My Herculined 90 Comanche

[manche_mane]

small block is a small block only difference is the displacement..

true dat. the specs i found for 4.0 vs 305 tbi are:

177hp/220tq - 4.0

175hp/250tq - 305

so pretty even considering my 4.0 has had problems the whole time ive had it. almost bought a tbi 350 a few days ago but it wasnt worth the drive. ill aquire parts and the time will come. can't wait to put all fours on the ground thogh so i can move it for my other baby...

 

needs paint and new engine as well. i like to switch between projects. here is my 91 infiniti m30..

 

[randomguy310]

the 305 made different power depends what year it was

[manche_mane]

Welp, the 305 ain't going in. I traded the th400 for an 03 5.3 with 90k all wiring and computer. wiring looks like a pain but the motors rated at like 27* hp. now I need a tranny. got my axle ready today too. the problem now is that I can't get the pitman arm off even with puller, blaster and map gas...

 

-edit: after quick research it appears that heat shouldn't be used on the pitman arm sooo the steering box may need rebuilt or changed because I heated that thing good

[manche_mane]

[manche_mane]

not much to add because ive been waiting on nice weather and time off work but i did give my "5.3" to my brother because his 4.8 silverado is eating bearings. he started taking it apart and found thatit says 4.8 on the head gasket..

 

and of course the 4.8/5.3 markings..

 

also i waas told the 5.3 has 708 heads. this says 706..anyone know if this is true?

[manche_mane]

I'm going to put a new head on my 4.0 and get lower gears and use the dana 300. i want to drive this thing. now what to do with the exhaust with my pass drop...

[manche_mane]

its been a while since ive got to spend time on the truck. i finally got it sitting on all fours

 

[manche_mane]

now the pumpkin is in the way of the track bar mount, so i need to create a mount beside the uca. but first, I'm going to get my passenger side knuckle worked for my high steer kit, so i can fab my track bar to be parallel with the drag link that i also need to create

 sorry for the huge pic

[manche_mane]

 yesterday...

 

 

 

 

...In this picture, there are jack stands between the frame and u-bolt plate

[Dillithium]

When I was a kid, I had a toy pick up truck with jaws up that would open its mouth and it would eat other hotwheels. That's what your Comanche reminds me off, very cool!

[manche_mane]

that's awesome man thanks

[manche_mane]

Back to working on the manche. Turns out that the 74-75 1 ton IH brakes are pretty much impossible to find. So, I used this thread to help me: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/international-harvester/697072-1974-1975-ih-200-truck-4x4-axles-dana-44hd-dana-60ff.html

 

Basically, for front brakes, 78 3/4 chevy parts from the outer axle shaft on out are needed...except for the knuckles, which I bought chevy anyways because no one was game to put my passenger on a machine to mill the surface truly flat. The passenger is brand new with ball joints and ready for the high steer arm and bolts. driver side is used and ready to go, with new ball joints.

all this was a pretty penny because I didn't try any salvage yards, so this might become a daily again.

 

I'll get to the rear brakes later. when I pull the shoes, I might find a replacement, or else I will use the above link again to disc swap the rear. looks pretty simple

[manche_mane]

Went to the garage and found a pleasant surprise... 

 

 

My 4.5" Hell Creek leaves came a couple weeks earlier than expected...I broke all the bolts loose so I'll put these things on tomorrow.

And the driveshaft I think is the same that came stock with my t-case (80-86 CJ). Not sure if that even matters, or if it will use the u-joint for the 44...I'll find out after I get the trans situated up there.

[manche_mane]

Here is my dana 300 and replacement AW4 in soak mode. Waiting on the un-flipped adapter to mate the two:

 

[manche_mane]

Installing the new leafs took minimal effort. Here is stock vs. the 4.5 hell creek:

 

[manche_mane]

Here is both sides installed:

 

In this pic, I have 2.5 coil spacers. I replaced them with isolators. I think I'll dig the raked look for a while.

The rear is SOA + 4.5" springs. Stock shackles, no blocks

 

Very happy. pretty much the exact height I was looking for. If anything, some AutoZone shackles will go on.

Now I will start the front swapping tomorrow.

