Money_Pits Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 So, picked this up last week. Still working on pictures, they'll be up tonight. has that awesome black paint and bright orange striping, in pretty good shape. Floor boards have gone on to the great beyond. And I'm hoping the frame rails aren't rotting on the inside. Initially looking to restore it, get it driving, and do some reliability upgrades. Going to use it as a light duty truck until I think I've found the majority of the kinks that need worked out. Anyone have any advice on how to modify the brake pedal so my foot can get to the gas pedal? I have really big feet, I'm thinking I may need to modify the hump when I'm replacing the floor boards to make room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 What engine and trans does it have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Has the 2.8L GM motor with the ax-5 tranny. Not the best combo, but I have a spare ax-5 sitting, and my dad still has half of the parts for the 2.8L sitting in our barn/garage from a mid 80's S15 he had 20 odd years ago. Truck needs a lot of work, but dad's not working anymore, and I'm tired of putting money into things that I never get value out of (2001 neon, I'm looking at you), so we are going to work on it til she's up to par again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperiorMJ Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Good find and more people are thinking like you everyday ! Why waste money on a rig that is hard to work on and need constant repairs ! Good luck with this build/restore project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 So, began work on it today, trying to get the interior stripped so I can see the extent of the floor damage. Sadly, the bolts on the bucket seat brackets have rotted down to about an 11.5 mm socket, with no grip to break them free. My driver's side brackets are salvageable, but the passenger side has rusted completely through and will need replaced. Letting the nuts soak before I cut them off. Imgur is taking forever to load up my pics. Due note, I'm not latching the hood all the way in fear that it won't pull open again later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 Will be dropping the gas tank this coming week, put it on a temp fuel cell to see what condition the motor is in. Lotta work ahead of me on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Well, this truck and I are having a fight for dominance. The only things I've gotten done on it are a bath and an oil change. The 2.8L calls for 5 qts, but when I drained it out I got over 5 1/2 out of it. Good news is that it apparently doesn't leak oil while sitting, bad news is I'm pretty sure some of it was water, seeing as that oil had been in there for 15 + years. I have the old oil sitting to see if it separates. The bolts for the plastic gas tank shield had rusted into oblivion also, so some of those sheared off, and I can't get the small bolts on the drive shaft yoke to break free, which isn't helped by that seal being bad and the whole assembly being buried in grease/dirt/oil. The seat brackets on the interior are completely rusted through and unsalvageable, so I'm going to have to cut them out to get the seats out. And there is 3/4 of a tank of varnish in the gas tank that needs siphoned. Right now, I'm making a list of things to order/find, such as replacement bolts as I'm sure I'll need them, and a replacement tank, as it appears water had gotten between it and the shield, leaving pretty massive rust spots. I expect I'm looking at a year before she's fully operational based on budget and time available. And thanks to everyone who has contributed to this site, the search function has been incredibly helpful so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 I recommend pulling the plugs, and pouring some MMO, seafoam, other into the cylinders and turn the engine over by hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 Crash, thanks for the tip. Used some seafoam, plugs look nearly new which is good. Getting the plugs out took way to long, this 2.8 is a pain in the @$$. Almost got it running today. Gotta put some temp fuel lines on it to see if its the pump that's bad or just clogged lines. Thankfully it all turns over nicely. This week I will be rerunning the fuel line from the pump to the carburetor and putting in an inline fuel filter that is easier to get to. Very glad my dad has 350,000 miles of experience with this motor and carburetor system from his S15. Once I know she can run I have to figure out why the clutch doesn't do anything. Or the brakes. I also had the second starter(?) relay buzzing at me. And then tow it up to my garage instead of on the farm so I can begin all the little things through the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 So, long time since the last update, and I have some sad news. Due to starting my own business, in addition to my other job, I no longer have time/money to dedicate to the Comanche. I'm going to be putting her up for sale if anyone is interested message me. Thanks everyone for the tips and help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 Not for sale