of the doors(the other had a significant scratch in the primer coat that needed to be dealt with) and the striker area. All of them are finished painting with the exception of the bedliner on the bottoms. I still have to do the back of all of them, but that is a far easier task. More to come soon. All done and rough painted Boat side strips all welded in The fuel cell holder build Made it this far and then had to sand it back down a bit All prepped for paint Paint. I also did the striker area, but didn't get a pic.

Ok, progress seems slow right now if only because I'm spending a good 8 to 12 hours welding these stiffeners. Now, for anyone who is considering frame stiffeners, I have a few pointers... Don't. Just don't. Sure, it makes the frame more sturdy, but they didn't fit hardly at all. Tons of time in trimming and grinding to get all the edges right and holes accounted for. Then the welding... Oh god, the welding. The frame is a fickle mistress, and sometimes the weld will be great, but for seemingly no reason, it will not hold, or won't adhere, or sometimes, just blow holes in the welds. I thought that these rear ones couldn't possibly be more difficult than the cab ones, and while they did, indeed, take less trimming, they are still a nightmare. So that said, I have just about finished one side of the rear. It's all welded up, it just needs some touch up weld to get the kinks smoothed out. Unfortunately, the ridge section just didn't cooperate, so it definitely doesn't look its best. I'll have to take some time trimming it up to make it look better. I'm almost done with the passenger side as well, which went much easier(to some degree). I will still have to grind and touch it up. I also finished up the bottom of the cab. All the seams are sealed and it's ready for paint, which will be POR15. I also finished up the door panels for the interior. All I have to do is drill the holes for the panel tabs on the metal. I have finished sanding and priming the outside bits of one door. And I started grinding out the tailgate, since the old paint just couldn't be smoothed over. I finished out putting the vibration mat in the cab as well. I may add more in a couple places though. The rail getting welded. And the almost finish on the other side. The sound and heat mat Door panel before sticking it together The panels being stuck together. And a little shot of the bolt strips I'll be welding on to each side for the bolt on boatside plates. Again, there has been a lot more work than it seems, but once I finish the welding, it should wrap up faster.

I managed to get a little bit more done and the truck is fighting me every step of the way. I have a good three page list going that I'm trying to finish in 2 months so I can take the truck out to a big offroad show around here, so I'm really pushing to get things done. I removed the fenders and fabbed up some brace plates for the hinges and got those welded on. The welds to the hinges themselves were perfect, but the welds to the metal just didn't want to cooperate. Whether it was blowing through, not welding to it, or just spitting air out from behind the plate through the molten metal, it really didn't want those plates to go on. But persistence won out in the end and they are all on and primed. I also wire wheeled the drivers side rear rail and started welding that on. And that, too, is also fighting me. Some welds are fine but any welds around the support ridge in the side just won't stick. I fiddle with the numbers on the welder and then I'm melting it through. One way or another, it will get finished, though. I had to trim the stiffeners quite a bit for something that was supposed to be created for the truck. I also had to do some trimming for the fish plate and rock rail support. Eventually I'll get to sanding and painting it up with POR 15, but I'll have to regrind the inside of the rails since most of the paint will be burned off from the welds. The rocker panels now have 1.5" holes I cut for access to paint and check up on it, and I added drain holes in the floor. I pulled a plastic plug out from under my dash area for prep and noticed it said CAPLUGS on it, so I looked them up in the hope of finding some more in different sizes, and I did, so I bought a ton for all the little holes all around. The inside is all taped up for the liner, but I'm still waiting for a day to do it(it's pretty rainy here). I finished out the cuts on the other door and fabbed the support plate for the handle, so now it's on to customizing the door panels. I finished up all the sealing under the cab, so it is also ready for paint and while I was at it, I scraped the oil dirt from the underside of the trans tunnel so I can get that painted up too. The cuts to piece it around my supports Fenders off The hinge plates. I will also have to customize some hinge pins, since I can't find any anywhere, but I made sure it was grade 5 hardware Holes cut Taped up Welding in progress And the other side all ground off. I am a little sad I was grinding off a perfectly good POR 15 job, but it's all for the better. And all scraped off and ground as far up as I could get it. I removed the fuel lines and the exhaust for some added room. The exhaust was a pita and I'm honestly surprised I didn't strip the bolts. And handle in. And another little gift I got for myself. It is't mounted up yet since once I get to the front, the bumper is coming off to be bedlined. Started sanding. (I had a lot of downtime between weld periods)

