ComancheKid45 Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 I picked this Comanche up from a guy who is a regular in the Advance Auto Parts where i currently work. He just drove it in 1 day and I asked if i could take a look @ it. 5 mins later I came back in and offered to buy it from him. He accepted after some thought and I then aquired my 3rd MJ. This truck is an 89 Pioneer LWB. 4.0/AW4/D30/D44 It was orgionaly owned by an older fella who took it to a mechanic for a leaking fuel tank. Well right when work was completed sadly the orgional owner past away and this truck was left in the hands of the mechanic. He replaced many things including front brakes/rotors, a new Track bar, the Fuel Tank, and a few other misc. things. He then began driving it and acctually couldent get over how good it ran for him. It must have been in a front end accident at 1 time since the Hocky stick stripes end on the doors in different spots and the front fenders had been repainted. It came with a re constructed Title as well. Anyway the truck runs great for having 197000 on it. My plans for it is to 1st take the Dana 44 rear axle and swap it into my current MJ project. I have a parts truck that will gladly donate its Dana 35 and driveshaft to this 1. It does have a few small issues ive come across mainly with the window cranks and lock cylinders. These will all be fixed with supplied parts as well. My goal is by next Janurary (2011) is to have all the parts off it I want for my MJ and to have it ready to be road worthy and then get it licensed and insured. For now I just got a title transfer. In the end It will also get a nice spraypaint job of some sort, with Hurculiner on the bottom section. The only rust i have to tend to is above the Drivers rear wheel well, the floors have already been taken care of but I might coat the inside with POR-15 to insure its longetivity. Ill do my best to keep tabs on this 1 as well as my current project. I'm just happy to have saved another MJ and being able to give it a new life once again. My 1st thing i tackled tonight was to remove the drop in liner and sweep out the mess underneath......yuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btm24 Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 oh my very nice find i would love to use that. how much did ya pay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 16, 2010 Author Share Posted September 16, 2010 I managed to pick it up for $1500. 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camjeep3 Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 good find! congrats. so will this be a driver for you or are you going to sell it? you already have a dd xj? correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 16, 2010 Author Share Posted September 16, 2010 I'm not sure what this 1 will become. I have my current 88 MJ i DD most the time and have my XJ which is pretty much stock and is mainly used for highway trips and towing the Quads. When I'm finished with this truck I'm sure ill drive it around for alittle while, being its a LWB it might come in handy for hauling certian things around and such (compared to my SWB with rollbar). I still kinda have plans to re sell it next Spring/summer but it all depends on what I feel like, I'm not gonna have alot of money into it (thanks 2 the parts truck) so I might end up with just another MJ. Ill decide @ a later time, lol for now ill enjoy the project :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camjeep3 Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 sounds good :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 19, 2010 Author Share Posted September 19, 2010 Well didnt do any direct work this this truck today but I did enjoy an afternoon pulling its donor axle from my parts rig. The meeting of the Comanches was commensed around 11:30am est. With some (ok alot) of help from some friends we managed to strip the Rear axle, leafs, and fuel tank out of my parts rig this afternoon. A Quick powerwash and check over of the axle shows brand new rear brakes and overall in good shape, alittle rusty but ill get it all cleaned up and change the fluid and it with new U bolts itll be ready to be installed within the next week or so. Stay Tuned! :thumbsup: Next on the list, pulling the 44 :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 20, 2010 Author Share Posted September 20, 2010 Began going over the Axle in preperation for the swap in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 20, 2010 Author Share Posted September 20, 2010 Alittle more Axle work this evening, New brake lines are on (minus the main rear 1) and a quick coat of paint. I pulled the cover and everything inside looked good, I'm not sure if this is the orgional Axle for this truck unless they changed them over for the 1990 year, this 1 has 9" drums like my 96 XJ. My 88 MJs D35 uses 10" Drums :hmm: Anyway I feel kinda weird putting effort into cleaning up a D35 but hey, once its in its new home Ill have a D44 to go over next :yes: Stay Tuned... :typing: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 yes, the 9" drums are correct for 1990. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 24, 2010 Author Share Posted September 24, 2010 Pulled my 44 from the truck this evening without any problems! :clapping: The cleaned up D35 sitting in place, will get it all buttoned up Saturday most likely. :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Nice work,,,,Every Jeeper should memorize the steps to an axle swap and be able to do it blindfolded! :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 25, 2010 Author Share Posted September 25, 2010 D35 all set in its new home. I also added an extra leaf outta the parts truck to this 1 for alittle extra capacity. just need some spring clamps for the packs. Decided to shoot a coat of undercoating while i was under there, the brakes are bled and this truck is drivable again :D . Ive offically sucessfully completed my 1st Axle swap This will probably be it for this truck for a few days, my focus now turns to prepping the D44 for my 88 MJ :clapping: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 My cousins boyfriend has an 89 XJ Limited. the trans is shot and it has many electrical issues. He plans to scrap it and gave me full roam to swipe anything I want from it...Score! :banana: Picked up some Gauges (and sensors), as well as a factory tranny cooler and also swiped the OEM clock. Might go back for another thing or 2 but not 2 much i can't already get from my parts MJ, lol 1st 1 of these ive ever seen in person. I like it :yes: Gauges all work great. next on the list is fluid changes, the coolant in this thing is disgusting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted October 2, 2010 Author Share Posted October 2, 2010 Well almost every fluid in this thing was disgusting so today my mission was to change coolant, oil and tranny fluid. The 1st thing i noticed last evening when i went to change the thermostat was the coolant could have been mistaken for coffee! YUCK! I replaced the 180* themostat with an OEM 195, and flushed the whole system clean and refilled with something better than the brown crap that was in it. Oil and Tranny fluid wasnt much better and decided to throw on the tranny cooler while I was @ it. Next will be fix the door latch and get ready to patch the bad spot above the drivers rear wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 Decided it was time to replace this hazard before something bad happened. Ground Cable :ack: Stole 1 off the parts truck that was in much better shape... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richliveshots69 Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 Nice build man! Looks like your doin great! I bet everything works better, brighter, and stronger after you changed that ground cable. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 Changed out the drivers door latch today, the door acctually seals now. Progress will be slowly coming along now that my ATV Racing season has ended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 Decided to begin on the only rust repair I need to address on this truck. An all too fimiliar sight :grrrr: Got the bad cut out and ready for patching ;) Also threw some clamps on the rear leaf packs Slowly getting towards painting time 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 The PO said that the attena wire had been broken so thats why the radio would not work, i dug into that situation this evening.... behind the kick panel i found this gizmo :???: I don't believe its factory but i hooked a known good attena wire up to it to test it out. Even with a good wire, the radio still woulnt pick up and signal, so the next step was to swap it out. I snagged the OEM radio from the parts truck, plugged it all in and wa la I had music. I guess the factory 89 radio itself had crapped the bed. :dunno: all fixed 8) That was it for the night. Should be getting my bedside patched in the next week or so I hope and ill go from there :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirteatr717 Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 get lots o' pics for the patch please! I need to do the same exact thing as my rear fender wells have cancer :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 I'm basically just cuttin a section of sheet metal outta the parts truck bed, its rusted beyong major work anyway. Ill snap some pics for ya though, luckly its mostly a flat section so welding in a new peice is pretty straight forward :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 The patch repair had begun. My uncle who has been a professional welder for a few years was up to the challenge. Getting the area setup. Going to work, we got the patch tacked in place when we decided 2 call its quits for the evening. We'll wrap it up this evening. Stay tuned 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 Patch Panel in. A Quick coat of paint till i can get around to sealing it all up and smoothing it out. 1 step closer to painting :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 Well I'm sure the "body work" updates are getting old but here should be the final 1s. threw on some putty to smooth out the patch just a bit. and a quick shot of primer for now. Also stripped the badging and body trim and began scuffing up the areas that needed it. Have another set of wheels for it to install and then itll be almost time for paint! :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now