neohic

... you should tell it at parties.

Apparently my connecting rods were panning for gold. The crank looks great though! Plastigage says I’m good to go with rolling on a set of standard bearings. Timing chain must have minutes of hesitation though. Taking care of that along with a new oil pump and a slew of gaskets while it’s apart.

Dang... puking a rod bearing. At least it still looks kinda cool all loaded up behind the shop truck.

Yup! Something like that. It’s got some aftermarket gauges that someone added so I’d either like to match the original speedometer or the gauges

Maiden voyage with the updated fuel delivery today. Put 30 miles on it without so much as a hiccup. First time I even had it up to 70! It even maintained speed! Definitely needs a tachometer now. Between the wind, road, and tire noise it’s difficult to judge by ear when enough is enough. On the hunt for the right vintage tach!

Wow! Just wow!! I got the fuel injection in and running today. I decided to go through Performance Fuel Injection out of Michigan. A base kit direct through Howell would’ve been way expensive. Affordable Fuel Injection was a close second but by the time you add in a few options the price was just about equal to Performance. We’ve worked with Performance at the shop in the past and their tech support is just awesome. The kit comes with an HEI distributor, but lacks things like a thought out throttle linkage. It’s easy enough to figure, but even on the informational video on YouTube they say “you’re going to have some thinking here”. It also does not include fuel hose, clamps, an air cleaner, or plug wires. Everything else was pretty well self explanitory. I ended up using a modified air cleaner housing from an International Scout but it seems to just be temporary. Power brakes are in the plans and it looks like the booster will be sharing a space with the air cleaner. Overall I’m happy with the results. I was impressed with the performance out of this old CJ before but now it’s absolutely amazing!

I’m very much enjoying this little CJ. Fuel injection happening this weekend!

What?... April?

Thanks! Having an early CJ has been a learning curve for daily driver usage. I’ve really enjoyed the minimalist driving style. Really just enough to be a practical vehicle, but just barely. Been noticing more things on it that I’d like to be upgrading and fixing. Nothing really pressing... just things to make it more driveable. Power brakes is on the list. Fuel injection soon too. Got a big box in the mail that’ll help with one of those things. Goodbye carburetor!

In other news, now that the weather is coming around again it’s time to get back to work on the house. 12’ material? No problem.

... I had a stash of leftover pieces and a hand-me-down from our local muffler shop.

Just keeps getting better! I wanted “sewing machine status” with the exhaust so I took care of that yesterday. Funny what others find to be acceptable.

Thanks! Did some fluid checks the other day and noticed that the axles still have their I.D. tags. Won’t know for sure but I looked through the full hole in the rear to find what I think is a Powerlock diff. Nice! Also, the gears are for sure 4.27s. Super nice!!

Something is different around the site, eh? Have you noticed? WE'VE GOT A NEW SUBFORUM!!! There has been plenty of updates to the site recently and if you haven't had a look around for a while, then you've got some catching up to do. Changes are good, right?! This month's MJOTM has plenty of changes. Just so happens you'll find him in the new Epic Tech section too! How about that?! This truck is great! YEAR/MODEL ● 88 Pioneer ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● Stock Renix 4.0L, Rustys intake tube. DRIVETRAIN ● 99-04 Super Duty Dana 60 (5.38.)Spartan locker, ECGS Slugs, 35 spline outers, 01 E350 Dana 60 Detroit locker, NP241OR 4:1, AW4 with RADesign/Winter shifter, Auxiliary cooler with electric fan mounted under the bed. COOLING ● Three electric fans in a Dirt Bound fan shroud, Trans and steering cooler mounted in front of the radiator. SUSPENSION/STEERING ● Rubicon Express 5.5” front coils, Bilstien shocks, Clayton long arm kit. RE track bar mount, custom track bar. Rear SOA with Bilstien shocks. INTERIOR ● Swapped in bucket seats, custom center console. A pillar Autometer trans temp gauge x2, water temp gauge. BRAKES ● WJ Booster, prop valve delete. EXTERIOR ● Flop Shop Offroad front bumper with warn M8000, custom rear bumper. 2x6” steel rockers. Rustys T-case skid, metal cloak oil pan skid. 8” removed from the rear of the bed. T&M Fab MJ stiffeners, Rustys Tail lights. Flop shop offroad mirrors. WHEELS/TIRES ● 17x9 Battleborn bead locks, 39.5” BFG Krawler reds (haven’t ran them yet). Old tires were 40” Goodyear MTR 17x8 steels. MISCELLANEOUS ● TNT high clearance inner fenders. PSC hydro assist 8” ram, PSC pump, stock box. Optima yellow top. FULL BUILD THREAD HERE Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● I had an 89 prior to this; I built it a little too nice and just didn’t have the heart to wheel it. I bought this 88 in September 2016 to build into something I could wheel. By January 2017 I took it out on its first trip. As everyone knows these things are never done. I really enjoy wheeling this thing in the north east. It’s always fun seeing everyone’s reactions when I show up with the MJ because it’s not like everyone else’s TJ or JKs. It’s always impressed me and everyone else with what it’s capable of doing. I have a lot of kinks to still work out but it works great for a Jeep that’s older than me! CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● I think CC is awesome because if you have any kind of problem or issue with a Comanche, this is the place to come. There is so many knowledgeable people on here that know these Jeeps inside and out you can always get an answer or two. Awesome! Just awesome!! Really reminds me of a wheeling MJ I had a while ago and this is 100% the direction I had in my head. So cool that others can live vicariously through others around here. Even cooler that we've got examples like yours! Thanks for being a part of CC. -Ben

The kit I’m getting isn’t technically a “Howell” setup, but it runs most of the same components. It’s close to the Affordable kit though. A lot of the same stuff along with electronic ignition. I’ll look more into it. On another note, Pinky came home tonight.