Finally bought an MJ. Build thread.

[SiXJaK]

Purchased this on Wednesday, November 27th in Yukon OK. Drove out from Southwest MO and looked at it and bought it. Now I have to get it home. I also need to sell my 12 Gecko Rubi to fund this project. I’ve always favored long bed Comanches. I’ve watched the prices steadily climb over the last 3 years and I figured it was time. I love my Rubi, I’m the only dad she’s had. Ordered her from the factory exactly the way I wanted her so I’ll miss her.  I have an 08 XK 4.7 for my daily. This will obviously be a restomod. Not super excited that the fenders have been cut but Notch Customs M-Max fender flares look great and hopefully they’re quality. At my age, I’m happy to tackle certain things but there’s also stuff I would just rather have someone better skilled than I do it correctly. I need advice and counsel and words of soothing comfort.

From the previous owner: 1987 Jeep comanche Long Bed Truck. 1996 Jeep cherokee 4.0, np231 and aw4 automatic transmission swapped. drivetrain has 214k on it, it came from a cherokee I owned for many years. Brake booster and master cylinder have been swapped and upgraded to 97+ cherokee. new plugs, wires, cap and rotor, most sensors have all been replaced 3 row aluminum radiator new motor and trans mount fresh coolant fresh oil fresh transfluid cherokee seats with 97+ center console along with carpet as well. the rust has been cut out of the floor boards and correctly been fixed and welded so its currently rust free. wheels, tires, axles: front Dana 30, rear Ford 8.8 both geared to 4.88s with yukon gears. 8.8 has all new brake lines, 2 spare yokes, 2 sets of shock tabs, new brake pads and rotors. 35x12.5x15 big km2s suspension: front. 4in coils, with 2in spacers, currie aluminum upper and lower adjustable control arms with Johnny joints on both sides. rear: stock and original mj springs, spring over plates added and welded. I have all of the interior panels, original center console. 
 

Have gone back and forth on where I wanted my starting point to be and what my threshold between purity and modding would be. The purchase of this has made a lot of decisions for me. I won’t be wheeling the hell of this. On a scale between 1-5, 1 being Bro Dozer and 5 being level 5 trail difficulty rig, I’m probably aiming for about a 2.2. I’ll be retrieving my MJ next Sunday. Let the journey begin.

 

[Drahcir495]

Oh yeah! I am kinda partial to blue long beds . I assume this is your first MJ. Congratulations and welcome 

[SiXJaK]

9 hours ago, Drahcir495 said:

Oh yeah! I am kinda partial to blue long beds . I assume this is your first MJ. Congratulations and welcome 

Thank you and your assumption is correct.

[Pete M]

I know how ya feel.   I recently had to part with my '00 Dakota R/T in order to fund my newest MJ purchase (both were 1-owner trucks with low miles).  I still regret it, but I don't live the DakRT lifestyle, I live the MJ lifestyle, and so it made sense to change up part of my truck herd. 

 

Your new truck looks like a sold purchase!  welcome to the addiction  

[SiXJaK]

1 hour ago, Pete M said:

I know how ya feel.   I recently had to part with my '00 Dakota R/T in order to fund my newest MJ purchase (both were 1-owner trucks with low miles).  I still regret it, but I don't live the DakRT lifestyle, I live the MJ lifestyle, and so it made sense to change up part of my truck herd. 

 

Your new truck looks like a sold purchase!  welcome to the addiction  

Than you, Pete.

[SiXJaK]

I’ve compiled a to do list stemming from what I know about the truck. I’m going to post this in my MJ naïveté because I’m curious as to how much “Reality” will change my list. 
Comanche to do list:

Purchase Comanche ✅

Retrieve Comanche

Get driveshafts sorted and connected

Sort out suspension

Sort vacuum leaks 

Clean up engine bay

Fix wiring for tail lights.

Strip interior and install dynamat

Clean up and sort interior

Reupholster seats and whatever else needs it.

Find mirrors or decide if updating front end and replace doors fenders hood front clip with newer style. (I’m torn on this. I used to be so enamored with the newer Cherokee front end update but the original has kind of gained value to me.)

