1987 Comanche Pioneer daily/play truck

[87c0manch3]

Whats up guys, i just picked up my Jeep for $250!

 

Its a 1987 Comanche Pioneer 4wd 5speed with the long bed.

I bought it off a guy i work with. He bought it off the show room floor back in 1986!

It is a 1 owner. It has 214k on it but it sounds strong. It needs the clutch replaced. (original clutch in it)

 

let me back up a little. i was going to buy it from him last year about this time but i ended buy a beretta instead.

 

fast forward- i pick it up last thursday

 

I started work on it on friday. i took the cap off because I'm not a fan of caps. the bed is in amazing condition just 2 spots of rust the size of a dime and on the size of a nickel just is front of the passenger wheel well. the tailgate has a lot of rust on it and the bumper is toast.

 

vaccumed the interior, washed windows, and hit the dash and door panels with armor all

 

just a pic of the truck after the cap was off. It has rust on the bottom of both doors and some rust on the bed but nothing major or hard to fix. the frame and under side has no rust at all! I'm in love with it. fog lights don't work tho... I'm not sure what it is i havnt really looked into it.

Shes very dirty too havnt given her a wash yet

 

It sat for 4 years! (it was in a garage) and had a 1/2 tank of gas in it. it was varnished so i drained out the old gas changed plugs, new dizzy cap, fresh oil change, have fuel filer just havnt got it on yet.

 

after draining the gas and getting the new parts on i put 5 gallons of 93 octane gas in it to hopefully cancel out any left over old gas and tried to start it. (He didnt put any oil in the cylinders when he stored it.... i put oil in the cylinders when i swapped out the plugs and cranked it buy hand a few times to lube up the rings.)

It cranked and cranked but there was no start. you need 3 things to make an engine run

 

1.gas

2.compression

3.spark

 

I sprayed starting fluid in the intake so i knew i had spark. i pulled a plug and put my hand over the hole and i had compression. next thing was spark. i got my spark tester out and checked for spark and there was no spark. I got new coil. still no spark.

 

I got on Comancheclub forums and i found a thread that said it was the Crank positioning sensor. got a new one. (it was a PITA to swap..... ) sprayed starting fluid in the intake and cranked it turned over a few times and Fired! woo! i was excited.

Its not legal yet so i drove it around the yard. (the clutch feels like the clutch in my Nissan 240sx. and the one in my 240 is brand new... either way i bought the clutch already it cost 169.99.) honestly I'm kinda scared to do it cuz i havnt ever changed a 4wd clutch.. is it hard and do you guys have any tips for me??

 

After i stopped i let it run and i noticed the fuel pump was humming pretty loud. after it burned off the oil that i put in the cylinders it doesnt smoke at all. i let it run for like 5 min to cycle the engine and get it up to operating temp. and it just died. i figure it ran out of gas i went and got 5 more gallons it still wouldnt start. i listened for the pump to turn on and it did so i pulled the filter and primed the system and there isnt any fuel coming out.... I was bummed cuz i didnt want to pull the tank. but i didnt know the pump access was on the side of the tank! pulled it last night so its ready for me to get another on in. getting one tomorrow.

 

Sorry i wrote a book i tend to write a lot... let me know what you guys think and any help on the clutch

[btm24]

Oh you poor poor guy :fs1:

 

Either way your one very lucky guy and good luck with your new MJ :popcorn:

 

Brandon

[glundblad]

If that fuel pump was hissing pretty loud, that was normal. Oh and don't forget. If it takes 7 cranks before it starts, that is normal too. :cheers:

[turboxr]

Where are you? I'll take that bedcap off your hands if you're close...

[87c0manch3]

Thanks guys.

 

I'm in michigan. are you close??

[87c0manch3]

so i picked up the new pump last night. ended up costing me $70 for the pump and $5 for the sock on the end of the pump.

 

When i got home from work i took a look at the pump assembly and it doesnt look pretty. So i decided to take a look in the tank and it didnt look pretty. So after about 2.5 hours i got the tank off. one strap was rusted off and i had to cut the middle one. so i have to get new straps.

