acfortier Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Hey y'all! It's been awhile--haven't had a Comanche in about 8 years or so when I (stupidly) sold my '88. Have had a few other projects in between ('97 ZJ, '81 J10) but have always had the itch to get back in Comanche. I just happened to stumble upon @kryptronic's '91 Silver Star, and by how clean it was and how close he was to MA, I hopped on it. Glad I did! For the previous history, check out: I purchased the '91 with a near-complete black interior--only thing missing is the steering column (which I'll probably just paint mine) and a carpet. Also, gave me a load of extra parts--seals, O2 sensor, slave cylinders, header panel, matching spare rim, couple of stock bumpers. He is an awesome guy--thanks again @kryptronic! Left PA around 10:30am and arrived home in MA at 6:00pm. The ride was uneventful, thankfully. Here's a pic at a gas station of my '21 Gladiator towing it (it looks a bit weird since I took it with the 0.5x on my phone, I swear the front and rear tires on the Gladiator are the same). Sagged a little bit, but I saw a lot worse on my drive back: As of right now, these are my plans: Fix the leak(s): @kryptronic mentioned that the moving door vent windows were leaking. While the movable ones are nice, in my experience, it's not a matter of if it'll leak, but when. Decided that the extra $200 for a set of movables wasn't worth it, so I went with a $55 set of XJ vent windows from deadjeep.com. Has anyone purchased things from them? I don't remember them from back in the day, but they seem to have a lot of used parts. I also noticed that the rear window plexiglass had moved on one of the ends--most likely from the towing trip. I was able to move it back, but I'll probably end up taking the Comanche to a glass place to see if they'd be able to put new pieces of glass in it and seal it up. If not, I'll probably end up buying a C. R. Laurence unit. Once the leaks are finished, going to tackle the floor pan. Grind down the rust, get out the loose spot, weld in a new piece, put some SEM 45504 Black Rust Trap (or something similar, it's what I used on my J10) on it, and then sound-deaden it with some Noico sheets (I think I have a few sheets left over from when I did this in my J10). Haven't decided on what to do about the carpet situation. Either find a used one and clean it, buy an aftermarket one, or come up with a custom rubber solution (which would be cool). If anyone has any suggestions or has a spare carpet they'd part with, let me know! Undercoating. This thing is already spectacularly rust-free for a 30 yr. old vehicle, and I'd like to keep it that way. Probably find a Fluid Film or similar dealing to get undercoating applied. Will probably need to degrease the underside as it's pretty gunked up--still got a lot of black stuff under my nails from when I was strapping down the rear axle. Body work + paint. I want to do this right, so I'll probably search around for a reputable shop that does restoration work and get the Comanche in there. I'll probably keep it as Silver Star, and I'd love to keep the decals as well. Charge up the A/C. Everything is there, just need to get it fully charged and double-check everything. That's really it for now. Long term plans, I think I'll keep it pretty close to stock--there's something about these small trucks in their stock form that I love. I'll probably drive this around town, short trips. Will avoid driving it in the winter. Glad to be back in a Comanche! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Awesomeness! Glad to see it made it to a owner that will fully appreciate its class of truck. Thanks for sharing and look forward to following along to the updates you make to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kryptronic Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 I'm glad you made it home safely. Good luck with the truck. It's in good hands with you. If you ever need anything, or have any questions, you know how to find me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 3 hours ago, acfortier said: so I went with a $55 set of XJ vent windows from deadjeep.com. Has anyone purchased things from them? I don't remember them from back in the day, but they seem to have a lot of used parts. I forget the screen name, but they are a member here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Pete M said: I forget the screen name, but they are a member here. Good to know! On second thought, I took a closer look at the vent windows, and I might be able to get away with somehow modifying them to apply more pressure when they close. I'll have to think of something, but they could definitely be a bit tighter. Finally emptied out all of the extra parts from my truck, and decided to put the spare tire underneath in the carrier, as I don't think the bedliner is going anywhere after the modification @kryptronic made to it. Looks just like surface rust, and the wire was clean. Didn't have a long screwdriver or the stock hardware (actually, I didn't even look to see if they were in the truck) so I improvised with what I had. Did have to pull down the wire as it wouldn't drop on it's own, but that's no biggie since there's now a wheel sitting on it, so it should come down nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Pete M said: I forget the screen name, but they are a member here. @strictlyxjs if my memory serves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 30 minutes ago, acfortier said: Good to know! On second thought, I took a closer look at the vent windows, and I might be able to get away with somehow modifying them to apply more pressure when they close. I'll have to think of something, but they could definitely be a bit tighter. the "penny trick" is a common practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torq_Shep Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Man I am so happy this truck sold on the forum. I was really surprised to see how long it took to sell though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 7 hours ago, Pete M said: the "penny trick" is a common practice. Ha! A little super glue and a penny would work for sure... I'm hoping for something that is a bit more stock looking! Decided to hop outside tonight and play around with the wipers--I believe @kryptronic mentioned that the wiper motor wasn't working properly at all speeds. Not sure if it's the motor, or the stalk? Either way, I'll probably upgrade to 97+ wiper arms and follow the guide that's listed on the forums here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 I've seen so many pennies there over the years that it might have been stock. just use 1991 or older pennies do the wiring upgrades to the motors first (because you should be