"Sunny" Comanche.

[CODriver]

     So I've finally decided to begin documenting my MJ on here. My father purchased it for me back in September as an early 15th birthday present. It belonged to our neighbor's uncle, who was the second owner since 1999. He used it lightly on his farm, but for the past 4-5 years it hasn't been used. It has well documentation of maintenance since he purchased it, and I plan to continue that trend. Due to my divorced parents, I only see her a few days a month, if any, which does suck.  My father says "Will be a High School car then go to recycle." The only thing that will be recycled is that idea :)

 

      My plans aren't that cool. This is my first car and I really only know how to do basic maintenance. Hopefully as time goes on I'll be doing better and more interesting stuff in this thread. For now it'll just cover boring stuff like oil changes. The short term plans are currently to fix what's broken (fuel leak). Some more longer term plans are to make it more drivable as a first car, such as adding power steering. I honestly can't do anything too ambitious, as my parents say I'm paying for modifications. I'm considering getting a jobto support my Comanche...
 

      The first photo isn't too interesting. The paint has really faded on both sides from being in the sun apparently. The doors and hood has an uneven fade, and I'm not sure why. Everything is stock afaik.

 

     This 2nd photo is of the interior. I want to do a 97+ swap, but I'm too anxious that I'll mess it up, and don't have much money. What I will do, however, is change to bucket seats, improve the general quality/clean, and maybe get a better cluster.  It's hard to learn manual without a tach, but it's also better to learn from just the sound. The left inside door latch is completely loose, and doesn't work. The seatbelts don't seem to lock either. I also have no radio. I have an aftermarket radio, but I feel that it breaks the interior with it's odd silver color and futuristic 2001 technology. 167k on the clock.

Here's some rust I hope to patch soon. It's on the rear fender, so when I pull up my carpet I'm expecting to be disgusted. Other than this, there's not much rust on the exterior.

 

AMC 2.5 i4. My first "modification" on this car was the new battery terminals. I'm planning on keeping this engine, and possible rebuilding it. I'm changing the valve cover gasket soon. I had the idea of putting in an AX-15 and 4.0 i6, but having the lower gas mileage is nice. The car doesn't go much over 60, so it needs some testing.

]

Here's my last photo for now. The exhaust is very rusty, and the muffler has hundreds of tiny holes. I'll probably fix it sometime down the road.

 

 

 

[eaglescout526]

Nice, looks like a fun porject! I wish I had my truck in high school, oh well. But that 2.5L is pretty base, no AC or power steering, take care of it and it will take care of you forever. 

[CODriver]

My stepmom always jokes with me, she says it has "WD-55" A/C - Windows down at 55mph. With the windows down and the rear window open, it's like a hurricane

[eaglescout526]

Yup, that's how I drove in the AZ summer, driver and rear window open. Grandfather told me that when he said "There is no AC, just windows down at 40, that's your AC." 

[JMO413]

Welcome to the club and the addiction. That is a nice truck for a high school car. This is a very good platform to learn how to work on things. 

[89 MJ]

I built mine in high school too!

[CODriver]

That MJ looks great!

 

    I didnt get much done today. I attempted to check the floor pans by taking out my bench seat but couldn't get the last bolt. It appears that engine oil has gotten into the driver's footwell area.

The last bolt had hardened oil that was like cement. I couldn't clean it out

I then decided to just check from under. The drivers side is pretty bad but surprisingly the passenger side seems nearly perfect.

[eaglescout526]

Wow, that's a vinyl floor, at least you don't have to worry about cleaning carpet. Check the master cylinder for leakage. 

[tugboat95]

I can't tell you much on this Jeep as I'm a new Jeep owner. But I can tell take care of it and try to keep it. Your first car will always be your first love. 30 years from now you'll wish you had that heap of spare parts.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

[Pete M]

A Comanche was my first vehicle too! (sorta, had a couple hand-me-down Fords ahead of it)    Still have her 23 years later! 

