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Project Scuzzy


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So....once I got the wipers working, there was a noisy thud sound as they went through the range of motion.  Pulled it all out and replaced the 3 plastic linkage bushings that were shot. I also replaced the washer hoses and the plastic tee that was almost cracked in half. While at it, I pulled the cover off the wiper motor and cleaned the brushes up, but currently I have "low speed" and "a hair-faster-than-low speed" wipers, so I guess next on the list is a new wiper motor. To test it I dump in some windshield washer fluid, and it all leaks out onto the floor. Turns out the pump was cracked at the base where it fits into the reservoir, so I replaced that. 

Lots of little things to keep me busy, but at least I have working wipers now. 

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4 hours ago, eaglescout526 said:

Do you have intermittent "deluxe" wipers or just the standard two speeds?

Originally it had intermittent wipers. I put in a standard 2 speed multi function switch and stalk. Removed the intermittent wiper module under the dash.

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  • 2 weeks later...

New headliner time!  I started with a trip to Hobby Lobby for some tweed/burlap fabric - much thicker than the original material I tore off. Then remove the headliner, carefully tear off what was left of the original gray cloth, and vacuum away the dry-rotted top layer of old foam. Then I centered the new material on it, folded it over, sprayed both sides with 3M headliner adhesive, and smoothed it out with my hand. The trick is to not do too big a section at a time; you can see in 1 of the pictures how I only sprayed about 1/4 at a time, that way you aren't fighting yourself (the 3M stuff is really sticky.) Once the main area was done, I spent several minutes smoothing it out, then flipped it over and did the edges. Don't worry about a few wrinkles along the edges by the doors, the plastic trim covers that. It took 1 full can of adhesive to do this job. The whole process took maybe 20 minutes and was a lot of fun. Really happy how well it turned out and bonus, if you ever had new carpeting installed in your house, that's how Scuzzy smells now. :L:

 

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The seat belts in this thing were a mess. Badly frayed, rusty hardware, and...really scuzzy. I picked up a new set for a Cherokee assuming they would fit. Problem is the retractor bracket wasn't the correct length, not allowing it to bolt in to the Comanche.

  1. Drill and punch out the 2 rivets to remove the bracket from the original retractor.
  2. Drill a mounting hole on the bracket.
  3. Bolt the mounting bracket through the existing hole on the new retractor. I used a grade 8, 7/16" bolt with red loctite.

This was maybe a 20 minute job. The 2 rivets were pretty soft; from a safety perspective replacing them with a grade 8 bolt shouldn't be a problem. 

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The drivers door panel was in rough shape and just flapping there whenever you open the door; over the years moisture got into the backerboard and warped/delaminated it badly as well as several fasteners falling out. I looked a new door panels, but hey $12 for a sheet of MDF from Lowes I would try this method first and see how it goes. 

Pretty basic process. Pull the material off the old backerboard (had to dremel off the rivets holding the speaker grille on)..then trace the pattern onto the MDF and cut it out. Then clean it all up, apply 3M spray adhesive, and stick it all back together. Still has that wrinkle from being so warped over the years, I'll hit it with a steamer and see if it smoothes out. I also have arm rests arriving soon from Team Cherokee to clean it up a little more; slowly but surely its all coming along nicely. 

 

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18 hours ago, eaglescout526 said:

I did mine the hard way lol. I’ve learned though and I should be able to make a better trace with the NOS panel and cut out of the next three panels. Great work though. 

Thanks. Yeah mine isn't perfect, but you won't see this Comanche at SEMA any time soon (but probably the local Cars and Coffee), so its "OK enough" for me. 

 

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Charging time!

Since I have barely driven it anywhere yet, the voice in my head said hey lets check the alternator before I get stuck out in the middle of BFE. 12v at the battery while running. Pull it out, and the bearing is shot, so I picked up a replacement at O'reilys.  Put it in, still 12v at the battery running. Test the fusible links, all good. Pull the 7.5a gauge fuse from under dash...looks good but its corroded and I couldn't get a reading off it anywhere with a multimeter. So I clean it with sandpaper and wirebrush and it passes the test. Plug it back in, hey 14v at the battery while running! Whoop! Oh and look, I have dash lights I didn't see before! 