anymore, now business will be used to help fund the mj. I've decided on the direction I'm going to go in, and have spent the last two months researching everything. First goal is to still get it running and write out every bad part on it. I'm keeping the 2.8l for now, though I had a chance at a complete fuel injected one for $200 (s10 that had it's rear end destroyed), and didn't take it since I didn't think I'd have the money for the rest of the truck. Kicking myself for that one. I'm not looking to make it a wheeler, I'd prefer to make it a good truck that I can use for getting away in addition to some load hauling. So my axle's and drivetrain will work for now, though in the future I'd like to get away from the ax-5, my tj just ate up another one, doing no off roading or hauling. Not sure why that keeps happening. Or why chrysler kept it around for as long as they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattman6 Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Looks like a lot of work but should be an exciting build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seegeer Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I have a 4.0 for sale but not sure where you are from. Any interest in selling/trading that rear bumper if its straight? I live in western PA north of Pittsburgh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jtrux Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 You may or may not have luck getting it running without pulling the tank. I was in a similar situation to you recently and finally ended up pulling the tank. The sending unit was trashed and in no way usable. Luckily for you they do sell carb sending units for your applications. I had to buy one and modify it to accept a fuel pump. I picked up a new tank from eBay for less than $100 shipped and a sending unit for around $70. Buy some new fuel tank vents ($10 each; you need two) and that should just about get you there sans new fuel lines you have to pick up from your local auto parts store. Trust me on this one. You can pull the sending unit just like the truck sits now and see for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 7 hours non stop (save the time spent for some unsavory words), and the damn seats, brackets, and middle console are removed. Brackets are toast, but I got measurements to fab them up. Nothing done otherwise. All my other vehicles blew up and I had to get a truck on a loan (sad day), so comanche is continuing it's decade ish long rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Carpets out, I don't have a smartphone so no picks today. I'll try to take some tomorrow.Driver side needs a couple patches, passenger side has literally no floor left, top of frame rails gone, rot beginning in the inside of frame rails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I find it surprising that the floors are that rotten given that it otherwise looks like the body is pretty solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 I find it surprising that the floors are that rotten given that it otherwise looks like the body is pretty solid. I know. Also, my windows, windshield and rear window seals are all good, no leaks over the last year sitting outside. Heater core failure maybe? But that doesn't explain why my seat brackets had rotted into oblivion on both sides, and the engine bay is practically rust free around all the major leaks (such as master cylinder). Maybe they left the windows down during a rain once and never let it dry out before parking it? Even my brake lines are 90% rust free. Really weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Likely to be multiple water leaks on the firewall. You won't see any signs of it with the carpet installed. The water runs under the carpet and soaks into the jute padding where it can't escape. The foam seals where things go from the engine bay to the cab are probably all dust by now. On my '89, the clutch master cylinder caused the driver side floorpan to completely rot out. It can leak from inside the firewall so you won't see any sign of leakage in the engine bay. The sign to look out for would be a rusted path leading straight to where the master cylinder is. It usually also ruins the fusebox too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 It usually also ruins the fusebox too. Well, that somewhat explains the fusebox's condition haha. I'm still working to get my dad to come to terms with the fact that it may just be easier (though possibly more time consuming) to pull the truck apart, and slowly piece it back together. Especially if we pull the engine and tranny out, then I could take them home (trucks on the family farm) and strip them down, clean them up, and put them back together in my spare time (and switch the tranny out for my extra ax-5 with external slave, also see about replacing the damn carb), while working on the chassis on the weekends. And the salvage yard I'll be getting parts from is on the way to the farm (filled with ZJ's and WJ's). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 And here are the seat brackets from the passenger side... yes, they look like they were literally ripped from the vehicle... because they were. When I was grinding on the driver side, I needed to get behind from the passenger side. So I slid the seat forward, leaned against it, and that's all she wrote for these brackets. (The springs were removed to get them black oxided to save them from rust) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Mesa XJ Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 On the carburetor I found the Weber (38 DGES?) to be a huge improvement over the buggy chevy Rochester 2SE (?) POS. Big improvement for my old worn out 2.8. Easy kit with that included the adapter, only thing I found off was the bolt on the adapter for the air filter was too long and needed to be shortened. Some like the Holley carburetor set up better but I think they had to put in a edelbrock intake for it to work ( there is a edelbrock intake, adapters for the carb and performance cam) crazy thing is the Holley carb looks huge on the 2.8. The kit was meant for a S10 or CJ. I rebuilt the Rochester carb before putting out that cash for the Weber, it did run better after the rebuild but that whole factory carb system is a nightmare. they were trying to make something that should be simple more fuel efficient by making it complicated with vacuum lines, servos and preheaters. Neat ideas in theory but don't really work and kept the engine from getting enough fuel and air. Great news about the windshield holding it seal, my 85 XJ has liked to leak before I ever saw it and ever since, I'm about to pull the windshield (again) try to rust treat then get it sealed up again. The leaking clutch master screwed up my fuse box and helped rust the floor pan. Just replaced the engine and dash harness last year. Engine harness because the plug didn't match the dash harness I was able to find. BTW Cool project! I love seeing these old jeeps come back. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 On the carburetor I found the Weber (38 DGES?) to be a huge improvement over the buggy chevy Rochester 2SE (?) POS. Big improvement for my old worn out 2.8. Easy kit with that included the adapter, only thing I found off was the bolt on the adapter for the air filter was too long and needed to be shortened. Some like the Holley carburetor set up better but I think they had to put in a edelbrock intake for it to work ( there is a edelbrock intake, adapters for the carb and performance cam) crazy thing is the Holley carb looks huge on the 2.8. The kit was meant for a S10 or CJ. I rebuilt the Rochester carb before putting out that cash for the Weber, it did run better after the rebuild but that whole factory carb system is a nightmare. they were trying to make something that should be simple more fuel efficient by making it complicated with vacuum lines, servos and preheaters. Neat ideas in theory but don't really work and kept the engine from getting enough fuel and air. Great news about the windshield holding it seal, my 85 XJ has liked to leak before I ever saw it and ever since, I'm about to pull the windshield (again) try to rust treat then get it sealed up again. The leaking clutch master screwed up my fuse box and helped rust the floor pan. Just replaced the engine and dash harness last year. Engine harness because the plug didn't match the dash harness I was able to find. BTW Cool project! I love seeing these old jeeps come back. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Thanks! And yea, I'm currently running a sheet on costs to switch to the weber vs hijacking a tbi system from the salvage yard. Along with rewiring likely the whole truck (mice have done a doozy to it while it's been on the farm...). My dad rebuilt the rochester, and it's still not right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money_Pits Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Passenger side: driver side rear: passenger side rear: driver side front: what the seat mounting posts look like: Yes that is carpet that I had to cut around cause the nuts are completely gone Another pic of the passenger side. Not sure what those 3 rails are, but they're gonna need replaced... So, yea... those are gonna be fun repairs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Mesa XJ Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 TBI is a great solution if you can get all you need for it to work. I think you'd need a electric fuel pump in addition to all the TBI hardware. But I ought to be a night and day difference. The Weber is supposed to get a fuel pressure regulator to keep it at a constant psi, I ran with out one for a very long time. Just sort of bolt it up eliminate the unneeded vacuum line + wires and go. BTW the 86 2.8 in your Comanche may be a bit of a rarity. If it has the rubber rear main seal it should have the improved crankshaft, main bearings and journals. Also might or might not have the better more HP cylinder head (chevy 85-95) most of the 86s I've seen were not the new head. But if you've got to rebuild the motor dropping a 3.4 complete with injection system and wiring is a better bet. A 2.8 is still a 2.8, even though I never could kill mine it still lacks power. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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