neohic

The Comansion ... and maybe I'll start using it. :shake:

Ran into a little bit of an issue in the form of a bigger puddle of trans fluid than I was comfortable with. Anyone ever done a 231 swap in place of a 249?... you need to swap out the input shaft. :idea: Oops! The 249 shaft is longer so it engages the output seal in the transmission. Pulled everything back apart today to I could take care of that. Not a huge deal. It gave me an excuse to have a look inside my mystery 231. Turns out it needed nothing! Definitely a nice surprise. So for a recap, my t-case is the abomination of a 231 case, 249 input shaft and planetary, with the front output yoke from the original 207 from the truck. After the mixing and matching, I wanted to get back on finishing up under the hood. All of the ABS and airbag wiring was removed. So much more room for activities!!! In the ABS module's place on the driver's side went the ZJ's washer fluid bottle, and an evap canister from an XJ. I really wanted to reuse the air box from the ZJ but I don't see that happening. Next on the list is a little bit more wiring clean up, and then a long list of several small projects. :wrench: ... and I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post. :roll:

Sorry for the delay in updates, folks. Been busy with other things and working on other such non-worthy of an update type of stuff. Between last weekend and today, there was some real head scratching that came down to some fairly simple solutions. The fuel pump was the first as I originally planned on using the plastic tank from the donor ZJ. Seeing how far back that was going to be and not being completely sure of where I'd be cutting once the bed gets bobbed, I decided that the best thing was to reuse the original MJ tank. So... how does one do such a thing being that the ZJ uses the giant drop in style module?... cut it up. Not a real big deal to look at being that it just looks like an MJ fuel sending unit. It's the original unit to the truck so it never had a fuel pump in the tank. Couple hose clamps... cut up the tab for the gauge sender... drill some holes for the near absurd amount of wires for a ZJ pump... and voila! Everything tucks neatly back inside the tank. Then the problem of what to do about those plastic lines which really didn't turn out to be that much of an issue at all. I made up some adapters since the 5.2 doesn't have all that much pressure to run anyhow. Then came the issue of the rear driveshaft being too long. Again, not a big deal. I've done dozens of these in the past with zero issues. Hang the cluster on the column, hook up the rest of the wires, and... ?!?!... nothing. My worst fear of a no start situation came true! I removed a healthy amount of wires out of the harnesses so my first thought was that I went too far with things. Then what about the old wires from the donor that lived their whole lives resting in the exact same place until I came along and moved it all around?! What about... ?!?! WHAT ABOUT... ?!?!?!?!... what about the simple stuff? Fuses?... good. Wires?... nothing looked broken. Relays?... bingo! Both the ignition and fuel pump relays were toast. A quick rearrange with the ABS and AC relays and... ... we have lift off!!! :banana: The brakes got a temporary fitting to the ZJ proportioning valve so I can move it around the yard, the trans got filled up enough to move, and then it was time to go for the day. So to recap: it starts, it moves, it kinda stops, and it now leaks fluids where ever its parked! :D

Can't believe our website guy wrote "model year 1984-1992". :doh:

^Right? :popcorn:

Road access is very good. My road isn't paved, but just down and around the corner is. I've already asked about road maintenance and I hear it's never been a problem. The neighborhood really isn't all that far out of the way at all, actually. Somewhat close to the downtown area which is great for us! We miss being able to walk or ride our bikes to go grocery shopping and the like that we could at our first house. Our second place was about eight miles north of town and it was kind of an annoyance when I'd be working on something and need this-or-that right now. This was a real find for us! The whole neighborhood has the same cute appeal to it. :yes:

Uh... yeah. Looking like at least 30'x40'. Need to clarify setbacks, but I'll have a third of an acre to work with. I would assume 25-35% of the property can be developed like most locations.

