neohic

:rotf:

Let's be serious Jim. Where would you find one of those?

Where one build ends, another gets new life... So, there was this: http://comancheclub.com/topic/29983-the-five-year-project/ Then almost one year to the date, this happened: http://comancheclub.com/topic/32916-1989-pioneer-lwb-ho-swap-project-northern-mn/ And then there's today: After a trade for some custom bumpers, the deal was done. The truck started life as a '89, 2.5, 2wd long box. Austin (xjrev10) started swapping everything over from a '93 XJ to bring it up to a 4.0 with 4wd. Everything is there... pretty much. The wiring was swapped over... I think... but the project has been left for over a year now. So... what's cool about it? At some point, the truck was treated to a cool rust inhibiting process that I've only heard about. The first thing I notice when I opened the door were these crazy little plugs: I'm really anxious to see what the inside of the panels look like when I remove the interior. Speaking of which: ... it's bad. I'm not keeping any of it as everything will get swapped over from the '91. Not sure what I'll do with it yet as the colors won't match, but the headliner is all kinds of groovy! It's like a shag carpet up there! As far as the rest of the truck, everything is pretty solid. There is a need to repair the floors, but I haven't taken a close look at it just yet. The rockers and cab corners however look clean. Not totally straight, but clean. Same goes for most of the box. A small spot of the nasty orange stuff above the left wheel well and alone the bottom edges, but nothing too terrible. I've got some work to do under the left taillight though. I would imagine that it was backed up into something?... I don't know. There's a dent, a hole, and some rust. Anyway, the engine looks like it's all there, but there's wires and hoses that go everywhere! After some snow removal, some additional parts where found in the box. Like a treasure hunt! Looks like there's some 2.5 stuff, some YJ stuff, and an assortment of other randomness. Beer cans too... lots of beer cans. :shake: So here's the plan. While I love the '91, I hate that it's only a matter of time before nothing can be saved from rust. I wanted to do a 4wd swap on it, but with the amount of rust in it, it just doesn't make any sense. With everything that has been done on the '89, and everything that hasn't, I'm obviously going to use it as a body donor. Austin has the most of the mechanical components changed over from the '93, so I'll just leave them alone for now and just finish the conversion. Remove the wiring, throw some paint at it, move over the entire harness from the '91, fuel tank, interior, odds and ends, and call it good enough. All in all, what I want is a good driver that I don't feel bad about driving year round. Yes, it will rust eventually but I'm not going for the same amount of body work that I put into my '88 Eliminator. What I want is something nice... but not that nice. I won't be getting to this until later this spring. I've got a lot of prep work to do on the new truck before then, but I think it'll be nice to have the peace of mine that my truck won't fold in half when I open both doors at the same time. :D I'm pretty sure the '91 is looking forward to its new clothes too!

Lots of build threads there that go way back here too. Good stuff!

Thanks dude. :cheers:

There really should be, shouldn't there? It's been a frustrating experience waiting for my axle to get done. It's been in pieces for a couple months now at the school I work at because I was asked if I would help aid in someone's education and let a student take it appart and put it back together. Not sure if I donated it to a flunky, but I will say that I'll never do this again. I met up with the kid who is supposedly working on it last week and asked if I could have it back before the end of the week. This week is spring break so I figured I could get something done on it. No... not so much. The axle wasn't even touched all week so I very nicely asked where everything was at so I could put it all back together myself. I noticed that I needed pinion bearings yet, so I got those on order. Yet another set back as any parts store counter jocky in my town doesn't seem to understand urgency or even how to do their job properly. Currently, I'm waiting on the last of the parts to come in. Now I'm getting all worked up again... :soap box:

Any updates? Comanche Club demands updates.

I do plenty of repair and metal work on the side to almost pay for my bad habits. It's more of a concern that she gets of putting money into something equals something is wrong with it. My wife loves that I have something to do to keep myself busy! I can even get her out into the garage when I need a hand!... even if it is a little relentless... It's more of the details that not even she wants to know. So many days when I'm home by myself it's, "How was your day?" "Wonderful! I spent all day under the truck pressing in bushings for the leaf springs, then I got the old axle out, put the new one in, started taking a look at the brakes since I'm going to a disk setup, I ran new hard lines, figured out what I want to do for soft lines, started playing around with tire size now that it's almost at the proper ride height, then there's gear ratio since it's a different axle, and then I just fiddled around with a could little things that were bugging me under the rear of it." When really, she'd probably be happy with, "How was your day?" "Wonderful! I did a bunch of Jeep stuff." You'd think... I find that it puts her more on the lookout.

Okay... where do I start and how in depth are we talking? Treasure map type of deal or Da Vinci Code?

Lot's of replies here: http://comancheclub.com/topic/31482-what-do-u-do-for-a-living/ :thumbsup:

You putting together some sort of scavenger hunt for the rest of us or something?... because that would be awesome.

I think so, Jim. Not so sure I remember the blue truck though...

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/cto/3662417458.html 1953 Willys Jeep Truck With Plow - $2750 (Red Wing) Plow yourself out in style. 1953 Willys pickup with hydraulic snowplow operated off engine. F134, 4x4, 3sp trans. Runs and drives great. Handled yesterday's 10" of snow on my 400' of driveway just fine. Body has a couple welds and dings but overall is very solid. Good candidate for restore or just use as is around the house, farm, or town. Titled with collector plates. $2750 with plow/ $2400 without/ best offer :rock on:

Neat! Can't believe I forgot about this build.

^This. Less evidence... less questions...

You are correct, sir. Alexandria, MN. Just looked out the window and the card was gone... so I left another. :D

I cropped the picture... there's a bigger pile just behind the truck! Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure I know the truck from a few years ago. It didn't have the white doors on it, but it also had a topper then. It's an '87 with a cracked up black dash with the rest of the interior in gray. Years back, I pulled a black interior for Rob and I'm almost 100% positive that it was this truck. There really wasn't all that much to set it apart from the rest of the rusty MN MJ herd, but it has a Hurst shift knob that really rings a bell. Also, the lack of the defrost vent at the top of the dash... mostly because the guy mentioned how much of a pain it would be to put one back when I took it. Really neat to see it sitting in the parking lot right outside being that the last time I saw it, it was 75 miles east of here.

Hoping you found the card and found your way here. :waving:

So, is the plan to remove said sheet metal and keep it in a safe place?

Hell, yeah! I'd give the same hospitality of a futon to sleep on too if you choose to stay a few days! Can't say there's near as much interesting things to see within decent driving range, though... I've got a state park all of around the corner from my place, you just missed "Hockey Fest" for the year, but we can't forget about the giant concrete Viking that stands downtown. Oh... POST # 1501!!! Now it's really time to party!... I probably should've added a numbered picture, but I'm still proud of myself enough to break the rules of the thread yet again. Oh yeah... goin' rogue... :hijack:

Yes sir! That, and I've been after this... post #1500 for me. :hmm: Hu... I kinda figured it'd feel cooler than this. Ah well... mild high jack, but I'm proud of myself right now.