[manche_mane]

Old rusty

 

 

Feels good to have this pain in the @$$ knuckle

 

 

 

[NorthWoods]

Make sure that the nuts used to hold the flanges to the tcase are lock tighted on. High torque will back the nuts right off and you will lose a drive shaft. Been there, done it on my fsj. Actually broke the front axle shift rail for my twin stick right off at the case. Changing shift rails is probably the worst part of working on a 300.

[manche_mane]

That sounds like a bad day. I'll locktite it for sure. Dreading the whole Tranny swap. I hope the case looks good inside

[manche_mane]

Not much to add. Still working on the front. I did ok guessing what parts I need. The local parts stores carry the "inner spindle bearing" and seals, but not everything I need. I downloaded an FSM to see what I'm missing. I had to order a v plate and the seals for each side to keep from having metal to metal contact. The ball should be rolling again soon.

For some reason, some parts stores think a spindle bearing is the wheel bearing or it is listed under axle parts. It's funny how I can find it on the AutoZone website and bring the part # but I got to go to 2 stores before someone knows what they're doing. I didn't even want to try to ask for the v plate because it is probably not called that lol. Anyways, it should be at my house today.

In the mean time, I purchased a new battery and reman starter. And belt and idler pulley. I think it has not been started more than 2 years so it should be fun now that it is below freezing.

 

Here is a pic of the IH knuckle. Same as Chevy but has 8 studs rather than 6. My new knuckle is from Harsh Terrain. then I found a Chevy one for the driver side to keep from having to drill holes into the spindle. I'll keep the IH ones around.

[manche_mane]

Figured I'd show the old IH brakes:

 

 

[manche_mane]

Where I am now. Only gave up because I misplaced a socket:

 

[manche_mane]

Well, my dad got a crazy puppy that keeps getting into my parts and scattering things across the yard so I've been doing very little after work. So having to order parts has been a pain in my @$$...but safe to say I'm catching on to things about my IH/Chevy/Jeep setup I got myself into. Also the cold and lack of sunlight makes me want to stay home...

 

This is close to where it sits after I replaced my 2.5" spacers with .75" isolators. It's crazy how far the front end goes after dropping it ~2"

 

Here is how it sat before:

 

I actually like how the front is extended. Of course I do have adjustable control arms...which brings me to my dilemma... ...I think the guy who welded my brackets up set the caster in the opposite position(-5*vs+5*). From what I understand, + caster would be leaning back right(the top BJ toward the rear and the bottom BJ to the front)...correct?

 

So I can adjust my upper and lower arms to favor either the pinion angle or the inner C. I'm not too worried about the coil spring perch angle.  Hmm maybe I should go with a waggy front end with a truss and new brackets.

 

Here is a pic of the inner C from before:

 

I'm thinking the inner C is way off. I don't think the pinion was his guide because the 2wd beam didn't have one.

I am going to point the rear pinion to the tcase and have a collapsible rear driveshaft with a CV ordered., but I'm so confused about how to handle my front end..I thought maybe I can ghetto-fi it with a CV or two on the front shaft... or maybe I can deal with the angle since there won't be any locked hubs on the road. Because I don't want it to shake and bind, but I don't want super sensitive steering either

[dragordie]

manche_mane I noticed you are running front drop brackets for your control arms. Where did you get yours from? I have used Rough Countrys on several of my XJ builds, but was told they would not work on a MJ. wasn't told why they wouldn't.  Nice rig you have.  

[manche_mane]

manche_mane I noticed you are running front drop brackets for your control arms. Where did you get yours from? I have used Rough Countrys on several of my XJ builds, but was told they would not work on a MJ. wasn't told why they wouldn't.  Nice rig you have.  

 

Thank you. They are right. I have the Rough Country set but they are for the xj. The unibody is angled different after the drop bracket...so I could not install the support brackets that go behind them.

Rubicon Express has the drop bracket kit for our mjs. I will eventually get the RE kit. I have seen someone on here modify the support bracket to work. But last time I looked, the RE set was a bit cheaper. I was stupid and bought the more expensive ones and they didn't fit the mj.

ebay should have the RE kit that you need