starkizer Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Came with an "old man" topper when I bought it which I took off as soon as I could. :D here's some pictures of what I have so far. Ive just scratched the surface so keep that in mind. Half Decent side view. Notice the windshield trim is damaged, ive fixed that as I will show later... Also theres no Logos which as a purest, I can't stand. The little rubber trim things are pealing and one little part is missing all together. Here is a little bit better view of the windshield trim and the old man topper on the back. Also shows a failed attempt at tinting the windows. Thats what happens when you buy cheap stuff from walmart. Here is the front after I have added the driving lights, and the JEEP lettering on the hood, which was also missing. Yes, that is gorilla glue on the letters, that I have already cleaned up, and yes I know the bumper needs repaired. Notice the trim around the grill has been painted grey... thats something I am fixing. Jumping ahead to what I have started doing. Bumper is freshly coated, still needs fixed. Trim around the grill is chrome again. Grill itself and trim around headlights is painted black. Painted the black on the hood, will repaint grey as soon as I can find a matching grey. Also you can see a little bit of the fixed and repainted windshield trim. The Jeep lettering has no visible glue, what you see is scratches where I need that grey paint. Also painted wiper arms and the plastic part under the vents that cover the wiper motor. can't see it in this pic but thats all black now. Here is a close up view of the windshield trim to give you an idea of what the color looks like. This was taken before I painted the black accents on the hood. I don't know why I havent taken better pics yet, but I will if anyone shows intrest. here's the rear bumper before I have done anything to it. Its full of scratches and dings and if you look just right it will tell you I drive a Jeep. I plan to do something about the handle, just don't know what yet. Now here is what I have done (So Far) Of course its easy to tell what kind of truck it is now! Recoated the rear bumper and fresh painted all along the back right under the top of the bed. Look close and you will see what I'm talking about. Also the black right above the bumper on each end is wraped around the whole truck's trim. Which you can see in this new side view picture. Notice there is new Comanche logos where they belong. Also painted the mirrors, little side vent things, and around the bed of the truck. :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: I will post more pics if anyone has an interest in my project, otherwise ill probably post them anyway because I'm having way to much fun working on my truck, and all ive done so far is take off the old man topper and buy cheap paint! Thanks for looking, feedback is apperciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawaboy13 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 That truck looks really good, all those little things you're doing make it look that much better :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buxmj Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I am biased, but I like what you've done with the color scheme. Great work so far, keep it up. I say paint the tailgate handle black, if you want to know how it will look you can check out mine. I kept the topper on mine but I'm an old man, so it works for me! Are you in Hutch? I am originally from KC and recognized the Reno county on the tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Your "old man" topper looks like a factory longbed Leer cap. Also looks to be in pretty good shape... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buxmj Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I agree with terrawombat and I meant to mention that also. Keep that topper or sell it to someone who is looking for one. It took me a long time to find one to replace my aluminum topper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MancheKid86 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 your grill is upside down :thumbsup: mine is too, I'm too lazy to flip it atm :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Yep I am in reno county in Hutchinson Ks. :D will get the handle painted on the tail gate. Is my grill really upside down, cause ill have to kick myself if so. I always pay such close attention to minor details that I can't believe I would do that! It still looks better painted at least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Oh an the topper is in great condition, I plan on keeping it and using it for fishing trips and what not. I'm storing it on my shortbed donor truck and it sticks out a foot so its really goofy there. Will try and find some pics of it, and I gotta post pics of the sunroof on thus thing too. With your MJ, the works never done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 So, no note worthy picture to post, but to update everyone on the project. I fixed the dome lights so they turn on with the driver side door now. Figured out the problem completely by accident. I dropped the wire inside the door, and you know you have to be a trained monkey contortionist to get up there by the fuse box area, so I took the little rubber thing off that hides the wires leading to the speakers and what not. With the larger hole I discovered 2 wires, one of which had a broken part pc the door jam switch attached to it. Low and behold some genius had the wrong wire hooked up to the switch. Quick trip to the donor truck, bam my dome light comes on with the driver door. I know its not as exciting as lifting it or swapping the entire interior with an xj, but I'm a purest, and restoration is exciting to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Finaly got a new sunroof put it. It is 17"x32". Need to redo the COMANCHE lettering on the windshield but the point is the sunroof is in! Will get more pictures soon. Trying to get a better picture of the inside to show the head liner and what not. More coming soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Top view. Have to admit the front of the truck looks a little bit narrow from this angle. :hmm: Need to paint her so bad, and fix the hail dents. Truck is looking way better now with the new roof though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MancheKid86 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 keep them pics comin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted March 16, 2012 Author Share Posted March 16, 2012 Inside view of the new sunroof. It's a bit hard to get a good shot, but the sunroof turned out great. It took about 6 hours total time, including replacing the head liner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Ahhh, Hutch. Good Sunday buffet at the airport restaurant :yes: The truck looks Sharp! Instead of redoing the 'Comanche' sticker, why not get one of the 'ComancheClub' stickers from Pete? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 No new pictures, but I finally got the new belt on. Belts are a pain in the :mad: on theses things. My power steering pulley wasnt getting tight enough (Thats the tensioner of course) so it would slip the belt off and then strip the last rib off the belt. Got all that taken care of and now all the gauges and everything are reading normally and theres no sound from the belt! Its amazaing how much trouble a loose belt causes. My oil pressure use to read really low and the battery was really low and all that, but new belt and bam! its all normal. :clapping: Next time I do something major I will post new pics, I promise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MancheKid86 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 did you replace anything on the pulley system? i got a replacement alternator where it wasnt lined up, went through 4 belts, 3 of which were poly rib dayco's where the front rib was chewed up and then boom. until i added spacers into the pulley :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Nope. Didn't end up replacing any pulleys. My other truck did the same thing. This is the first time I changed the belt on this one, but when I got her it was missing the inside rib. I think it was just whoever put it on didn't get the power steering pulley pulled tight enough. Or they pulled it tight at an angle and it pulled the rib off. Its been a few days and ive kept my eye on it, and (knock on wood) so far its holding up like it should. I will of course pop the hood at least once a day to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Oh and I believe the belt I put on was the middle of the road belt that Autozone has. Duralast Gold I think. It wasnt the Dayco, but it wasnt the crap low end belt either. Didn't want to spend to much in case it broke, but didn't want to buy cheap either. It was around 30 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExTrEmEmJ86 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 thats your first problem you have a autozone belt go to o'reillys and pick one up :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bruchal Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 I really like your sunroof. :cheers: Could you tell me where you got it? thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 I really like your sunroof. :cheers: Could you tell me where you got it?thx Thank You. Its my pride and joy! Believe it or not, I ordered it from sears.com I happened to be working at sears auto center at the time and thought, why not check it. Sure enough they had one. I THINK it is 17x32. Install was a breeze. Took longer to get the old nasty piece of plexiglass that someone had glued in out then it did to put the new one in. I did have to cut the existing hole a little bit bigger, but I used a basic jig saw with a metal blade and it was fine. Honestly they are easy to install and anyone can put one it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 So this is what I working on at the moment. Don't know if you can see, but there is a few stripped gears in my Dana 35 rear Axle. Countless youtube videos will tell you how to remove the carriers to replace the spider gears and all that so I will skip a few steps here. What I did not see anywhere was what you do in the event you have a Dana 35 rear end made before 1990 that does NOT have c-clips. I have not found a video on how to remove the axle shafts without c-clips so I hope that this will come in handy to the next guy. So in this picture I left the little puch rod in place to show you. In the C-clip axle shafts there is a 12 point bolt right there. Pre 1990 (like mine) use this dumb thing. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get this thing out. I thought it turned out like a bolt... NOPE! There is a little whole on the left side of the ring gear that you just get a punch or a screw driver and just hammer it out. Its easy. Then the rod falls out with the spider gears. BAM! I would have been done if it was a c-clip style. Nope. The axle shafts are bolted in from behind the brake drums by 4 bolts. You don't even have to open the diff if all your doing is something with the axle shafts, if you don't have c-clips. Those 4 bolts are all that hold the axle shafts in. Mine where 9/16 and I removed all brake parts to get to them, which I will simply buy new. So after all bolts are removed its time to get a BFH and give it a few good smacks. Big Freaking hammer! I figured if I messed up a lug stud, oh no, heaven forbid I have to replaced another part! So a few smacks and it comes right out. Theres the two drive shafts out and the only tools I used. It just shows that you don't need a fancy garage or even air tools. I did it all with just a few decent sockets, my BFH and a couple wrenches. Well theres the problem! And this is what caused all the headache! Count 8 bolt wholes.... but wait, I only took 1 bolt out of this ring gear.... That explains all the pretty little chunks of metal that fell out when I opened the diff. Weird huh? So tomorrow morning I plan to go to the pull a part in Corpus Christi and either find a complete D44, or all the parts from a D35. Don't worry, I will keep them pics coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Gave up trying to replace just the gear set inside. Once the pinion gear is removed you have to set the gears just right or its not gonna be pretty. So at the advice of everyone in the Comanche Club, I pulled the whole axle out of a 1992 XJ. This is a Dana 35 geared to 3.07, Exactly the gear ration of my front end. So it should be perfect. Came out of a '92 XJ Loredo 4.0L standard transmission. Remember if your doing the same thing, from now on if I buy rear brake parts they are from a 92 XJ not an 89 MJ :P The fine people in this club have informed me that the mounting plates will need to be taken off, moved and rewelded to work with the MJ leaf springs. So I plan on grinding them off, cleaning up all the rust and making it nice a pretty. Then taking this one and the old one to a local welder as I don't have my own, and saying hey, make this one look like that one. Sounds easy enough. I will be doing all this in the next few days and will get pictures up as I go along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkizer Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 Cutting off the old shock perch and mounts. Pretty easy for a cutting wheel on a standard grinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89Comanche4x4 Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 watch the glass on your truck! don't get any sparks on it or it will pitt the glass 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