Tux_Fan

I thought this was interesting. If it has very little rust and you have a drivetran to drop into it this may be a good deal. http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/cto/3079021223.html

Darn, alright. Well that sucks. I guess I should probably order new flywheel bolts as I reused my old ones and don't want to tighten them a 3rd time...

Alright, I just swapped out my AW4 for an AX15 because I don't like automatics. It took me a while to figure out why it wouldn't even crank until I found that I had to jump a cable on the NSS harness. Now, it cranks but will not start. I used a 1996 transmission on my 1989 truck. I also used a 1996 flywheel, clutch, master cylinder, slave cylinder, etc... I did however use my 1989 CPS... My fear is that the flywheel is not the correct one and won't work with the CPS. It did not even cross my mind until I was thinking about it today. I did not even check to see if the flywheel notches matched the ones on the old flexplate or not... If this is the case is there a work around. Can I use the 1996 CPS and get it to work? If there is something else I should check let me know... That would be very helpful.

I think I might have one. Just switched to a 96 AX-15 from an AW4 and I need to buy an electronic speedo and the wiring harness for it to get my spedometer back... I will let you know if I don't accidentally break it when I take it out next week. Stephen

Thanks guys. I ended up scoring a set of old school ford turbines local to me for 120. They look like the ones above. I also managed to get a set of all-terrains with about 90% tread and no dry-rotting for 170!!!

Those are the exact ones I wanted... Its not urgent but I will be living in Tampa for the next 5 weeks and then I will be living in tallahasee.

I am looking for a set of rims for my jeep comanche. The current ones are from a ranger that the PO hacked the center out of to get them to fit. I doubt they are safe... I am really looking for an old school set of aluminum turbine/hurricane rims. I have seen several sets by Ford and American Racing that might fit. Or Jeep turbines are cool too. Or sawblade aftermarket aluminum rims. Otherwise, I will consider almost any type of older cherokee/comanche jeep alloy, the jeep steelies from a cherokee but not the star type ones, most aftermarket steelies, most 80's and 90's non chrome aluminum aftermarkets. Let me know what you have. I am really not that picky. The only things I will not buy for sure is 16" and bigger rims, Chrome rims, or newer style rims. I want something old that looks like it goes with the truck... As far as tires I will consider anything with legal tread between 225/75/15s and 31s but nothing bigger. I am willing to drive most places in Florida for a set of turbines or old school aftermarket aluminum rims. I live in Bradenton which is a little south of Tampa and am willing to drive up to 2 hours for anything else.

Alright, my first vehicle was a 2 door cherokee 4x4 stick. I had that thing up at 4.5 inches and 33s and with a stick shift I would get 14-15 MPG. Get what you want especially if you are not mechanically inclined. I bought my MJ for $500 as I wanted a cheap work truck/DD and didn't care too much about 4x4 because, quite frankly, I would buy another cheap cherokee if I wanted to go offroad again. However, it does currently have an auto which I hate... Here is my advice. Decide what you want. For me my first jeep had everything I wanted, and for only $750 I couldn't say no. However, after a year or two of driving you will realise stuff that you wish you had. For me I was tired of trying to jamb all my tools into the cherokee to go to work. I am a handyman so I utilize the beds of my pickup trucks on a regular basis. However, you might buy a comanche, decide you don't use the bed much and would rather take your friends around with you. At that point you would sell it and buy a cherokee. However, IMHO the comanche is kind of the coolest jeep ever made. Count the costs before hand because owning a vehicle, even a cheap one, is expensive. Don't over think it though, as long as you don't completely mess it up and/or wreck it you can always sell it and buy something different.

Never been a huge fan of stacks but I really like your work. Its a pretty sweet looking truck too.

That is a seriously sexy comanche...

Found a little rust pinhole in the tailgate. I am terrible at taking pics and forgot to take an after pic of the repair but it was so small I drilled it out and just filled the hole with weld. Looks like someone hit it with a BB a while back or something. Everywhere else it was fine... The weld turned out so nice I didnt even have to use body filler... Started painting the bed. This time with a spray gun. MUCH easier and is turning out alot nicer too. I love rustoleum... Thats all for now.

I originally bought my '89 to do the OM617 swap to. I decided not to do it as when I bought the truck it only had 130k miles... When I get out of school I will probably swap one in... Anyway, awesome work. Very clean swap if I do say so myself. Do you have any idea on what your costs were for the swap? Stephen

Alright I have the seats in, radiator changed, switched over to open cooling using my washer bottle as the overflow bottle. Also changed the water pump and t-stat while I was at it. And then this happened. Got hit by a craftsmen ratchet and someone with more time and less brains than usual... Anyway been working on the paint. I should have the cab done being painted by tomorrow. I broke down and bought an el cheapo spray gun and moisture blocker thingy to do the bed... Rolling is NOT the way to go when painting. It turning out alright though. This is a couple of coats back and it looks like $#!&. This is the roof on the final coat. Needs sanding and polishing which is now done I just don't have a picture of it yet... Hung the passenger fender and the hood. Polished out everything on this side. There are a few thin spots on the door so I am going to hit it again with the spray gun when I do the bed. Otherwise it looks pretty good. There are some nasty flaws that I will eventually sand out and fix though... And a picture showing the paint. Its kind of a lie though. looks great in the picture and looks alright in real life. I am satisfied but the picture does make it look better than it really is. For instance look at the reflection of the roof and realise its not exactly straight... Of course everything looks worse under flourescents so I will see what it looks like outside probably Monday or Tuesday...

