rosco11 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Good morning! I've been wanting to get started with some work to my "new to me" MJ. Had to finish up a project on my Sonoma 4x4 and hopefully have a buyer lined up. I've wanted a Comanche since I was a kid cruising around our hunting lease with my brother in our uncle's 4x4 daily driver Comanche. 3 years ago I bought a cheap GMC Sonoma for our hunting ranch and that truck taught me how to weld, rust repair and to start understanding some mechanical work on vehicles. Rust stinks but man that 4.3L engine started everytime. Fast forward to about August 2017, frame rot got the best of her and the steering gear completely broke loose. Brought her home and began working on the fix. In the mean time I knew it was time to upgrade to a jeep truck. Started a local search for a Comanche and found one on Craigslist in Houston and reached out by phone and email but never heard back from the dealer/owner (to their credit, this was weeks after hurricane Harvey and his business could have been lost, I don't know) So the search expanded and I found my '91 in Virginia, dealt with the owner, agreed and had it transported back to Houston. Here's what she's working with... 1991 Sportruck 4.0L H.O. 4x4 Automatic 73,000 miles Short bed 231 transfer case 2" coil spacers Dana 30 & 35 with 3.55 gears Bench seat Vinyl floor mat Some rust but nothing compared to my last Some issues.. Outer window seals are rotted away, last hard rain had 1/4" of water in both floor boards Brakes are fairly weak but definitely functional Power Steering pump is whiney Possible rust repair needed in floor pans, nervous about pulling the mat up Shift indicator needle is gone.. I want to replace that for sure Speedo isn't working Driver side door sag just a bit Pillar lights or door jamb switch not working With that said, this MJ starts and runs awesome. 4x4 engages and works really well. It has so much more pep and acceleration and handling than my Sonoma. The engine is strong and the truck is light! Future plans.. This will need to handle off road as it will be my primary hunting truck. However, it's in good shape so I'm going to make sure its road ready too. Here are a few plans... Fix outer window seals.. water in cab is ungood! Fix the Jeep emblem Ford 8.8 axle swap, spring over Regear Dana 30 to 4.10 with a TrueTrac Add frame stiffeners Upgraded HD steering Long arm lift 285/75/16s Upgraded front bumper Load sensing valve delete, not hooked up anyway currently 95/96 Cherokee brake booster & MC swap Possible switch to bucket seats Possible switch to carpet Radiant barrier / sound deadening mat of some type Window tint Got started this week with my first project, a complete flush of the power steering, helped some with the whining but didn't completely fix. Bought a JY Ford 8.8 limited slip with 4.10 gears and discs from a '99 Eddie Bauer Explorer This Comanche is awesome already and I'm pumped to make it even more capable for what we need and lots of fun along the way. I hope you all like it and I hope I can reach out with tons of questions and advice. Just to mention, one of many inspirations from following CC was Brook's 89 Sportruck Here's "The H.O." it's been given as a trial nickname that might stick or it can earn another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 Found the Ford 8.8 and my brother helped me bring it home yesterday. Wrapped it up and will keep it on the side of the garage till it's time to dig into it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 Presidents day sale a few weeks ago.. pulled the trigger on Mickey Thompson MTZs 285 75 16s with Pro Comp 16" wheels.. I'd been following a few online retailers for tires and I thought based on price I was gonna get the BFG km2s when the right sale hit they were about a hundred less than the Mickey Thompson's, watched these prices each weekend or so for 3 months and prez day sale hit and Mickey Thompson's dropped a deal and I jumped on it.. for our rocky and unforgiving southwest Texas hunting ranch, quality tires are a must.. we've seen many many good all terrains and mudders lay flat when they can't handle the mesquite thorns and cactus. Can't wait to get these mounted up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Looks like you have a good solid HO platform there to work with. Original paint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 Looks like you have a good solid HO platform there to work with. Original paint? Thanks HOrnbrod! No sir on the original paint, it must have gotten in a fender bender or something, the PO changed the drivers front fender, front clip and hood. He showed me pictures of some of that progress and it was originally a squiggly stripe Sportruck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kansashogan Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Welcome aboard. Looks like you have a good Comanche to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 Welcome aboard. Looks like you have a good Comanche to start with. Thanks Kansas H! These days of I'm not messing with the Comanche I'm thinking about messing with the Comanche! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 My project yesterday got a little side-tracked when my dog got scared by the air compressor coming on. Once I started with the air sprayer, he took off and my mom and i had to track him down in the neighborhood.. Luckily some nice folks were playing with their dogs and mine decided to join in. They read the tag on his collar and called me right then. So thankful! So back to work.. my windshield trim clips are broken and the trim was half hanging on. I removed it and going to try and get the rest of the clips. I want to add a soft rubber black trim for the later Cherokee.. 