Dood's Magical Money Pit (1987 Long Bed 2wd 2.5L Manual)

[dood]

August 21, 2021

(Reposted from the Comanche Registry)

 

Picked up a long bed 1987 Jeep Comanche 2.5L with 2wd and an AX5 transmission from a guy in Georgia off of Marketplace a few weeks ago. It had 81000 original miles when I bought it. The truck is in decent shape, all things considered. It has a little rust on it and a few small dents here and there, but nothing too bad. It seems to run fine, but it does need new battery cables, a new valve cover gasket, CCV grommets, and an oil pan gasket. The turn signals also don't work. I'm not too worried about the battery cables and all the rubber stuff; those seem easy enough to fix. I just hope the turn signals don't turn out to be a nightmare!

 

 

 

 

The interior needs a bunch of odds and ends. The biggest issue is the seat belts. They don't lock and the buckles actually broke, so they're gonna need to be replaced. It also needs new courtesy lights and the carpeted panel that's supposed to be in the back of the cab.

 

 

It now resides at my home in East Central Florida. At the time of this post, I've swapped out the exterior lights with LEDs and I applied Fluid Film to the underbody. I'm planning on polishing the rims to a mirror finish and swapping out the grille and headlight trim for chrome pieces. I'm going to replace the weatherstripping on the doors and windows and add vent windows within a month or two. I'm also going to get the bench seat repaired when I get the chance. Eventually, I'm going to get the body all fixed up and repainted in the same factory color, but for now, that's a (very) long-term goal!

[dood]

September 7, 2021

(Reposted from the Comanche Registry)

 

UPDATE! I think I have a better idea of how I want to go ahead with her. I'm going to try and keep her as original as possible while also tastefully adding some modern tech to the mix. Here she is so far:

 

 

Things I've done so far:

1. Fixed the turn signals (Thanks everyone who helped!)
2. Replaced the stock grille and headlight trim with ones in chrome.
3. Fitted new u-nuts and stainless steel bolts for the tail lights.
4. Replaced the turn signal stalk with a new one. The chrome paint on the old one was all chipped and peeling.
5. The shifter was missing the boot for the shifter bezel; added one.
6. Refreshed the fuel pump ground; added new connectors.
7. Began to install new front speakers; the original ones were blown out and rattling at speed...
8. Replaced the valve cover. I was just gonna replace the gasket, but I found cracks in the plastic. Gotta love extra surprises...
9. Replaced the leaky oil filler cap and did cruiser54's tip #26; it fits nice and tight now.
10. Replaced the crank case ventilation hose and valve cover grommet.
11. Refreshed the connections at C100 and C101.
12. Replaced the rear view mirror.
13. Changed the oil and filter, for what THAT's worth. Still have to replace the oil pan gasket!
14. Added a latch for the sliding rear window.
15. Replaced all of the exterior lights with LEDs.
16. Replaced and rewired all of the courtesy lights.
17. Aligned the steering wheel.
18. Replaced the brake pads. I tried to replace the rotors, but little did I know my truck had rotors with built in wheel bearings. Lesson learned...

 

Current issues:

1. Bucks and jumps in 2nd and 3rd gear. Trying to figure that one out right now.
2. I hear lifter tick near cylinder 4. I'm thinking it's probably from the current oil situation.
3. Every now and then, I hear a single loud "tick" when accelerating; when it happens, the accelerator pedal gives for a brief moment.
4. AC doesn't blow cold
5. Still needs a new oil pan gasket.
6. The engine air filter is too small. 
7. The driver's side doorjamb switch is corroded.
8. The plastic nuts for the headlight adjustment screws are cracked; can't use them.
9. Door buzzer doesn't work.

To do:

1. Replace the oil pan gasket and refill engine, maybe add some additives to the oil.
2. Get an air filter that's actually made for the truck...
3. Clean throttle body.
4. Test TPS and adjust if if needed.
5. Flush diff fluid, brake fluid, gear oil, and coolant.
6. Replace battery cables.
7. Inspect floor pan for rust, clean and seal it.
8. Replace headlight adjustment screws + nuts.
9. Replace the driver doorjamb switch.
10. Replace seat belts.
11. Replace all 4 tires + add full size spare
12. Fix door buzzer.
13. Replace side view mirror glass.
14. Finish installing new speakers
15. Chrome plate the stock wheels and rechrome the rear bumper.
16. Repaint the front bumper.
17. Get body panels repaired and painted. (Not gonna happen anytime soon!)
18. Fabricate a custom DIN mounting bracket and replace the stereo unit with an amateur radio (specifically, a Yaesu FTM-350AR. You can actually use it as an AM/FM stereo as well. Pretty cool stuff) and replace the stock radio antenna with an amateur radio antenna. I fabricated an NMO mount that actually works perfectly with the stock trim piece. It almost looks like it came straight from the factory! Needless to say, I'm in no hurry to install all of that stuff.

[dood]

New update:

 

One morning in the middle of a drive, I noticed the truck was driving rougher than usual, so I pulled over and took a look under the hood. I noticed that there was a visible spark coming from one of the spark plug wires!  It was the one that runs under the big coolant hose that you can't see at first glance. I ended up replacing the spark plugs and wires and hey presto, all of my drivetrain troubles went away. No more stalling, bucking, or jumping; everything runs perfectly smooth. I also noticed the issue with the accelerator pedal giving went away, but I'm thinking that had more to do with me messing around with the throttle cable prior to that. Something to note, I noticed that the oil leaks only after its been running. I tested the oil levels after a few days being parked and the level hasn't gone down; it doesn't leak at all when it's stopped.

 

Yesterday, I replaced the broken seatbelts with aftermarket ones. They didn't fit perfectly, but it worked out. I also installed the doorjamb switch. In case anyone has the same issue I had with their buzzer not working, the door jamb switches apparently complete the circuit needed for the buzzer to work. Mine started working after I put it in.

 

I also purchased that carpeted panel for the back of the cab from @CGCWO and installed it. (Thank you very much!)

[dood]

I also just finished installing the new speakers and I put my ham radio in the truck today. I figured I might as well get it over with.
 

I chose this radio, a Yaesu FTM-350, specifically because I could also use it as an AM/FM stereo, so I would be able to just replace the original stereo for a nice clean look. The installation ended up being a bit more involved than a regular car stereo. It doesn't fit into a standard DIN slot and it comes in two pieces: The body with all of the radio circuitry and a remote head unit that controls it.

 

 

My original plan was to fabricate an adapter to mount the head unit onto the dashboard while the body was hidden away somewhere easily accessible for all of the wires that were going to need to go to it, including the antenna wire.

 

I got a woodgrain dash panel from eBay that was a little worse for wear. It had a few blemishes and (conveniently for me) the hole for the stereo was gouged out a little bit.

 

 

I took a Dremel and file to the hole in order to even it out and make it fit the head unit.

 

 

See that bracket that's attached to the head unit in the background? That was the key to mounting it in my dashboard. Thankfully, the old radio had a DIN bracket in the old dashboard, so I was able to mount the bracket onto a hole in that without needing to make a custom adapter piece. All I had to do was cut a piece in the top of the metal to match the wood, stick the head unit on, make some fine adjustments, and put it all in. The head unit was narrower than a DIN hole, so I did have to make some pieces to cover the extra space. I ordered a textured ABS plastic sheet from Amazon and cut out two pieces for each end. It took a bit of trial and error, but I made them fit nice and even.

 

 

 

I wanted to use one of the switch panels to place a microphone mount, so I filed and Dremeled out two of the raised parts on one of the panels, as well as a notch in the woodgrain to make the mount fit.

 

  

 

 

I attached a microphone extension cable to the back of the head unit, ran that and the connecting cable behind the dashboard down by the pedals, and finally put it all in:

 

  

 

And here's the final result:

 

 

Something to note: The dashboard was not compatible with the filler trim piece that goes underneath the steering column because the gap was too big. Not even sure if there is another piece that would go with this specific dash.

 

 

As for the body unit, it's currently located underneath the driver's seat. It was a chore getting all of the cables routed through. I really should've taken pictures, but I forgot. Instead, here's a rough diagram of how I ran the wires:

 

 

I poked a hole under the seat in order to run the wires underneath the carpet, which I did with all of the wires, including the control head cable. I used a speaker wire to RCA adapter for each speaker and a RCA to 3.5mm phono adapter to plug them into the radio.

 

For power, I connected the positive wire to a 20 amp fuse tap plugged into the "RADIO" socket on the fuse box, and attached the negative wire to a ground point for the wiring harness that runs under the same plastic panels located near the hood release handle. It's a small sheet metal screw with a thick lug connector. I took it off, sanded and applied OxGard to all the contact points, and added the negative wire to that.

 

All I need to do now is replace the factory antenna. That's gonna be a huge project. I'm going to have to take off the passenger fender and route a new antenna cable to the radio, which I'm sure will take a couple days at least. Not really looking forward to that one. I'm gonna put all that on the back burner for now.

[Pete M]

I love this project!     but I don't see the pics in that last post.  

[dood]

8 hours ago, Pete M said:

I love this project!     but I don't see the pics in that last post.  

Ahh!  Fixed!

[eaglescout526]

I feel like the title is a play on Magical Mystery Tour. 
 

Looking forward to more. 

[buxmj]

Welcome and great mj! I'm in Lake Mary so definitely have to meet at a car show sometime, where are you? 

 

Buck

[dood]

4 hours ago, buxmj said:

Welcome and great mj! I'm in Lake Mary so definitely have to meet at a car show sometime, where are you? 

 

Buck

I'm actually not too far from you! I'm in Palm Bay. About an hour and a half away. Glad to know I'm not the only person with a Comanche around here. 👀