And back with another update. I will be doing this very often for the next few months as I push to get the truck ready for show and trail season. This is a smaller update to cover the daily progress I've managed. Today, my goals were twofold. I wanted to finish the welding under the cab so that I could finally finish sealing it up and painting. As I said before, it's one of the more difficult bits. But today, I finally managed to pull myself into doing it. The main problem was that I needed to weld some new bridge pieces where I cut out for the rock rails so there weren't gaping holes in my rockers. The fit was difficult, to say the least, and I put it off because I knew it would be a job without a lot of progress to show. But finally, it is done. No more welding under the cab(for now). All that's left is to seam seal and paint it up. In addition, I also managed to test fit one of the trail doors, and I'm really excited for when those will be done. It fits up well, I just need to get hinges that work for me. I have a handful that I was cutting and dismantling to put on the doors, but some were simply impossible to work the pin loose. Otherwise, all that remains is to cut the hole for the other door to have a handle and then its finish work. I'll have to sand and prime the doors as well as spray the inside, just to be sure it doesn't rust. Then it goes to paint with the tailgate and hood vents. After that, I'll work the door panels I have and cut them to fit and look like a stock addition. With all that out of the way, I'll probably start prepping the frame rear for stiffeners. Did a full prime of the tailgate too. There's a lot of high and low spots from the old paint I'll have to sand out. The finished bits, ready for seam seal and paint. Took out the headlights and started pulling the fenders off. I'll be custom making a 3/16 plate to stabilize the hinges soon, so it all comes off. I'll also be replacing the headlights. And finally, the trail door in position for a final check

I was in that exact spot not that long ago(my leaf spring hanger was actually not attached anymore when it went to repair). The thing that got me about it was the stigma associated with it. Everyone always said if there are holes in the frame, it's over. Scrap. I said almost word for word what you said when I found it and everyone I asked said nothing could be done, and yet, here I am. My truck has had half a frame spliced onto the back of it. Even after that, it's been patched in a few spots and had stiffeners welded on to strengthen it. It's still strong. The point is, no matter how bad it looks, there is always a way to fix it, despite what the purists say. For yours, it looks like some well placed and welded panels will pull it back together again, and it will be way easier than you think it is. Keep up the cool build and keep a positive outlook on it, and you'll have it back on the road in no time. On a side note, though, definitely do some light taps with a hammer along the low points and see if there isn't more damage. Better to know about it ahead of time so you can repair it in one fell swoop.

Thanks, been trying to bring it back for the Spring season, and here I am again with my nose to the grindstone. I figured since I'm already reinforcing the frame, might as well go all out and make the inside accessible. That's one of the worst spots and if I can make it so I can consistently care for it, I will. As for the inner rockers, for me it was just the easier option than patching. I actually like the look and added bulk too, though, so it worked out. Anyways, here is my big update now that the outage is over and I have time to work on it again. During the outage, I've had a slew of parts arrive for me which include: fuel cell, external fuel pump, fuel lines, hood pins, hood vents, more army green paint, raptor liner, an upgraded t case linkage, brake lines, a new D44 cover gasket, various body plugs, LED headlights, sound mat, a front to back 92 wiring harness, a couple of truck covers, a pillar grab handles(at least that's what they're going to be), a master clutch cylinder, and a new downpipe (to start making my side exhaust). There's probably a few things I forgot, but I'll get to them as I work with them. I started by disconnecting my gas peddle to remove it and unbolting my clutch master. Since I haven't bench bled the new one yet, so I didn't fully disconnect it. I also managed to get the interior all seam sealed and sanded down, then hit it with a coat of primer. I'll do one more sanding and then prep it up for bedliner, but I'll need a good couple day stretch of nice weather for that. I also started to finish up the underside of the cab, which was it's own complex nightmare of small spaces, weld seams, old rust, and poor positioning. This has bee one of the bigger projects on