Time for an update! I'm still here in Colorado... and I think I'll stay for a while. We're in our apartment into August, but finding housing out here has turned out to be more difficult than expected. Just as soon as we found something that we liked it would sell. We happened to find one property that fit the bill just great! It's a bit of a project, but when am I ever happy with someone else's work anyhow?! :D Small? YES!!! That is a mighty 474 square feet! With each house that my wife and I have lived in there's always the question of, "why do we need so much space?" Granted, I definitely miss having my own shop, and I'll have it again once the house is done. The lot has room for it which is a rarity for where the house is located. Really what it lacks with interior space, it makes up for with charm and views. I'll have Pikes Peak staring right in the picture windows on the south side. Closing is set for the end of April. Then it's on to another project!

This is fun, isn't it? I really get a kick out of the monthly search for MJOTM. Sometimes it's difficult trying to sift through the masses of build threads. Sometimes a build thread seems to come to a beautiful finish line just in time to make it in for the following month. This is such month... and it's a shoe in! YEAR/MODEL ● 1989 Base 120k+ original miles ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● Rebuilt Stock renix 4.0 with Bosch type3 injector upgrade Magnaflow exhaust DRIVETRAIN ● Aw4 Column shift, NP231 with Boostwerks Engineering HD Shift Linkage Axles- Dana 30 Front with Rugged Ridge Diff Cover..29 spline Chrysler 8.25 Rear Powertrax No-Slip traction system COOLING ● Closed system, volvo expansion bottle cover 97+ XJ Thermostat housing with Aftermarket coolant temperature sender Hayden Automotive High Performance Trans Fluid Cooler Inline transmission temperature sender ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● Stock.. slightly modified fuel sending unit (fairly accurate fuel gauge readings except in reverse because of switched polarity) SUSPENSION/STEERING ● 4.5 inch lift HD track Bar, HD Tie rod HD Steering Stabilizer INTERIOR ● Heating and A/C Custom blue carpet Custom Headliner reupholstered Bench Seat BRAKES ● Rear ZJ Drum to Disc Conversion with XJ prop valve with zj internals and Rear Height sensing valve eliminate Drilled and Slotted rotors front/rear LIGHTING ● Custom Blue LED dash lights LED B-pillar lights Modified Isuzu Rodeo dome light LED H4 Headlight Bulbs 20 inch Bumper mounted LED light bar, 50 inch roof mounted LED light bar Auto Switching LED white DRL lights that switch to amber when using turn signal EXTERIOR ● Aqua Blue Metallic paint 97+ Xj facelift with doors manual window winders WHEELS/TIRES ● 15x8 Tuff T01 Wheels with 33x12.5 Mastercraft Courser MXT mud terrains MISCELLANEOUS ● A-Pillar Dual Gauge pod with Trans Temperature gauge and coolant temperature gauge Custom Ipad mini Magnetic In-Dash Mount Bushwacker fender flares Smittybilt xrc front winch bumper with bull bar 10,000 LB Smittybilt X20 winch with Synthetic rope Wolo Bad Boy air horn FULL BUILD THREAD HERE Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● Was looking for a beater truck, something cheap mainly to carry gear on spearfishing trips..A friend of mine told me he knew a guy who had something for cheap so asked a cousin of mine who knew more about trucks to accompany me so when we got to the place and saw the truck my first impression i knew there was no way i was going to buy that in such terrible shape There was no carpet on the floor and what looked like years of rat droppings by the amount that was there not to mention the smell.. it went from bad to worse when i popped the hood engine looked a mess not to mention an incomplete harness chewed up by the rodent colony..and lets not forget the rust, it was everywhere from the floor to the entire windshield frame..my cousin told me we were wasting our time and we had better just leave but what really sparked my attention was despite of the fact that it was in such terrible shape she started in one the engine sounded strong..the other thing was the fact that i saw "JEEP" embossed on the tailgate not only was it the first time i saw a comanche...i had no idea jeep even made a truck..knowing that jeeps are reputable vehicles just the idea of a jeep truck intrigued me so in spite of the discouragement from my cousin i went home that night and decided to do some research online about that truck and right after that first google search i caught the disease... So i ended up paying $500 for her the next day signed up at comancheclub.com and the rest is history... CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● Comanche Club is awesome because not only are the members on here very knowledgeable about Jeeps but they are always willing to pass on the knowledge to guys like me who knew nothing about jeeps and even though as a newbie we tend to ask some silly questions sometimes, no one makes you feel dumb or belittle you like you see happening all the time on other forums but instead you are enlightened. CC has taught me so much not only about jeeps but ive acquired skills i never knew i would be able to acquire and has made me a more confident Do-It-Yourself er That is why CC is Awesome Wow! From its beginnings as a scruffy primed truck to what it is now is an amazing transformation. Quality time as gone into so many little details and everything came out just perfect! Thanks for putting together such a complete build thread and for keeping me completely glued to my computer waiting for more updates. A big congratulations on your month! -Ben This post has been promoted to an article

You forgot one, Pete...

