87 comanche custom

[guckingfuy]

I bought the Jeep in the summer and it needed a LOT of work.

first I bought a passenger window and installed it. there was about two windows worth of glass in the door, kinda sad but I vacuumed it out.

replaced the rear differential fluid and noticed there was no gasket on the cover plate!

the idiot who owned it before me LOWERED the freakin truck with what looked like car springs, and the front shocks basically fell apart when I took them out. - this made the steering f*cking scary when I took it home and the horn sounded when I turned hard right or left. Edit - forgot to mention the sway bar links snapped when working on the springs, so they were replaced as well.

also the guy told me the blower motor never worked and he kept the windows down to keep from fogging up.

I thought this was kinda weird and kept it in the back of my mind as everything was THERE and looked wired up under the hood. he also "threw in" a cd player to replace the crappy rampage tape deck he put in, which went in really quick.

as I installed the player I had a chance to check the wiring to the ac controls. The guy must have been really drunk or something because the wires to the tape deck were intertwined with the connector for the AC!!!! (as in it was sitting there unplugged about an inch away from the connector) plugged it in and it works as if brand new! now the cab gets nice and toasty within minutes of starting her up.

there was a spacer under each side of the axle and the U-bolts were 10 inches long I think... probably to lower the rear.

bought 7'' u-bolts and took the spacers out lifting the rear end to match the front, now it's stock height!

flushed the oil, ripped out the underlay under the rubber carpet, kitty haired the hole under the driver side floor.

there are off roading lights under the front that were installed by the same goof who lowered the truck he didn't even put them through a fuse, just plugged it straight to the battery and then cut the wires when he found out it was draining. :doh:

noticed there was barely a charge when I bought the truck, so I had the battery tested and it failed. replaced the battery and the charging got worse! tried to buy a rebuilt alternator, but the guys at lordco kept ordering alternators with the wrong mounting brackets, they did the same with brand new alternators and then told me they can't help me. :grrrr:

So I took my old alternator to a local auto electric guy and he rebuilt it replacing basically everything. now it charges as the haynes book says it should, even with all electrical options turned on.

[guckingfuy]

I've noticed that the floor had been pooling water on the driver side and looked around for a long time, I had thought the weatherstripping on the driver door had gone, but it turns out the windshield wasn't installed properly and it was dripping in through the bottom of the glass. So I bought a tube of silicon and took off the trim. spent about two hours scrubbing dirt and crap out of the groove and immediately spotted the leak point. silicon-ed the entire outside of the windshield making sure to push some through the leaking spot. since then not a drop of water has made its way into the cab :thumbsup:

I then bought new stock rear shocks and laughed at how the old ones slid in and out freely :eek: now her @$$ is in the air! :cheers:

 

Since then I've been replacing small things like the windshield wipers, took out the bench seat and put in buckets seats (looks way cooler and is more comfortable than I thought it would be) took out the headliner and replaced the fabric.

the old fabric had so many gaping holes the guy started putting screws in it to hold it up, (seriously I pulled about fifty screws out) took off the wheel trim, that little piece of trim above each door, and the rear view mirrors, spray painted them black and put them back.

 

What I'd like to do next is either buy a duraliner or look into a roll-on bed liner. buy a rear bumper, ( it doesn't look too too bad without it though) new exhaust piping, power steering, and a tune-up (the engine has a clicking like one of the lifters is stuck)

 

and the biggest mod is a 4x4 conversion

[guckingfuy]

Thats her. before some of the aforementioned mods.

 

[KYMJ]

:popcorn: Such threads are normally accompanied with pics. :D

 

edit Sorry we must have posted at the same time! Nice.

[guckingfuy]

ahh I see, just spoke too soon.

[guckingfuy]

just took the camera outside to snap a few shots and the battery died! darn.

threw the cam on the charger so it'll be a while..

got one of the underside of the rear end though.