my plate, since wrapping my head around the project at large, was difficult. There are so many spots where rust could lurk and so many things in the way of getting a good proper prep and paint. Little by little, though, I am tackling it. In the future, in the off chance that I ever have to work on the floors again, I will probably just go with the pre made floor pans to simplify the assembly and finish. For the underside of the cab, I haven't decided if I want to bedline it or not, since I probably won't be able to do all of it. I really want to get the trans tunnel, but the clearance just isn't going to make it possible. I pulled the bed back off again to access my rock rail edges for bedlining and to stiffen the rear frame. This will, hopefully, be the last time I ever have to drop that gas tank, and I will gain a decent amount of space under the bed in its place. The rock rails are sanded and primed awaiting the aforementioned few nice days(not a common thing here in this season). After pulling the bed, I noticed the back of the cab at the edge seems had a tiny bit of bubbling, so I wire wheeled them out. I'm not sure how moisture made its way in there, but I suppose I'll just have to do a better job this time. I managed to get lucky with the brake lines for my console emergency brake. I found a few on summit that were on sale for 10 a piece and figured why not give it a try. I hadn't ordered any yet because finding the proper size of the sheath and cable plus the type of ends was practically impossible unless I knew the measurements for a specific car model. I waded through so many listings trying to find the right size, but never did. I bought these on a whim because they looked about right and the measurements were roughly there. I received them and, amazingly, they actually fit with a little modification. I did have to cut the boxed end(not sure what kind of ebrake design it was for, but it didn't fit the gm large), and remove the spring, so it was just a little cylindrical end to fit in the bracket on my calipers that used the already supplied springs. The cables seem strong, so I have high hopes that this will finally solve my issues. With the nice weather this passed weekend, I also did the bondo work on the tailgate and cab corners. I'm not really going for perfection since it will all be bedlined in the end, but I do want some decently smooth lines. The tailgate got sanded and primed on the bottom today, just to see where the bumps and pits were. Overall, it isn't bad enough to need another run of bondo, which is nice. With that, the rest of the tailgate is ready to prep for paint. Today also allowed me to do some fab work for my trail doors, as I want those for Spring and Summer, too. I finally cut the holes for the half door handles and fit them up with a bit of adjustment. Originally, I wanted to weld a little piece of metal on the end to act as a holder to keep it in the door. When I went to weld, it stuck but didn't feel right. Turns out it was aluminum. Didn't feel light enough to be that, but so be it. I didn't do anything more than superficial damage to it, so I devised another bracket to go behind the handle and screw through the center to hold it in. After getting that to work, I started measuring and fabricating some pull rods to go to the latch. It took some trial and error before I got one that worked perfectly. While I was at it, I also cut all the new hinges to make them removable. Now all that's left is to test fit them, paint them, and adjust the upholstery on the door panels inside. I do have some ideas for a step plate and arm rest cushion, but that will come later. A pile of goodies(some not shown) Getting ready to work Bed removed, some priming done. I'll have to modify the stiffener a bit before tacking it on. The dismantled t case shifter and trans plates I sanded down for paint. I eventually got a few coats on them as well as some on the hood vents. Sizing up some stiffeners Sanded some ready for a full prime Full prime. I'll be taking the bedliner up to where the primer is all around the cab More primed. Also sanded the patch panels for bondo. Bondo More Bondo Some seam sealed underside. It didn't react well with the primer even though it said to use it, so I may have to sand it out a little and do some again. Front drivers side of the cab. Just illustrates the difficulty I'm having pulling it all together. Tailgate all sanded down. And primed. By the way, this primer is terrible. I do not recommend it. The "modified" brake cable. The bracket prototype with the screw hole drilled. Simple but effective. In the door The custom latch rods, the top one ended up being the winner. It is a bit more flexible, but also has the tiniest bit more range of movement that allowed fully engaged and disengaged function. And lastly, all the pieces

I'm very sad to have chimed in so late for something so important, but I hope you find Comanches in heaven as well. Just heard about this through Facebook. I remember many days on this site spent with comments and suggestions from HOrnbrod and it's very sad to see such a pillar of our community go. He, however, laid a good foundation so we will keep on being Comanche people. RIP you will be sorely missed, but not forgotten.

Been a while since I posted on so I thought I'd drop the progress on here. The weather hasn't really been cooperating with me, so I didn't finish as much as I want, but it isn't too bad. Now, I just need to wait for warmer weather so I can bedline everything. From where I left off before, I finished off all of the welding and supports for the rock rails as well as prepping and POR 15 on the insides. I decided to just go completely custom on this build since I think I've shored up the strength on the frame enough that I won't be sacrificing structural support. I had a lot of things I wanted to do, but was concerned over how it would affect everything and I spent so much time thinking over it and getting anxiety that eventually, I just decided screw it, I'm doing it my way, and that's a way that hasn't been done. For starters, rather than try to patchwork the whole interior rocker that had to be cut apart for the supports, I took a piece of 16 gauge and welded an entire reinforcement plate over the entirety of it. This gave it a little more structural strength and was probably the only way to do it cleanly. In the future, I will cut out 2 holes with a holesaw bit so I can access/clean/paint as needed on the inside to keep all of the unnecessarily complex internals from going bad. I rewelded the floor back up, but had to do so in pieces(since it was easier to work around all the cuts I had to make, and it let me use some of my scrap metal) which also meant welding it to the top sections of the rail supports. Because I'm always concerned about the inside of my rails, I decided to go with my earlier thoughts and leave a 34" segment uncovered for future access to the inside. Instead, I welded on some grade 8 bolts through the frame rail edges going up into the cab and cut a 1/4" steel plate as an access panel to get bolted down overtop of it. I did away with the rail cap and kept my floor flat(ter). I've also sanded all of the lower cab up and will be spraying Raptor liner inside the entirety. I'll also carry the bedliner over the door sill to the outside rails of the truck, which will help offroad-proof it a bit better. I cut away my dilapidated firewall mat(the foam on the underside of most of it had turned to dust) in my foot well area. It always managed to get stuck on the pedal and everything in addition to looking bad, so out with it. I left a bit as insulation for the heater underneath it, but the rest will be replaced by some thermal rubberized mats I can stick to it(for whatever doesn't get covered by the liner). All that's left now is painting and bedlining for the interior. I will have to fab up a specialized riser to weld to the 1/4 plate for the seats. I also removed the old transfer case linkage to swap it with a simpler Azzy direct link. It would have been a nightmare to put it back in anyway as it was, and I'm always for simpler is better(i.e. why I got rid of the rail cap and torque boxes for a sealed assembly). I took the time to replace my old trans mount too with an SFR heavy duty one. I have plenty more parts just sitting by the wayside, waiting for warmer weather, but next week, I'll be starting our heavy workload month(6 days a week, 12 hours a day) so it'll be a while before I post again. My plans for the future, after the frame and interior are situated is 1. convert to a fuel cell system in the bed allowing me to update all the fuel lines and get that squared away. 2. to rerun the exhaust since it's rusted and poorly placed. The plan is to replace everything from the down pipe(maybe the headers too) and incorporate a flex tube to stop the header cracking. The goal is to side pipe it out of a port in the bedside. 3. THOR intake. 4. the rest of the cosmetic upgrades(hood pins and vents, headlights, proper bedlining, repainting the small bits, etc.) Frankenstein getting cold in the snow out here A few extra looks at the inside. I had to sand it down again and redo some of the POR15 since the welds burned it off in some spots. The floors in all their glory. I ended up having to bend the frame edge up to get a weld under it. Then I just beat it back down to flat. How the rockers looked before. All parts on. Still have to fix those little bottom edges there, but that'll be easy. I do still have to figure a solution for the back of the cab corners that I had to cut into in order to weld those last supports. It's too difficult to access, so I'll just wait until I take the bed off for the fuel system to do that. After the repaint Bolts in The rockers after, with some panel bits in. It was 16 or 18 gauge for the floor pan pieces, I can't remember, but after all the prep and prime work, it's solid. Some of the floor work and a finished product after sealing and priming. The seam sealer is a really solid compound, so it'll be sanded a bit smoother before the final. I also need to cut a drain hole up front on both sides. The plate itself. Took out all the plates and bits for the bedlining. Going to refurbish the linkage mechanism. Old vs. New trans mount More parts that aren't on my part shelf(because it's full) Sanding and matting removed. I'm not finished sanding yet, so it's still very dirty. My blower motor in this thing is going to throwing dust for months after all this work.

Those are some good looking floorboards if that's it. Great build so far.

Finally got a good day out to work on the truck today, and while it doesn't seem like much was done, I do feel fairly accomplished. I started creating the guides and cutting out the braces for the rock rail today. I have some 3/16 square tube intended to tie the rails into the overall frame structure that I used. I sized it up using some cardboard guides for the two sides and the top to get as close as I could to the exact dimensions, then cut it out of the tube and did some light sanding for a snug fit. I only managed to do 2 today, but I have to say, it wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be, and I am starting to get really comfortable welding to the point that I'm not grinding or cutting to get a better look. Not bad for 6 months of weld experience, if I do say so myself. I still have one more on this side to get in, but it's in a tough spot, so it will present a bit more challenge than the other 2. After that, it will be held down with 4 welded mounting points and some heavy duty 1/4 plate up front. Should be a very solid setup and replacement for the torque boxes. The tube all cut and ground up and placed, ready for welding. In my first weld I only went halfway down and had to do the top half. After that, I just started welding whole sides at a time, which resulted in a much better look. The initial fit and weld. I always have trouble welding upside down, but it doesn't look too bad. Here's where I start getting proud. A new welder, a few months of practice, and a decent understanding of the technique makes some alright weld. More practice will only make them better. All burned in. Time for the forward brace. I'm not too happy with having to hack up the floor and the inner rocker to do this, and it would have been way easier if it was done when the rails went in, but now I've got to do it, so here goes nothing. All sized up and tucked in ready for the weld Both welded in and ready to go. The spot where the last one needs to go. It's a much smaller distance, but because it's only accessible from underneath, that means I'll have to do the top welds while cramped up under it with a welding helmet that prevents me from getting in close. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks. I don't believe I have one on the trans in this, seeing as it's a manual. You may want to pop it into the tech section and see what they say. It's been some hard times definitely. I'm just glad there wasn't a serious buyer back when I thought I couldn't do anything with it. If it had sold back then, I would've regretted it. Thanks a lot. It's seen some ups and downs, but hopefully I'll actually get to drive it more next spring/summer(We all know I'm going to buy some crazy new thing to install, so the chances are slim) And thanks Pete M. Glad some people like to watch the slow build progress bit by bit.