Spent a long day working on this today... doesn't really look like it though. Started to get a little discouraged with things today as it seems like I haven't gotten much of anything done for a while. Lots of little things still getting done... lots still to do. The floor was today's big job. As usual, it's always worse once you start cutting. I've said it before that this is probably to most solid MJ I've started with, and yet this is definitely the biggest floor patch I've done in one of my own trucks. I under estimated the size of the patch I needed from a junk XJ, so rather than using new material (kind of the theme going thus far) I "borrowed" a patch from a junk Scout II. Glad to be done with this. Some other boring but essential projects that got done today was to clean up the vacuum lines, swap over the fuel lines that run down the top of the trans (ZJ stuff), harvest the plastic fuel lines from the donor, and I removed the factory tank from the truck. Seeing the ZJ fuel lines in the truck really got me rethinking how I want to approach the fuel tank solution. I'll do some research and do some thinking.

Looks tough. I dig it! :thumbsup:

I wouldn't hesitate with a four cylinder. For light trail duty, but mostly daily driver?... hell yeah.

Thanks guys! The plan for the ZJ tank is to cut out the big huge cross member and replace it with a smaller tube structure. I'll be doing away with the stock MJ tank as I really don't think I need the extra capacity and I don't want to deal with transfer pumps. Simplicity is the name of the game! When it comes to replacement parts I want to keep with only one vehicle... and ZJ parts are cheap. Pretty sure the only "new" part going into this truck that isn't from a ZJ,XJ, or MJ is an aftermarket CJ(?) radiator. The ZJ unit is too wide to fit with the steering box where it is. I want to keep the mechanical fan from the 5.2 (remember... simplicity) so I'll be removing the stamped front cross member and replacing it with a tubular one that'll go under the new radiator. ... probably, anyhow?

Thanks, guys! I won't be able to have any time to work on it this weekend but be sure to stay tuned for more soon. We had a junk XJ sitting behind the shop at work that I cut the floor and the fuel door from today. The floor is so obviously being used to patch my floor, and the fuel door will be used for when the bed gets bobbed and the ZJ tank goes under the bed. WHAT?! "When the bed gets bobbed"?!:.. yup. Still some big news coming down the pipe.

More wiring yesterday. The donor ZJ is looking pretty bare at this point... all besides the giant pile of loose wiring, that is. I've been taking the donor harness apart and picking out all the wiring that I don't need out of it as it's been coming out. Sure has been taking a while, only really working on it on Saturdays too, but I think it's worth it dissecting it this way rather than just ripping out all the wiring, plopping it on the ground, and figuring things out from there. So here's where I'm at now. While I was under the truck I noticed something peeking through the floor that looked like numbers. Sure enough... ... classic license plate "patch". After a pass or two with the shop vac... ... I've got some patch work to do. I'm totally fine with this! It comes down to it and it's still a 31 year old truck and the rest of the truck is still in great shape. Even so, it kind of took the wind out of my sails for the day so I just took a step back to have a look at where I'm at. Scary? You bet! When I start thinking about where I started with this truck not all that long ago, where I'm at now, the fairly easiness that things have bolted in (or close to bolted in), and I can already start seeing the end of the first tunnel.

Very cool! Specs on the Beetle?

Welcome back to the Comanche sickness! I seem to remember talking VWs with you a while back. Looks like a good collection there in your first post. I'm a bit of a sucker for early aircooled and MK1s. :thumbsup:

Nice. :cheers: Love that big huffer proudly displayed through the hood.