[guckingfuy]

here's some introductory shots

 

uploading from photobucket using the thumbnail feature so you can click on it to get full size

If you can imagine, the wheel wells were nearly touching the wheels!

it aggravated me to no end, and the final slap in the face a chick told me it looks cute and I should leave it!

after I was done lifting it back up she changed her mind and said it looks more aggressive.

 

and thats the spacer plate mentioned in Pugs thread. I bought at a wrecking yard for about ten bucks i think.

[guckingfuy]

...and the extension cable is connecting a float charger to my battery as she's not insured right now and I'd hate to jump start a new battery and alt.

[guckingfuy]

So a guy is selling his front axle off an 89 cherokee to me for $100 it has the calipers and rotors he says he'll throw in the power steering too.

he also wants to get rid of his Automatic tranny and t-case.

 

 

Can i use the power steering, and T-case? and is there something about cherokee axles that are different than Comanches?

[guckingfuy]

So I decided to save my money and wait for a more complete 4x4 "package"

other than that I've been taking her around the block to make sure theres nothing going wrong that I don't know about.

she almost stalled when I came to the first stop sign, but after warmed up, everything seemed normal.

[Pete M]

sounds like a good Jeep project. :D

 

tech questions should really go in the Tech forum so more guys will see them and then the answers will be in our searchable database. :thumbsup:

 

no need to use the thumbs. We've got plenty of bandwidth available for the fullsize images. :thumbsup:

 

[guckingfuy]

tech questions should really go in the Tech forum so more guys will see them and then the answers will be in our searchable database

alright I forgot :oops:

 

anyway I've spray painted the grill with a couple coats of black primer and then a few of black plasti-coat.

along with that I painted the headlight trim and chrome trim all around the front of the truck.

Except I ran out of paint before I got to the windshield trim so that's still chromed.

 

I took out the parking brake assembly because it doesn't stay engaged when pushed down.

I noticed the teeth weren't catching on the release mechanism because the pedal was pretty warped to the right, probably from years of being stomped on with incorrect tension or something, so I figure I'll just replace the whole assembly when I can.

for now it's installed in the truck but won't stay engaged unless I push down and to the left. otherwise it pops out when any weight is put on or off taken off the truck :fs2:

 

next thing on my list is to replace the exhaust piping which has half rotted out at two points where the hangers are/were. :mad:

that and find out everything I need to install a power steering system. then I'll have a very decent a to b truck.

[guckingfuy]

So I noticed my left hand "side marker" bulb had burned out so i replaced that easily.

when I had my blinkers on I noticed the side markers are basically wired up as running lights.

I then jumped on the internet and saw a short video on youtube of this guys comanche he modded so the turn signal and side marker alternate! I thought this was so awesome I had to investigate.

after about ten minutes of google surfing I was led back to THIS site and to a link

http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technical/TECHNICAL.htm then electrical.

I quickly took apart my lights and did the rewiring. I agree that its more of a safety feature when people don't have to stare at your truck to figure out if you're turning or not, especially at night!

I think everyone with an old MJ should do this mod RIGHT NOW.

[SubSonic]

So I noticed my left hand "side marker" bulb had burned out so i replaced that easily.

when I had my blinkers on I noticed the side markers are basically wired up as running lights.

I then jumped on the internet and saw a short video on youtube of this guys comanche he modded so the turn signal and side marker alternate! I thought this was so awesome I had to investigate.

after about ten minutes of google surfing I was led back to THIS site and to a link

http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technical/TECHNICAL.htm then electrical.

I quickly took apart my lights and did the rewiring. I agree that its more of a safety feature when people don't have to stare at your truck to figure out if you're turning or not, especially at night!

I think everyone with an old MJ should do this mod RIGHT NOW.

 

Both my jeeps signal lights alternate from the factory... (when the headlights are on)... am I missing something?

 

Nice Project by the way!!

[guckingfuy]

I've read somewhere that Jeep switched the wiring on newer models so they'll alternate.

but the older ones just have the one blinker.

[guckingfuy]

So I noticed a little condensation on the inside of the windshield.

I pulled up the rubber carpet on the drivers side, bone dry

then I go to the passenger side and there's water pooling under the seat! Dammit!

I think its the seal on the top of the door, but I can't be sure so I'm going to replace it all.

I think the carpet has outlived its usefulness, and is only hiding the pooling water.

So I tore it out completely and I plan to add bedliner to the floor when I get to that.

[guckingfuy]

this is the damage done by years of neglect and extremely absorbent sound deadening material! :mad:

I've taken a sander to the metal and had to stop, as this job requires a wire wheel....or five...

after thats all cleaned up I've got some rust paint thats going on.

[guckingfuy]

A few things to mention about this one.

I've added a voltmeter gauge, which is very nice compared to the idiot light, (although I used the idiot light as a back light)

that crappy speaker in the door was replaced and I mounted speaker "grills"

also the side "vents" behind the seats near the floor I mounted in some 6" speakers.

they are hidden and sound good!

and just for $#!&s and giggles I added little tweeters to the dashboard "vents" which weren't really worth the effort at all.

and lastly the ignition switch was broken and could pop out completely!

after pulling the carpet I found the weird little bolt-screw that holds it locked in the ignition column.

and the metal piece that helps you turn the ignition had always been broken off, So every time I wanted to start the truck I'd have to look around to find it put the key through it, put it into the ignition and then turn it on. PITA!

So I reattached it with some body filler, as adhesives couldn't hold the pressure of turning the key.

[guckingfuy]

So I've "enhanced" the width of the door seals and now they sit nice and snug keeping all rainwater out, I also took a hose to it to check if I could force water in and the cab stayed dry.

that, and the fender flare that goes across the front face of the truck is back on, I popped the lights out and smoothed the

holes over with body filler and it looks stock again!

[guckingfuy]

wow those emo kids are quite hilarious on photobucket, talk about marketing to airheads!

anyway I snapped some pictures of the engine, mostly because I hadn't posted any on this site at all.

I was wondering about the sticker under the hood that reads " Cummins Power" A fellow Comanche owner says it means that my truck engine was originally a diesel. But I've had no one else confirm this so I'm left wondering WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

 

 

 

 

 

[guckingfuy]

I was about to buy some steel rims with tires that were in good condition, but just before meeting with the guy I noticed the rims weren't gonna fit! damn!

so I went down to lordco to find something else to spend my money on and they were having a half off sale on spray on bedliners Yay!

So I got a really really cheap box of two part gator guard II for short beds.

I've been reading on websites that the stuff isn't great, but with really good prep work it stands up to minor abuse. (I'm not hauling anything massive, just yardwork, like dirt and treebranches)

So today is a cloudless day and I've got all day to scuff scuff scuff!

[guckingfuy]

here's a shot of the front fender flare? not sure of the proper name but I think of it as the trucks mustache.

[guckingfuy]

So I've gone over the entire truck bed with extremely coarse sandpaper, making sure to get into the little grooves on the bed and sides after that I sprinkled some tsp and water and scrubbed the leftover bits of Silicone, dirt, sap and concrete (yes someone let wet concrete dry on the bed) and now I'm ready to start rolling!..... after a coffee...

 

 

 

 

[guckingfuy]

I noticed by the time I had the prep work done yesterday, it was too late to start rolling as the temperature was quite chilly

and I want the liner to have at least twelve hours setting before it gets cold and dark.

[guckingfuy]

Done and done!

wow that stuff is really textured! I like the finished look but it was almost messed up when I used that big roller.

It immediately started falling apart and leaving little pieces of fluff in the liner. :fs1: I won't cheap out ever again.

other than that it was a real breeze just a little backrolling and I had the texture I liked on the sides. I'd like to see what a second coat will look and feel like.