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My new 1987 Jeep Comanche


Jtrux
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Got the exhaust halfway in.  I deleted the catalytic converter and welded in a Thrush Turbo muffler.  It's a little louder than I was hoping but not bad.

 

It definitely has a miss.  Not sure if it is on one cylinder or random.  I wasn't able to get that far along.  I drove it up the street but didn't want to run into trouble since I don't have it registered or insured and since it was running rough, there was no sense it keeping it going.  I brought it home and sprayed the engine down with some degreaser and washed it off since the engine had a chance to get warm.

 

I won't be getting much done the next few days since I have some stuff going on with family that came into town.  I know how much they would be thrilled to work on the MANche with me but I will spare them that kind of excitement.

 

I'm getting excited.  As far as ride quality is concerned, it really does ride nice.  The steering is tight, the brakes are solid; overall, it is a very nice riding vehicle.  Now it's time to make it run well.

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Was perusing eBay and came across some original wheels.  These were removed in the early 90's off a brand new Cherokee that was getting aftermarket wheels and tires and put into storage.  I went ahead and purchased them.

 

 

I will have them wrapped in 215/75-15 Hankook MT's.  I couldn't find the AT's in that size and these tires in particular got such stellar reviews that I couldn't resist.

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So I changed my mind about tires.  Went with the new-style BFG AT's.  215/75-15  

 

It looks really good to me.  Brand new wheels and brand new tires are always a good thing.  I can't wait to see how smooth they are on the highway.  

 

I'm waiting for some fuel fittings and I need to wrap up the vacuum leaks and I should be able to drive it.  *Fingers crossed*

 

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I will end up doing all that tomorrow. Today I fixed a persistent fuel leak and drive it a bit around the block. Let it run for about 45 mins total.

 

It is really starting to come together finally.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Been chipping away at getting this running well.  

 

I decided to hook my vacuum gauge up to it and it was all over the place.  I checked everything I could to see where the leak was coming from and finally decided to just pull the intake and put a new gasket on it.  Ended up breaking a bolt on the exhaust manifold where the pipe for the EGR goes so I pulled it out, too.  Went from a simple job to a not so simple job.

 

I also broke the air charge temperature sensor on the intake manifold so I had to drill out the remaining sensor and order a new one.  Yay.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Finally!

 

It is not on the road as of right this minute BUT I did finally get the engine issue resolved and it now runs perfectly.

 

I had an intake valve stuck open just slightly and once I got it broke free, it fired up and purred.

 

I should be able to take it on a decent road trip in the next day or so.

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First successful drive!

 

Everything went well.  Now I need to go ahead and replace the shocks since they are toast, go through the brakes and start checking out all the other systems in the truck.  It's come a long way considering I dragged it out of a field 3 months ago after having sat there for 10 years +.

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I was expecting it to run a lot poorer on the highway but it was actually pretty enjoyable.  Kept up with traffic and even passed a few people!

 

This is my first 4 cyl, btw.

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I was expecting it to run a lot poorer on the highway but it was actually pretty enjoyable. Kept up with traffic and even passed a few people!

 

This is my first 4 cyl, btw.

Nothing wrong with the 4 cyls at all. Not everyone needs to be able to roast tires in 1st.

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I was gonna drive it to work tomorrow (25 miles each way) but I occasionally run into horendous traffic on the way home so I want to build a little more confidence in it before I completely test the cooling system and various other systems that will be tasked in hot a$$ traffic.

 

I also found a crack in the plastic valve cover that leaks oil copiously all over the intake and exhaust so I need to address that.

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If you didn't already know...

The later model 2.5s have the aluminum valve cover...if you find one in the Jy remember to grab the valve cover bolts as well...

And for a valve cover gasket use one from a 98 dodge Dakota with the 2.5 for a the blue thick felpro gasket

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I've probably put 100 miles on it and I am really happy so far.  Needs some little odds and ends but it rides and drives great.  I've taken a few people for rides and they are all impressed with how smooth and comfortable it is compared to how it looks. 