Been a while since I've posted because I couldn't find a cable that let me drop my photos on the computer. So to begin, I cut out the finger sections of the frame rail joints. After removing the old, rusted, seized nuts from the skid plate/crossmember, I welded in a new set on each side. After a lot of thought on what to do and counting out costs, I decided to go with T&Ms frame stiffener kit for the Comanche. In the overall scheme of things, they were precut with all the reliefs and bent accordingly, which would have been difficult, costly, and time consuming if I had done it myself. I read mixed reviews on them, especially about the fit, but took the chance anyway. During this time, I also managed to grind out the interior of the frame rails really well, and ended up with some severely weakened edges. I dove right in and started cutting the frame rail in sections to clear out the old rot. It was difficult because, as I've said in a post a while ago, the frame has already been spliced and the fish plates overlap the rust(bit of an oversight by the guys who did the repair, since it would have seemed to be an obvious problem, but who knows). Eventually, since I'm not putting the rail caps back in on the floor, I scalped the metal from that(same thickness). Welded it in and then ground the inside real good and hit it with a coat of POR15(I still needed to weld the stiffeners on, but it had been getting water in so I did it as a temporary stopgap). Eventually, I made it to installing the stiffeners and, oh boy, that fit was not good. There were overhangs and misalignments(granted, only with the center section. The rest seem like they'll be way easier) everywhere. I had to hack it up pretty good to get a fit, and hack some more to fit around the existing fish plates. In the end, anything that was an overhang, I cut a shallow ridge across where it should end and hammered it up to get a bit more metal coverage. They turned out alright after some extreme work, with the exception of some odd bends and spots where it had to be "persuaded" to fit. There's also some divots where the weld squares were(very slightly) as, even with a good weld in them, they didn't look good at all, so I did a full fill. I finally finished up the process and am now moving onto putting in the rock rail supports. They will require extra cutting on the bod to get to the rails themselves, since they don't extend all the way to the interior, unfortunately. I'll have 4 supports from the rails to the frame when all is said and done. I have some 3/16 square tube to do the job. Now that I've welded, I have to go in and grind the rails again in the spots where the paint burned off, but all in all, not too bad to do. Then I can start rebuilding the floor sections. I'm going to end up paneling some of the floor but leaving a roughly 30 inch segment of the top of the rails open for later cleaning and access, and just having a 3/16 plate bolted to the top of it. In the mean time, I finished out fixing my tail gate. I don't have a press break but I did want the folded edge on the bottom, so I ended up doing it make shift style. I took a wooden dowel and gradually rolled the edge out after clamping it on a 90. It took a while, but eventually, I got it to work pretty well. I then took to welding it on, which, in retrospect, I probably should have done slower, since the metal warped a little bit(although that may have been unavoidable). After that, I started stripping the paint off so I can do the bondo, primer, and paint coats. Ended up with some nice glamour shots of the tailgate in there too. After setting that aside, I went to fixing my seat bracket base. Originally, one of the mounting points had rusted off and was bent. I bent it back, trimmed it out, and with a bit of welding and some flap disc grinding, got a good piece, if I do say so myself. To avoid weakness, I folded the last tiny bit of it for structure. After welding it in, I drilled a hole through and worked it out with some carbide burrs till it matched the other seat. I also pulled out my tail lights and turn signals for another idea. I've always been fond of the 2 color scheme I've been working with(Army green and black) so I decided to tint the lenses. This turned out alright. They tinted nicely but getting a good finish was another story, especially since the tail lights have so many angles and ridges to sand. I'll probably end up doing another coat on them when I finish sanding them. The signals turned out very nice, but I may go darker. The plan is to switch all the lights to led. Eventually, I'll also be replacing the headlights with a nice set of leds that has a black out backing. I purchased new spring isolators, since the old are dry rotted and failing, to install when I go to put on the front stiffeners. The old brace removed to be replaced with steel tube The tail lights all clean One section of frame being repaired All the frame stiffeners The lights all tinted The signals put in for reference. Probably going to go a bit darker though. The bottom edge of the seat repair Frame rail all cured(before welding) The folded edge of the metal for the tailgate All lined up Welding Stripper doing its thing. It looks worse than it is. A nice shot of the tailgate after some sanding The seat problem The solution All done Welding started Almost done(note, I only just learned welding about half a year ago, so it isn't perfect, but I can guarantee the weld penetration). Just a few touch up bits of pitted metal. The biggest issues I had while welding were: 1. The welder was dying so it cause it to sputter out sometimes and not lay a bead at all. 2. The frame has weak points that were incredibly susceptible to blow through. 3. The overall fit left some things to be desired, but in general, not bad. At this point, the stiffeners for the cab section are on and welded. Now I'm sizing up the tube to frame from the rockers and getting some of the floor pieces cut out and ready to in. Soon, after the frame is painted, I'll bolt the plate back on too.