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Can’t complain about that! I’ve got a funny alternator story about my Comanche. Last summer, right as we were finishing my truck and I got my driving permit. I was driving it around and realized that the alternator crapped the bed. Fine, I called the local parts stores, none of them could get it until Saturday morning, but I had to be at a car show by 10:00 Saturday morning. So, I was at the parts store when it opened to get my alternator in for he car show. 

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Road test time! So far in the last 5 months I have only put a couple miles on Scuzzy. Today I finally got to stretch his legs; In July I only had the rear tires replaced since I was waiting on an alignment before getting new front tires; since then, Goodyear discontinued that particular style, so Discount Tire here in town gave me a full refund for those 2 and today I got a matching set of 4 new Goodyear Wrangler Trailrunner ATs.

 Drove it around 40 miles, even made a stop at my parents house to prove to them its not a garage queen.

 

Observations:

  1. There is a pretty good harmonic vibration around 50mph. I'm thinking its the driveshaft/ujoints. (did it before and after the new tires so that rules out tire balance.)
  2. Clunk sound under the floor when hitting big bumps.
  3. I laughed when I finally figured out what the 'house' idiot light is actually the upshift indicator. 
  4. Scuzzy passed the smell test. No leaks, smoke or sensations of imminent danger. 
  5. Man this bench seat is uncomfortable.
  6. Manual transmission and no cup holder means you have to put some thought into your drinking plan.

Happily moved into the category of daily driver now.:banana:  

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Merry Christmas!

Exhaust time! The muffler was stamped AMC so I'm guessing its original and sounding like it. Since I'm planning on a 4.0/4wd swap sometime sooner than later, I didn't want to put a lot of effort into the exhaust at this point. So I got a cheapo muffler from Rockauto and went at it. Bonus is the tailpipe is really nice so I didn't have to replace that. 

 

My favorite part was cutting off the muffler and peeking into the catalytic converter...totally empty. I'm guessing I shouldn't be able to see through the other side into the downpipe? :laugh: Put that on the list to replace next time. 

 

 

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The cooling system failed on my last drive to the point it was boiling out the overflow tank; no surprise as it looks like the PO used pond water for coolant. The radiator was just begging to be replaced though, so I did that. And new water pump, thermostat, hoses, and removed that bypass valve thing. Coolant system = fixed! I may have mentioned it before...the heater is ridiculous in these things. 

Took it out for a drive this evening and remembered I have no dash lights other than turn signals, idiot lights, and high beam indicator. So I guess thats next on the list to fix. I'm waiting to getting pulled over at night and the police ask if I know how fast I was going..."nope" 

Then parked it in the garage, popped the hood for the standard What went wrong check, and discovered the filler cap fell off somewhere and showered the engine bay in premium synthetic oil.  So that was nice to clean up. 

Otherwise, no big surprises. New muffler makes a huge difference, engine has plenty of pep, no unusual smells...so once I get a new filler cap I'll start driving this more often.

 

Seat still sucks though.

 

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On 11/29/2020 at 12:21 AM, jeff351 said:

The seat belts in this thing were a mess. Badly frayed, rusty hardware, and...really scuzzy. I picked up a new set for a Cherokee assuming they would fit. Problem is the retractor bracket wasn't the correct length, not allowing it to bolt in to the Comanche.

  1. Drill and punch out the 2 rivets to remove the bracket from the original retractor.
  2. Drill a mounting hole on the bracket.
  3. Bolt the mounting bracket through the existing hole on the new retractor. I used a grade 8, 7/16" bolt with red loctite.

This was maybe a 20 minute job. The 2 rivets were pretty soft; from a safety perspective replacing them with a grade 8 bolt shouldn't be a problem. 

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please make sure that some of your awesome projects get their own thread in the DIY forum so more guys will see them :L: 

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Nothing fancy here. The boot that seals the floor-to-shifter hole was disintegrated so I got a new one. For some reason (aka I ordered the wrong one) its about 1" smaller in diameter and the mounting flange fell within the large hole of the existing tunnel plate. Solution is trace out the correct size hole for the new boot on some sheetmetal, paint, and install. Now my wife can't complain that I smell like 'old car' after driving around. 

My dog even added some fur to the paint for good measure. 

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