 

I'll replace the u-joints on Monday before going to work.  They are pretty cruddy and I had them sitting on the shelf so I'll go ahead and swap them in.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's the little things that count.

 

I didn't even realize that my parking lights were not all working properly because only the 2 outside lights were working and I assumed that the two bottom ones were for turn signal only since neither happened to be illuminated when the other two were on.

 

Anyways, I ended up ordering and replacing all the sockets since they were all pretty corroded.  Even when I replaced the turn signal bulbs, only one managed to light up.  

 

 

It's a small thing but feels good to get things even closer to "finished".

 

 

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  • 8 months later...

Been a while, but let's bring this back to the top for a little update.

 

So, I've been driving my little MANche daily for sometime now.  Pretty remarkable when you consider that it was all but abandoned prior to me acquiring it.  With anything that sat for a long time, little leaks have occurred here and there and I've been addressing them slowly.  What irritates me is when it is a leak that I already fixed, but it is what it is.

 

I replaced the water pump last year and that started leaking from the top of the gasket.  I have a new gasket and will address it soon.

 

I also replaced the power steering pump last year and it started leaking from that O ring that sits between the pump and the reservoir.  It also never seemed right.  When I would be sitting still and had the wheel turned, the wheel would sort of pulse.  I went and picked up a replacement and will take the old one back for a refund.  

 

The silly O ring on the sending unit is leaking, so that's another one.

 

I had never greased the u joints until recently.  I know I should have done it sooner but it kept going to the bottom of the list.  I finally removed the drieveshafts and replaced the grease fittings since the old ones were just garbage and all junked up.  I clamped the joints in the vise to simulate them being bolted to the yoke and greased them vigorously until there was grease coming out of the entire circumference of each cap.  There is not play what so ever in the joints so I felt confident in that.  I did replace the rear joint that bolts to the rear axle yoke since I could not get hardly any grease in it.  I had a stack of the Spicer 5-1310's sitting on the shelf for my LJ, so I used one.  They are non-greaseable, which isn't my preference for a DD, but it's what I had on hand, and they are in no way a bad u joint, so I used one.

 

I still haven't replaced the differential fluids, but I have replaced the transmission and transfercase fluids.  The transmission originally got some cheap gear fluid from Wal-Mart but it wasn't until after I replaced it that I realized that it was GL-5.  I drove it to work one time (50 miles) and when I got home I drained it.  I looked through my stash of fluids I keep on hand for my LJ and just happened to have 4 quarts of Redline GL-4 gear oil.  $15 a damn quart but, again, I had it on hand and figured, 'what the Hell?', so in it went.  Transfercase got the cheap Wal-Mart ATF.  There was a noise coming from the transfercase that disappeared with the fluid change, so that was nice.

 

The front bumper is perfect, except that the end caps were a little banged up, so I ordered two new ones.  They are sitting in the garage, of course.  One of these days.

 

I need to figure out a good choice for the rear.  The JCR is pretty sharp, but I'm not sure I really want the front and rear to be that mismatched.  I guess I really wouldn't mind.  I do like the look of the front stock bumper but I could always add the matching JCR one to the front in time.  Currently, since it is bone stock height and tire size, I'm not really sure how it would look with bada$$ bumpers front and rear.

 

I do plan on giving it a little lift in time, maybe something like the OME 2.5" up front and some new springs out back to balance everything out.  The rear spring capacity on this thing really sucks, so I'd like them to have a little more load carrying capacity.  It's not that I want to haul a ton of weight, but even 500lbs seems to slam this thing to the ground, and that's a bit much for me.

 

I did pick up a nice rack to stick in the bed to haul my pair of kayaks around for weekend excursions.  Once again, sitting in the garage.

 

Anyways, it's been running very well for me, so I can't complain one bit.  It absolutely amazes me how well it runs considering it didn't run for so long.  It's not pretty, but it runs well, it's paid off (better be!) and it's cool.

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