They would be 2 or bigger. The 2 forward braces are in a position where they pop up through the floor boards, so they would be directly welded. The rear one would have the upper area of the cab, which is it's own boxed in frame "rail" of sorts, and the stock torque boxes on the inside of the frame. I was going to cut them out, but not all the way to the seem, and only the bottom parts. They aren't attached to the bottom in any way, just kind of free floating a quarter of an inch above(with a bunch of rust between). No matter what I do, the vertical pieces would have a full weld on the inner frame rail and the outer seem would be a full weld, too. Then, on top of that, the frame rails would be sleeved around that area, and plated on the rest of the truck.

Yeah, I know it's kind of a toss up. A bit like playing with fire when you start tearing into frame parts. The only real fabrication I'll be doing is the outer sleeve and plating(accept for the floor, but that's not a big deal). I do have the added issue that some parts just aren't salvageable, and some are blocking vital areas that need to be accessed. Just testing the waters and seeing what people think and what's possible.

I have a few questions and since they're all related, I put them under one thing here. Question 1: First of all, and be honest with me here, how stupid of an idea is it to fix my floors to the edge of the frame rail interiors and then have a boltable plate that goes over top of the frame channel? I know it would allow water in(not that the old floor didn't already) but they get wet anyway and I think being able to have access to the inside of one of the most critical areas is pretty useful. I'm thinking welding the bolts from under the frame rail lip and then having a good sized plate overtop. I have no idea how this will effect the overall strength of the unibody, or if my plating the frame will have any effect on that. I can't imagine that the old floor lended much structural advantage. Question 2: How much support is need to take the place of the torque boxes? I know no one will have an exact answer, but I'm open to some opinions on how to replace the rigidity they offered. I am welding in 3 steel square tubes from my solid rock rails to the frame in roughly the places they are at(with the addition of one more). Will that be enough? Question 3: There are some braces right along the seem of the frame rail inside. They seem to be integral in holding the spot welded seem together. My intention with the truck is to weld that seem completely and then plate across it. So the question is, are they necessary after the bits and pieces are welded on? I want to get the rust out from underneath them, but that's proving difficult and I don't want it to come back later due to poor preparation. It also lets me put a more stable plate for the skid plate bolts to weld onto. Or maybe cutting just the bottom segments out and leaving the side(and welding them up too). They don't seem to be well attached on the bottom bit. The braces in question

Been a lot of thought going into what to do next, and I've decided that since it's only small portions of the frame and not it's entirety, I'm going to sleeve out the forward section and plate the rest(which I was intending on doing anyway, the timeframe has just been moved up). To start with, I'm removing all the leftover bits of the control arm mount from the frame to get a smooth surface and to get whatever rust may be hiding out. My goal is absolutely no more rust anywhere for the rest of the life of this truck. I'm tired of dealing with new surprises. I finished cutting out the floor to be prepped for new welding and sanded my rails bare with a flap disc. I also broke the old, rusty, and broken nuts out of the framerail(they were definitely replaced at some time because the welds holding them in weren't holding anything). One good whack with a hammer took care of those. I have to find a way to clean out under the braces inside the frame. I know there's still rust hiding under there. I have some questions about the structural pieces on the frame that I'll post over in the tech section. In any case, if this truck wasn't already slated for hardcore tech, it probably will be soon. In plating the frame I will also be mending the seem in the rails where it was just stuck together with spot welds to help build structure. I will also be ditching the torque boxes, as I will be using the rock rail frame attachments for that extra support. I had to remove some of the work that I had payed for, but in this instance, I think simpler is better. Originally, the guys welded quarter inch plate over them, but they were still inaccessible and inconvenient. The less places water can get, and the less complicated it is to reach, the better and easier it will be to maintain. I will be adding three support rails to it that will reach close to flush on the frame and the rails. After everything is attached, I will add L brackets to the rails and will have a bolt on boatside plate. On the inside, I'm not going to spot weld back in the frame brace. It's just asking for more rust and it's simpler to deal without. Any structural weakness should be taken care of by the rock rails, rail braces, and the frame sleeve/plating. I'll make something up for the seat brackets to get them to fit back in. Since I had the trans dropped, I also decided to convert my e brake to the console style. Removing the lot of these pieces also allows me to clean and repaint them. I repainted my skid plate in green, but started with 2 coats of por 15 since that stuff is tough as nails. It's not perfect looking because of the pitted metal from surface rust, but again, this truck isn't meant to be perfect. I also repainted all the brackets and plates that are for the plate as well. I'm considering welding the outside frame plates onto the rails. I still need to paint the driveshaft and replace all the u joints in it(since they're squeaking quite a bit and who knows how old they are). I have plenty of touch up welding to do around the truck on bits and pieces that weren't sealed all the way. I'll have to remove the bed again to do so. And now, the pics The braces I was talking about. Really hard to get under there. Also, the bolts removed. Right around where the sleeve is going. That's also the seem I'll be welding. The Torque boxes removed The ebrake cut in. Some of the old control arm metal. The skid plate and the extra bits On a side note, if anyone is ever looking for rust or trying to clean the cab, take a moment to cut the filler putty out of the back corners. I had rust hiding under there with no way to tell it was there at all. It all looked sealed up. One side was even rusted through. So the next step now is to get metal from the supply around here, and start making pieces.