This sounds like fun... 1. College student working on Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. 2. I drive a 1976 Honda CB550 motorcycle as my daily driver. Sorry but the MJ can't get 45 mpg... 3. I am on my second Jeep. Sold the cherokee and bought the MJ for work as a handyman. 4. Pizza is my go to meal... Probably eat it 5 times a week... 5. I graduated high school with my Liberal Arts AA degree...

18... I had my cherokee when I was 16... Now its time to grow up and I bought a comanche for work...

Not yet I haven't. However I also haven't driven her more than 500 feet... I remember those times with my XJ though. No other vehicle really gives me vibes like that. Not even my motorcycle which is particularly fun to drive...

They were made until 2001 although 97-01 2 door models are much more rare.

I love y'alls work. You definitely raised that kid right. When I was 13 my dad had a Cherokee, by the time I was 16 I had fixed alot of stuff in that jeep. However, it was a rusty pile of junk... So I bought my first cherokee. Started working as a handyman and needed a truck, so I bought my MJ. Couldn't be happier. Anyway, I can't wait to see what you guys come up with after all this work. Its going to be really nice.

I just have to say awesome work. 155 on a 4.0 is pretty insane if you ask me. Definitely something different from the typical 4wd offroaders that are usually built. Props man.

Isn't his truck an 86? Don't those have different hoods and fenders than the later years? Still should interchange with any 84-86 cherokee though... In any case I have ALWAYS had trouble with rust under the metal window trim. Out of three jeeps the 2 with metal window trim were rusted out underneath that... Switch to rubber window seals... Oh and PULL UP YOUR CARPET as stated previously.

Every Laredo cherokee I have seen has had the auto windows with smoker vents up front. I was suprised to find crank windows and working vents on my MJ when I bought it. Good luck on your build. My color of choice is white and it looks like you found a pretty clean MJ.

Thanks. The ID sticker on the door has so much damage it is completely unreadable. I will check the one under the hood. What paint you guys prefer for repainting these trucks?

My MJ severely needs paint. I am planning on painting it within the next month or two. What is my paint code and where can I acquire factory color paint? Not looking to spend more than 400$ on the paint system and hopefully I can get a guy I know to help me out with actually spraying it. Anyway my truck is this color I have heard it is Spinnaker Blue or possibly Platinum Blue and I don't know the paint codes or where to find them... Any help would be greatly appreciated. Stephen

I have one. I will PM you.

HOLY RUST BATMAN... No actually this was a whole lot less than my previous XJ. There was also a small spot on the passenger side. Got to love Florida's rust problem :rotf: This is due mostly to the classic saggy door hinges... I can see light all the way around the drivers side door seal... And its fixed. Most of it was surface rust except for right in that corner. I know my welding absolutely sucks... Similar deal on the other side. I will bedline the floorboards and bed at some point. I loved having bedlined floors in my XJ I just wanted to get a little bit better liner this time. Last time I used herculiner and it held up most places but did not hold up on the drivers side floorboard. Think I am going to try Monstaliner next time. The following rust spot annoys me. Its not in the windshield frame but when my dad had his cherokee this was a major PITA to repair. I guess its typical for XJ/Mjs with metal window trim... Also, changed out the radiator as it was extremely broken. The bottom support had rusted off completely, the radiator had warped into sort of a V shape at the bottom and about half the fins were missing. Not to mention broken plastic tank. Original AMC radiator. Forgot to take a picture of it. but here is a pic of the new one with radiator cap. Going to finish the conversion to open cooling this week. Got bored and straigtened some damage in the rear end. Should have taken a before pic but here is an after pic. Now just bondo and paint and I will be done with that. Also picked up some fairly clean 2 door XJ buckets from the JY. Payed 50 for them but the yard wanted to charge me 30 a piece for the sliding brackets alone so I ripped those off. Now I am looking for a set for hopefully less than 60 dollars... The yards in this area all SUCK. Just FYI. And last... Just some water damage to the interior of the Jeep due to that pesky leaking door. This panel is pretty much destroyed so I am going to try and find a JY one or maybe fabricate a new backer board for this one. So I found a spare set of keys tied to my front coilspring??? Weird but hey I will take them. My door lock cylinders are still utterly destroyed so if anyone has lock cylinders with keys I am interested... Pm me.