ghinmi Posted January 13, 2023 Author Share Posted January 13, 2023 The ol truck needed a battery badly since the brand new parts store brand one I bought last year died already. Sometimes the planets just align because as I was getting ready to buy a new one, someone from optima very graciously decided that they needed one of their yellow tops in a certain Comanche. It looks good in the engine bay but it'll need to be relocated for weight balance and so the air filter can go in the stock battery spot. Thanks Optima! Also have still been chipping away at the interior and have it pretty close to complete now. The seat is actually in pretty respectable shape after tons of scrubbing. It was gross. The doors need to be assembled before the panels can go on. Which isn't just as simple as assembling the doors. Maybe I'm a bit odd but I can't stand the 97+ mirror upgrade and much prefer the correct ones. So I need to rebuild and restore an original pair which means making one off parts and such. More on that later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 Another example of parts that you just can't get anymore. Reverse engineered and 3d printed in abs. Will see how the hold up. Have to restore the mirrors before I can install. I can't stand the later style mirrors so fixing up the originals is a must. Snapchat-1814854853.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren99 Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Thats awesome! Would you ever make a pair of those and sell them? I have a good set of spare mirrors and ofc those pieces are crumbled and brittle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 Dzimm makes them for sale, they’re in the vendor section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren99 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 oh alr ty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 16, 2023 Author Share Posted January 16, 2023 Oh wow, had no idea someone else was making them. If anything it gave me a chance to learn more about 3d printing so I'll be more prepared for the next project. And I'll have a link to send to everyone that has inquired about buying them from me since I don't have the time right now to do so. Looks like he's got a lot of parts people need! Also found all the factory jack pieces and got them in. And a nice set of scuff plates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 Not much visible progress to show as I've been preparing the truck to have glass installed. The rear window is ready to be painted tonight and will have photos of that soon. In the mean time I put the printer to use again, this time to make a cover for the clutch master cylinder hole blockoff. I tried to make something Jeep-ish that paid tribute to the 1988 RaceTruck Challenge championship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 Was able to get together a pretty presentable back window and gasket set. I also got the passenger side door mostly assembled. And the glass guy got the rear window and new windshield installed. Have to get the driver's door assembled and the cab will be sealed up finally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxyjeep Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 That color really pops! Looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 Thank you! It'll look even better when everything is buffed out finally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren99 Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 10/24/2022 at 11:06 AM, ghinmi said: It's getting to be tinkering season again. Here's the reason I'm calling it the SRT Comanche. It's getting a 2.4 turbo from a PT Cruiser which is identical to the SRT4 Neon. I'll be doing major reconfiguring to make it a rear wheel drive application. I have sourced a Ford 4r70w transmission from a Crown Vic that I'll be adapting. I also have purchased some low end scanning equipment that will be useful in determining fitment in the truck and designing mounts/brackets. Wait so you can just get an SRT4 engine from a PT Cruiser? What models had them? How rare are they? That's crazy I would have never known! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 Yessir. Only difference between the turbo PT engine and the SRT4 is the intake manifold. They used them in various models of PT Cruisers from 2003-2007. Offered between 180 and 230 hp depending on year/model but it was just tuning differences, the engines were the same. They're not that uncommon. Certainly easier to find in the boneyard than a SRT4 Neon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren99 Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Thats pretty cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 we had one in the family back in the day. the GT model. 230hp and a manual transmission made that car way more fun than it should have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 Finally got the parts in to rebuild the original lock cylinders. Just waiting on gaskets to install them. Been working on finally buffing out the rest of the panels. Finally got a good system figured out that I'm happy with. Then also got the bed undercoated and put back on. I got very lucky and the parts truck had a set of cab vents that cleaned up exceptionally nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Curious, which tonneau cover is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 It's a Downey Products cover. I bought it at the end of 2021 and unfortunately I think they went out of business shortly after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 Tonight's progress was minor but still got a few items checked off the list. The mechanisms in both mirrors were broken beyond repair but had good buckets. I was able to find a set of mirrors in the local scrap yard with saveable mechanisms but destroyed housings. The one side just needed a good soaking to free up. The other had one cable that had come loose via the pot metal crimp breaking off. I was able to repair that by tapping for #2-56 screws and making a strap to hold it in place. I put JB Weld in there before final assembly. Will be good for the life of the truck. Also got both housings stripped and ready to be put in epoxy when it's paint time for the rest of the body parts. And finally got the hood buffed out. Just have one fender and half of a door left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpnjim Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 On 1/6/2023 at 10:29 PM, ghinmi said: Regarding the Liberty/Wrangler 2.4, it's got some stuff that's more convenient but some things are more of a challenge. The blocks are very similar with some key differences. The turbo engines have piston oil squirters, the turbo oil drain back, better material valves, etc. But the Jeep engines have more conventional engine mounts. The front accessory drive is where things get sticky. The accessory locations are very favorable BUT interfere with the #1 intake runner. So the Jeep engines have a very poor design and will not hold up to boost. No real way around that without moving the accessories around. Also, the Jeeps have a steel oil pan and more conventional oil pump which would be less work. But the oil pump is discontinued and also a lower volume than the turbo engines. Long story short, a Jeep 2.4 would be a relatively simple swap if you kept it stock and were ok with getting beat by stock 4.0 rigs. But as soon as you add boost and try to make power all the parts that made it a simple swap become problematic. Unfortunately this swap is just a lot of work no matter how you slice it. I knew that going in and I enjoy the challenge. You're correct on the bellhousing stuff. People have used the Jeep bellhousing to put the ar5 and ax15 behind them. I had considered it but the issue is that you're stuck with the Jeep dual mass flywheel that I don't trust with decent power. And there's no off the shelf replacement. Which is why I ultimately decided to adapt to Ford modular. I'll be able to bolt on any of the auto or manual options from the flywheel back. Just in case I end up hating the automatic. Thanks ghinmi for the explanation, I guessed there was an answer for your approach with this build. I would love to do a similar (but far less amazing!) turbo Cherokee/Comanche, knowing what the differences are is helpful. And thanks for all the thread updates, it really is amazing to see all the attention to detail as the build unfolds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 Battery location is a little unconventional on this one. I didn't want the weight and clutter up front. Also didn't want it taking up space in the bed. I'm mounting it under the bed in front of the axle. This keeps the weight centralized and low which will help the dynamics compared to mounting it back by the bumper. Amazon had a decent battery box for this side mount application. I just had to make some 1 1/2" long spacers and weld them to the frame. Here's a good example of why I'm so slow at building things. These relay and power distribution blocks from Amazon are actually really nice but I was unhappy with the mounting hardware. Had to source alternate hardware which takes a couple days because everything on the truck is metric and I want to keep it common. Then because they're not mounted to a flat surface each standoff had to be ground to a specific height to get the two blocks lined up correctly with eachother. And the screws underneath also fit to their respective standoff. The end result is a factory fit and easily accessible fuses and relays run right along the path of my main engine bay harness. Could've had this done on Monday with some zip screws... Also got tired of looking at the unpainted header panel so I fogged it black. Doesn't matter because it all gets covered up. But looks more respectable until then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 I bought a small stack of old truck magazines at a swap meet this weekend and found some cool Comanche stuff. First is a Trailmaster ad for lowering kits. Never knew they made something like that. Also an Archer Racing ad. And finally, a test drive of one of the Archer race trucks. Really cool stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 heck yeah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghinmi Posted February 11, 2023 Author Share Posted February 11, 2023 Intercooler came in yesterday. Fits like a glove, will just need to make brackets. It definitely will not fit with the 4.0 style radiator and condenser as they don't leave any room with the way they are pushed so far forward. But luckily I have lots of room to the front of the engine and can use the 2.5 placement. It's a Treadstone TR11 intercooler, claims it's good to 560 HP which should be enough. After significant modification to the bumper brackets and end cap mounts to get everything to fit the way I want, I started playing with grille options. As a joke I put a chrome one on there and surprisingly it's not bad. May stay that way. Will see if it continues to grow on me. VID_20230210_213403477.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxyjeep Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 I vote for the chrome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpnjake Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 I second the chrome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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