January 2017 ● Knucklehead97's '89

[neohic]

Happy 2017! We're a little late, but we made it all the same. So what's new for this year? Got any plans for that new build? Maybe that big upgrade? How about just keep on with the keepin' on? It might be too soon for some of us, but for others who already have their year planned out there's always something new to look for, eh? How about another year of Comanche of the Month?! Let's start it off, shall we?

 

 

 

YEAR/MODEL ●
'89 base

 

ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ●
Renix 4.0 with Volvo injectors and an HO oil filter nipple to run a bigger filter. Near future goals is a 58mm TB and custom cowl intake.

DRIVETRAIN ●
2WD AW4 column shift powering a stock d35. Soon to be replaced with a 98 XJ's 29 spline 8.25 regeared to 4.10 gears. Front axle is the same 98 XJ's front beam almost completely rebuilt with new parts.

 

COOLING ●

Spectre premium open system radiator with a deleted heater valve and "custom" Jolly Rancher soda bottle overflow canister  :D

ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ●
I have a set of Mean Lemons 2awg cables ready to go on once I have the time to clean the grounding point as well as install the cables... busy season. 100AMP Carquest rebuilt alternator to get me by until I have my stock unit rebuilt to 140 AMPs.

SUSPENSION/STEERING ●
Steering is Moog brand V8 ZJ tie rods with an XJ/MJ drag link and trac-bar. Stock sway bar (28mm ones are tough to find...) suspension is mostly stock other than adding a 1.75" puck to the front coils without the rubber isolator so that it would level the truck out. Oh and completely rebuilt WJ upper and lower control arms! Next is a ZJ 12.7 ratio steering box.

INTERIOR ●

Mostly just stock blue with a bench seat other than my ported 10" sub and upgraded door speakers. And a Pioneer headunit, of course. The interior is fixing to get some upgrades when I find a good set of ZJ or XJ buckets. I will be redoing the sound system again, as well. Adding Alpine component 6.5's to the doors running off an amp instead of the Kicker Coaxial 5"1/4's that I already have running off the headunit. Trying to fix a ported Alpine Type-R 12" sub in a bass tube box as the center console but not sure if it will fit. We'll see!

 

BRAKES ●

Fronts are the 98 XJ's usual stuff. Rears will eventually be disks and I have a WJ MC/booster to go in along with messing with the proportioning valve to make the rear brakes work better. 

LIGHTING ●
Headlights are Rampage (I think?) H4 casings with regular H4 55/60w bulbs powered off of an Ebay 10 gauge wire harness. Hella bright... my brother was jealous of how bright my headlights are. I replaced the side markers with clear ones. The rear is stock until I get a LED bar as an extra backup light. Interior I have LED Eram-tec(or however you spell it...) dome lights and soon the entire interior will be LED. I'm considering going 100% LED with this build.

EXTERIOR ●
Pretty much stock. The whole front clip and drivers fender are from an XJ because I wrecked the Jeep (story later!)

WHEELS/TIRES ●
Offbrand 235/75/15 street tires on TJ Canyon wheels which I have painted black and added chrome lug nuts and center caps. The rear has Trail Sport 1.25" spacers to pop the tires a little bit.

MISCELLANEOUS ●
Reese front hitch, Krustyballer rear hitch, FEY black diamond plate step bumper, diamond plate tool box, flowmaster super 44 muffler with no cat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FULL BUILD THREAD

 

Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ●
Just about the only story I have had with this Jeep was a long period of time before and after I became owner of it. My other MJ has plenty of stories behind it because it was always breaking down! This one has been quite a reliable piece of gorgeous machinery, though... Story time! It all started when I began working at the local Winn Dixie at 17 years old. I would drive by this bread factory and out front sat a gorgeous blue MJ... best looking one in town. After about a year the MJ stopped showing up at the factory and I figured the man sold it. I always hated that I never got to stop by and talk to the owner. Every day my brother rode with me to work (we both worked at Winn Dixie. Now we're both at Publix) I would tell him about how I wish I could own an MJ that nice and how I wanted to drive it and ect ect... fast forward to about 6 months ago I see an MJ pop up on Facebook. 108k, low miles, automatic... has an overheating problem. I message the guy and set up a time to come look at it (ya'll should remember all of this!) After I pull up and talk with the guy I realize that this MJ looks EXACTLY like the one from the breas factory! So I ask him if he worked there. He said no, but that his father used to work at the factory and he always borrowed the MJ because he had to pull a trailer sometimes. So this MJ was the beautiful one I always was drooling over! I couldn't believe it. After a month he gets in the title for the MJ and I fixed the overheating problem in his front yard, paid him 1k and drove it home (he was very upset that I was able to fix it so easily). Fast forward 3 more weeks and I hit that deer on my way to work... totaled the Jeep. I was so upset until my insurance company contacted me. They gave me 1800$ and left the title un-salvaged on the MJ. WHAT?! I made 600$ after the price of the Jeep and fixing the deer damage myself. I love to tell that story because it's unbelievable to me! And I still can not believe I own the MJ that I truly never believed I would own 

CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ●
The people here are truly amazing. I'm the member of many forums and this is the only one that has such kind-hearted, knowledgeable, down to earth people who are always willing to help. We all share a similar love for an amazing type of vehicle and it really shows in how we help each other with keeping them on the road. I frequent this forum almost as much as I do my social media accounts. I've learned so much from Comancheclub that some friends now call me "Comanche" or "The Jeep Guy" because of my knowledge behind MJ's and XJ's. I owe it all to ya'll!

 

 

Way to go, buddy! This is one of those "slow and steady wins the race" kind of builds that I really dig. It's simple and to the point. Crap happens (as you've found with with the fancy new red fender), but we just keep plugging along. I kinda like it!... but I'm also a sucker for mismatched body panels. Looks great! Congratulations on being our first MJOTM for 2017!

 

-Ben

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[Pete M]

ya know, I knew about the deer incident and my heart still sank when I scrolled to that pic of the damage. :( 

 

sharp lookin' rig!  . :MJ 1: .  

[Knucklehead97]

ya know, I knew about the deer incident and my heart still sank when I scrolled to that pic of the damage. :(

 

sharp lookin' rig! . :MJ 1: .

thanks! :D I still remember when it happened... I didn't even put it in park before I jumped out and turned my flashlight on to look at the damage. I was heartbroken when I first saw it. Crazy thing is the new red body panel is damaged now because an incident at a gas station two weeks ago!

[HOrnbrod]

Way to go Knuck!  :cheers:   It's been nice to see you progress from a green newbie to a solid well-rounded "MJ guy" who is always ready and willing to share his knowledge with the group. And your couple of Johnny Cash "get tough or die" situations really helped to flatten the MJ learning curve. Congrats on your Jan 2017 MJOTM selection. 

[Knucklehead97]

Way to go Knuck! :cheers: It's been nice to see you progress from a green newbie to a solid well-rounded "MJ guy" who is always ready and willing to share his knowledge with the group. And your couple of Johnny Cash "get tough or die" situations really helped to flatten the MJ learning curve. Congrats on your Jan 2017 MJOTM selection.

means a lot coming from you, sir! The student has to start teaching eventually, eh? :D

[ComancheKid45]

Perfect street truck....I like it!

[Dadinator]

Congrats!

Keep up the good work.

[buxmj]

Congratulations on mjotm.  Great build.  

 

Buck.

[Knucklehead97]

Thanks guys! :D

[ccannan]

I like that you painted the tires black! The chrome on black is really eye catching!  However, I don't see how the spacers on the back pop the tires.  Great job!

[895XJ]

Awesome work, I love it! 

[Knucklehead97]

I like that you painted the tires black! The chrome on black is really eye catching! However, I don't see how the spacers on the back pop the tires. Great job!

thanks! The spacers only are noticable if you look at an MJ without them right before you look at one that does have them. 1.25" definitely isn't as noticable as those 2" and 3" spacers that kids run now a days. Too dangerous for me to run, eh? I even know guys that use them with 37" tires and the spacers are only LUG-centric!