:ack: ... not exactly my favorite thing to be doing. Sure wish I had more time during the week to work on things. I've been getting the itch to be daily driving an MJ again.

Here we go into another month, all! This month is... well, this month is really something special. I dig it, anyhow! Here is one of those trucks where it looks somewhat of the norm... and then you start to take a closer look. Big knobby tires? Check. Heavy offroad bumpers? Check. Well weathered Comanche body? Check. LS power under the hood? What?!?! This month, be sure to take a close look at... YEAR/MODEL ● 1989 Jeep Comanche Pioneer. Originally 2wd, 4.0L, AX-15, with a Dana 35 ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● 2006 Trailblazer SS LS2 400hp/400lbft - stock internals, Corvette accessories Novak Ceramic Coated swap headers, 2.5” header outlet pipes, merging to a single 3.5” pipe. Reduces to a single 3” over the axle with a Magnaflow High flow cat and straight through muffler 4” intake to AEM cone filter DRIVETRAIN ● 2007 Tralblazer SS 4L70 - TransGo shift kit, some upgraded internals, Novak tailhousing and 300M output shaft NP242 from a Grand Cherokee Dana 30 Front axle - 4.10, TrueTrac, Truss/sleeve, c-gussets Ford 8.8 rear axle - 4.10, Trac-lok, Mustang Cobra Carbon Fiber friction discs, restacked and no friction modifier for more locking, RuffStuff diff cover COOLING ● All metal CSM 3-row HD radiator (for now, needs upgrade to Novak super thick aluminum unit in the spring). stock XJ E-fan and 2 Spal Slimlines B&M transmission cooler Needs an oil cooler ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● Custom wiring harness from the driver's seat forward, everything is rated to IP67 for water protection Engine bay connectors are either stock GM, Deutsch, or a few metripack 280 Deutsch DRB12-48 bulkhead connector in stock location Cooper Bussmann RFRM engine bay fuse box Littelfuse 868-163 HWB60 interior fusebox, mounted to old ECU mount Cooper Bussman Power Relay Modules to switch and control the big loads SUSPENSION/STEERING ● WJ Grand Cherokee knuckles with crossover steering Custom 1.5” OD 0.25” wall track bar using JKS OTK bracket, RuffStuff ¾” heims, and a modified Iron Rock Offroad Double shear chassis side bracket Durango Steering box with removed internal stops Custom power steering hoses to meet up with Corvette PS pump SPC 1.5” travel JounceShock front airbumps MetalCloak 4.5” Dual-Rate springs 0.75” Spacers Garbage 12” travel white-body shocks to get it on the road (soon to be replaced with Fox/Kings) Single Y-link radius long arm suspension - RuffStuff DIY Long arms kit with 1.25” heims Rusty’s Offroad 4.5” lift springs (5-leaf) SummitRacing extended XJ shackles in relocated pivot (7” long c-c I think?) RuffStuff high-clearance Deaver-style leaf spring brackets and u-bolt plates Garbage 10” travel black-body shocks to get it on the road (Soon to replaced with Fox/Kings) Extended progressive poly bumpstops on 1” aluminum drop spacers RuffStuff Specialties DIY Traction Bar INTERIOR ● 2007 Subaru WRX Seats Rostra Seat Heaters 2002 Subaru WRX Underseat subwoofer mounted to back wall Streamlight 75712 flashlight/cradle mounted to back wall - charges from vehicle 12V Jensen JHD3630BT head unit with weatherband and bluetooth Infinity Reference Speakers with DEI Speaker baffles Cobra 19DX CB Radio B&M Pro Stick shifter - modified with BillaVista tutorial for offroad use Novak Cable TC shifter - modified to work with NP242 and 4L70 Modified XJ Center console to remove e-brake handle area, add cupholders, and clear B&M shifter (needs more work) LED B-pillar and footwell lighting 1992 GMC Jimmy rear-view mirror with LED map-lights 1990 Eliminator tilt steering column, with working cruise control BRAKES ● WJ Grand Cherokee knuckles with 13” rotors Akebono Calipers with a small shave to clear wheels Stock Explorer rear disc brakes WJ grand cherokee booster and MC Deleted rear proportioning valve LIGHTING ● IPF H4 headlight housings with 65/75w bulbs LED White/Amber turn signal bulbs with switchback Hella 90mm foglights with PIAA amber bulbs Zeus Pro Single 20” LED bar - spot beam Hardwired flood work light on a magnet mount EXTERIOR ● Custom dents Cut hood for intake manifold clearance