Carl'sMJ Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 I decided it was about time I started my project thread... Vehicle: 1992 Jeep Comanche 2WD, 6' bed Engine: 4.0L, I6 Transmission: AX-15, 5 spd. Axle: Dana 35 3.55 w/ Trak-Lok Suspension: Rear AAL Here is my truck in its current state... I am currently replacing the floor pans and fixing up the cab interior. The truck splits time with my '01 XJ as a daily driver and it currently has just over 126,000 on the odometer... Winters in Michigan have started to take their toll so I am planning on more body work in the near future. Alot more updates to come on the floors and interior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
com_mako Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 nice truck good begining !!! get rid of the rust :ack: cut the metal !!! semper fe ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 So this is what I started with in the cab. I like the gray interior, but it is old and dirty... A little clean up and it should look like new again. The dash cluster has the big fuel guage and idiot lights. I added my own tach on the steering column, and will be adding guages for oil pressure, water temp, and voltage. Not sure, but I'm leaning toward mounting some aftermarket guages rather than swapping out the instrument cluster. I started gutting the interior and one of the first steps was to clean up the 20 years of filth thta has accumulated on the seats. I used a write-up in the DIY by mfpdm as a guideline and it turned out pretty well. I still might put a nice set of seat covers on, but I was glad to get the seats clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 Well, the interior is out, and it's time to check out the floors. I knew they were in need of repair because I could see the holes from underneath the truck. Removing the carpet revealed everything I expected and more. The cab floor is completely rotted out and will need almost total replacement... ... Time to break out the angle grinder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btm24 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 so why did it take you since 2007 to start this any ways? and are the updates just going to catch us up to now? Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 so why did it take you since 2007 to start this any ways? and are the updates just going to catch us up to now? Brandon :dunno: Well, I'm not sure that it really matters, but I just wanted to start a project thread. I've done work on the truck before this thread and just wanted to start documenting it. The updates are on stuff that I'm currently doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 It took some time, but I've got most of the bad sheet metal out. The champs of the day are the hammer, chisel, air hammer/chisel, angle grinder, drill, and spot weld cutter. I bought three of these spot weld cutters at Harbor Freight for $5 each. Not a bad price! I'm sure the quality is not up to the standard of some of the higher end cutters like Blair, but I have to say they did the job and held up alright. I only ended up using two of them and those two are pretty wore out. I broke teeth on all but one side of one blade. Looks like I'm gonna have to do a bit more sheet metal work than just the floor pans I bought. The rust damage was pretty extensive so I'm going to have to make some patch panels to supplement the floor pans. Driver side front: Driver side rear: Passenger side front: Passenger side rear: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Here's the replacement floor pans that I bought. They were from Sherman Parts located near me in Washington Twp., Mich. http://www.shermanparts.com Part #: 075-40 L/R Floor Pan Front Section 075-45 L/R Floor Pan Rear Section Sherman's lists these pans as replacements for our Comanches. During my initial fitting, the front sections match up well, but the rear sections are a bit long and need to be trimmed down in order to fit our cab. I believe they are designed for the Cherokee, but once the rear section is shortened the pans seem to fit well. My only real gripe with these floor pans is that there are no pre-cut or marked holes for the seat mounting studs... Not a game ender, but it took some careful measuring to get the holes right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 MJ Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowboard3r411 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 looks good man good to see another manche saved :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 With the floor pans removed, I took the opportunity to POR-15 the inside of the frame rails. I cleaned them up as best I could with a wire wheel before applying the POR. I used the full three step process advertised by POR-15 consisting of the Marine Clean degreaser, Metal Ready, and rust preventive paint. This was the first time I've used POR-15. A little bit of this stuff goes a long way. I put two coats on each side and only used half of the 1 pint can that I bought. The Lineup: The Results: Driver Side: Passenger Side: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MancheKid86 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 I'm liking this, you removed the top of the frame rail and por 15'ed the inside of them can't wait to see more :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 I'm liking this, you removed the top of the frame rail and por 15'ed the inside of them can't wait to see more :D Yeah... The top of the frame rail pieces were completely rusted through and destroyed :( ... Didn't have much choice except to cut them out and remove them. The tops of the side braces are fine though and will be going back on after the pans are welded in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comenschen Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Wow, does that look all too familiar! So glad I'm finished my floors, now I just need time to finish the rest of my truck. That's pretty much the same approach I took....por'd the inside, and sprayed weld-thru primer on the tops where the panel would weld. Maybe I missed it, but are you putting carpet back in, or doing something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 22, 2010 Author Share Posted October 22, 2010 Wow, does that look all too familiar! So glad I'm finished my floors, now I just need time to finish the rest of my truck. That's pretty much the same approach I took....por'd the