1988 Comanche - First Jeep.

[Megadan]

I finally ran into my first problem with the Pacesetter header.  The rear lower bolt for the exhaust and intake manifold for cylinders 3 and 4 exhaust (the siamese section) required a bit of creative thinking to get it in.  The bolt for the manifold just barely cleared the header pipe, and was impossible to get in with the intake on.  I had to think down the stepped washer about half and leave the bolt in place.  I did manage to finally get it though.  New injectors and TB are installed.  I just need to wrap up the wiring, exhaust, and put the radiator in and I am finally done with this whole mess of shenanigans.  Then I can flip around to the back side and swap out the leaf springs for the new ones and finally get to drive this thing.

As a side note, I love the hurst shifter I put on with the trans.  I don't know if it was the actual location itself, or the shifter being longer, but it's in almost the exact perfect spot for me to drive. It's a small thing, but makes it just that much better.

[Megadan]

It's alive!  Well, mostly.  I got it all buttoned back up and got it to fire finally.  Once I smoked myself and a buddy out of my garage I noticed that it still had a problem with the idle surge and hesitance to rev.  At this point I haven't done any of the ECU harness ground mods, and I suspected the TPS as the culprit because of the splice I found in the ground wire for it.  Sure enough, 2 Ohms through the B terminal...  I also noticed that the A pin wire is frayed at the pin in the weatherpack connector, so I am re-pinning the whole thing and running an entirely new wire for the TPS ground.  Other than that I have all 8 ECU ground wires located and when time permits I am going to solder it all together.  Then, hopefully, it will start and run smooth as butter.

I can't wait to be driving this thing, and I am really wondering what it is going to sound like with the header and the really big magnaflow muffler I have for it.

[onlyinajeep726]

Nice man!  You're in the home stretch now.  Post a video of her.

[Megadan]

Nice man!  You're in the home stretch now.  Post a video of her.

Yea.  I just wish it wasn't so cold out right now.  My garage is unheated, and even with my propane heater it leaks so badly that the best I can get is "warmer" than outside, which is still freezing.  My buddy took a couple of short vids with his phone after the first start, and I am waiting for him to upload them.

 

Speaking of which, I re-did the whole TPS connector and did the ECU Ground wire mod.  I went from a fluctuating 2 Ohms to a steady 0.8ohms, and then adjusted the TPS - which was way off.  It still has a hesitance to start that now has me perplexed, but the idle is more steady now.  If I disconnect the PCV hose and give it a great vacuum leak it fires right up.  It also has a problem with stumbling a tiny bit when it is reved up quickly, but nowhere near as bad as it used to.  

 

 

[Jeroshen]

Ha, He bought this off of me......yea sorry. Traded an 01 crown vic for it.....heck of deal, even with everything we found wrong with it. Though, most of the problems would have been difficult to tell were there without really going over it. Ill let Dan^ do the honors of giving the latest updates whenever he has the time, but i can say we had great success with the whole thing till Monday night....... :fs1:

[Megadan]

Ha, He bought this off of me......yea sorry. Traded an 01 crown vic for it.....heck of deal, even with everything we found wrong with it. Though, most of the problems would have been difficult to tell were there without really going over it. Ill let Dan^ do the honors of giving the latest updates whenever he has the time, but i can say we had great success with the whole thing till Monday night....... :fs1:

Yea, aside from the rear suspension it is pretty much ready to go.  I discovered that my distributor was full of oil, and so I bought a new one.  Discovered that the hold down for the dizzy had been cut by somebody in what I can assume was their attempt at indexing the distributor.  I tried to use it anyway with the new distributor, and it shifted and caused the ear of the distributor to break off entirely.  I am currently waiting for a new replacement in the mail under warranty.  I guess they are calling it a manufacturing flaw, and I won't disagree with them lol.

 

That being said, before the new distributor ate it, the truck ran perfectly.  No more stumbles and backfires at all.  That tells me that the oil in the dizzy was causing my issues somehow.  I also went ahead and put on a new ignition coil as the old one was, well...old.  That made a huge difference in how the truck ran all on it's own.

