Crassis-Comanche Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Well after seven years and two Comanches I am finally ready to start my own build thread. In my own personal opinion this website/forum/collective is really unique because of its members and what they do to help each other (and of course help preserve these special trucks). I am a little overwhelmed by the amount of people on here that are pretty skilled and knowledgeable about their Comanches compared to how little I know but it's also been a place where I have learned just from reading posts on how to complete simple maintenance tasks and DYI. Again this site in invaluable to people like me. I stumbled onto CC way back in 2007 after I bought my first MJ - a 1992 Base 4x4 LWB. After joining CC and becoming inspired to make my little truck an even more awesome little truck life stepped in and forced me to sell it off and I have been regretting that every day since. I bought this '92 sight unseen from a dealership in Calgary, Alberta while I was living in Whitehorse, Yukon. I flew down, picked it up and drove it on it's maiden voyage of 2,244km (about 1,400 miles) back to Whitehorse. No problems. I loved that truck. Probably more than any man should love a truck! :D But life happens and we move on. Then in October of last year after spending almost the whole previous year looking and finally getting my life settled down again I found this little beauty. 1988 Pioneer 4x4 LWB from a one-owner family and it had spent that last six years in the woods at a cabin as a hunting truck. It's completely stock except for plywood in the bed, a fibreglass tonneau cover/cap and what I think might be an old remote starter. Since last fall it's been covered up in the driveway but this spring I began work on it by removing the old plywood, removing the cap (which I will turn into a project of its own), changed the spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, new battery, oil change (Wix filter and Royal Purple), temperature sensor and oil pressure sensor (with full gauge cluster). Right away I hope to change out the old radiator for my new one and flush the coolant etc. Also I plan to add some new hoses and begin the 27-step Cruiser's Renix Tips program too. Then it will be a lot of searches on this forum and questions for CC members about the various parts in the engine and how they work and what they do so please bear with with me! then it will be on to other parts of the truck as the plan is to do a 3" lift, 31x10.5, new paint etc. This truck will be a semi-regular driving vehicle/light duty. I have a bunch of photos to add here and please chime in if you see something you like (or don't). Thanks! Pre tune-up I think this might be an original battery?! It's got a date stamp of 1986 and was still turning the engine over as of last fall. Old cluster. "New" cluster. this came out of an '88 XJ Limited and as you can see it was well driven! Almost 500,000 Km! So that's it for now. I'll update asap and I am excited to share this build thread with you all. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickinmule Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Watchya gonna do bout the shift indicator? Cutnfab? Jealous of the column shift by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyt120 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Watchya gonna do bout the shift indicator? Cutnfab? Jealous of the column shift by the way. good point, He should be able to cut the window in the Tach and put a small hole in the bottom for the cable and the PRND3L swaps right in. Nice Truck! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 Thanks guys! I think I'll go the Ididit external shift indicator like what Hornbrod has on his truck. It looks classy and a little more old school to me - which I like. I don't think I want to try and cut out the metal face of the new tach. If it was plastic maybe. I want to keep the column shift because I like having all that extra room on the floor for all my crap! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megadan Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Wow, that radiator is...rough. Defintiely a fairly solid truck from what it looks like. The doors look to be the worst on the body. Looking forward to your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepsOLot Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 When I heard, the saw the bed with the plywood in it, I was thinking, rusted out bed. Not so much, very pleased that your bed was in such good shape!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickinmule Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Thanks guys! I think I'll go the Ididit external shift indicator like what Hornbrod has on his truck. It looks classy and a little more old school to me - which I like. I don't think I want to try and cut out the metal face of the new tach. If it was plastic maybe. I want to keep the column shift because I like having all that extra room on the floor for all my crap! :D ^^ That! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggilez Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 were you able to get those seat covers fixed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 The vinyl is repairable but the cloth pattern will need some kind of custom fix I think. There is a place in Edmonton looking at it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyt120 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I've got a spare bench in my garage if you need a replacement cover...PM if you want pics or anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggilez Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 The vinyl is repairable but the cloth pattern will need some kind of custom fix I think. There is a place in Edmonton looking at it now. hopefully it will turn out nice without costing an arm and a leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted July 11, 2015 Author Share Posted July 11, 2015 Ok as I am changing the radiator and starting Cruiser's Renix tips I have come across a few things I hope others could help me decipher please. I hope I have read the instructions right and in reference to the ground to chassis upgrade I have added the following wire to the same spot as the existing braided wire and attached it to the heat shield of the exhaust manifold. Is this right? It says battery cable but I am hoping it's all the same thing? :dunno: Here it's attached to the firewall. Here it's attached to the heat shield. When I did the dipstick stud/ground refresh I found that the cover of my negative battery ground had deteriorated near the end. I took off what I could back to good cover and taped up the rest back to the eyelet with electrician's tape. Is this ok? Or is this something I should be concerned with? Maybe this ground should be replaced entirely? That's what my C101 looked like inside. It' all cleaned out now and back together. Will delete it in the future. Headlight connectors were corroded. Cleaned now. Does anyone still maintain this pre-heater hose thing? Mine has collapsed and the material is brittle. Next up will be the "what the hell do these things plug into?!" segment... Thanks all! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted July 18, 2015 Author Share Posted July 18, 2015 Suggestions? Anyone? thanks! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 Ok so after waiting a few weeks for my new radiator after a bit of a snafu I got it installed and the first round of antifreeze into the system... But now the MJ won't start at all! I have power to my lights, turn signals, brake lights etc. I can hear the fuel injectors up front even my door buzzer is in fine form but once I turn the key all the way over - Nothing (except that when the I turn the key over my temp gauge needle jumps and my parking brake lamp illuminates and then goes out when I release the key). Posted help question in MJ TECH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roper Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Love what you're starting with, got any updates? I'm curious about that bed cover, my MJ had a fiberglass one too, If you've got some more pictures of it then I'd love to see if they are the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 Working on some photos now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted October 6, 2022 Author Share Posted October 6, 2022 And five years later... Life has been interesting to say the least. A lot of turmoil with jobs and family and through it all I still managed to drag the MJ from driveway to driveway - though it's sat untouched for the most part until now... I have finally found a place and time that I can continue working on the truck. I will go back in time a bit with my photos for this build and bring everyone up to date. In the past several years I have been on here routinely finding inspiration and great fellow members who have been generous with their help and in helping me lighten my wallet lol - but in a totally good and much appreciated way! Now, back to 2017 we go... The rad swap and all electrical issues were a success and to this day the Jeep still fires right up (touch wood). Around this time I also sourced a header panel and 21-slot grille and a chrome front bumper, I found a couple of good tailgates and some tail lights and I even bought a steel LWB skid plate from CC member yellaheep (however the guy I asked to pick it up from yellaheep went there and got it but then never delivered it to me! ). On a happier note this was all in a long line of great finds and buys that began in 2016 when I bought a Metric Ton badge from Hornbrod (Don). He thought I was crazy for wanting to pay for it (the exchange between the Canadian dollar and the US dollar was not good in my favour lol)! But he was amazing about it and happily mailed it to me. I actually have it in my home safe as we speak and when the body work is done it will go on the tailgate. The plan for me is to build my own MT truck. Then it was time for some work on the under side of the MJ. New rotors up front and new drums in the back with all the fluids changed in the diffs. The caveat is that this was all done in 2017 and the truck effectively then sat since September of 2022. I found a good set of turbines at the local Pick n' Pull and put stock size Goodyear Wranglers on them. I am still looking for the centre caps but those seem hard to find. In early 2018 I picked up a factory D44 from CC member Wiggilez (and I posted that in another threat I am certain). The D44 is not on the truck. And then life got in the way again the MJ sat in the driveway. And then another driveway. And then another driveway. By winter of 2020 I had pulled the front bumper and the front fender trim. There was a lot of rust under the trim as you can see but I managed to find a pair of local XJ fenders that were also the same blue and picked those up - but not much else happened with the truck as you can see. It looks a little sad in this photo compared to where it was a few years earlier. The following year I bought a rear chrome bumper from CC member Jeeper1093 and he shipped it from the USA to Canada and made the transaction an amazing one! Then finally in the fall of 2021 I bought new springs for the MJ that were of a similar spec to the MT springs (I believe are 3 + 2 - but I don't really know). That was the first time I drove the truck to a friend's shop since 2017 and the last time I drove the truck until 2022. That pretty much brings me up to now. The rotors are a bit rusty and there is more rust around the wheel wells on the bed but the body work will be targeted in the spring. I will add new posts going forward as things are built and repaired in real time. I just wanted everyone to know the truck lives still and it may take me 10 years but it will get done lol Thanks all! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted October 8, 2022 Author Share Posted October 8, 2022 So I was able to get both chrome bumpers test fitted on the truck but decided to pull the header panel and consider going back to my original one (but keeping the 21-slot grille in place). Here is what the original bumper looked like... Does anyone know what these three black wires might be? They come out of the loom under the bed. Maybe for trailer wiring? I hope to have the bumpers tightened up this weekend and will re-install the front clip. Right now everything feels pretty good and I will take it for its safety inspection and plan to drive it for the winter. A new windshield this month and replace the antenna and possibly add the hood new Cowel rubber and weather stripping for the doors. There will probably not be much more done until spring when I can start work on the D44 and plan the bodywork. I'll post a photo once it's all back together up front. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 life seems to always be... complicated. I find a bit of solace in the consistency of my Jeeps. (consistently needing work, but consistency none the less. lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crassis-Comanche Posted October 10, 2022 Author Share Posted October 10, 2022 True! I am just happy that I managed to hold on to this MJ and having the opportunity to get back to work on it really does offer some solace! Thanks Pete! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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