My 1992, let me show you it

[levi]

I sold my last Comanche several year ago, and have regretted it ever since.

(Incidentally, that Comanche is now Comanche Dawn)

 

Since then I've been building a '74 baja Bug, and find myself needing a truck that can tow it to off road locations, and then recover it should it break down or get stuck.

 

 

 

I found a 1992 4x4 A/T on Facebook Marketplace in Little Rock, AR, and picked it up:

 

Some history from the seller:
He bought it off "some 20 year old kid who ragged it out." The motor knocked so he and his son swapped in a 4.0 from a 1995 Cherokee. He recently "did the brakes" (replaced shoes but didn't replace or turn the rotors). Fuel tank was replaced. New shocks, front and rear. New leaf springs in the rear.

 

Current state:

1. 4x4 appears to work, at least 4H
2. The idle surges about once every 30 seconds.
3. Check Engine light is on
4. Belt squeals like crazy
5. Hood release is very tough to pull
6. Brake pedal goes almost all the way to the floor before actually engaging the brakes
7. Parking brake does almost nothing
8. The front bumper, driver side fender, and front header all have some minor damage from a front end collision of some sort
9. Headlight bezels are broken
10. Drivers side door doesn't close well, and is visibly left of where it should be (big gap on the right hand jam, no gap on the left hand jam)
11. Rear bumper is missing
12. Something bumped the passenger side rear quarter panel near the brake light
13. Passenger side brake light is cracked and broken
14. Various dents
15. Paint is in decent shape
16. Interior is super dirty, but the dash and center console are in good shape
17. Needs tires

 

My immediate plans for this

1. Address any safety concerns: the brakes, parking brake and tires
2. Address engine issues: surging idle, noisy belt and CEL
3. Thoroughly clean out the interior
4. Replace front fenders and header panel
5. Pull the dents out, other minor body work
6. Bed-liner paint job

[levi]

My wife and I started with the interior, getting it cleaned out.

 

Before pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We washed the carpet with our pressure washer, which did an alright job, but not amazing. Going to get some purple power and see if that will do any better.

 

Unfortunately though, didn't get too far with the interior because...

 

[levi]

Found the rust:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got some new pans ordered from C2C Fab, waiting for them to show up.

[89 MJ]

I would recommend NOT doing a bedliner paint job. It adds a lot of weight, overtime it will start to look bad, and it will make it so the truck can never truly be restored. 

[levi]

Just now, 89 MJ said:

I would recommend NOT doing a bedliner paint job. It adds a lot of weight, overtime it will start to look bad, and it will make it so the truck can never truly be restored. 

 

Thanks for the input. This isn't my first rodeo (the baja has it as well), and I'm fine with the tradeoffs :)

[Limeyjeeper]

Welcome back into the family!!

[levi]

32 minutes ago, Limeyjeeper said:

Welcome back into the family!!

Thanks fam! I now see why you put such a premium on a rust free cab 😉

[Limeyjeeper]

Yes my first one I had to do the floors, rockers and cab corners. Not fun but pretty straightforward

[levi]

Engine codes came back as 12 21 51 52 55. Ignoring the first and last, 21 51 and 52 all point towards the O2 sensor. Picked up a new Bosch one (I know the Mopar ones are better but couldn't find one near by) and swapped it in. I noticed when disconnecting the old one that one of its pins was corroded. After resetting the engine codes and firing it up, CEL didn't come back and the engine was no longer surging like before. Best guess is that the sensor lost power or ground with that corroded pin, so the surging was the ECU bouncing between open loop and closed loop.

 

Belt squeal was obviously originating from the harmonic balancer, and it had a noticeable wobble when running. Replaced the balancer and belt, and the squeal is gone.

 

Replaced the front pads/rotors, rear shoes/drums, adjusted the drums, and bled the system. Now the brake light is off, the brake pedal no longer goes to the floor, and the parking brake works.

 

Got the new fenders, header panel and grill in the mail, but still waiting for the Hooligan hinge supports to come in before I tackle that job. Also waiting for the new pans to ship, but will probably start drilling spot welds and prepping for that job.

 

After doing the brakes and taking it for a shakedown drive, there is now a noticeable rhythmic thumping sound I can hear and feel once I get over about 10 mph, and the rhythm increases with speed. That wasn't there before, so I'ill need to also figure out what I did wrong and fix it.

[levi]

16 hours ago, levi said:

After doing the brakes and taking it for a shakedown drive, there is now a noticeable rhythmic thumping sound I can hear and feel once I get over about 10 mph, and the rhythm increases with speed. That wasn't there before, so I'ill need to also figure out what I did wrong and fix it.

 

Yeah, helps to tighten ALL the lug nuts 😏

 

The oil pressure gauge wasn't working, so I replaced the oil sender with this one from Oreilly's. Oil gauge now works, however it's showing 80 psi at idle. So I'm guessing that particular gauge won't actually work for me, and I need to grab a more appropriate one from somewhere.

[Pete M]

On 11/30/2020 at 12:57 PM, levi said:

 

Yeah, helps to tighten ALL the lug nuts 😏

 

 

indeed.   relearned that myself just a couple weeks ago.   that's why it's so important to take a test drive and re-torque the rims after any procedures involving tire removals.

[levi]

Been getting after it the last couple weeks.

 

Got a Mopar oil pressure sender and now the oil pressure gauge is reading how you would expect.

 

Pulled the door cards off each door and lubricated the power window regulators. They work okay now, certainly better than before, but not great. Will probably follow this guide later and really give them a good cleaning.

 

I picked up some wrangler take-off wheels/tires from FB Marketplace for $250. Tread is at 50% (plus the spare that is unused), and already powder coated black, so nice deal.

 

I ordered the 4.5" to 5.0", 1.5" Synergy adapters from 4WP, and got them the next day...only to realize I messed up and ordered the plain Jane 4.5" spacers on accident. Returned them to the nearby store and ordered the correct adapters, but then got an email about how COVID may delay shipment. Still waiting for word on when they will ship. 4WP down the street has the G2 1.25" adapters in stock, I'm considering cancelling the other order and going to pick these up. Any one know off hand if I'd be better off with 1.25" or 1.5" spacers? Tires are 245/75r17.

[levi]

Got the header panel and fenders off:

 

 

Finally got a look at the door hinges. Looks like a previous owner had already welded them in place:

 

 

 

 

In any event, I bought the Hooligan hinge supports and welded them in on both sides, primed, seam sealed and painted.

 

 

 

 

 

[levi]

While I had the fenders off I shimmed the driver's side door hinges so the door closes normally now and is centered in the jam.

 

Started getting the fenders and front end together. I got the replacement fenders off of Amazon, and the fit is pretty decent. 

 

 

I bought this header panel combo off of amazon too...
 

 

...and it is absolute garbage. Just the worst. I'm going to use the the blinkers and try and sell the rest on FB Marketplace.

 

Instead I'm going to reuse the header panel I pulled off it, and modify it to work with the 91-96 replacement fenders. Epoxied in some studs to the old stud holes:

 

 

And drilled corresponding openings in the fenders.

 

Also put some M5 rivet nuts in the fender for attaching the headlight bezels:

 

 

 

And with that got the front end together with my junk yard bumper and trim.

 

[Pete M]

looks good!   yeah, the aftermarket replacements are pretty much crap.  

 

honestly I doubt you'd notice the difference between the 1.25 and 1.5 spacers.  I'd probably go with the 1.5

[levi]

Yeah, cancelled the order and got the other adapters that were already in stock. New wheels and tires are a nice improvement: