MereAnatomy Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 So to start it all off, I bought an 87 4.0L AW4 2wd truck back in December. Found out last week that I will be headed to Kentucky for the next 5 yrs, and I've decided its gotta be 4wd, reliable, and nice enough to be a dd by the end of May. Current plan is to drop in an HO motor out of 96 cherokee, an 87 4wd AW4, an NP242, and do an interior swap. Got her into my Father's shop this afternoon to start the madness. Her last drive as American Motors made her... minus the 6" Rocky Road lift and the D30 that's been bolted up Noon sitting next to the Cherokee donor truck Engine and transmisison on the hoist, waiting for an extra set of hands in the AM So far I've only lost a little blood, and broken 2 bolts and a Torx driver. The rusted hardware is nothing compared to the floorpan rot I discovered... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Is that a ZJ grill on it in the first picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agoldxj Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Yeah it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 zj grille it is, at some point someone must have thought it looked better. I did appreciate the fact that it was zip tied in though when it came time to get rid of it. free grille if anyone needs one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 The project is on the move. Motor and transmission are out of the Comanche and separated for storage/sale/etc as of yesterday morning. I tore into the Cherokee donor car as well. The motor and transmission are now on the floor, but will have to wait till I can con someone into helping me pull them apart. The Cherokee had two female torx bolts on the top of the bellhousing that were standard bolts on the Comanche. After stripping one out, and having to grind the head off I bought the right tool at Harbor Freight for the other bolt. Don't try to be cheap, definitely more hassle... Will try to get the Comanche back in the garage tomorrow so I can stat stripping the interior and wiring harness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 Next up was stripping the Comanche bare, all factory equipment and wiring forward of the rear cab had to go. Did I mention I had a rust problem? Doing my best Fred Flintstone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MancheKid86 Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Sick lwb only way to go, I just finished the 4wd convo on mine. Just have some odds and ends that I gotta finish up :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 On Monday I managed to score the missing transfer case linkage, a front driveshaft, a replacement air bag, and a tan mini console (had 3 to choose from) at a couple of local junkyards. I also tore into the interior and wiring on the donor Cherokee. If the rust in the Comanche wasnt a problem, the Cherokee was on its way out. Lake Cherokee consisted of standing water in both floorboards in the front, and the passenger rear was swamped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 Thanks manchekid, you were smart to leave it at the 4wd swap. Hopefully it all pays off. As far as Kentucky Blue goes I got the engine and dash wiring harnesses from the Cherokee swapped in. When it came to the fuel pump issue I explored the threads on how to get make the renix fuel pump work for the HO motor. My 96 donor also had the returnless fuel rail, so after pulling both pumps and taking a look inside the Comanche's tank I decided I would come up with my own solution. Hope some of this info helps. The Comanche's tank is significantly deeper and narrower than the Cherokee since it has to clear the Comanche's driveshaft. The Cherokee and Comanche pumps are also mounted in opposited directions from their insertion points at the tank. The Comanche's pump is on the left so it can drop inside a rectangularly shaped fuel baffle. It has a munch longer mounting structure to hit the appropriate depth to sit on a bumper mounted within the baffle. After a quick comparison of the two pumps, I reasoned that I could cut up the cherokee pump's mounting tube, reverse the pump and separate it from the mounting plate on the outside of the tank and fabricate a new mounting bar to locate it within the Comanche's fuel tank. This gave me the new style fuel pump, a functional gas gauge that reads in the correct direction (though it will read full till you burn about 1/3 of the fuel tank due to the depth difference). I figured it was more important to be accurate around empty than full. Long story short I made the first attempt and snapped the metal fuel line i was bending for the mounting rod. I then defered to the wisdom of an elder who used a strange device called a pipe bender (versus the vice and my arm that I had been using). The second attempt also broke the mounting pole. Third time was the charm though and here is the finished project. Original Comanche pump on top, frankensteined Cherokee pump replacement on the bottom The added twist does require you to lengthen two of the fuel gauge's wires, which were soldered and isolated from eachother in a piece of spare rubber fuel line. Went in fine after that, here's hoping she fires when the time comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 Been busy with the truck and school, but I cleaned up my junkyard aw4 and np242. Got them bolted up to the HO motor and stabbed them into the body the day after the fuel pump. Then I got the joy of discovering that the knockdown cable for the transmission was much shorter on the Renix era AW4 than the HO. Off came the pan to swap them and do a fluid change. Pleasant surprise of clean fluid and an absence of metal... In with the transfer case linkage and shifters. Almost passing for a 4x4! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 This past weekend I managed to scheme my way into 2 days off, and got home for Easter and a little more progress. Huge thanks to mfpdm and this helpful writeup on making wiring harness pigtails for engine swaps http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19695 Still had issues with the differences between the 96 the earlier HO's as far as turn signal wiring, but finally figured it out around 1am Tuesday morning and went to bed with a clean conscience. Ready to plug in. With all the new wiring temporarily hooked up, and a little drink of the local ethanol blend Kentucky Blue came to life and dropped into gear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 Finally getting close to paint, just needs doors from the donor and new floor pans. Which brings me to the most important question of them all. What color blue does it get? My current ranking 1.2010 Chevrolet Camaro Aqua Blue Metallic 2.2011 Corvette Jetstream Blue Metallic 3.GM Quasar Blue Metallic 4.2009 Jeep Deep Water Blue Pearl 5.2007 BMW Montego Blue What does the rest of the tribe think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Been a while, but I now have floorpans. Fitting Not pretty but strong and sealed With the red oxide primer Painted and ready for another 25 yrs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Looking good Got the exhaust hooked up, put in a new master cylinder and switched her over to silicone fluid, radio wired. May not have doors, a hood, or bumpers, but she's got cold A/C! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Good work, the floors look pretty good. One of these days I'll have a clean Long Bed MJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Looking good. As far as paint color goes, there is another lwb on here painted aqua blue metallic here: http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/view ... =7&t=24324 Jet stream blue is a pretty color. Deep water blue has been replaced at Chrysler with a new color called Blue Streak Pearl that (in my opinion) is a much nicer color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COFFMAN Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Never been a fan of blue cars, but that Challanger gives me a bonner :popcorn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 So, been quite some time, but resurrecting the old girl has continued. I had to relinquish the idea on having the truck ready for my move and started my job in Louisville, KY back on 7/1/2012 leaving the truck half-finished down in San Antonio. Barely had time to come up for air since. Managed to get home back in November and got the truck over to sandblaster's to clean up the surface rust issues on the underside of bed and inner fender panels. Soon as it emerged from the sandblaster I got it over to the painter (more on that later). And by the time I left for Kentucky again work seemed to be going well. Thanks Rymanrph for the link to b52nav's build (I hope he still has the truck) as that definitely sealed the deal on color choice. The camaro aqua blue metallic really looks great and it meant I could avoid the engine compartment with a believable color difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randomguy310 Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 hey nice build, I'm an hour east of Louisville near the nascar track in sparta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Nice job so far. can't wait to see it all together someday ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted April 15, 2013 Author Share Posted April 15, 2013 Thanks guys, maybe run into you sometime out around these parts then? What are you driving around in and I'll keep an eye out. Fast forward to March of this year and Kentucky Blue was still at the painter's. My father was kind enough to start harassing him about the job since I was a thousand miles away. After a lot of hassle and of course more money it finally emerged and made it back over to the house. Signs of hope with the donor XJ in the background Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 then she sprouted doors, a hood, and i tossed in some really cool red buckets to roll around in cleaned up after the painter some more and rattle canned my Nate's rear bumper and did some touchup work on the warn unit for the front Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MereAnatomy Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 being a poseur and back to the hunting grounds again for a few things i forgot last few pesky wiring gremlins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dscowell Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 That blue is SEXY! :thumbsup: I liked the color before but I like the new blue better good choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randomguy310 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 that can't be a junk yard in KY it is way to flat.... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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