Order Notch Customs M-Max fender flares

Order JCR front bumper

Order JCR rear bumper

Order JCR rock sliders
Order Winch. ( I have a smittybuilt 12000# with remote and synthetic rope on my JK and man it has been very useful. Have never had one single issue with it.)

Order JCR roof rack or light bar clips.(I love having a lot of useful auxiliary lights on my rig. They come in handy so often so need to decide on just how useful an above cab rack would be. I cycle, kayak and paddle board a lot and haul lots of stuff.)

Find 18 or 19 Rubicon take off wheels and tires.

Buy XM head unit and back up camera speakers amp etc.

Buy heated JWSpeaker LED headlights.

Buy lights for front and rear bumpers and roof rack, and rock lights. Rigid Industries, KC Baja lighting

 

Decide on paint color.

 

 

[thecodemonk]

Looks like a solid list and plan!

 

Don't forget "check floorpans for rust" and "refresh all grounds ala Cruiser's tips"

 

Also, doesn't JCR's rock sliders only fit a short bed?  It looks like you have a long bed on there, so you might be better off checking out Dirtbound Offroad or Krustyballer's (or fabbing up your own)

 

 

[SiXJaK]

12 hours ago, thecodemonk said:

Looks like a solid list and plan!

 

Don't forget "check floorpans for rust" and "refresh all grounds ala Cruiser's tips"

 

Also, doesn't JCR's rock sliders only fit a short bed?  It looks like you have a long bed on there, so you might be better off checking out Dirtbound Offroad or Krustyballer's (or fabbing up your own)

 

 

The floor pans have been fixed with new pans properly welded in. 
 

wasn’t sure about the JCR rock sliders so thank you for clarifying and pointing me towards Krustyballer and Dirtbound Offroad.  Both seem to be viable options. Not a welder (Wish I was) so I won’t be fabricating much on this rig. 

[Pete M]

6 hours ago, SiXJaK said:

 Not a welder (Wish I was) so I won’t be fabricating much on this rig. 

 

 

Neither am I, but that hasn't stopped me from designing my own stuff with a drill/grinder and then hauling it over to a local pro for final welding.  

[SiXJaK]

Made the long drive out to Yukon, OK to fetch the 87 Comanche I purchased Nov. 27, 2019. Am thankful the former owner was kind enough to keep it for me until I could get my act together enough to get there and retrieve it. Thanks to my buddy for letting me use his trailer to get the MJ. Left home (SW MO) at 9:30am and got back at midnight. 
let the fun begin.

[SiXJaK]

Update. Ordered a set of used decent shape Comanche nameplates off eBay last night. price? Prolly too much. Oh well. Will be rounding up a set of 4x4’s,Command Trac and 4.0 Litre nameplates as well. The truck is at my friend’s shop to get up and running. This includes measuring out the drive shafts and what length they need to be (Ford 8.8 rearend) and then will send them off to the drive shaft specialists in Springfield to be lengthened and balanced. Hooking up brake lines and bleeding sorting some wiring issues as well as some suspension pieces. Being that Christmas is upon us, I’m going on vacation on the 2nd and i won’t be back until the 20th and I also need to get this Rubi sold (I’m it’s only daddy) never been wrecked, never been beat on, always garaged, nobody is in a big rush to get anything done for a bit.
 

[Fryedaddy]

The only advice I have is if your going that far up on your 4x4 scale don’t make it a show truck! If local laws will allow don’t put the flares on them. I know it’s hard to build something and not make it perfect. I’ve built several but when you do that and mess something up.....you sell shortly after. I’ve always wanted an MJ and got lucky to find one with a salvage title. Only thing that happened was a dent in the bed. I cld make mine a show truck but I’m smiling and happy off-road, not worried. Same principal behind the rubicon your selling. I have a JK as well but it’s a sahara and a mall crawler.

[SiXJaK]

17 hours ago, Fryedaddy said:

The only advice I have is if your going that far up on your 4x4 scale don’t make it a show truck! If local laws will allow don’t put the flares on them. I know it’s hard to build something and not make it perfect. I’ve built several but when you do that and mess something up.....you sell shortly after. I’ve always wanted an MJ and got lucky to find one with a salvage title. Only thing that happened was a dent in the bed. I cld make mine a show truck but I’m smiling and happy off-road, not worried. Same principal behind the rubicon your selling. I have a JK as well but it’s a sahara and a mall crawler.

Thank you for the words of wisdom. I want to make it road worthy, reliable and the body and badging mostly correct. I want it to be something I use regularly. That means proper HVAC, drives well, kick @$$ stereo with XM and connectivity, and a nice cab. Not going to worry too much about paint and body until I have the interior and all the mechanicals sorted. I did have an 04 RCSB Silverado that had a SC’d LS with a big cam and a built T56 and 4.10 gears that I left totally stock looking. It had 2012 Silverado rims, stock ride height but the long tubes and Corsa sport exhaust took a lot of the sleeper-ability away. It embarrassed a lot of “fast” cars tho. Did win 2 exhibitions of speed stupid prizes tho so it’s probably good that I no longer have it. 
I’m not sure if I want to swap a newer style Cherokee front end on it yet. Kinda torn. 

[SiXJaK]

It’s the small things I guess. These came today. Gonna research getting these and the other badging/emblems redipped in black chrome. 

[SiXJaK]

4x4 emblems came a few days ago. 

[SiXJaK]

Mini update: stopped by where Tulsa (truck name) is hanging out and took off the non serious badging that someone had stenciled onto Tulsa. I started her up, she sounds amazing I talked to her and cheered her up. She seemed to appreciate the removal of the stickers. I reassured her that her badging would be correct. 

[SiXJaK]

So I’ve been on the big island for 9 days and yesterday while driving my rental Gladiator I came across what has to be a full on unicorn on the Hawaiian Islands. This one is in the vicinity of the Captain Cook area. I’ll be home on the 20th and that’s when I’ll get serious about getting Tulsa road worthy and selling the Rubicon to fund the build. Just thought it was way cool to find a Comanche in Hawaii.

[Pete M]

Awesome!  not sure why it's in the trees and missing the taillights  but awesome nonetheless.  

[High2by]

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 4:39 PM, SiXJaK said:

It’s the small things I guess. These came today. Gonna research getting these and the other badging/emblems redipped in black chrome. 

 

Where you able to find a place to get these redipped?

[SiXJaK]

On 1/13/2020 at 10:39 AM, Pete M said:

Awesome!  not sure why it's in the trees and missing the taillights  but awesome nonetheless.  

Me neither. But there it was just hanging out like some jungle species. I wonder if the owners realize their unicorn?

[SiXJaK]

On 1/13/2020 at 12:36 PM, High2by said:

 

Where you able to find a place to get these redipped?

Not yet. When I get home this next Monday I’m going to begin making some headway. First objective is to get the Rubi sold and then get Tulsa streetable, insured and legal.

[SiXJaK]

Progress is slow. Friends garage is finally cleared enough to get Tulsa moved inside. Picked up the rear drive shaft to take up to Springfield. Going to have it cut to 49” to accommodate Ford 8.8 rearend. That is all for now.

[SiXJaK]

Thanks to eaglescout526 picked up this command trac emblem. What a decent human being. Small progress.
 

[SiXJaK]

Picked up my redone rear drive shaft today. New u-joints.  
Quick question. This has various Cherokee parts. The wiring is pretty hacked up. Would I better off just locating a new harness and going back to as close to factory. And who sells new harnesses?

[Deleted]

On 2/17/2020 at 7:55 PM, SiXJaK said:

Quick question. This has various Cherokee parts. The wiring is pretty hacked up. Would I better off just locating a new harness and going back to as close to factory. And who sells new harnesses?

I'm in the same boat as you lol, previous owner basically put a comanche and cherokee harness together and now I'm fighting electrical problems galore. If anyone knows how to rectify this I'm all ears. I emailed painless wiring about them making me a custom harness but havent heard back yet.