 

I would stick to the basic maintenance until you've got a handle on what all she needs.  Keep reading and learning, especially make sure you cover all applicable Cruiser's MJ tips found near the top of the link in my signature.   

 

And don't forget to take her to car shows! 

[89 MJ]

41 minutes ago, Pete M said:

although it's not red anymore

When did that happen?

[Pete M]

many moons ago.  It's kinda been a lawn ornament since then as other projects have taken priority.   

[CODriver]

I get to see my MJ for this 4 day weekend

No special plans though. Probably just some regular maintenance and checks. For now, here's a video of startup. Fires up nicely

 

[peanutbuttermms]

I ripped that buzzer out of mine so quickly. Cool truck! I would’ve loved to have one at a young age. 

[CODriver]

Ah, regular maintenance and checks I said. I went to a nearby junkyard today and scored some awesome stuff!

I got this wheel for only $25. It's in good condition for the price.

I also got this badge just to keep in my room, maybe put it on Sunny if she gets a 4wd swap.

And I got my favourite cluster! I've cleaned it up and it's going in soon. I was so stoked to find one so quickly. There was some other things I wanted to get, but my wallet said no... (time to get that job )

One was a pair of chrome door handles for $50

And a chrome grill in perfect condition for $100. Which is still overpriced in my opinion.

 

I've also decided to stick with my bench seat for now.

Comanche total costs:

$25-New steering wheel

$40-New cluster

 

[CODriver]

I've got some rustoleum matte black spray paint for my bumpers - I was thinking about painting the grille and header panel chrome, do you guys think that would look good? If not, then I'd just paint it with the same black as the bumper.

[CODriver]

Here's the front end now

[CODriver]

Got to work on the truck with my Dad today 

 

We found the issue of the fuel leak. The o-ring was super loose, so we got to work tightening it and there should be no leak anymore  I'm happy it was this easy.

Next, we started working on the interior. We don't have a steering wheel puller so I can't change the wheel until tomorrow, hopefully. The new cluster (which is older, so the old cluster? ) has been installed except the speedo cable. The plan is to drive without a speedometer to the yard tomorrow to pick up the speedo cable, oil pressure&temp senders. Other than that though, all the gauges work . We also need to get an original radio, I want to restore this Jeep to its former glory and the 2003 aftermarket radio is too fancy and stands out too much. Once I fix the door latch not opening from the inside, the Jeep will be problem free!  (for the most part)

[eaglescout526]

4 minutes ago, CODriver said:

The plan is to drive without a speedometer to the yard tomorrow to pick up the speedo cable

Or take out the old speedo of your first cluster and temporarily swap it in so you clock your miles and watch your speed.

 

Just watching out for ya.

[CODriver]

The speed isn't too important since I can just match nearby car's speeds, but clocking miles is really important. If I get some more energy later today I'll put in the old speedo, I didn't consider that. 

[eaglescout526]

No problem. Keep up the good work! Remind me of when I first started.

[CODriver]

Yeah. I can't wait until 5 years from now when I look back on how silly I was But really, I hope I have my Comanche for a long time. I want to to college in Europe, which really leaves me with the option of selling it or shipping it to my new country...  But that's in a while, so I'll enjoy my Jeep now while I still have it  

[CODriver]

I also forgot to mention that I have a fuel tank skid plate. Not sure if that's a cool thing to have or not but it adds some peace of mind.

[89 MJ]

24 minutes ago, CODriver said:

I also forgot to mention that I have a fuel tank skid plate. Not sure if that's a cool thing to have or not but it adds some peace of mind.

Heck yeah it’s cool. And kinda rare. 

[CODriver]

Got the new wheel installed late last night. It's a bit worn, but it matches the rest of the interior for now so it's good  I'll probably get a radio from JRE once I scrape money together.

Also, since I won't be doing any offroading in this, I am considering selling off the fuel tank skid to someone who needs it more.