95+ I believe. Has anyone used that one instead of the hard pieces and clips? I believe ill post up these chrome trim pieces in the clsssifieds if anyone is interested. I'll get the new molding and see if its gonna work. The original owner must have reinstalled the windshield and set it too low to be able to reinstall new clips. We'll make it work somehow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skorpyo Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Looks awesome! I'm hoping when I have the windshield replaced I can pull the trim pieces and clean them up. I think they were chrome originally and they've been painted lack It'd be nice if they cleaned up well. Keep up the updates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 32 minutes ago, Skorpyo said: Looks awesome! I'm hoping when I have the windshield replaced I can pull the trim pieces and clean them up. I think they were chrome originally and they've been painted lack It'd be nice if they cleaned up well. Keep up the updates! It should. The trim is stainless and it polished up nicely when I had a new windshield put in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 Looks awesome! I'm hoping when I have the windshield replaced I can pull the trim pieces and clean them up. I think they were chrome originally and they've been painted lack It'd be nice if they cleaned up well. Keep up the updates! Thanks Skorpyo! They we're pretty easy to get off, once you get one clip broke or popped loose, the pieces just slide right off (pretty much) even after 27 years of being on there. Mine are chrome or maybe stainless like Hornbro says, they could be cleaned up really nice either way.. or prepped and painted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skorpyo Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Awesome! Well if you get around to getting yours done before mine share any tips you figure out. When I put the chrome trim on the front the PO of the donor had rattle canned the Jeep and there was a lot of overspray. I ended up using those magic erasers and that did a great job getting off the paint without marring the plastic chrome. I might try that for the windshield trim too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share Posted March 23, 2018 Got a little project finished after work today.. my busted beltine window seals got replaced. It was an easy project! I like those! Here are the beltline seals... https://www.prp.com/product/detail/352514?keyword=Wfp%206111%2084&sort=u.Name&paginationCount=24&type=All Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88whitemanche Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Have been needing these this is for a set of 2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 25, 2018 Author Share Posted March 25, 2018 Have been needing these this is for a set of 2? Yes sir.. for the 2 outer seals.. it was about $22 plus shipping I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 25, 2018 Author Share Posted March 25, 2018 Rrra Rrro.. I put a significant amount of gas in for the first time and seems to have a leak.. what would you guys do to fix this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88whitemanche Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 14 hours ago, rosco11 said: 17 hours ago, 88whitemanche said: Have been needing these this is for a set of 2? Yes sir.. for the 2 outer seals.. it was about $22 plus shipping I think Sweet I just ordered a set thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted March 25, 2018 Author Share Posted March 25, 2018 Sweet I just ordered a set thanks Heck yeah man.. I figured 30 bucks was better than the time to JY some used ones! I hope they work out as good as mine did, I used a dead blow poly hammer to tap the clips the final little bit in place..fyi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88whitemanche Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 4 minutes ago, rosco11 said: 7 minutes ago, 88whitemanche said: Sweet I just ordered a set thanks Heck yeah man.. I figured 30 bucks was better than the time to JY some used ones! I hope they work out as good as mine did, I used a dead blow poly hammer to tap the clips the final little bit in place..fyi Cool thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 A few weeks ago we did the big reveal! Bought the Ford 8.8 limited slip axle at the junk yard.. we suspected from the vehicle it came from, but were not sure exactly if its the preferred beafy 31 spline or a normal 29 spline axle shaft.. once we take this cover off, we'll find out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 It's a boy! 31 spline.. Saweeeet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 Bought some brand new 16x8s and unfortunately at the price point i wanted to stay at, i couldn't find any that were matte black. I roughed up the glossys and gave them a few coats.. Perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 last weekend my brother and i tackled the first major projects.. In the June Texas heat everything about it was a little tougher that day. We removed the bed & remove the holy gas tank. We fought the bed bolts all afternoon, broke the middle two studs and couldn't find the rears. Taking the bed off was supposed to be easy..lol. didn't want to, but we removed the bumper and receiver hitch mounts and bam.. rear bolts were hidden by the mounts. Got em off, unhooked everything with gas tank, filler hoses, muffler hanger etc and it came right off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 What are these little spacer looking things that the bed sat on? They were in terrible shape. What are good replacements for those when we put the bed back on? Washers? Or can you find real replacements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USAFAGumby Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 On 6/14/2018 at 6:03 PM, rosco11 said: What are these little spacer looking things that the bed sat on? They were in terrible shape. What are good replacements for those when we put the bed back on? Washers? Or can you find real replacements? Just ran into the same problem myself. They are bed spacers. I'm going to use this set. https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-144-Piece-Body-Shim-Assortment/dp/B00YN6XZAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529531084&sr=8-1&keywords=body+shim+kit&dpID=51bbAdsE86L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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