Rockdrummer93

Finally got a good set of taillights! I was going to do bed armor/LED housings and probably still will but these will let me get the truck on the road sooner so I'm excited!

Got the first 2 coats of primer on before I finished for today. This is probably how it will sit for a little while. Next main thing is the fuel pump assembly. Will be ordering the adapter rings early next week after I get the gears done on my Cherokee. Took the 35" spare from my cherokee and rolled it under the bed's fender well to see what it looked like. About 3" too tall but I think it looks good!

Got the bed pretty much ready for paint today. Will prime it sometime this week but will probably won't color for a little while.

You should have let me know you were going! I would have tried to get out there in the Cherokee. Oh well, maybe next time. Still awesome shots. The manche is looking great. just give me a couple months and mine might even be able to contend with this lol.

Got some work on the bed done today. Mainly just scraping the "Sportruck" decal off the sides so I can paint it. I also was able to get one of the fenders trimmed. Was just able to get that one side done before my last cut wheel gave out. (good thing for safety glasses ;)) did think it was pretty cool that since the PO for some reason painted part of the bed black that when I scrapped the vinyl off the "Sportruck" was still there lol

Thanks Yeah those hinges are turning into a nightmare. Yeah as soon as I get the hinges fixed, steering brace plates on and the tank worked out she will be getting some color. Will be ordering the tank rings sometime this month. Need to get past next week though. My cherokee is getting geared this thursday and don't want to spend a lot of money till that is done and out of the way.

Yeah I wouldn't mind trimming the wheel well. I just really don't want to dock the bed. Id be loosing a lot more cargo area doing that then just opening up the wheel well. Plus docking the bed would be a lot more work and I'd have the shackles hanging off the back. So unless I was linking it. docking would not be worth it to me. But then again looking at that picture. If I opened the wheel well up that much it might look funky unless I had a gigantic tire to fill it up a little. Idk I probably won't do it. mainly just a thought.. But thanks for the input guys. If y'all find anyone that has done it and made it look good be sure to post it here. Would still like to see it done and done right.

Hopefully this is the right place. Didn't think it was tech cause i know it can be done. But has anyone here done it or have experience with it. The idea just popped in my head about flopping the springs and gaining up to 5inches of stretch. That would possibly help with the departure angle without docking the bed. I know that the MJ springs are 57" long and are split 26"/31" at the center pin. So flopping them would set them 31" away from the hanger instead of 26". If anyone here has done it or knows anyone that has, could you post some pictures or point me somewhere I can see some?

Steering brace frame plates came in today. Now just need to get it over to my buddy's shop so I can get the crack fixed and these installed. been a little busy lately so haven't got to the manche in a few days. still need to work out the doors. Ive got the top hinge on both sides done just need to do the bottom and then get them all aligned up.

Got some work on the hinges done today. Also primed some of the body panels. Had a little issue when working on the hinges. One of the holes that I tapped had a bur. I locked up the bolt and snapped the head off. Broke out the blue wrench and the WD40, and might have started a little fire. Nothing bad just made a lot of smoke lol.

Got some of the sanding done today. This is probably the first time this truck as been white in a long time :rofl: Got it all ready for primer. But first going to get the hinges and crack in the frame fixed this weekend then will be getting to the paint.

Well back in the states. Today has been the first time I have been able to get to work on the Manche. I was able to get the bed off, and it all cleaned up. Starting to prep it for paint. Going to be ordering some door hinges and front frame braces this week. A buddy of mine is going to help me get the crack fixed this weekend. The gas tank looks brand new and after taking more of a look at it, I might be able to make it work with the new fuel assembly. So before I buy a new tank I am going to try it with that one.

Thanks. I'll have to see what I can work out

thanks man. Yeah I'm just working out of the garage. Did you just bend the plate around the corner or cut, weld and grind?

If it aint in too bad of shape I might buy the passenger side one from that is if you don't want an arm and leg for. All I need is the Passenger side. Its that or I'm doing LED housings like yours. How hard were they to make btw?

Do you still have the passenger side taillight?

Nice MJ man. Lovin the color. Keep up the good work!

could you send me some pics when your done? or post a link here where I could see them.. seeing an MJ in inca gold will help me decide better.. seeing a bunch of TJs in that color isnt the same.

Yeah I've been getting more votes for the blue. It is a pretty awesome color. reson46's MJ is close to the intense blue if not is intense blue. I like it.

Sorry, we bought it this color. It has been painted at some point but I don't know what color they used. It was originally maroon. Willy No problem, thanks anyway. Keep up the good work!

Yeah I have narrowed it down to Inca gold and either the cosmos blue or intense blue (same, same)

Love this build. You have given me a ton of ideas. I do have a question involving the color of you MJ. Do you know of the name or code of this paint? It looks like the Intense blue that came on some of the Wranglers. Been looking for ideas on what to paint mine. Ive always love this color on the TJs and just found your MJ with what looks like the same color and it looks great!

OK so here is the plan right now when I get back.. My over all goal is to have the Comanche ready for the Christmas trip we have every year. In order to be finished with the 97+ swap I still need to install the new style fuel pump assembly, the doors and the rest of the body panels.. That is priority right now. Another main issue I need to address before I do anything major is the crack in the frame at the steering box bolt, probably just going to weld up the crack grind it down then install some front frame stiffeners on top to help reinforce it. once all of that is done. I'm probably going to paint it. Still not sure what I'm going with at the moment. I want to stick with a factory Mopar color. I saw where someone on JF did a whole rattle can paint job from those 5oz. cans of Mopar touch up paint and it didn't turn out that bad. I'm looking at either PJ4 Cosmos Blue, PEM Red Rock Crystal Pearl, PYJ Inca Gold, PGJ Jeep Green Metallic, PBA Winter Chill or if none of those work out then just an ultra flat olive drab or desert tan from the local auto parts store. tell me which y'all think on the colors. after that, its lift and tires. Going with 6.5 BDS coils, Clayton's Pro series 3-link kit and the Skyjacker M95 shocks off my XJ installed with a nondisco HP30 for the front. Will be going spring over in the rear with the D44 also from my XJ. As for rubber 35x12.5 Goodyear MT/Rs. Have been doing a lot of research over here in Saudi waiting to come home. I am pretty set on the suspension. I am still set on selling my XJ but it will be a while before I can get a new daily driver with the situation I'm in at the moment. Ive got enough saved up that with a little from the sell of the XJ and work when I get home I should be able to do most of this before December that is if the XJ sells quick for what I want for it. I have free range of using my dad's TJ as a short term DD till I'm able to get my own DD. So yeah there are my plans at the moment. I know its a lot. But what can I say when I'm over here behind this computer on JeepForum and ComancheClub all day. :rotfl2: Can't wait to get home and get started.

I know you didn't ask me, but here's my set up for some reference, it sits with a 1" rake. 6.5" Rustys coils, RC drop brackets, stock control arms, 4wd leafs, C8.25 SOA and RC shackles(they're about the same length as the MJ ones.) I have 6.5 in the front and 7.5 in the rear. Thanks

If you're going with 35s, I think you'll probably need the 4wd leafs. I'm going to try a set of shackles to make up some difference for me. If you decide you want the the 2wd leafs anyway, let me know and I'll trade with you. You're not that far. I'll keep that in mind thanks.