My Grandfathers Comanche

[coheed]

'86 XLS, 4X4, LWB long bed, 2.8 V6, A904/NP228

 

The story of this Comanche starts when I was 8 or 9 years. My grandfather was a lawyer, and he was defending a guy in court (not sure who or what for). Well the man didn't have the money to pay him in full, and offered this '86 Comanche XLS as partial payment. Being the generous man he was my grandfather said sure. Even though my grandfather made generous money, he never put in importance on the vehicle he drove. Most were $500-600 junkers that would break (a Chrysler New Yorker he had caught fire one day, and when the fire department arrived he told them "just let it burn, it'll be fun to watch") and he'd just buy another one. And by no means was this a nice truck; overheated frequently, went through starters about every 8-9 months (to my memory), smelled horrible, and on many occasions left my grandfather and I stranded on a back road in the middle of nowhere. But to me at the time, this truck was the epitome of cool. From the 80's graphics, to the exhaust that was way to loud, I loved this truck trough and through. My grandfather and I drove this truck anywhere and everywhere. If we had 20 mins or a few days, we would sneak off in the truck (because my grandmother HATED that he owned it) and just drive. Fast forward a few years to when I was almost 15, I would soon be getting a license and wanted this truck with a passion. He told me it could be my first vehicle. Well the 2.8 was about on its last leg, and with only 113XXX on the clock. But before we could fix up the truck together his health deteriorated very quickly, and at the age of 76 my grandfather passed away. It wasn't specifically willed to me, but everyone in the family wanted me to have it. But having no mechanical experience I couldn't really do anything with it, so it sat.

 

Now, 9 years after he passed away, I've decided it's time to roll her out and get to work. This is where she's been sitting for the last 9 years. You can see the pile of trash I pulled out of the bed.

 

Nice and moldy. Well this morning I pulled her out of the corner of the yard, and using a little scotch-brite and dawn I scrubbed the crap out of it. The paint wasn't quite as bad as I had thought it was. Most of the clear coat is gone, but it's mostly rust free.

 

Inside of the bed looks damn good for having a massive amount of leaves and trash laying in it for years.

 

Dent in the back of the cab.

 

Front end damage.

 

Frame is almost spotless. At some point in its life someone gave it an undercoating job.

 

Engine bay is a wreck.

 

Interior is also a wreck.

 

Only cracks in the dash though.

 

Previous rats nest in the glovebox.

 

Standing water in the floor from washing it. Definitely need to figure out where the leaks are, but more than likely all the seals for the cab need to be replaced. This means I'll probably be replacing floor pans.

 

This is going to be a long, slow build. But I have the tools and most of the knowledge from my time as a diesel mechanic. The plan is for a semi-resto. I don't care if it's ever is showroom condition but I want it to be nice. This will not be a wheeler, it'll be a weekend cruiser, with a bit of mild off roading thrown in. Plans include, but are not limited to:

 

Get title finally put in my name

Rebuild the 2.8 or swap in a 3.4 Decided I'm going to throw $100 worth of gaskets and a rear main seal and drive it til it dies, meanwhile looking for a newer model 2.8 or a 3.4. Also going to delete as much vacuum crap as possible.

Rebuild? the A904 and the NP228

Gas tank and lines (might be able to get them clean instead of replacing)

Getting it generally road worthy

2-3" lift Thinking I'll do "Big Ton" springs for the rear and maybe shackles, already snatched up some V8 ZJ front coils for a little lift.

30's or 31's

Nates4x4  bumpers? Might do a Nates rear when the OEM finally rots through, but picked up a nice OEM chrome bumper and a factory option grill guard.

Possibly swapping out the D35 for something better Might start looking for a AMC 20.

[87Warrior]

What a great introduction. Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you have done some Comanche home work already. I look forward to following this restoration/build. It's bound to be a good one.

[Minuit]

This is a trip back down memory lane for sure. My '91 belonged to my grandparents and sat for a similar amount of time to yours before I got it and got it running. Mine even had exactly the same green crap on it too. Looks like you're working with a pretty solid shell and it seems like you've got a pretty good idea of what you're doing. Looking forward to seeing this one come back to life :thumbsup:

[johnj92131]

Wow!  Great to see this old truck come back to life!   Respectfully suggest you go with a 3.4 V6 and fuel injection.  The later the better - much better running engines.  Above all, have fun with the truck!

[coheed]

What a great introduction. Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you have done some Comanche home work already. I look forward to following this restoration/build. It's bound to be a good one

This is a trip back down memory lane for sure. My '91 belonged to my grandparents and sat for a similar amount of time to yours before I got it and got it running. Mine even had exactly the same green crap on it too. Looks like you're working with a pretty solid shell and it seems like you've got a pretty good idea of what you're doing. Looking forward to seeing this one come back to life :thumbsup:

Wow!  Great to see this old truck come back to life!   Respectfully suggest you go with a 3.4 V6 and fuel injection.  The later the better - much better running engines.  Above all, have fun with the truck!

