johnj92131

Glow plug fuse? Early VW diesels had a 50 amp fuse, when that fuse blew, the glow plugs did not work. And the car would not start. Should ask if the engine turns over but just doesn't start.

Don, Ebay link for the blades? I really need new blades! Don't think I have done it in 8 years. Putting the TDI in the paint shop Saturday, so I will be using the Comanche as my daily driver for 3 or 4 weeks.

Don, Maybe it is a home made "mid-gate"? Like on the Chevy Avalanche? Lets you put longer items into the rear seat! Kind of folds forward out of the way...

Don beat me to the point I also would make. The Cherokee was desigined in the early 80's by AMC with very tight financial resources. They did a great job of expanding the XJ market into the bigger than mini truck market with the MJ. AMC just did not have the financial resources to do most of the things the wanted to do to expand their products. Everything at AMC was done on the cheap - because it had to be done that way. Since the mid 80's, just about everything in this country has been SuperSized, including half ton trucks. Doc, I think you are really spot on by just expanding the Comanche cab by the length of the longer door and NOT tacking anything on to the Comanche B pillar. Most interested in how you are going to mate the two different floor pans and the seat mounting points. Because the Comanche floor pan starts to change just ahead of the rear inside seat bracket. (And why we have MJ specific rear bucket seat brackets). This will give you a Comanche that will be very, very hard to tell from stock and just a couple of inches more wheelbase than the stock long bed.

It depends on your point of view, doesn't it? I see jacked up trucks driving down the street and I think they look very silly. Not to mention when you see one of these lifted trucks in an accident. I see lowered cars with air bags and I wonder what is the point of going down the street with 1 inch of road clearance. No way to get a decent size bed on an XJ conversion. Also, XJ conversion lacks the proper factory transition to a cargo box frame. The XJ conversion is just a weakened unibody structure with the top cut off. So if you want to convert an XJ to a truck the "proper" way - you should follow the example of the factory engineers. I am quite sure they did the math. Seriously Lowrange2, don't you think if it were just as simple and easy as you propose, the factory would have done it your way? They must have had good reason to do it the way they did - don't you think?

Doc, I like the idea of just extending the cab to use the longer doors from the 2 door XJ. If my memory is correct (ha-ha), the doors for the 2 door XJ are either 11 inches or 8 inches longer than the standard MJ door. The Comanche roof profile is different from the XJ roof profile, so I would want to use the roof portion of a scrap MJ for the roof extension. Exactly how to extend the MJ floor pan is a puzzle to me. I understand the XJ and MJ floor plans start to change just behind the front most XJ/MJ seat bracket. Meaning the transition from XJ floor pan to MJ style floor pan takes place under the front seats. So I would want to extend the front portion of the MJ floor pan to preserve the stock MJ pan to truck bed as stock possible. This would give you less than 12 inches additional room in the cab, but IMHO, totally worth it and a much better looking truck than most "Cheromanche" conversions I have seen in pictures. Wheelbase, even with the long bed would "only" be 130/131" - the same as an extended cab Dakota. Best of luck. Really hope to see this project move forward.

See this ad in the For Sale section: http://comancheclub.com/topic/48843-colorado-mj-folks-help-me-re-home-some-of-my-stash/

#3 is the easy choice here. I would ever look to pay with my own money if it were a different color.

You want to get the casting number off the block. Then post it here. Certain late blocks will not bolt into the earlier MJ/XJ - I have one of those blocks in the garage!

Congratulations. Looks good. Best thing, she is happy with it! What is not to like about that? So it is not the car/truck/SUV/minivan/what ever that somebody else would want. Who cares? Like you said in the first post, she puts up with your MJ madness! Much better than listening to Anita, who is constantly harping at me to buy a new car. I don't want a new car/truck/suv or what ever. I like old cars! And I don't care if they cost me twice as much as Her new Camry - Actually, if they only cost twice as much as her Camry, it would be really, really cheap.

I went and looked at these this weekend. They look like a good buy. But I didn't jump on them cause I would really like a fixture that is Warm White color temperature. I have noticed the 5000-6000k Temp range affects my mood...... anybody else? I replaced most/all of the CFL bulbs inside the house with the "daylight" color around 5500K. For me it is a much more pleasant lighting. I have grown to hate the yellowish tint some of the older CFLs had - just depressing.

Costco LED fixtures are the way to go with a new installation. Have not tried the 4 ft LED replacement tubes. I have 2 fixtures on each side of the cars plus an extra 2 lamp fixture in front of each car. Also have 2 Snap-On LED shop floods to light up the underside of the car if I need it.

Sorry about that missing link: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=431357 Link to his conversuib oartsL http://gastodiesel.tdconversions.com/

Best place to pick those interior mirror covers is a pick and pull salvage yard. Any 96 and before XJ will/should have them unless someone else got them first or if the XJ had power mirrors.

COTY is just plan EXPENSIVE! Read this very recent thread about a TDI into an XJ: http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay.php?f=63 He also sells conversion parts at a fraction of COTY! Much more reasonable. Also sells motor mounts complete or as a dyi kit.

The other engine you might want to look at would be the 2.5 diesel found in Jeeps in Europe. This is NOT the Renault diesel, rather built by VM and is a close relative of the 2.8 diesel sold here in the 2005-6 Liberty. The good thing about this engine is the factory has done all the engineering for you if you import one of these with the trans and everything. About as close to bolt in as you will get with a diesel swap. Not saying cheap or easy. Just saying all the factory parts are in europe and sold by by Jeep.

If you want more information on the VW TDI swap into a Jeep, check out the TDIClub TDI conversions section: http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay.php?f=63 Lots of jeep conversions there as well as a ton of Toyota truck TDI conversions, and lots of others. My 96 Passat TDI puts out 162 hp and 285 lb/ft with just larger injectors, a bit bigger - but stock turbo and a chip tune. I got 45 mpg on a 9700+mile cross country trip in September. Oh, and I detuned the engine from 172 hp and 313 lb/ft of torque just to keep the smoke down.

I suck at electrical diagnosis also. But I think you said the truck started, then when you let the key go back to the run position, the engine dies? So what is in the circuit when the starter is running (besides the starter/bendix/solinoid/etc) to keep the ignition firing? Sounds like something in the starter circuit keeps the ignition firing but when the key is in the run position the ignition is not firing (and the engine dies). Kind of sounds like there is an ignition run permissive that is AWOL when the key is in the run position?

Wow! Great to see this old truck come back to life! Respectfully suggest you go with a 3.4 V6 and fuel injection. The later the better - much better running engines. Above all, have fun with the truck!

They do it because most people are simply nice, decent people (except for me). Most of the time around my house, it is Anita who tries to be helpful with anything she has no clue about...Sometimes it is the handymany we use for different tasks. I am sure I have done similar things, just don't want to remember or admit to it! Better that that the So and So who just tosses a brick into the front windshield for target practice. When it happens to me, I try to remember that if this/that is the worst thing I have to complain about - well life is not so bad. That help me keep the blood pressure down.

Good Buy, just drive the hell out of it and don't put any more money in it. That way it will be cheap transportation for quite a long while. It will give you lots of time to work on the Comanche!

I would also guess it is because the 6 inches longer wheelbase was the more stable platform when loaded.

You are talking about a daily driver in you subject and this is a new to you Comanche. I suggest that you need to live with the truck for a few (3-6) months, learn what works and what doesn't. Take care of all those problems FIRST - and there will be a bunch of them; Then you will have a better sense if you want to start modifying your daily driver and just exactly why you want to modify it. Cruiser's mostly Renix Tips are a great place to start: http://comancheclub.com/topic/48463-cruisers-mostly-renix-tips/ Post your progress as you work thru each item on Cruiser's list. It will be a great start and give you a good truck to work with from there. Also, as Pete posts all the time: Check for rust! Pull up your carpet - check for rust. Might also want to do the later model power brake booster mod. Better brakes are a great starting thing also.

I am with Pete. Not enough hair on the face to grow a full beard.

There must be a reason why every OEM uses something other than a waterless coolant don't you think? Why would you want to use it?