 

The frustrating thing is, the stupid thing still won't hold a steady idle.  I can only assume there is some kind of issue with the IAC wiring as it has a new valve and the whole TB was cleaned top to bottom, inside and out.

[Megadan]

Took it for it's first test drive today.  I finally got the chance to do the rear leaf springs and shocks, and oh how different it rides now without the bad rear shocks and broken leaf.  She definitely has quite a bit of rake to her with those new rear leafs... I hope they settle a little bit more.  As far as I can tell, the transfer case works perfectly, and my trac-lok engages.  I Have to figure out the sweet spot for getting it into 4wd while in motion, and I have run into one unique issue with reaching the trac-lok button/pull handle because of how low it is mounted...tall person problems.

Now I just have to figure out my bump steer problem.  I have a new track bar already on hand, so I am going to throw that on and get an alignment with a caster check.  Hopefully that fixes it.  Otherwise, the new trans shifts nice and the short throw Hurst is excellent.  I can reach it better than the BA-10 shifter, and the gates are nice and tight.   Runs real strong and pulls hard too.  The only other thing I really need to figure out is if my fan clutch is making this odd noise coming from the front.

[Megadan]

Just for the heck of it, I took these pictures today.  New wheels with the same tires.  New shocks all around, new rear leaf springs, and just recently installed a new track bar on it (which made a HUGE difference).  Still need to sort out a couple of things with how it runs on cold days, but it is mostly sorted.

Yea, the shadowing kinda sucked.  Still, she is an ugly critter on the outside, but solid and strong on the inside.  I call her "The Heap" as my joking nickname.


I got this shot so I could help answer some future wheel fitment questions that seem to pop up.  I ordered these 15x7 4.25" BS wheels to go on the tires that were already installed on the truck and move the tires outboard more.  While it does look better, I actually did it for a practical reason.  I found evidence of the tires in the rear actually rubbing the frame when the axle was tilted one way or the other.  Tires are just 235/75-15

 

And a night shot of the passenger side.  You can see my high tech exhaust solution.  90 degree bend off my very large (30" body Magnaflow) muffler.  It actually sounds good, but it's not loud at all either.  In typical Magnaflow style, it only really barks when you get on the go-pedal a bit.


With the mechanical stuff mostly sorted I can finally focus on getting the interior finished with carpet, headliner, and a good cleaning, and at least sort out the surface rust on the body from someones horrible fake patina sanding attempt.... which is why the paint is so ugly looking.
 

[Megadan]

Decided I didn't like the ugly many color green/black/ rust theme that the P.O. did to the truck, so I have slowly started to give it a color change.

No, it's nothing fancy, just the Rust-O-leam touch.  Satin Taupe Brown outdoor enamel paint.  3 coats so far on the bed.  I didn't bother with any body work this time around, but luckily this stuff will strip off easy when I decide to go back and make it pretty.  







I am going to get back to stripping the cab and nose later on.  I discovered by a happy accident that the paint the last owner put on was applied to an unprepped factory finish, and that straight acetone takes it right off without harming the paint beneath.  The cab will be stage 2 probably sometimes next week if it is rainy on Saturday.

[onlyinajeep726]

That's not a bad color, actually.  As a matter of fact, I really like it.

[Megadan]

That's not a bad color, actually.  As a matter of fact, I really like it.

I do too actually.  I actually wasn't sure if I was going to like it at first, but I wanted something darker than Khaki, but way lighter than Earth Brown that you find in the camo paints, plus I wanted it to be a semi-gloss much like true military paints.  It's gotten a tiny bit darker as it has cured more, but it is more or less the same as the pictures show.  Once I get the rest of the old spray paint stripped off I will get the rest of it painted and post up completed pictures.   I only had a tiny bit of acetone left, but that little dribble and a couple of paper shop towels allowed me to get my hood almost 1/3 of the way clear.   At least stripping it down won't take long.

 

[Megadan]

I finally got around to coloring the rest of the body.  In hindsight, I probably should have painted the flares, grille, and other bits I was going to paint black first, but oh well.  Just a little more masking work for me later.
Sorry the picture isn't the best quality, but I ran out of daylight right before I finished.  I ran out of my last can with half of one front fender still un-painted and had to make a dash to the hardware store for a couple more cans.   It's currently in a state of half-unmasked, so no I did not paint the door handle or other bits lol.   With the whole truck this color, I do really like it a lot now.  It has a very military or Utility Vehicle feel to it, but at the same time you can tell it's neither.

