neohic

Any idea on how you want to work a hitch in with the roll pan? If it were me, I'd hide it behind the license plate but I know I'm never crazy about redoing metal work. Mid '80s Monte Carlo rear plate mounts are spring loaded due to their fuel fill location... in case you need some ideas. :thumbsup:​

I still love this truck. :cheers:

YES!!! If I had a YJ, this is totally the route I would go with it! :rock on: Have a look at these guys: https://www.facebook.com/JurassicParkMotorPool

With everything you are planning for this truck, I agree with Bo. For the limited numbers that no doubt shrink each year of the original 100 Street Comanches, why would you want to do anything more to it than what was either already there or slight upgrades to do away with troublesome components? There's no way to authenticate a real Street Comanche other than the plaque on the glove box. The Archers sold the body kits years ago, Quickor made the suspension components, and a handful of other aftermarket parts were added to the truck originally. The only thing that makes this truck special from any other Comanche that could've gotten the same treatment is that little dash plaque that was put there by the dealership who made them what they are/were. Granted, what you're suggesting for future plans for the truck are all bolt-ons and could be undone. For that matter the transmission and suspension are already not original... but they can only be original once anyhow. How unoriginal things get is up to the current owner (or caretaker in the case of a rare vehicle like this) but keep in mind that the next owner just might want to go back to 100% what it was and the further from original that it is the less likely that it ever will be again. If what you're looking for is a street truck to cruise around in, then I agree that there are plenty of good candidate Comanches out there that are probably even in better shape than what you already have. Hell, I would straight up trade you for MY RUST FREE '89!... put back on stock suspension, of course. Actually, it would probably be easier to do everything that you're planning as it's already mostly stripped down! Half of my truck is in primer so it'd be perfect candidate for a little body work and a full respray in whatever color, the underhood wiring needs to be cleaned up or cut out to make room for that big HEMI, and the interior is currently gutted too. A blank canvas!! Honestly, PM me if you'd be interested. That is a serious offer. Pretty much, street trucks are awesome and I'm the same boat as you that I'd love to be able to finish mine! However, the difference between mine and yours is that I have plans of building a Comanche for the street as yours is already a Street Comanche... and there's a huge difference between the two.

:popcorn:

Have you ever sat and watched one of those nature programs where some camera crew and a host are creepin' around out in the wilderness and they stumble on a creature that not many have seen? The host, no doubt with a crazy accent, gets all excited and starts whispering louder and louder until one of the camera guys steps on a twig, the creature's ears perk up, and it goes galloping off through the trees. This month's MJOTM is one of such creatures. Few have seen it... fewer people have pictures of it... it's elusive (at least on CC it is, anyhow). This month its got nowhere to hide! This month's MJOTM is... YEAR/MODEL ● 1988 pioneer ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● 4.0 L stroked to a 4.7 with 2.5 inch exhaust and header DRIVETRAIN ● AW4, 231, Dana 30 front, Dana 44 rear COOLING ● 3 core all aluminum radiator ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● Stock SUSPENSION/STEERING ● Bilstein shocks all around, otherwise stock INTERIOR ● Gray with factory power windows/locks and factory floor mats BRAKES ● Stock LIGHTING ● Factory Marchal sport bar and bumper lights, otherwise stock EXTERIOR ● Fresh black paint with all NOS splash guards, handles, grill, bezels, bumpers, mirrors... the list goes on. I planned on putting the NOS emblems and stripes on but like it like this at the moment. WHEELS/TIRES ● Stock TJ Ravines wheels custom painted black with 225/75/15 Goodyear GSA tires. MISCELLANEOUS ● Factory NOS XJ CD player (# 82300393), factory skid plates, factory AMC wires and a laundry list of NOS parts. This is an Arizona truck that has zero rust anywhere. Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● My buddy has a cabin up in PA and me, my buddy, and two other friends all took our ATV's to go ride the trails. There was a snow storm that had dropped 10+ inches of snow the night we arrived in town. My friends had a 4wd S-10, 4wd Ranger, and 4wd Dakota. We woke up the next morning and got ready to hit the trails. We get out to our trucks to clean them off to get to the trails and guess who is the only one that could get out of the snow? Yep the good old Comanche!!!! I never let my friends forget either. I've had 9 Comanches over the course of 17 years (since I was 17) and currently have 3. CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● Everyone on here is very helpful and knowledgeable. I like going to the jeep shows and meeting all other MJ owners face to face and chatting it up. If you have a question regarding anything about are trucks, someone has been there and done that. I'd like to thank the moderators and Pete M. for all of their time and effort spent to keep this forum alive. Add anything else that makes your MJ stand out from the rest other than being completely beautiful... I only take this truck to Jeep shows or Sunday drives and try to keep every part of it as original as possible with small exceptions. It gets climate controlled storage in the winter to keep it staying rust free and I plan on having it for the rest of my life. ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Adam... where to even begin with this truck of yours... The level of detail is just beautiful! When I first saw the pictures you sent me, my jaw just about hit the floor. Those clean, straight lines... that perfect black paint... one would typically think more accessories would be the ticket but I disagree. Your truck is the perfect balance of factory freshness and subtle touches that make it what it is! This month is so much more than just the truck too. You are a great member and you clearly go above and beyond when it comes to helping others out. Did you know that I've had more requests to put your truck in as MJOTM than anyone else? Just goes to show, eh? Congratulations, Adam. Job well done! -Ben This post has been promoted to an article