inside, and sprayed weld-thru primer on the tops where the panel would weld. Maybe I missed it, but are you putting carpet back in, or doing something else? After I get the floors welded in, I plan to POR the whole cab floor and then topcoat it with Herculiner. My carpet will go back in over that. The Herculiner is probably overkill, but I want to seal things up good and if anything it should act as sort of a sound deadener. I pulled out all of the insulation material from under the carpet and will not be replacing it... All it does is act like a sponge! I was planning on using weld-thru primer on the tops of the flange too. What brand did you use and how did it work? I've heard mixed reviews on weld-thru primer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Nice work. I like the black and white two tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 Got a couple things done today... First, I got the exhaust system from the catalytic converter and back pulled off the truck. The cat is preety much shot, and the muffler and tailpipe have seen better days. I figured since the floors are cut out it would be a good time to deal with the exhaust. The flange where the front exhaist pipe and cat meet up was rusted all to hell and deteriorated. I was able to knock off what was left of the bolts holding it together and separate the flanges. Then I dtached the hangers from the truck and pulled the whole thing over the axle and right out the back of the truck. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'm leaning towards keeping a fairly stock exhaust set-up. I am going to have to make a couple mods to make the new cat fit on the front exhaust pipe... probably by eliminating the flange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 Also was able to make a few of the additional patch pieces I am going to need to supplement my floor pans where I had to cut out rust the floor pans wouldn't cover. I used my new air punch/flange combination tool I recently bought on sale at Harbor Freight to help fab the patch pieces. It worked well on both the 16 ga. and 22 ga. sheet metal I used. ... Still got a couple more patch pieces to make. More updates to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 I made a little bit of progress today. First, I changed my differential fluid and then I made a couple more patch pieces for the floor. I've got a couple more pieces to make and some slight modifications to the floor pans to do. Then everything will be ready to be welded in... can't wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 A couple of updates... I changed the transmission oil in the AX-15. Got rid of the old GL-5 fluid and put in some Redline MT-90. I've heard good things about this stuff and after alot of research it seems like the way to go for the AX-15. I also took advantage of the nice weather to clean up the carpet... Purple Power and the garden hose did the job. I'll be putting it back in after I get the floors welded in. The plan is to get some POR-15 and Herculiner down on the floors first then put the carpet back in over it. I'll be eliminating the insulation material that comes under the carpet. IMO it just acts like a big sponge. I've also been working on my interior lights. I never was a big fan with the way they worked and recently they haven't been staying clipped into their slot in the trim piece very well... So I have modified them to work a little better and cleaned them up cosmetically a bit too... First, I notched out both sides and epoxied in a couple of plastic tabs on both sides. The plan is to use a couple screws through the tabs and into the plastic trim to hold the assembly in place. I sanded it all down and painted it gray. I also soldered some wire between the middle and top contacts so the lense sits flush in its normal mode (when the door opens the light comes on). Before the lense always had to be rotated down to operate this way. I wish I had taken more pics during the process. I am happy with the way it turned out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJM/78 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Its nice to finally see your thread , keep the pics coming ... Purple power is the shiznat , I like to heat it up with a mixture of steaming water and watch it react with oil on parts . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 When I read this thread, I feel like there is a bit of an echo. A white 2WD '92MJ that splits time with an '01XJ. Next you're going to tell me that your XJ is silver :D Good progress so far, keep the pictures coming - I like seeing my twin MJ. BTW, what is the build date on this truck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 When I read this thread, I feel like there is a bit of an echo. A white 2WD '92MJ that splits time with an '01XJ. Next you're going to tell me that your XJ is silver :D Good progress so far, keep the pictures coming - I like seeing my twin MJ. BTW, what is the build date on this truck? Sorry, the XJ is Steel Blue. :D ... Build date on the MJ is December 1991 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 Its nice to finally see your thread , keep the pics coming ...Purple power is the shiznat , I like to heat it up with a mixture of steaming water and watch it react with oil on parts . Yeah the Purple Power did a good job on the carpet. :thumbsup: This was my first time using this product. I had heard good things about it and wanted to give it a try on the carpet and all the old vinyl and plastic trim. The real test is gonna be when I try to clean up all the trim pieces. I'm curious to see how it does... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Today I topcoated the inside of the frame rails that I had previously painted with POR-15. I used Rustoleum spray can truck bedliner as the topcoat. I know this was probably a bit of overkill, but I wanted to make sure this job was done right and would rather go a bit overboard to ensure that. The POR-15 has been in there a few weeks so it is definitely cured. The manufacturer reccomends to topcoat POR-15 while it is still tacky, but this obviously wasn't an option at this point. So, after doing a bit more research, I opted to use some self-etching primer directly over the POR-15, followed by a couple coats of sandable primer, and then the truck bedliner. The Product Lineup: The Results: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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