[Minuit]

I'm liking the slightly glossy finish that you normally don't see with this kind of paint job. Looks great. :thumbsup:

[Megadan]

It's a semi-gloss paint, so it should look that way.   Unless you mean for being a rattle can job.    I'm really good with a spray can, and know a few tricks to help avoid spray lines and get good even coats.  That doesn't always mean I am perfect, but I can only do so much with rattle cans lol.

[88ComancheMitch]

Haha. You're going the same direction as mine...

[Minuit]

It's a semi-gloss paint, so it should look that way.   Unless you mean for being a rattle can job.    I'm really good with a spray can, and know a few tricks to help avoid spray lines and get good even coats.  That doesn't always mean I am perfect, but I can only do so much with rattle cans lol.

I meant you don't typically see a gloss finish on the "military style" paint jobs. Either way, looks good.

[Megadan]

 

It's a semi-gloss paint, so it should look that way.   Unless you mean for being a rattle can job.    I'm really good with a spray can, and know a few tricks to help avoid spray lines and get good even coats.  That doesn't always mean I am perfect, but I can only do so much with rattle cans lol.

I meant you don't typically see a gloss finish on the "military style" paint jobs. Either way, looks good.

 

Ahh I gotcha.  Fun fact for you - True military vehicle paint finishes are actually semi-gloss lol

[Megadan]

Haha. You're going the same direction as mine...

I gotta check that out! lol

[Megadan]

Figured I would update a little bit.  Outside of keeping it running and little fixes here and there, I did my budget lift up front with Moog 784 springs and a spacer (measured 2.2" lift from factory specs).  Now the front is almost level with the rear.  It sits about 1/4 to 1/2" higher out back now, and I have done zero things to lift the rear.  Even after all this time the General Springs factory replacements still sit about an inch higher than the stock springs.  I may get a set of 1" lift shackles for the back to restore a bit of the rake as I do haul stuff with my truck from time to time.  Forgive the quality on the pics, it was taken with a cell phone that doesn't like bright sun.   Also, ignore the rust on the drivers door.  I have plans to get new doors in the upcoming future.

 

[Wiggilez]

nice mj, 

 

Aso I spy a mkIII supra (or maybe a chrysler conquest I can't really tell)

[Megadan]

Thanks. It's a MKII Supra actually.  That's my friends project car.  

I obviously have more I want to do with my truck.  I want to get a different rear axle under it, either a 8.25 Corp or Ford 8.8 and either a matching front axle or regear the current one.  I would like to do 4.10's and 33's,   My problem is having the space for 2 axles sitting around and having the time to do the rear swap.  My truck being my daily makes doing some of that work more difficult.

[Megadan]

Not really important, but since my 231 T-case is kaput I went to the local yard after work tonight.  Discovered the Cherokee with a 231 I was going to take was scraped out, and I got mad. Then I found a 95 XJ with a 242...not mad anymore.  Upgrade here I come.

[Megadan]

My elusive unicorn has come home.  With the shifter and bezel to match. Tried to clean it up as best as I could.  Amazingly all the seals are still good, and it engages both front and rear in 4 full time and part time as well as low.  I noticed that 4 low is a bit clunky, and the fluid that came out of this thing was black as tar.  I do plan on cracking it open and putting a new chain, fork pads/inserts (maybe a fork if that's the cause of the clunky 4 low) and seals at a minimum.  In all, not bad for $130 out the door.

[Wiggilez]

will the mechanical speedo swap from the 231 into the 242?

[gogmorgo]

Short answer, yes.

Not technically mechanical, cause mine's an HO, but I understand it's the same as the Renix mechanical speedo. But yeah, the electronic-over-mechanical or whatever the setup is in my '91 swapped directly into my '93 242's 100% electronic setup's hole.

The non-vacuum 4x4 light switch also wired itself pretty easily into my cad-equipped MJ. But I've got a one-piece shaft in my cad housing so not having the vacuum isn't a big deal.