Yeah, the floor gets higher in the MJ cab to meet the boxed frame back end. In the end, with everything posited here, I'm going to go without them. I'll have far greater strength in the frame to rocker aspect with the welded tubes and everything. I'm also planning to plate the frame out too, so no lack of body roll strength.

So I've been working on getting the other side of the rail cap off(passenger side), but mostly just for posterity sake, since it had WAY less floor water damage than the drivers side. The floor itself wasn't that bad, but there were some pretty clear rusted out sections, so a little bit of repair ahead. The top where it meets. There seems to be a small gap under the brace that allows water to sit. There were rusted holes on both sides of the truck. I also managed to get my skid plate off finally. And cleaned it up a bit I posted up a topic to see if the rail braces were necessary to put back on, as they are just places for water to sit and cause rust again. I think I'll leave them off for the final build up. I did, however, hit a pretty big snag. I warn, what you're about to see is painful for us Comanche lovers... Here's a hint 8 to 10 pounds of rust. This is your last chance to stop here... So, I always thought that the drivers side was the worse side because of the floor rust, but I was painfully made aware that was not the case. The floor was better off, the rails were far far worse... It's really bad in there, to the point where it's all the way through the top overlap of the frame metal and most of the way through the bottom. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I have a lot to consider on possible options to fixing it. There is also a bit up next to the frame splice as well. The metal itself is pretty severely compromised. To the point that it was bent on the bottom of the frame underneath. One good hit would go right through the rail in these spots. The only good thing I can see is that it's pretty much concentrated to the really bad visible spots. Everywhere else on there is fairly solid. I was planning on beefing up the frame anyway, so I guess that's my next step.

That's a very informative picture. While my rock rails will definitely change where the brunt of the impact is, they do seem to be useful. I'll see if I can't come up with a better solution than the old rust channels. Maybe just weld solid steel plate on top. Anything's better than what's there.

I now have built in 2x6 steel rock rails attached to the frame, so give and take as far as strength goes, I suppose.

As the title implies, I'm wondering if the rail caps on the floor of the truck are a necessary part of its stability. I'm working on replacing my floors right now, and putting the brace back on just leaves more places for water to get stuck in and cause rust again(which is why I'm here in the first place). If they are required, is there a way to make better ones? Or simplify it?

Its had its ups and downs. I'm glad I didn't sell it back when I was broke. Never would have imagined it at this point. I was planning on grinding out the lot of it and get it down to base again, and then hitting it with some POR 15. I'll be doing pretty much the entire frame in it, so why not the inside of this section too. I'll look up that rust bullet and see how it stacks up. Right now, I'm waiting on the floor pans to get in, but I figure, while I have holes in the floor, it gives my easy access to the backside of the skid plate bolts, so it comes full circle.

