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1988 Jeep Comanche Pioneer Project


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Okay, Not a whole lot has changed but I was still having problems with the brakes after changing the whole front set up. I figured out that I did not have all the air out of the brake line on the driver's side. I got that out and then I realized that the adjuster on one of the back brakes was locked up and would not adjust. I got that replaced and finally had a good full pedal. 

 

Then I drove it about 5 miles today and felt a pull....kinda like it was bogging down. I stoped and noticed the front brakes were smoking. Upon further inspection I noticed that my brand new rotors had some gouges on them. Sheesh. As I drove it back to the shop it was worse. Almost like driving with the gas peddle and the brake on at the same time. I could not get out of 3rd gear because it would just slow me down too much and bog me down. Double Sheesh. 

 

I got it back in the shop, got it jacked up and the tires would not spin freely upfront. I undone the brakeline between the Master Cylinder and the caliper and it released some fluid. The wheel then spun freely. I pumped the brakes again and the same thing happened. This time I check at the Master Cylinder. In the end I found that it looks like I need a new Master Cylinder so I ordered one and it will be here in the morning at 7. 

 

I will update the post if that gets me going. 

 

Jeep Life :comanche:

 

Few pics just for the thread. 

 

 

 

 

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I hope that fixes it for you. Just another simple test is to take the vacuum check valve off the booster to release the vacuum. If the brakes free up, you could have a bad booster or improper pedal spacing. Ran into that on mine, but that was with a WJ booster/master. 

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Well, the master cylinder change seems to have done the trick. Today I took it on its true Maiden Voyage..... for me at least. 

 

I put 25-30 miles on it today. Brakes seem to work pretty well now. Truck drove well in town and on the interstate. Most of the gauges seem to work. The temp gauge is a little iffy and would not really get all the way up to temp. All my lights worked well including blinkers and such. Heater worked well. Seatbelt lights came on. Upshift light was working properly. Overall it was a pretty decent first real day of running. 

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Part of this whole thing with the Comanche is me wanting to drive it and enjoy it while doing things to it as needed. Of course I want to do all the normal stuff such as lift, tires, paint and so on and so on but I must also fight my urge to completely tear it all down. I want to keep the truck running and not just have a complete build going on. 

 

My ultimate goal is to lift it enough to run 33 inch tires. My JKU has 35s but I think I want to say around 33 with the Comanche. 

 

 

One of the things I did yesterday was hook up a small trailer that I got recently and took it to my father in law's shop so I could put some lights on the trailer. It did not have any good lights. 

 

Once we got the lights on the trailer we found out that the plug on the Comanche had some shorts. It sometimes would make the right blinker come on and sometimes it would not. Also the same on the left side. The running lights were non existent. After some testing and tracing it down we found that some old connectors were the problems so we replaced all of that and got all the lights working on the trailer. 

 

Don't have a lot of pics of that process as it is just a bunch of testing wires and connections but did snap a few pics from the day. 

 

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Yesterday evening I started to take the interior out in preparation for addressing any rust issues along with installing a new vinyl floor mat. 

I wasn't able to finish because  I ran out of time yesterday but my plan is to take the carpet out and address any rust which I believe to be minimal and mostly surface rust. I am going to get rid of all that and then do a coat of Por15 and then going in with Noico sound deadener through out the cab. I will then replace the headliner. I am going back with new vinyl mat instead of carpet. The original bench seat is at the upholster shop getting redone in all vinyl rather than the cloth/vinyl that it came in. 

 

Here are a few pics yesterday. 

 

I was able to peek under the carpet and it don't appear to be all that bad. Just mostly surface rust. 

 

I am taking my time because I do not want to crack any of the 33 year old plastic parts. Since this is my first time doing a project like this I am having to figure out how it all attaches and where the screws and such are. Some were hidden and some were clips. 

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Saturday I got to spend a little time on the interior again. 

 

Yall know that the bottom seatbelt bolt don't give you much room for a wrench in there and someone already had the bolt head stripped out. One thing about this being my first project truck is that when something comes up (like this stripped bolt head for example) I may not have a tool or something on hand to help with the problem. I had a pair of vise grips but they were cheap made and the bolt was just flattening the teeth of the tool. I ended up going to Home Depot and getting a pair of good ones along with a pipe wrench. Once I got the bolt moving I with the vise grips I then switched to the pipe wrench to be able to move faster and not have to keep moving and locking the pliers. Was a pain in the butt but I got it removed. I will be looking for a new bottom bolt for the seatbelt and not putting that one back in. 

 

Once all of that was done I was finally ready to remove the carpet. 

 

Just as I suspected...... it is mostly surface rust (thank you Lord). 

 

On a side note, my new vinyl mat will be in on Monday. I plan to use today to wire wheel the surface rust away, remove it all, clean it up, degrease and metal prep for the POR-15. 

 

The gray mat that runs along the front of the cab must go all the way up the firewall. I removed the fasteners that I could see but it still won't come out. I ended up just cutting it as far up as I could reach that way I can go up further with the POR-15. 

 

 

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be sure to follow the POR15 instructions exactly.  this includes making sure that the metal's temperature is high enough. :L:  ambient air temp alone isn't good enough and if the metal is still cold, you can have adhesion issues. 

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3 hours ago, Pete M said:

be sure to follow the POR15 instructions exactly.  this includes making sure that the metal's temperature is high enough. :L:  ambient air temp alone isn't good enough and if the metal is still cold, you can have adhesion issues. 

Thanks for the pointers. I did read where it says that 70 degrees and up works best. It’s 65 here today. Maybe I should heat up my areas with a heat gun before applying the Por 15 coating. 
 

I have been following the metal prep instructions each step of the way though. 
 

 

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15 minutes ago, Pete M said:

I would wait if possible.  contrary to what the temp in florida was last night, spring is coming. :D   apparently that stuff is very temp sensitive.  :(

Is there something out there that is not as sensitive? I’m not really able to wait very long. 

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3 hours ago, Pete M said:

can you put an electric space heater in the cab overnight?

 

only other product I'm aware of that does a similar job is Chassis Saver. 

I decided to wait. I want it to be right. I’ll either hook a heater up in it or just wait a little longer. I’m in south Louisiana. Maybe we will get warm soon. We have been having an unusually cold winter. Not freezing cold but seems to be more cold days than normal. 
 

 

instead of doing the cab floor I decided to go ahead and paint my interior plastic trim pieces. 
 


how hard it it to take the top part of the dash out? I have a hole and couple cracks. 

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2 hours ago, watchamakalit said:

Unless you can repair it in the truck that will require the entire dash to come out. Probably easiest to just source a different dash and swap.

Sounds like a good idea. I am a little hesitant about pulling the entire dash. Everything works and I don't want to mess anything up but I guess eventually I will tackle it. Maybe just label the wires as I disconnect them. 

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9 hours ago, JWheeler331 said:

Sounds like a good idea. I am a little hesitant about pulling the entire dash. Everything works and I don't want to mess anything up but I guess eventually I will tackle it. Maybe just label the wires as I disconnect them. 

Its a decent project but not a bad as everyone instantly assumes. Take pictures and label things as you go and take notes of silly things you aren't sure you will remember.

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