TrackSpec large hood louvers Custom 3/16” plate front bumper with integrated LED and fog light mounts and protection with hidden winch (between front frame rails) Custom bent stock rear bumper (for now), custom plate bumper to match the front coming soon WHEELS/TIRES ● 33x12.5 R15 BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain KM2 - siped Cragar Soft-8 steel wheels 15x8, 4” backspacing 1” spacers on the rear, 0.25” spacers on the front Winter (just put them on, no pics yet): 2009 Ford Ranger Sport 16” wheels 285/75 R16 Yokohama Geolandar I/T G072 1/2” spacers in the front, 1/4” spacers in the rear, extended lug studs MISCELLANEOUS ● T&M Metal Fabrication frame stiffeners Hi-lift extreme Maxtrax Warn M8000 with synthetic rope, custom tool to turn clutch lever through a hole in the front bumper Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● The company I work for built a prototype vehicle, and we were taking it up to Houghton, MI, in the Upper Peninsula for testing. I thrashed on my Comanche for several months every night after work to complete the 4.0 HO and 4WD swap, along with the 3” lift, D30 build, and Ford 8.8 installation, to get the truck ready to take up there, often working into the night in the garage after a 10-12hr day getting the work vehicle together. I went to school in Houghton at Michigan Tech, so I was really excited to get my truck up there for some after-work shenanigans, especially because one of my coworkers was bringing his Land Rover Discovery up as well. I ended up finishing putting the MJ together at 1am Monday morning, had it all packed up by 4am, and left at 7am to drive 600 miles up to the UP. The MJ ran almost perfectly for 4 weeks of wheeling and exploring. Everything was great until the last weekend. I volunteered to stay over the last weekend as my co-workers all had families to get back to, and we needed someone to stick around until Monday to load the vehicle back onto the trailer for the trip back. I was doing some exploring by myself and unfortunately ended up almost getting stuck in a mudhole (thanks MaxTrax!) and cutting an electrical harness in the front of the truck. Some of the magic electrical smoke escaped and I hustled back to civilization as fast as I could, but the Comanche died on a remote dirt road, and I had to get it towed back to town. I couldn’t find the cut in the last day up there (luckily I also brought my motorcycle so I still had transportation) so I had to rent a u-haul to get it back to Detroit. Even after splicing the harness back together the truck never seemed to run very well again, I don’t know if something somewhere got shorted or what, but this eventually led to me having enough of the 4.0L and deciding it was time for an upgrade. And now it’s got an LS2 :) CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● There’s a huge knowledge base here and some pretty incredible build threads. I love browsing the tech and build thread sections learning new things about Comanches, and seeing what other people are doing with the platform. My favorite part is when I find some part or solution that is really well done, so I can take and use for my own build! :) FULL BUILD THREAD HERE Holy picture dump, Steve! Totally worth it though! A big, BIG tip of the cap on this build. I really appreciate the way you've documented everything in your build thread. Almost like a "how-to" on an LS swap. Very cool! It's your month so be sure to enjoy all of it. Congratulations! -Ben This post has been promoted to an article

I've followed this thread for a while now too while planning MY 5.2 SWAP. I ended up making my own mounts, using the stock exhaust manifolds, and notching the frame a bit on the passenger side. This left me being able to keep my hood lines stock. I have about 3/4" between the top of the air intake hat and about 1/2" between the top of the alternator bracket and the underhood supports. Granted, my engine doesn't sit perfectly centered in the engine bay, but raising the engine high enough to clear the steering shaft would've been silly. As for the blue '86 build thread years ago, HERE it is. He must've used Dodge pickup motor mounts though. They hang a little wider than the ZJ mounts, but they do sit higher.

:doh: