neohic

... had to.

Well, things went well today. I ended up putting a mic on the crank before anything. Obviously the crank is worn some and I was shocked with how close to spec it still was. The more I looked at the interternals the more surprised I was with its condition. It was a day of a few surprises though! What I was told was that the engine was out of an ‘81. Nope. This thing has Chrysler stamps all over it! I went into the parts store and gave them the vehicle to search for parts as a ‘90 YJ. Everything worked out. In the end, it got standard bearings, a timing chain, oil pump, valve cover gasket, thermostat, and belts. Eventually I plan to look into a 4.0 swap but I’m in no hurry. This refreshed engine still runs super strong!... but I know I’m on borrowed time.

... 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.

... and way too fancy for this rig.

Yessir. I cloned a Howell kit years ago on a ‘90 YJ. This time around I don’t have access to a junk GM 4.3 like I did. Time is a factor too that I like the idea of opening a box and just start throwing parts on. I can get a full kit for around $1k.

I should really start with saying that I've had my eye on this Jeep for a very long time. It's been around the shop I work at quite a bit for one thing or another and I always found myself doing some other thing or another on it while I was there. The history as far as I know is that it came from a previous employee who really didn't care for it, then it was traded to the owner of the shop for a square body Chevy, then it really had no direction until I started picking at it, and now it's mine. This is my newly acquired 1975 CJ5. His name is Pinky. Pinky?... why not? It was originally a cool gray color but at some point it was obviously (poorly) repainted red. Then it faded... and faded.. and then faded some more. Overall, it's a solid little Jeep. There is some rust and bondo hiding under that thin layer of single stage paint, but it's in great shape where it counts. Is it all original? Absolutely not. I'd call this CJ "unmolested", but nowhere near a "survivor". It's still rocking the drum brakes, narrow track Dana 30/44, a 258, and a T14 three speed. It sports such options like a passenger seat. The engine is a later model but otherwise stockish. I'll be adding Howell fuel injection soon. Anyways... here's more pictures of it's transformations as it came in and out of the shop for random prototyping... As it sits now is with the drop dead gorgeous Meyer tin top and doors. Kinda postal looking? I love it! My plans are to leave it alone for the most part. With building a new shop this year I don't have too much of an interest of building another wheeler only to have to deal with the potential fixing of parts and finding time to do such things. Right now I want a little mountain road runner that I can comfortably daily drive. I think this fits the bill beautifully.

I did a V8 swap with a ‘94 ZJ as a donor. Had plenty of power!... but tons of extra electronic garbage. If I ever do another I’d go with a mildly built old school 360 in front of an AX15 and topped with a Holley Sniper fuel injection. Easy, simple, and they fit under our hoods without the mix and match of different LS donors. I agree. Lots of other options than the LS.

Thanks for everyone who enjoyed this thread, but it’s off to its new owner this afternoon. Kinda hard but I’m moving on to bigger things. This just means that my future shop will get some fancy name along the lines of “The Jim Oshel Facility for Manufacturing Sciences and Tomfoolery”. Oh, and stay tuned for the next build thread. This time I’m going older, smaller, but still a Jeep.

It’s VERY streetified! I drive this truck all the time!

You know I still have MY ELIMINATOR too, right? Trying to sell really comes down to needing some funding to build a new shop, I’ve never really had “that moment” with it that would make me hesitate selling it, and my wife has never been all that crazy about it either. Not that she completely dictates what vehicles I have, but it sure does take all the fun out of it when your other half isn’t interested either. It'll be okay. I promise! Once I’ve got a permanent home for my ‘88 and I can be driving it/updating the thread the stars will realign. Until then, change needs to happen and the ‘86 will be replaces with another Jeep. Quite quickly, actually! I’ve been doing nothing but downsizing and simplifying my lifestyle for the last couples years. I’ve downsized my fleet considerably and now I have the opportunity to downsize a Jeep. Had my eye on its replacement for months now. Stay tuned.