Thanks for the welcome guys. Planning on taking a trip Saturday to a Pull-A-Part that has 4 Camaros that have the 3.4 so hopefully one of them is salvageable. They also have a 90 XJ so I'll see if I can steal any parts off it. Will the header panel from the XJ fit my truck? I know they switched styles around then but I don't know if it was in 90 or after.

[87Warrior]

The 90 header panel will fit your 86. It will have a trim piece along the top of the grill and headlight bezels unlike the 91 and newer which has one piece grill and headlight bezels.

[coheed]

So I went junkyard hopping today and ended up spending around $230 but I got a lot of stuff I wanted/needed. I wasn't going to go the the third and last yard, but it was on the way home so I figured why not. And lo and behold there was a Comanche waiting for me. Ended up getting:

Non-broken header panel

Non-broken wiper cowl

Extra set of cab vents

Set of vent visors

Set of vent window seals (I know it'll probably still leak, but these are a sight better than the ones on the truck)

Park-brake release cable and handle

Extra black gauge surround

98+ door seals

V8 ZJ front coils

A nice set of Hella 500 fog lights

And a decent condition tailgate.

 

 

 

All in all I spent a little more than I was planning to, but I got a lot more than I thought I was going to. And had I bought an engine as planned I probably wouldn't have gotten any of this other stuff. None of the Camaros or Firebirds had 3.4s worth spending time and effort to get out of the cars, so I'll have to keep looking for an engine.

[coheed]

Made a little bit more progress. Slapped the dash and associated parts back together.

 

Then I stripped interior pieces and pulled my carpet up to see the damage to the floor pans. A lot better than I was expecting, should be a simple wire wheel/ POR-15 fix. Although I'm disappointed both my A-pillar pieces broke.

 

I also found this super sketch B-pillar fix. Since I am sub-par at body work this will have to get fixed when it eventually goes in for paint (whenever that'll be).

 

Also managed to grab some FSM's off ebay for $60 shipped.  . :MJ 1: .

[coheed]

So I got the 98+ door seals on about a week ago, and it has been raining for 2 days here. And the door seals seem to be doing a pretty good job of keeping the rain out. The vent windows are still leaking because I haven't gotten those seals in yet, but the floors are just moist instead of having standing water in them. I'm almost positive these aren't my only leak spots, but they are the most obvious, so once I get them remedied I'll start tracking down any others.

 

Also I'm getting all the money from parting out my last project soon (damn Paypal wait periods). So I'll be ordering quite a few parts soon.

[coheed]

Since AutoZone was having a 20% off everything on orders over $100, I ordered a whole bunch of stuff for the Comanche. All new brakes front and rear with hardware, new front and rear shocks, steering damper, trans filter, plugs and wires, carb rebuild kit and a rear main with a few gaskets. Hopefully I'll actually start working on it soon instead of just collecting parts to work on it.

[coheed]

So I got off work this morning and decided instead of going to bed I'd fiddle with the truck for a bit. I wanted to see what I could do with the kinked frame section where the bumper mounts. Before pic:

 

After using a bench vise, recovery hook, and a 4 foot pipe:

 

Not perfect, but it's straight enough to mount a bumper to. Also I cleaned the Hella 500's inside and out. Before:

 

After:

 

And bonus picture of Dribbles hanging out in the bed.

 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be picking up a set of 31x10.5's and a factory grill guard from a member here.

[Mj4life]

Great project so far. Looking good.

[coheed]

Great project so far. Looking good.

Thank you.

 

So I did end up getting a set full of 31x10.5's for $50. They are mismatched and have a little dry rot, but they'll be good enough to roll the truck around until it's road worthy.

I also ended up picking up a factory brush guard, bumper, and a pass fender from member Thexjfiles. He's a stand up guy, with good prices, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again. I also got most of the parts from Autozone in the mail today, and the rest should be here by the end of the week. So hopefully I can start getting all these parts on the truck this weekend.

[HOrnbrod]

Dribbles' looks pissed. Or is that the way he/she always looks?  :yes:

 

You're off to a great start on your Grandfather's truck.  :cheers:

[coheed]

Dribbles' looks pissed. Or is that the way he/she always looks?  :yes:

 

You're off to a great start on your Grandfather's truck.  :cheers:

No he always looks like that. He always has that face like he just woke up and has no clue where or when he is.

[coheed]

Went to pull-a-part today because they had an 86 XJ with the 2.8 hoping to get a few motor parts and a few other things. Had no luck with motor parts, everything I needed was either missing, broken, or worse than what mine are. But I did walk out with a new headlight harness, since the crash pinched an severed mine in a few places, and a second full set of tow hook/ bumper brackets (no hooks though  :grrrr:  ) for $44. Got back to the house and only had an hour of daylight so I decided I'd get the bumper on.

