1/2tonManche Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 After building on this thing for a couple of years I figured it's time I start a build thread on it. Stage 1 of the build: Picked up this little red beast November of 2016, had some bald 33s and a Rusty's lift on it, I cleaned it up fixed some of the problems from the previous owner and started using it. It started life as a 2.5L/5spd/4wd short bed sportruck, and ended up as it looks in the first two pictures. I built the front bumper myself, welded the rear end, and put a set of 33in bfgs and 15x10s on it, trimmed the fenders and was making plans for a heart transplant to give it a little more pep in the sand dunes. October of 2017 my ex girlfriend flopped it on it's roof playing in the field out back, caved the roof in and bent both doors and the side of the cab. I decided then that since it was already damaged and probably wouldn't be straight ever again to drop a SBC/th350 combo in it and cage it, but wasn't sure what to do about axles yet. So I got to work and got the roof 80% straightened out, pulled the windshield and the rest of the interior. Sold the stock motor, trans, tcase and wiring harness, and everything I could out of the interior, and the tailgate as well. Continued in the next post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJXJjeepguy Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Did u break up with her after she flipped? Nice saving MJ most people will just throw away scrap it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted April 30, 2019 Author Share Posted April 30, 2019 Stage 2 of the build: Went looking for a complete drivetrain to replace the baby 4cyl and weak trans this truck had from the factory, and stumbled across this 75' k10 short bed Chevy on Craigslist, a couple days later I had a complete running driving donor truck with a 355ci sbc and a th350. After some research on the axles on the k10 I decided to use the Dana44/12bolt combo in the Jeep as well as the engine and trans. I spent the next year or so working on the drivetrain swap, buying parts, and also fixing mine and other people's cars in my spare time. I decided to retain the coil springs in front and leaves in the rear for the sake of simplicity and run long/radius arms. Cleaned and mounted most of the brackets onto the two axles and also got a set of 15x10s with the new bolt pattern, and mounted the bfgs on those. Also found a really nice set of seats to use once I got to the point in the project that I had a cage and could mount them up. Stage 2 continued in next post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted April 30, 2019 Author Share Posted April 30, 2019 47 minutes ago, MJXJjeepguy said: Did u break up with her after she flipped? Nice saving MJ most people will just throw away scrap it. No, ended up dating for another year and a half before I found out she was cheating on me, and I broke it off then. Yeah definitely, I hate seeing older vehicles in the scrap yard, especially 90% complete ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 Continuing with stage 2 Managed to squeeze the engine and trans into the chassis and modified the factory engine and transmission mounts to fit. Also had to clearance the floor on the passenger side to clear the massive GM t-case. On the engine side, I used some cheap universal circle track motor mounts, and I added some 1/4x4" plate to the top of the factory frame-side engine mounts and braced it up a little. The transmission crossmember just got a piece cut out and a few new holes added to it, then some rubber bushings and bolts running into the trans itself. Also made a quick switch panel and threw some cheap gauges and switches into it and started wiring. April of 2018 it drove out of the barn under it's own power with some VERY temporary derby car style upright headers. With the V8 welded rear and the skinny trailer tires this jeep had turned into a total tire burner and it was a very interesting first drive! Shortly thereafter I started rerunning wiring and some other miscellaneous things to make it more permanent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 The final part of stage 2 is current day, April 2019. A few weeks ago I reran all new fuel and transmission cooler lines, and rolled the jeep outside again and cleaned the dust off. First time it had moved since before it started snowing, and with an unheated barn and Sub-Zero temps I hadn't worked on it in months. The old painted headers came off and I installed some stainless super shorties which should work much better for the planned exhaust routing. I also found out that the old steel transmission pan was leaking fluid, so I ordered a new black aluminum pan off eBay which should seal much better. This is the end of stage 2, I was unhappy with the crumpled roof, the body is Rusty and beat up, and there are a lot of things I both wanted to change and wish I didn't have to deal with. The next post will be the start of stage 3 for the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanLemons Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Nice save! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 The start of stage 3. I was scrolling Craigslist and contemplating a new completely different project and stumbled across this completely gutted chassis. 88 long bed, caged, tube flares tied to the chassis, roll bar, and a Currie Antirock sway bar. It was dirt cheap and fixed a lot of the problems I had with the red chassis I was using previously. Came home from work on a Wednesday, hooked up the trailer and drove out to get it. Once it was home I tossed it on some jack stands and spent the next two evenings wire wheeling and coating most of the important stuff with a rust inhibitor. Then I went over the whole body with a scotchbrite pad, cleaned the little rust bubbles and laid some primer down on most of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 Noticed a Comanche club sticker on the new chassis and found the original build thread, looks like it had a lot of time put into it. I'm looking forward to giving this jeep a second chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 Decided to roll the front axle over and get it in place to get a rough idea of how it would look once the suspension is in, and my God does it look mean! I'm as far as I can go right now with the green chassis, time to pull everything off the red one and start transferring parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fryedaddy Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 Nice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 Had some nice weather for a couple of days and I managed to get the engine and trans pulled out of the red Jeep in about 2 hours. Next to go is the axles fuel tank and suspension and then the reassembly process begins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 Got the axles separated from the chassis, and got the fuel tank out. Found out one of the center bolts for the leaf pack was broke, going to grab a new one at work and then hopefully the weather holds out and I can start throwing parts on the new chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJXJjeepguy Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 34 minutes ago, 1/2tonManche said: Got the axles separated from the chassis, and got the fuel tank out. Found out one of the center bolts for the leaf pack was broke, going to grab a new one at work and then hopefully the weather holds out and I can start throwing parts on the new chassis. Lol nice bobcat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 6 minutes ago, MJXJjeepguy said: Lol nice bobcat! Yup! Definitely makes moving things around the farm much easier! My Dad uses it with his side business all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJXJjeepguy Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 16 minutes ago, 1/2tonManche said: Yup! Definitely makes moving things around the farm much easier! My Dad uses it with his side business all the time. Yea i sure it back saver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 I knew that green truck looked familiar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 Had a very productive Saturday, got the rear leafs and axle installed, and started on my front suspension. Lower links are currently ~55.5" long eye to eye. Just need to get the axle-side joints welded on and then the front axle can go under to check length and make sure everything lines up like it's supposed to. Hopefully the weather Monday is good so I can get all that accomplished! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 What a find on that chassis, definitely a great re-starting point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/2tonManche Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 Been a few weeks, ended up doing some much needed maintenance on the daily. Managed to get the front axle in, and weight on the suspension, so far so good. Going to need to change my plans and run a track bar after all, but I've got a direction to go. Still a lot of work to do before this thing is driveable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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