neohic

I'd like to add fabricator/welder for Alexandria Aircraft, Bellanca along with plenty of on the side metal work.Time to update soon... I've given up on trying to mold the next generation of welders as a teacher. Just can't do it anymore and I'm tired of being responsible for those who really don't care to be there. So I had a weld test and interview at a local shop that builds bridges and completely knocked it out of the park. Looks like I'm going back into the private sector! Not overly crazy about it, but the shop is all of a quarter mile from our house and it's just too easy to move into this job. On the plus side, the company also has a plant outside of Denver. No welding, but it could make for an easy transfer for something temporary in the future. I'm just a welder again and I'm only responsible for me... and I'm okay with that. Suppose I'm due again. After a move from MN to CO in August, I've since found a job as an offroad automotive fabricator... and it's awesome. :D

And the saga continues. :D The truck will be getting a tight fitting exo cage eventually... not sure if it'll make the 16th deadline. :crossfingers: For the seats and harnesses, I made up a quick interior bar. ... that was last week. As for yesterday and today... ... the truck found its way on to a forest of jack stands. The truck then started spitting parts. :clapping: Long arm status. :rock on: Mad flex, yo. Everything needs to be welded yet, but that'll be during the week over my lunch hours. I suppose I'll have to take the Ape out of commission soon if I want to use those axles. :( It'll be for the best though. I keep telling myself it's for the greater good. With the new front suspension, I also added a couple inches to the wheel base for a cool 119". It'll be a mad hill killer fo' sho'!

Well, folks, we've already made it to the halfway point of 2017! There's been an amazing amount of build threads started and just about completed from our somewhat new and long time members. It's awesome! Way to go, us!! This month let's shine the spotlight over to our brothers up in Canada. Plenty of good stuff happening up there too! YEAR/MODEL ● 1988 Short Box ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● 4.0L Renix with Volvo 746 Injectors, rerouted serpentine belt to delete idlers DRIVETRAIN ● AX-15, NP231 with AA HD SYE and fabricated shift linkage, HPD30 front with Lokka Locker and ZJ CV axleshafts, D44 rear with Yukon Zip locker, 3.55 gears COOLING ● Converted to open system with HO radiator and GM generic overflow bottle, heater control valve deleted ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● Alternator high mounted in place of A/C compressor using fabricated brackets, Motomaster AGM group 34 battery SUSPENSION/STEERING ● RE 3.5" lift coils/LCAs and Bilstein shocks in the front, SOA with well used 2wd springs and stock length Monroe shocks in the rear, V8 ZJ tie rod, late model XJ drag link, TMR Customs flipsert in driver's knuckle INTERIOR ● XJ bucket seats and center console, full gauge cluster, Viair air pressure gauge in place of clock, 'Race' pedals BRAKES ● Stock front with dropped YJ hoses, rear hybrid D44/Isuzu Trooper disk brakes and Dakota and Isuzu hoses LIGHTING ● Putco relay harness with added fuses on stock lights EXTERIOR ● YJ mirrors, Krylon OD green paint, S10 canopy, crazy hood scoop/vents WHEELS/TIRES ● JK 17" Moab wheels, G2 Gear 5x4.5 to 5x5 adapters, 265/70R17 (31.6" actual diameter) Firestone Destination M/Ts MISCELLANEOUS ● Viair quarter duty air compressor, front tow hooks, rear trailer hitch Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found FULL BUILD THREAD Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● There is no real best story, but I do enjoy the amount of times people ask me either if it really is a Jeep, or what exactly it is. CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● CC is the best tech resource for anything MJ related! Way to go, Dirty! I know I say it just about every month, but I really dig this truck. So many little things that add up to one very cool MJ! Keep in mind that this truck wouldn't be anything you. Have a look through DirtyComanche's profile... go on, look! You'll see that he's always helpful to other members and can always find something positive. Good truck. Good member. Thanks for being a part of Comanche Club! -Ben This post has been promoted to an article

:redX:

Yup... unobtainable parts at this point. Any pictures of the truck?

... not telling just yet. I've got an opportunity for something big is all. I was using what I had kicking around the shop. Every single piece of material was recycled from one project or another! The two-into-one came off of a Scout 800 with a 4.2 and a crazy down pipe. Not sure if it had 3" tube all the way back? There was 2" from the manifolds into the collector, and then 2.5" the rest of the way... mostly. :D

Whoa! Can't believe I've missed all this so far! Very nice, sir. Very nice!

Exhaust day! This was a real treat. Typically in the past, this is done on jack stands and a creeper. So here's a real problem. With moving the engine over in the engine bay to clear the steering shaft I ran into an issue underneath. This clearly needs to go. Actually, I've been going back and forth on going with a radius arm suspension or a three link and this just decided it for me. The other side obviously has the driveshaft. I might still look at a three link but... .. and then this happened... which I am totally not happy with. Keep in mind that it is NOT permanent!!! To keep things somewhat happy until the permanent suspension gets built a single stock upper arm should never be trusted. :doh: The Comanche gods are definitely frowning at me for this. With that, I now have tons of room for an exhaust. Things started with the stock ZJ collectors out of the manifolds and then quickly turned into another "scrap yard special". Giveth to the scrap, and the scrap giveth back. :D After that, I changed the oil, topped off the transmission, took care of the plugs and wires, and took it down the road again. Much better to drive! Maybe now I'll finally bleed the brakes! :idea:

Pictures as promised along with an additional update... windshield day! :D Even the installer was amazed with the lack of rust. ... and the current configuration of underhood stuff. I was filling the radiator last night all the while looking at the upper hose being higher than the cap. It's kinda nice having a few junk radiators around that can give up their filler neck! :idea: Little bit of plumbing left. Leaps and bounds for this over the last few days.

Stuck around at the shop tonight with the itch to take it down the road and back. Mission accomplished! :banana: Pictures tomorrow.

Oof... looks like I've got about a month to get as much done as I can on this truck. More on that later. :peek:

I can get there within seven easy hours, Pete. Funny to think that it used to take me roughly the same amount of time to get up to the "good" wheeling in Minnesota.

I had the opportunity to take a little road trip out to Moab after years of thinking I knew what good wheeling was. It's easy enough to meet others at your job or at a bar, but think about meeting someone that has the passion to travel for days and across country borders to make their way to a place to potentially destroy their vehicle. Are there closer places to potentially destroy a vehicle?... sure. However, Moab has a special charm that nowhere else has that pulls those passionate people back. Over the past weekend I had the opportunity to meet an excellent example of such passionate people. I’ve gotten wrapped up with a similar wheeling group in the past and it was an awesome reminder of why I got involved with Jeeps. Issues came up in the middle of nowhere. Trailside engineering was had. New longtime friends were made. A huge tip of the cap to everyone that was a part of my first trip to Moab. I look forward to swapping stories in thick northern accents with those guys again! It was awesome. :D

Stay tuned to the Pub, Pete. Probably tomorrow.

Hi'ya, Jim! Getting closer on that old truck of yours. :waving:

Been a number of weeks now since an update... I'm probably due. The past few weeks have been busy. There has been some house buying situations, thrashing on customer vehicles before heading everyone out to Moab, and then Moab itself... which was awesome. Since the last post, the radiator has been mounted along with transmission coolers, front end, and a host of other small things that most wouldn't care about. With the stock front crossmember cut out, a tubular unit was bent up to replace it. ... and then cut out a whole bunch of material for better air flow to the auxiliary transmission cooler. The point of wanting to run two coolers is to keep trans temps down on the trail. The main cooler is cooled by the mechanical fan. The other with the mini fan will run off of a switch. Then... ... and... Had I any intentions of keeping the stock front bumper and lower valance, you'd never even know what was going on behind there. :D 'Cuz Racecar. Soon enough. . :MJ 1: .

I'll take a close look at them for a number. Don't think I've got any more. :dunno:

Confirmed. I've got a beautiful set of front and rear. PM sent.

I know there's a set at work that's gray. I'll get a closer look at them tomorrow and let you know condition. :thumbsup:

Hmm... I'll already be there this Saturday through Tuesday with my shop.

Happy May Day, everyone! Here's a good one for those who enjoy a good wheeler. For all the '97+ swaps going on lately, this one is just a little different. Stock body? Mild suspension? Leaving things alone? WHY?! Image Not Found Image Not Found

Some good stuff happening over here!! :thumbsup:

Howdy, folks! Had a nice morning working on the Oshel Edition today. Started off with finishing up the wiring to the front... I think. :crossfingers: All I had left to do was to splice in the sockets and pigtails from the old header panel into the ZJ harness. The plan is to continue running old sealed beam headlights and to keep the indicator housings uncut. Sure was nice to finally see it with an old familiar face. :) Really too bad the whole header panel is in terrible shape. Most of the mounting studs are either broken off or all stripped out. Same goes for the screws for the indicator light housings. Maybe I can find one in better shape that's the same color with similar patina? While it was on there I took some measurements for space for the future radiator. Then this happened... ... now you see me... ... now you don't! Now, before anyone starts freaking out, this has been the plan the entire time. There's a temporary crossmember tacked in there to keep everything happy, but I'll be patching up the front of the frame and then adding a tubular crossmember that'll go under the frame. Loosely hanging the radiator in there, it doesn't even look like it'll hang down any lower than the original did! We shall see. Then there's the dash. I've been picking at it a little bit through the week trying to figure out what pieces I'll be using. The dash is already in rough shape so I really had no concern for cutting it up. Really too bad the cluster from the ZJ is bigger than the original, but it is what it is. I'm sure I could've figured a way to use an HO XJ cluster, but I'm using what I have. Should I want to spruce things up in the future, I'll look into it more. Until then... ... I'm happy enough with how it's coming together. The steering wheel though... :ack: It really doesn't do it for me. I guess an older steering wheel will physically bolt on, but it'll screw up the clocking ring for cancelling the turn signal switch and the switch sits way too close to the wheel for the high beams to function properly. I have no cruise control, no wiring for the airbag, and therefore no reason to keep this ugly wheel. Maybe I can make up a spacer and run an older wheel? Suppose I'd have to live with the turn signals not cancelling on their own. Not a huge deal?... I already deal with this in the Ape, anyhow. :hmm:

No April Fool's joke here. You read that right, this month's spotlight member is a repeat Comanche enthusiast and even an original owner! Many of us have multiple trucks, but how many of us were even around during the MJ production years? This month is for one of our long time members, has been a wealth of helpful information, and easily has one of the most recognizable signature pictures. April 2017 is all about... My Comanche Tribe YEAR/MODEL ● 1990 Sportruck, SWB 1989 Pioneer, LWB 1988 Pioneer, SWB ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● All are stock 4.0 L. The ‘88 has an ‘89 engine from a fellow CC member with Bosch 4-hole 19 lb fuel injectors and a Dynomax header. This was the condition of the transplant ’89 motor with ~100K miles and oil changed every 3,000 miles! You could eat off of it. And finally installed DRIVETRAIN ● 1990: Stock 2WD with a D35, 3.07 gears, AX15 1989: Stock 2WD with a D44, 3.56 gears, floor shift AW4 1988: Stock 4WD with D35/D30, 3.07 gears, now AX15/NP321 COOLING ● All have stock closed systems with Mac’s aluminum tank. ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● All stock SUSPENSION/STEERING ● All stock with OME 60046/60032 shocks INTERIOR ● 1990: Tan with stock vinyl flooring, black leather Jeep steering wheel, bucket seats, full center console and door panels from donor XJs. 1989: Tan with stock carpet, tan leather Jeep steering wheel, full center console, bucket seats from a CC member with XJ seat covers, woodgrain instrument panel bezel and door panels from a ‘96 Country XJ. 1988: Burgundy with stock carpet, burgundy leather Jeep steering wheel, full center console, bucket seats and door panels from donor XJs, Laredo instrument panel bezel and custom sliver accents on center console, gauge cluster and side panels. BRAKES ● All stock LIGHTING ● Stock with Marchal 750 fog lights through stock fog light switches, the ‘88 has chrome Marchal 850GT fog lights with a pair of chrome 750s waiting in the wings and a stock roll bar light switch waiting for a roll bar. All have LED cluster, B-pillar and courtesy lights. EXTERIOR ● 1990: Spinnaker Blue Metallic (PB3), shell painted to match, 10 slot grill. 1989: Colorado Red (PE4), gold Pioneer stripes 1988: Pearl White (PWB), burgundy Pioneer stripes, Chrome bumpers/door handles/tailgate handle/mirrors/window trim/drip rails, ‘85 XJ 21 slot chrome grill. WHEELS/TIRES ● All have 235/75/15 tires on black powder coated stock aluminum Jeep wheels (10 Hole Eliminator, Turbine, Five Spoke) MISCELLANEOUS ● All have Jeep AM/FM cassette radios, dash clocks, sliding rear windows, Jeep/AMC bed mats, DrawTite hitches and factory tow hooks. The ’88 has stock full skid plates and I have OEM front/rear mud flaps awaiting installation. Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● My best MJ story is actually purchasing the ’90 new. It was July 1990, we were heading to my in-laws and stopped at all the Jeep dealers on the 100 mile route looking for a Comanche, this was before the days of on-line inventories. No dealers had any and one tried selling me a Shelby Dakota, so after we got to our destination we decided to keep driving and finally found a dealer, another 50 miles away, that had two on the lot, one was a white automatic 4x4 and the other a blue five-speed 4x2. I could not justify the extra cost of the 4x4 so I purchased the 4x2. Having only driven a manual transmission about twice before made the test drive interesting to say the least. I then had to drive it back home but I got the hang of it, even kept the original clutch for 195K miles! CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● As everyone else has said, members on this site are always willing to help without drama (usually) and members have even offered parts for free just to get others going! It is also nice to know I am not the only one with this sickness. Thanks to everyone that has helped me along with my projects by providing parts, advise, knowledge and inspiration.

Thanks dude!