Ataki Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Starting this thread to follow the build of my new-to-me 1988 Comanche. It's a Sport truck package, maroon interior, 2.5L four speed, with 201,300 miles on the clock. I picked it up to replace my 1996 Cherokee sport, and will be swapping the drive train over. The donor: It has 303,000 miles, rust all through the floor pans and sub frame, but the motor and transmission work perfectly. The truck looks a bit rough, runs pretty poorly, and the steering has insane amounts of play. Mostly all these things are due to lack of maintenance by the previous owner, but the floor pans and most of the body are pretty solid. Everything's just very dirty. I was hoping to drive the truck for a while before I swapped things over, but it seems the 2.5 is all but dead. Pretty sure it has a rod knock. So, I'll just have to get started sooner. The Cherokee is an automatic, and the original plan was to just swap things over. But even as scary as the drive home was, the manual transmission was fun. I sort of miss having a standard. So I'm not sure. I may end up trading the AW4 and 231 towards an AX15 242 combo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desbennett004 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Good deal, I couldn't go without my 5 speed, I have actually never owned or driven an auto Jeep. AX15 and NP231 is my preference, that's what I'm putting in my 89 MJ. Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 Good deal, I couldn't go without my 5 speed, I have actually never owned or driven an auto Jeep. AX15 and NP231 is my preference, that's what I'm putting in my 89 MJ. Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk Yeah, A long time ago I had a 95 YJ with a five speed, This truck reminded me how fun that thing was. It was just like driving a tractor. I wonder if anyone would be willing to do a trade for a complete auto swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Started on the teardown. Going to pull everything forward of the firewall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 Finally getting this thing pulled today. Going to have a lot of cleaning to do.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoCherokee Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Holy Grease mess! Good luck with that adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 Holy Grease mess! Good luck with that adventure Thanks, I'll need it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted January 28, 2017 Author Share Posted January 28, 2017 I've been busy! Got the engine bay stripped, cleaned and prepped, then primed and coated the inner fender wells. Kind of working in a "top-down, forward-back" kind of way. Also started working on one of my many side-projects. The extended idle switch plate had a pretty bad melted area on the open side, So I didn't feel TOO bad about cutting it up. Still a bit of trimming and refinement to do. I could have done a better job, though. I can fix it, and make it look stock, I think. I'm also looking for a way to replicate the plastic decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted April 26, 2017 Author Share Posted April 26, 2017 Sorry for the lack of updates, Four months sure go by fast! On to the pictures! I started cleaning, priming, coating and painting section by section, working my way back from the front. Along the way I secured me a complete 4.0, ax15, and front axle. Also been busy getting suspension sorted out. After more cleaning and painting, I finally got the engine, most of the front suspension, and axle installed. Sorry for the pic dump, best way I could think of to get caught up. That's where I'm at currently. Unfortunately, I may have to rush this build to the finish. It looks like I may be getting a new job, and I'll have to make a move down to San Antonio. At any rate, I'll keep up with the pics this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buxmj Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Nice work!! Keep the pics coming as you can and I don't think anyone will complain about a pic dump. Buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Looking clean so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Some good stuff happening over here!! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Nice work!! Keep the pics coming as you can and I don't think anyone will complain about a pic dump. Buck. Looking clean so far. Some good stuff happening over here!! :thumbsup: Thanks, everyone! I'll admit, I've hit that stage in the build where it feels like I have no motivation. Just gotta push through! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted May 3, 2017 Author Share Posted May 3, 2017 Had a successful day yesterday. Got the rear axle painted, and made a pretty good score at the Pick-N-Pull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted August 29, 2017 Author Share Posted August 29, 2017 Okay, I suppose it's time for a quick update. The truck is back together, and drives! It's still far from finished, But I suddenly got a new job here in San Antonio, so I had to make a mad rush to get it drivable. But it made a couple of trips to D/FW and back, so I guess it's good. Here's a couple of pics, I took some of the exterior, but they came out bad. So, More tomorrow. The Interior: Still somewhat disassembled, but it's getting there.. And my pride and joy: The engine bay. This is almost what I had envisioned for the truck, still needs work, But still looks so clean. I'll post up more tomorrow, now that we're settled in, I should have a bit more free time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 Damn, that looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted August 29, 2017 Author Share Posted August 29, 2017 6 hours ago, Minuit said: Damn, that looks great. Thanks, It's turning out better than I hoped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Driver Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 It's nice to see someone else take the time to clean and paint an engine bay. Looks nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Damn, everything look great, especially those A/C lines and the compressor. How did you do it? Replace them all (doubtful) or meticulous painting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 1 hour ago, Jeep Driver said: It's nice to see someone else take the time to clean and paint an engine bay. Looks nice. It was a lot of work, but so worth it. I actually did the everything from the cab forward, Underneath and inside as well. 53 minutes ago, HOrnbrod said: Damn, everything look great, especially those A/C lines and the compressor. How did you do it? Replace them all (doubtful) or meticulous painting? Thanks! Actually, I did replace them all. The major components are all from different years, so I had to get creative with the hoses. They still don't fit quite right, but they hold pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-man930 Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 very nice attention to detail on the engine bay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knever3 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 I really enjoy all the pictures and time you put in to the truck, looks fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted September 1, 2017 Author Share Posted September 1, 2017 On 8/29/2017 at 10:08 PM, A-man930 said: very nice attention to detail on the engine bay! Thanks, I tend to get a bit OCD on my engines.. 8 hours ago, knever3 said: I really enjoy all the pictures and time you put in to the truck, looks fantastic! Thanks, I'll do my best to keep adding more and updating the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataki Posted September 9, 2017 Author Share Posted September 9, 2017 Well, I blew out a wheel cylinder on the freeway the other day. Used my proportioning valve to try to isolate the front brakes, Turns out it doesn't completely disconnect the rear output. Still managed to get me home, but the ability to hold pressure in that rear line would be nice. Think I can come up with something So I'm putting off that repair for a bit, and tearing back into the interior. Our last trip up to D/FW, was just too loud. I just installed new fender liners which should help a lot, But I also have 25 sq.ft of dynamat that I'm going to install. Besides, this gives me a chance to fix all the wiring and dash shortcuts I took, since I was in such a rush earlier. I may go ahead and finish one project I set aside. So, I promised a few more pictures, so here's how she sits currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 2 hours ago, Ataki said: I also have 25 sq.ft of dynamat that I'm going to install. Prepare for disappointment - I'm just saying this because I installed about 30 sqft of Dynamat in my truck and it was almost no help. The last 2 pages of my build thread have some discussion on this and some real numbers. In short, nearly full coverage of dynamat made very little change either to my ears or a sound pressure meter - fully lining the floors and cab wall with mass loaded vinyl reduced overall cab noise by 5-8 decibels. That's without doing the doors and without fixing any wind noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now