Started another project for this thing again. I was planning on starting on the rear flares but I want to wait until the 31s are replaced. Ah well... ... 'cuz roof basket. Right now I have a spare, a star wrench, a jug of oil, coolant, other such random steel bits all in the back of the Jeep. Granted, most of that will be either stored away properly or removed all together. Thinking ahead and planning on where to put a high lift or a shovel, I cringe at the thought of hearing all that rattling around inside the Jeep. So? Put that $#!& on the roof! Not sure if the spare will end up there too or if I'll hang it off the rear bumper. We shall see, I suppose.

I'll just leave this here.

Pete... what about the XJ itself? Have you found a worthy candidate yet? Before doing all sorts of modifications and additions, I'd start with a known good vehicle by getting to know it for a while before putting it under the knife. :dunno:

Very cool, Pete! :thumbsup:

Annnnnnd it's gone. No teaser pic even? Must be the one from Jeepsus:

Is this Mister Skinner? Did you hack into Jim's profile just to say that you haven't posted anything for a while? :hmm: :D

Okay... there always has to be a Debbie Downer, and I'll be that guy. I love my truck, but I think I'd love it just as much if I were to have skipped my engine build and did a High Output swap instead. Do I regret building the engine the way I did?... absolutely not! Puts a huge smile on my face with every push of the skinny pedal! But for my driving style and how I use the truck, I think I would've been more happy with buying a low mileage donor for less than what I spend on just the engine. Don't tell Cruiser, but I'm definitely on the HO cheer squad with Don. :peek:

Very nice! :rock on:

Ugh... just went through and did another mass picture reload. Thanks again, FaceBook. Never again... copied everything over to photobucket. :fs2:

That's pretty much the plan at this point. As for the rear... ... I like it! Need to cut some caps for the ends but I can't finish it until it gets warmer outside anyhow. Been thinking about powder coat too. Might look more into that. As for the dilemma in the front, it felt like one of those '80s montage scenes in a bad movie where some chick is trying to decide on a prom dress or something and all her friends are waiting outside the dressing room for her to come out in each one. They all have their arms crossed and shaking their heads with each one until the last when they all have thumbs up and big stupid smiles. For a moment there, I actually thought about hanging a factory brush guard. I was diggin' the look with the lights and the roll bar! Sadly, it didn't solve any problems though. Might come back to that thought at a later date. As for now... I think I can live with the gap. Maybe try and fill it with some kind of trim... I dunno. I think of it like a scar that it's just always going to be there regardless of how you try and cover it up. There was a slight gap between the bumper cap and the flare that was closed up with a vise grip just to get the idea what I was working with. I'm diggin' this. Needs more stuff on the bumper itself but it's a start. I got it all together and took a step back to see a familiar old face. :) Obviously everything needs some freshening up with paint to get rid of the miss match of stuff. On the lookout for chrome trim for around the grill and headlight bezels too. Planning on blacking out everything else in place of the red.

