Asking for an expert's eye

[Manche.boi]

Been talking to a seller for a while trying to get my first Comanche. Found one that fits my bill and just want someone who lives and breathes these trucks to see if theres anything suspicious or off about it (besides the front emblem) it's a 1990 2wd 4L manual from Calgary 256000km. And also looking for anything else I should ask. Thank you ahead of time. 

[DirtyComanche]

I'd be worried about what all that flat black paint is hiding.  But it doesn't appear to be very rusted on the uniframe, so that's a good sign.

 

Look at it in person and see how good it actually is.  $3000 probably isn't a bad price if it's actually got a solid body.

[Minuit]

Nothing looks awful, but you'll want to look it over with a very close eye when you go to look at it. You'll be looking for any bubbles under paint, any obvious signs of previous rust repairs, and anything that generally looks "off". The main spots you want to give a careful look are the rear fenders right above the tire, the rocker panels, the floors, and the cab corners. Ditto to DirtyComanche - the flat black paint may be hiding something, or the body may be perfect underneath and they just wanted to paint it flat black.

 

It's hard to tell from those pics, but the floor pans look a little chewy to me. Look at the floors inboard and outboard of the uniframe rail and keep in mind that however it looks on the bottom, it looks 5 times worse on the other side. These trucks rust from the inside out.

 

The black interior is a big plus (it was not available in 1990, and if the truck really is a '90 it was swapped in), and those seats are the good ones (those seats are from a 1988, so they were swapped in). You may or may not care, but the aftermarket headunit and 6-1/2" speakers fastened to the outside of the door panels (there's a correct way to install 6-1/2" speakers in the doors of a Comanche, but that's not it) may mean that you'll have a mess to clean up if you want to play around with the sound system.

 

Also - this goes for all manual trucks - take a look at the fusebox under the dash. It's very common to see them damaged because of a leaky clutch master cylinder. Look for any signs of corrosion on the fuse box terminals.

[DirtyComanche]

Lots of stuff has been swapped on it.  Like Minuit said, that interior wasn't what it came with, and it looks to me like a lot of the exterior stuff has been swapped at some point, likely when they painted it.  If somebody that cared owned it and did this stuff, it's a good sign.  If a hack did it to try to make it look okay to sell it, ugh.  That's what my 88 was (and somewhat still is), a hack tried to make it look okay to sell it.

 

When I say the $3000 price is probably okay, I mean as an asking price, I wouldn't intend to pay that even if it looks very solid.  It's a 2wd, and it's been spraypainted (well, almost guaranteed that's spraypaint).

 

Looks like it will need an exhaust too.

[Zaptoo]

That Alberta rust though 😥

[Manche.boi]

2 hours ago, DirtyComanche said:

Lots of stuff has been swapped on it.  Like Minuit said, that interior wasn't what it came with, and it looks to me like a lot of the exterior stuff has been swapped at some point, likely when they painted it.  If somebody that cared owned it and did this stuff, it's a good sign.  If a hack did it to try to make it look okay to sell it, ugh.  That's what my 88 was (and somewhat still is), a hack tried to make it look okay to sell it.

 

When I say the $3000 price is probably okay, I mean as an asking price, I wouldn't intend to pay that even if it looks very solid.  It's a 2wd, and it's been spraypainted (well, almost guaranteed that's spraypaint).

 

Looks like it will need an exhaust too.

Yeah I talked him down to 2750. Not a big jump but at first I went down to 2500 and wanted to meet halfway and I felt like that was fair. I'll see to getting some better images of the interior but I'm 4 provinces over so I have to rely on pictures he sends me 

[Manche.boi]

2 hours ago, Minuit said:

Nothing looks awful, but you'll want to look it over with a very close eye when you go to look at it. You'll be looking for any bubbles under paint, any obvious signs of previous rust repairs, and anything that generally looks "off". The main spots you want to give a careful look are the rear fenders right above the tire, the rocker panels, the floors, and the cab corners. Ditto to DirtyComanche - the flat black paint may be hiding something, or the body may be perfect underneath and they just wanted to paint it flat black.

 

It's hard to tell from those pics, but the floor pans look a little chewy to me. Look at the floors inboard and outboard of the uniframe rail and keep in mind that however it looks on the bottom, it looks 5 times worse on the other side. These trucks rust from the inside out.

 

The black interior is a big plus (it was not available in 1990, and if the truck really is a '90 it was swapped in), and those seats are the good ones (those seats are from a 1988, so they were swapped in). You may or may not care, but the aftermarket headunit and 6-1/2" speakers fastened to the outside of the door panels (there's a correct way to install 6-1/2" speakers in the doors of a Comanche, but that's not it) may mean that you'll have a mess to clean up if you want to play around with the sound system.

 

Also - this goes for all manual trucks - take a look at the fusebox under the dash. It's very common to see them damaged because of a leaky clutch master cylinder. Look for any signs of corrosion on the fuse box terminals.

My main concerns are internals and engine parts. Body work isnt too hard for me I'm a welder and have some good painting experience but not as fluent in mechanics so that fusebox tip is very helpful thank you. Anything else I should really keep an eye out for or ask him to show me that has to do with the engine or moving parts? 

[hakukamana]

If you had access to a Snap On Modis MT2500 scanner, it would help a bit to see the engine soundness. You would also need the correct adapter and the chips for the scanner. These trucks don't have a memory, they are live data only critters. But having said that it will give you a look, a rpms, engine temps, pulse width, timing, TPS voltages, charging ect.  Check the steering, loose track bar, drag link, ect. Listen and look for sounds out of the rear axle, see if its got a 44(Dana) might be an Eliminator?

[mjeff87]

As far as I've ever known, the black interior was an AMC only thing (up to 87).  Full disclosure, my MJ was an 87 with the all back interior, which was/is fairly sought after.  If this one is being advertised as a '90 model, I would suspect shenanigans.

 

And I agree with the rust comments.  Those floor pan pics do not look good.  As mentioned, they rust from the inside out.

 

Not saying it's not a good purchase (price notwithstanding), if you're willing to deal with it all.

 

Jeff

[hakukamana]

Aren't those seats and the molded headrests from the 88' and earlier model years?

[Minuit]

Those seats were exclusive to 1988 Laredo models. That's the only year the plaid fabric and grey interior were both available. The seats themselves were used up to 1995.

 

The headrests? Dunno. They show up every now and then usually on Laredos.

[Pete M]

bring along a fridge magnet (nothing too strong) and try to stick it to the rockers and above the rear tires.  it won't stick if there's anything other than steel in there.  Our trucks rot fromt he inside-out so the really bad stuff is always hidden.  

[gogmorgo]

On my MJ, when I first bought it, the rockers seemed solid, but it only took about ten miles of gravel before the bondo and chicken wire just straight up fell out of the passenger side. It didn't look too bad initially, but after ignoring it for longer than I should have, and now leaving it sit... there's not much left of them. 

I had an excuse to head down to Calgary last weekend but not a good enough one to merit the 7 hour drive... but I don't remember now what it was.