Thanks, I'm trying. Never too late to get another one though. So I've been working on a few things recently. I finally got the truck back so I was able to drive it for a week or so before moving onto my next step. The guys that worked on it welded on some solid 2x8 steel tube for rock rails in the place of my rockers, which were rusted out anyways. Rather than tube to frame, for the most part, they just beefed up the torque boxes to handle the load and plated the entire front end. They ended up taking the slack that would contact the rock rails from the bed and fender, and folded it over instead of completely cutting it off, which made it sturdier and better looking. They also welded in a new door striker on the drivers side to replace the old poorly attached unit and patched a section of the floors that was rusty too. My plan after that was to take the interior out an put down some sound mat and bedline over it for a durable interior again. This is all well and good, but I could see certain small bits of the floor around the rail cap that had small holes and were rusty. So I ended up having to pull up some of the section they had just done to remove the rail cap altogether and see what I was working with. Spoilers: I was working with nothing. The floor in between the rail cap and the frame was just about non existent, which means I have a lot of floor welding to do. The only positive to this is that it gives me a look inside the rails, which aren't too bad but could use some cleaning and proper treatment. During this repair, because there are bolts coming into the frame, I figured I should drop my TnT skid plate and repaint that while also getting a look at the bolts and repairing whatever needed it. This would be simple if the bolts still existed. I didn't even get to use the ratchet before the bolt was suspiciously loose. They were too rusted to save and sheered themselves off at the bottom. So now I have to drill them out, although I'm tempted to take my dremel tool and just cut the rusty tops out of the rail and weld in new ones, since it's all accessible. having the floor cut open also allows me to get the the nuts behind the skid plate too, so this is as good a time as any. I'm also tossing around the idea of taking the transmission off and replacing my clutch since everything else will be gone. In the time I had it running around I took it to a Fourth of July parade and ran it in that, which was fun except for the fact that it's a manual at very slow stop and go speeds and there's no AC, so I was burning to death. Still fun though. I also replaced my exterior window sweeps with late model cherokee ones, which required a bit of modification but give a much better and more durable overall appearance. Was thinking about making a write up for it on here if it hasn't already been done. And the last thing I did was added my stickers to it. I didn't really want to put badges back on it, so I went with stickers instead that compliment the overall black and green theme. And now, pictures. Old seal edge The edge of the new window seal. Still needs a tiny bit of trimming but came out pretty good At the show. Too hot for doors. While I was at it, since I was taking the corner windows out, I replaced the cracked up seal there with ones from an extra set of corner windows I had lying around. The rock rails Stickers A patch they had to do on both sides because the cab corners were pretty rough. I still need to do the body work over them. You can also see how they folded the edge of the bed for the rails. Floorboard hell. Little holes along the rail and a complete hole beneath the torque box. After I pulled the torque box top off. I use those words lightly, since it was mostly prying. The PO had, instead of fixing the problem, just ground the edges of the frame rail and the torque box down and welded them all together. After getting the rail cap off. The rails so far. Not too bad but not exactly good either. Water is still getting into the frame rails from somewhere, but I'm not sure where. The messed up end of the rail cap. I think I can fix it with a few welds and maybe some gussets. The prior welds where someone tried to fix the floors before, but clearly couldn't weld at all.... Just a load of metal all on top, nothing actually binding the pieces. Skid plate bolts, or whats left of them. Anyways, still a lot to do, so I'll try to update every now and then.

The truck has been in for a bit now getting some of the final rust patches taken care of. Floor boards, Rocker/Rock rails, and my old ruined door striker are all replaced(I only just began doing welding, so I wasnt confident in heavier metals). Ended up being more expensive then previously estimated. That coupled with the fact that I have some incurred hospital bills for tearing a large muscle in my shoulder have kept me from retrieving it for the time being. Soon, I'll have it back, and then, of course, more work. With the floorboards finished, I'm going to be bedlining the entire lower interior as well as the new rock rails. What I've been working on instead is a set of trail doors. I've always been picky about having a "stock" look, something that compliments the truck itself. I already had a mig welder, so I figured it's about time I learned the last obstacle in my way. I purchased all the extra supplies I needed and practiced for a couple days with the flux core and then one day with the gas. After that, I broke my extra set of doors down, carefully measuring for what I wanted out of it. After that, I used my angle grinder to create some top panels out of 18(or maybe 16) gauge steel to fit what I cut out. Then, I began the welding. I tacked all the pieces on and then went to doing the spot weld beads across the surface. The welds were hard to predict on the doors. I prepped them as best as I could, but in the end, it was all just feeling it out. Occasionally, it would punch through the panel, but was easily filled later. I then stripped everything else off the exposed panel of the door and started the body smoothing. No matter how slow I went, there was still a couple warped sections. After about 3 or 4 thin coats of fill, I started the priming process. Since I figured out welding, I took the opportunity to start breaking down my tailgate and getting it all cleaned up as well for repair. The lower section was all ruined by rust, so I cut what I could out and planned for the next step. The door with all the measurement markup. First Cuts. I left a lot of extra so I could perfect the lines with a flap disc on the grinder. Better to have too much than too little. The other door all cut out but not ground to perfection yet. How I took the measurements Back of the door. All ground down to the lines I wanted. Added in some curves where I thought they would look good. Some of the pieces being produced and test fitted. Some of them didn't quite line up like I wanted on the back side, so it required adjustment. The goal was to have the pieces fold over the back and give a solid edge to adhere to for when the door panels go in them. I used relief cuts since I didn't have a press brake to make my 90s. Tacked in but not perfect. Went back later and thinned the edge of that one. All pieces tacked in. I also filled in the lock hole, since that won't be necessary(and I'm a sucker for looks). The fit I was going for since the panels worked into ridges in the back. All the way welded with some minor reworks where I didn't like it or it didn't penetrate enough. Some rust I noticed at the bottom of the grey door. I pulled back the fold from the bottom and got in there good with a grinding disc to get it out. If I'm spending this much time creating them, I don't want them to rust. Afterwards, I hit it with rust reformer inside and out. Finished welding, now stripping. Bodywork And primed. I still have to strip the back of the doors too. Pretty proud of the welds on the corner of this. And the tailgate. For the doors, the plan is to use half door handles attached at the 45 slope piece I put on there. I have the handles, I just have yet to fit them. I also have a bunch of new decals for the truck too when I get it back. Shouldn't be to long before the doors are finished.