Change of plans for the rear... got it all tacked together and I like it SO much better without the caps. Ah well... it was a fun idea while it lasted. :idea: Pictures to follow later.

It'll probably get cut down and put on the rear of the Ape at some point... not really sure just yet. It's kind of a matching set with the front that came off the Eliminator. Kind of like making sure your belt matches your shoes, you know? All in the details. :laughin:

Thought about that... not sure if I'm crazy about the mix 'n match look. Found a few pictures of older XJs with the '97+ bumpers on the front and it really looked bazaar to me. Might put a non-butchered set of flares on the front and see what happens. Ugh... :(

Time to say goodbye to something that never should have been. I forgot how much beef this thing was made of. I also remembered making comments like "that's never coming off" when it was going on. :doh: Part of wanting to build a new set of bumpers was a bunch of little things that annoyed me since I painted it a while back. First and foremost was the spare tire. The truck is a short box and I've played around with putting it in the bed... which ate up too much room... then hanging off the rear... which was always just awkward... so the logical choice was to put it back where the factory intended. The problem then came in that it just might grow some more in the future, so I'm leaving enough room to hang a 33. Under a long box, there would be acres of room. Under a short box, things need to get rearranged. Number one was the exhaust. ... I'll deal with that later. Next was the sheet metal at the rear of the bed which was already moved around to make room for the previously mounted bumper. It's up there, but it's tight. I wouldn't put a 33 under there at the current height. I think a tiny, little 31 or the current 30 will fit in there just fine. Now... on to the main event. I want to change the theme of the truck a little. This truck has really grown up with me. In college, it went through the "quick and dirty lift and make it look cool" stage. Then it moved into a "done with college but not quite ready to completely settle down just yet" kind of thing. Now it's been a few years since that stage was done and over with for me, so I think it's time for the truck to catch up. Now I'd really like to see it move into a "grown up but still got it" sort of OEM+ look. This starts with bumpers! At first I wanted to find a good stock unit to hang back there, but the more I looked the more bummed out I got. So... I got creative. Look closely... I wanted a stock(ish) looking bumper with end caps that wrapped around the corners like a factory bumper would. I dug out some stock rear caps but they just looked odd. Then I got to the bottom of the pile and started playing around with some junk front caps... and I liked what I was seeing. I think they look way better than the square caps! The angle of the flares and the backwards fronts line up perfectly! They're a little smaller too so I can tuck the bumper up closer to the body too to avoid the "back porch" look. I should be able to finish up the bulk of the rear tomorrow. Feeling confident, I moved to the front... and then I got discouraged. VERY discouraged. WHY DID I DO THAT?!?!?! I'd love to be able to throw a stock front bumper back on there on modify it a little to make it stand out, but that doesn't solve what to do with the fenders and flares. Between that and cutting the grill I absolutely hate the sins I have committed in the past. Sure, I could hang another set of fenders, but these ones are already the right color and are (no doubt) faded evenly with the rest of the truck. Really lost now. Not sure what to do now. Might go back to the idea of just making up another "cookie cutter" custom bumper to hang on the front, but then I've just gone from having a front bumper that I was somewhat okay with and a rear that I really didn't care for to a rear that I really dig and a front that I'm on the fence about. Not crazy about that kind of change. :???:

I'd go this route. Kabowabo used one with his Renix refresh a while back in HIS THREAD.

Now this I actually like... which is something I'm not very comfortable admitting in this thread. I don't know if it's the color of the Jeep or if it looks a little bit lowered to me. In my head I picture a stripped down track day JK. Not that'd I'd ever own one, but it's a fun mental image anyhow.

Kind of a cool bumper there. A little outside the custom "cookie cutter" XJ/MJ anyhow. :thumbsup:

The number on mine shows that it's actually for a Ford Ranger so it's a little short. Rob (automan2164) however has one that is designed for a Comanche. "Designed" is a very loosely based term when it comes to WilderNests too... huge mounting flanges under these so most 'Nests fit on many trucks.

Yes you should. :popcorn: HERE's the build thread if you forgot where you left off. :D