 

Header panel is just resting there, and I need new hardware for the grill guard, but I wanted to know what she'd look like when shes reassembled. I've got about 2 weeks off coming up so hopefully I can sneak off from the family and work on her some instead of just staring at the parts I have.

[coheed]

Well the weather was dry today, and since it's looking like it won't be again for a while I jacked the truck up and started some work. Found out that the rear end was locked up because the drums had fused to the shoes. Took 15 mins a side with a 5lbs mallet to free them up, but they eventually came off. After 3 trips to the parts store because I accidentally ordered shoes for the AMC 20, and having a few parts crumble apart upon removal from rust, the rear has all new brakes and shocks. I was hoping I wouldn't have to replace wheel cylinders, but the right one looked like it might be leaking, have to wait and see when I bleed the brakes. Unfortunately the local tire shop is closed til monday so I couldn't get the tires mounted.

 

 

Also got Comanche stuff for Christmas. Got a bunch of cards and stickers from Peter this morning, and promptly slapped the 3"x5" on the side of the tool box. Also received my MJ Christmas sweater in the mail..... the day after.

[coheed]

Well, since today was also fairly dry and I couldn't go get the 31's mounted, I decided to get the new front end bits on today. Unfortunately, nothing wanted to line up the way it was supposed to. I have very limited knowledge of body work aside from a bit of bondo and paint, so I'm not sure how to rectify the issue. This is as close as I could get the new fender and header panel to fit to the other panels.

 

 

At some point I'm going to take it to a competent body shop to have things fixed and get the whole thing repainted, so I guess I'll just deal with the misalignment until then.

[HOrnbrod]

I had to go through this when I put the cowl hood on as it didn't fit worth a d&%n. On yours, the horizontal bar on the right side hood latch needs to be lowered. Try a piece of 2x4 and a BFH to carefully tap the latch bar down - you may luck out and it will move down enough. Otherwise you need to pull the battery, loosen the latch mounting bolt, and pull some shim washers out at the bottom near the radiator support until the hood lines up correctly with the cowl. PITA to get to...............

 

Then the whole hood needs to be centered by shifting it to the right. This is done at the hood hinges - loosen the hinge arm nuts and tap the hood over. Take your time and be patient. You may need to repeat the adjustments several times until it's right.

[coheed]

I had to go through this when I put the cowl hood on as it didn't fit worth a d&%n. On yours, the horizontal bar on the right side hood latch needs to be lowered. Try a piece of 2x4 and a BFH to carefully tap the latch bar down - you may luck out and it will move down enough. Otherwise you need to pull the battery, loosen the latch mounting bolt, and pull some shim washers out at the bottom near the radiator support until the hood lines up correctly with the cowl. PITA to get to...............

 

Then the whole hood needs to be centered by shifting it to the right. This is done at the hood hinges - loosen the hinge arm nuts and tap the hood over. Take your time and be patient. You may need to repeat the adjustments several times until it's right.

Will that work with the 86? Mine only has one hood latch in the center of the hood. And it would be more than just shifting the hood to the right. If you look closely, the right fender sits lower on the body than the left fender. Like where the bumper meets the header panel there's basically no clearance on the right side compared to the left. Also if you look up to the bottom of the windshield there are gaps that aren't present on the left side. I pushed and pulled for a solid 45 mins trying to get it to line up like the left side, but it just wasn't happening.

[HOrnbrod]

Nope, it won't. Didn't notice you had an 86...........

[shelbyluvv]

I like your wheels. If you decide to part with them I want first dibs.

[HOrnbrod]

I like your wheels.

 

Me too. Only 6" width though.................

 

  http://www.getallparts.com/jeep-cherokee-1984_p-47622-premium-surefit-15x6-aluminum-alloy-5-slot-wheel-rim-1401.aspx

[coheed]

 

I like your wheels.

 

 

Me too. Only 6" width though.................

 

Are they particularly rare or hard to find? I don't know anything about OEM wheel options. I am planning on keeping them as I want this truck to be as near to stock as possible, and I think they are probably the best looking OEM option. I realize that this is one of the least desired variables of this truck, but 20-30 years down the road stock versions of these truck will probably near impossible to find.

 

Tire shop was open today so I had them mount up the tires for the rear. So now she is sitting on a usable rear end for the first time in 10 years. I'll have to wait until the weather dries up before I can work on the front as my yard is the about the same consistency as a marsh.

 

She's started to actually look usable again.

[HOrnbrod]

Your wheels were used on the 84-86 model XJs and MJs only. And the red stripe doesn't show up in any of my MJ manuals, so maybe it was GrandDad installed. Longbeds rule!    8)