doing it anyways). then I would pull the brain box out and see what happens (should retain low and high). then work on the stalk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kryptronic Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 13 hours ago, acfortier said: Decided to hop outside tonight and play around with the wipers--I believe @kryptronic mentioned that the wiper motor wasn't working properly at all speeds. Not sure if it's the motor, or the stalk? Either way, I'll probably upgrade to 97+ wiper arms and follow the guide that's listed on the forums here. The wipers are definitely wonky. You'll notice no matter where you position the wiper switch, the speed doesn't correspond. The wipers only move adequately on the highest speed, and just barely. They also don't reset all the way properly at the base of the windshield. Turning the wipers off in mid-swing leaves them sitting where they were turned off as well. It could just be the multiswitch on the column. I'm interested to see what you uncover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 8 minutes ago, kryptronic said: The wipers are definitely wonky. You'll notice no matter where you position the wiper switch, the speed doesn't correspond. The wipers only move adequately on the highest speed, and just barely. They also don't reset all the way properly at the base of the windshield. Turning the wipers off in mid-swing leaves them sitting where they were turned off as well. It could just be the multiswitch on the column. I'm interested to see what you uncover. Yep, exactly. Turned them on to intermittent, nothing, turned them on the Low, got them to move, then turned them off, stopped in the middle, tried to turn them back on to Low and nothing again. Odd. Going to take apart the wiper motor today and see what's up. I ended up purchasing Dorman 49277 which looks to be the correct stalk, since this one has the cruise control which is cut. If it ends up being the multiswitch, I believe I'll need this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004C0OXXO/?coliid=I1B3CIP4J2CBAZ&colid=2XI49MP3ZB2IM&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kryptronic Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 I don't think there's anything wrong with the turn signal switch (Standard Motor Products TW20T). I meant the multifunction switch (Dorman 49277). You selected the right one - the one without cruise control - it was deleted (properly) at some point before I bought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torq_Shep Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 It could also be the intermittent controller box under the dash. I have had that fail before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 bypass the brain box before you do anything else. if you suddenly get low and high working correctly, then you'll need to replace the box. then go about doing the rewire and re-bushing of the motor and linkage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 Just seeing those replies now. What's the easiest way to bypass the box underneath? EDIT: Got to the box, it was velcro'd, unplugged it and plugged in the two sides of the harness directly, no difference. I ended up taking out the motor, and it was filled with hardened grease. Started to clean it up, and was rotating the lever on the back to spin the gears until I got to a point where it seized up, and now won't move. Not sure if I engaged some type of stop-lock mechanism, or if it was already on it's way out, but it definitely won't move anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 Ended up snagging a unit from O'Reilly's in town. Nearly identical, only difference is the plug. Old unit has the white and red wires going to the motor, and the blue, black, and grey wires going to the plastic bits. We know that the black is used as a ground. The new unit has brown and red wires going to the motor, and then blue, green, and black wires going to the plastic bits. But the ground for the black wire is on the side of the unit rather than underneath the cover. You can see it at the top of the first picture. I'm guessing (old -> new): red -> red white -> brown blue -> blue grey -> green black -> black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 just pull out the 2 connectors from the box and plug them into each other. also, there wasn't likely anything wrong with your motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 8 minutes ago, Pete M said: just pull out the 2 connectors from the box and plug them into each other. also, there wasn't likely anything wrong with your motor. Yep, did that--no difference. I'm not sure--shouldn't I be able to turn it by hand? The new one turns without issue. Just seemed like it locked up all of a sudden. I'm thinking it's the stalk--I just went to go test this motor, and now the windshield fluid didn't spray out like before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 well, if it locked up by sitting, then I guess that's definitely a good reason to replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Pete M said: well, if it locked up by sitting, then I guess that's definitely a good reason to replace it. That's my thought exactly. Although, it's entirely possible that I rotated it too far and seized it up? Not sure. New stalk will arrive tomorrow, I'll give that a whirl and see where I stand. If replacing the stalk doesn't work, do the wipers actually have anything to do with the turn signal switch inside the steering column? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 at that point you should probably start a thread in Tech so more eyeballs will see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 There’s a TSB out there on the wiper motors. Chrysler during the HO years made a new motor and plug for it and continued to make the Renix ones until they passed the Renix ones out of service with the HO ones. So they said to basically splice the new plug on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 15 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said: There’s a TSB out there on the wiper motors. Chrysler during the HO years made a new motor and plug for it and continued to make the Renix ones until they passed the Renix ones out of service with the HO ones. So they said to basically splice the new plug on. Ah, interesting, I guess that makes sense. I hope I mapped the wires correctly between the new motor and old plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Hopefully. I think the new motors from Chrysler would’ve included a paper in regards to the update but that info is probably lost. Unless I can find it in the service library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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