My First Project Truck

[MichaelR1623]

Hello Everyone!,
 

After spending a short amount of time on a Monday morning searching the facebook marketplace for a beater truck to fix up and drive around town, I stumbled across a Jeep truck with a name I never heard of, and was manufactured 13 years before my birth. Tuesday night after a few stops to determine whether or not to call someone with a trailer to finish the journey home (The brakes are REALLY squishy, had to pretty much rely on engine braking the whole way) there is now a Comanche in my driveway, and I have a lot of work ahead of me. First off this forum has been the best tool to learn about these trucks, and discover the solution to the many problems I have already come across. Now, here's the part everyone is here for, the pictures.

 

 

 

Some Basic info on the truck:
Its a 1987 2x4 with the 2.5 and a 4 speed

It has 78,000 miles (somehow)
This truck was used as a beater and it shows. but I am going to try to restore it to the best of my abilities. 

I'll give a basic rundown of the problems I have found so far, but I am sure I will come across more as time goes on.

Clutch Master cylinder leak

Brakes.... all of them. I am shocked this truck was on the road with its lack of braking ability

Valve cover gasket leak

Diff cover Leak

All the rust on the body

Tailgate hinge rusted away, and it falls off when you pull the latch

The sway bar end links have no bushings in them, they are just free floating there

There is a bit of a rats nest of wires under the hood.

The passenger bucket seat is bolted in fine, but the driver has 2 legs tack welded in, the other 2 are free floating. At least if I crash I have an ejector seat

After market radio with no faceplate (who takes just the faceplate?)

The carpet is a bunch of pieces poorly laid over each other

The headliner is a piece of plywood...

The right blinker doesn't flash, it just turns on steady

The housing around the headlight is cracked and is barely hanging on

That rear bumper.... its solid and well made by a previous owner, but It doesn't look right to me

 

Overall not in the worst shape, but there is definitely work to be done. On the bright side I did get a brand new front bumper in the box from the previous owner. I plan to use this truck to commute to work once I am confident in its abilities to make the 66 mile round trips, My Silverado is sick of the beating.

 

This weekend I plan to change out the valve cover gasket and the front brakes at the minimum. If there's enough time I will throw that fancy new bumper on as well. I will try to throw up some pictures of under the hood, and some in progress pictures.

 

[Ωhm]

Welcome to the CC Forum.

[derf]

Welcome.  Look for cruiser's mostly renix tips and start working through the list as time and budget allows.

[89 MJ]

Looks like a pretty good truck to start with. By the way, your grill is upside down. Also, be sure to drop it in the registry if you haven't already.

[Jesse J]

yeah I don't know why there are so many upside down grills. it looks pretty sweet will be following.

[MichaelR1623]

6 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

Looks like a pretty good truck to start with. By the way, your grill is upside down. Also, be sure to drop it in the registry if you haven't already.

I have no idea how I never noticed that. Definitely gonna flip that around

[Jesse J]

1 minute ago, MichaelR1623 said:

I have no idea how I never noticed that. Definitely gonna flip that around

you can kinda tell the way it goes by matching it to the body line 

[89 MJ]

3 hours ago, MichaelR1623 said:

I have no idea how I never noticed that. Definitely gonna flip that around

Mine was that way too. I didn’t notice it until someone pointed it out for me too. 

[Ollie]

Same color as my Pioneer !!!!!!!

I kinda like that rear bumper. Clean it up and paint flat black. 

Good luck on your project, learn and have fun.

Having Comanche Fun,

Ollie