 

after getting all the gas out, there is probably a 1/4 of crap in the tank on the bottom. combination of rust and the varnished gas and what ever else got into it. and there is a hole that was patched that started leaking when i pulled the tank so, i have to replace the tank too....

 

I'm looking on the bright side though, i will have a brand new fuel pump, tank and filter so i won't have to worry about them again. for a while at least.

 

Ill get pictures of the pump assembly and tank tomorrow.

[dfreeman616]

so let me get this straight...you have an 87 MJ in michigan, and there's no floor rot? and you have cab corners? and it only cost $250?

 

i hate you.

 

 

just kidding. but you should pull carpet up and make sure it's not rotting out under there. where in michigan are you? i'm in grand rapids.

[87c0manch3]

well it decided to start raining 30 min before i got out of work :mad: so i couldnt do any work on the Jeep today... I need to figure out why i don't have any breaks....

 

here is the fuel pump assembly. i have taken the old pump off yet.

 

this is the passenger cab corner. there is some surface rust on the bottom side, its solid.

 

Here is the drivers side its got surface rust on the bottom side too a little more then the passenger side but its solid too.

 

Ill get pictures of the floor pans when its not raining out...

The rust on the lower part of both doors is a lot of surface but none of it is crumbling and i pushed on it pretty hard and i couldnt go through it. The only spot were the rust is bad enough to go through is at the top of both rear frenders just above the extension.

 

here is what the tank looks like after i got it out. no pictures of the inside yet. ill get one when its not raining out.

 

so let me get this straight...you have an 87 MJ in michigan, and there's no floor rot? and you have cab corners? and it only cost $250?

 

i hate you.

 

 

just kidding. but you should pull carpet up and make sure it's not rotting out under there. where in michigan are you? i'm in grand rapids.

 

I'm down but the indiana border about 10 minutes away. do you know a place in or around Michigan that does custom rear bumpers for the comanche? mine is rusted out and i want to get an aftermarket one. i don't have a welder or i would make one myself..

[turboxr]

I'm waaaaaay south of you. Springdale AR. I'm sure I can find a camper shell closer. lol

[dfreeman616]

JCR off road in kalamazoo had some they made for production, but didn't get enough orders and stopped. but they do custom work too, so i'm sure they'd work something out for you. i've heard nothing but good about them, and had some rockers from them on my first xj. good stuff, great guys to work with. are you on greatlakes4x4.com also?

[87c0manch3]

JCR off road in kalamazoo had some they made for production, but didn't get enough orders and stopped. but they do custom work too, so i'm sure they'd work something out for you. i've heard nothing but good about them, and had some rockers from them on my first xj. good stuff, great guys to work with. are you on greatlakes4x4.com also?

 

 

Ok, cool. Ill look into them. No I'm not on there. Is a good forum to get on?

 

 

A little update. here is a picture of everything i have bought for the jeep so far.

note - Mt. Dew was for me not the jeep.

 

I ordered my gas tank last friday. they shipped it out monday and i got it today! wicked fast shipping.

 

i got the front brakes off and changed pads and bled the front brakes. the pads were toast so I'm glad i bought new ones.

(this is the passenger side, right side are the new pads, left are old. drivers side was just as bad.)

 

I pulled out the am/fm tape player. I installed my Pioneer deck. I have to admit the stock door speakers are surprisingly good. at least they are in my jeep.

 

I had a 1000watt eclipse amp and wiring kit laying around so i bought a kicker 12" and made a custom box to fit in the jeep. its not pretty bud is sounds good.

 

I also made a shift boot to cover the rubber shift boot cuz i was ripped. i think it looks pretty good. i have to get a new shift knob though the inside fell apart when i pulled it off.

[87c0manch3]

couple quick quesitons.

 

-does anyone know the paint code for the jeep comanche, the silver color like what mine is? or know a place where i can find out what the paint code is?

 

-can i paint the outside of my new gas tank. So, that why i can prevent it from rusting and stuff?

 

-is there something i need to clean the inside of the gas tank before i use it? I can see a little bit of stuff on the bottom on the iside. will that hurt it? is there somthing specific i need to clean it or can i rinse it with water and let it air dry?

[87Chief]

I'm sure you can paint the outside of your gas tank. I would use rustoleum or something.

[87c0manch3]

hey guys havnt been on here in a while. So ill update it. I did get it up and running and i am currently DD it and have had a few problems.

 

i got the new clutch in and going. that was a HUGE PITA. i have changed clutches before but not on a 4wd. I will admit though, the height of the jeep deffinatly gave me more room under it then my Nissan 240sx. I had a buddy come over and we planned to have it swapped and back together in one day. Well that didnt happen... First thing i couldnt get the transfer case linkage off so i just "hung" the transfer case. Then, i didnt know that i needed a torx bit for the upper bellhousing bolts and at this point it was midnight. So we called it a night and in the am i ran to the hardware store and picked one up they only had one is stock and it was $15! and on top of that there was a no return policy on tools... i was told later by my neighbor, that the brand(can't think of it right now) is equal to that of snap-on. Well need less to say we got the old clutch off, new on then bolted everything else back up.

I somehow got the transfer case linkage off by a "gear?" if i was in 2hi it was actually in 4hi. i didnt realize it at the time thats what i had done and thought i had f'ed up the transfer case. so i drove it in 4hi for a week and decided to "see" if the linkage was off. sure enough it was so i loosed the linkage grabbed a hammer and got the linkage in the correct spot. no problems any more other then the speedo cable broke. can i swap the jeep cherokee speedo cable into the jeep because it has the bolt together cable rather then the comanche style?

 

I swappped the cluster out with a cherokee cluster so i have a tach.

and the radiator was toast. picked one up from a pick and pull yard for $40

newish

I did get the oem fogs to work the contacts were bad inside so i fixed it then the passenger bulb blew. went to autozone the didnt have that bulb and were gonna have me buy new fogs for $200! so i bought the 4" baja series fogs for $30 and they take a h3 bulb.

i just took this picture and its snow like a b*tch right now.

I sprayed the gas tank with 4 coats of clear to to "try" to prevent rust.

I had my first taste of "offroading over by a buddys, he lives on a lake and across the lake there is a small trail. old 4 wheeler trails with a couple jumps. probably a 70 degree incline and downhill and a small mud hole. the mud hole was only up to the bottom of the doors but fun non the less.

 

then i hanging out with a couple buddies and we went to a "small" dune and old trail and had some fun. i deffinatly need to lift it at least 3in and taller tires. I only have 215/70's on there now. i wanna run 31's with the crager soft 8 rims in 15x8

small dune i was able to climb it but on the left side where it wasnt soo steep

 

drove it with no problems until last week friday. I could never tighten my belt. partly because i didnt know how and partly because the adjuster bracket was bent to hell. Well the belt decided to have a rib split and it got caught in the fan when i was going to leave for work.

i had a 3yr warrenty on it called up autozone and had it replace later that day. They didnt have the 3yr in stock but had the 1 yr in so i got that one and they refunded the difference.

 

my neighbor let me put the jeep in the garage, they were calling for 6in of snow... so i cranked on the heater and went to work. I pulled both upper and lower brackets off for the adjuster and put it in the vice to straighten it out. hit it on the bench top wire wheel to clean it up and the hit them with gold spray paint to prevent rust. The groove where the adjuster slides for the adjustment was badly gouged(sp) so that when i tighted the bolt to keep it place it didnt sit flat it went under the groove. so i took 2 washers and created a bushing. tightened everything down and it was good, for about 2 days... then it decided to loosen itself and squeal again. i tightened it again but once again it loosened itself. I went out this morning and tightened it once more and this time it stayed tight but is still squeaking.. it aligned and everything just won't stop squeaking any suggestions???

[87c0manch3]

not that anyone cares or anything but this is my Nissan 240sx currently rebuild the internals with forged internals, ran on stock internals with 12psi until the mech. oil pressure gauge decided to blow off and i spun the #3 cylinder rod bearing.

 

this was engine bay and car for 2011(exept for the black trunk, recently traded mine for the oem spoiler trunk)

 

Currently doing a silvia front end swap as well

 

how it sits now

[Dirteatr717]

keep up the work on the jeep! I Love 240s too :wavey:

you might like this haha --->