The Big Dreams Short Bed

[Jfcouper]

Hey everyone!
 

This is my first project vehicle, I'm excited that it is a comanche! In the first few stages I'm trying to keep everything as cheap as possible. I only bought the truck for $800 and after digging in, I'm seeing why. haha! I'm not intimidated with how bad it is because I'm using the truck to learn a ton of skills such as body work, welding, running brake lines, general rebuild/replace/restore.

 

I've very lofty end goals, I'm inspired by the locally-built Hoonitruck and I want to see how close I can get. I'm starting with my first bought abroad, parked on the Muskegon beach, sat for two years, rust bucket short bed base model 88.

List of things wrong from the start: (I'll update as I diagnose more but won't add newly broken things to this list)
Oh god the rust... so much rust.

Both rear wheels locked up - when I removed the plug to adjust the drum tensioner, I had to dig 1 Cup of rust out first

Engine doesn't run

Leaky brakes

Driver side frame is mostly rust

Driver side front leaf spring hanger is 75% gone 25% rust

Bumper is rusted off on the left side

Missing the tailgate

Right fender is bent in.
 

[87 MJ Chief]

Wishing you luck on your Hooniche build. Small goals lead to big dreams. Take it one step at a time as you learn. Making a to-do list marked with "priority 1", "priority 2" and "someday" will help you. Example-

P1   Get Rolling                  PB Blaster, 3lb hammer, wire wheel for drill

P1   Stop surface rust       220 sandpaper, self etching primer

SD   make roll cage           metal tubing

P2   remove bumper         cut-off disks, 3 boxes of Band-aids

 

Figure out which 'skill' you want to learn first, then start applying that to your Comanche. You know what tools / equipment / experience you have. Removing the DS fender, doing the work to get it in primer, then reinstall, would not be a loss at this stage. Sanding the wheels, fresh coat of paint, polishing trim rings and painting center caps would be cheap-n-easy, plus you'd like the way it looks each time you step out to work on it.

The first steps most of us take on a "project" are- Start-Run-Stop. If you can get it that far, most everything else will fall in to place. At least at that point you can drive it around the block, or attempt to drift it around 50-gal barrels in the back yard as you tap in to your inner-Block!

[boxyjeep]

Wow, you’re taking on a lot for your first project!  Best of luck and excited to see how it works out.

[Pete M]

love it!    welcome to the addiction!

 

start with this thread if you haven't read it yet:

 

 

 

[Warren99]

Awesome man, I took the same route a few years ago when I bought mine for $600. Still doing things to it today. I learned a lot from it, and by the looks of things there's plenty to learn on yours

[Jfcouper]

Thanks for all the encouragement, I'll definitely need all the luck! lol.

 

I'll definitely use that priorities list style. I like it.

 

I've been learning a lot from all the forum posts, especially the DIY writeups and the tips!

[Pete M]

keep readin', keep learnin'  

[Jfcouper]

My Heap of a Jeep has had many updates!
New Wheels for $130


Old axle out, refurbished the mounts, Chrysler 8.25 from a 2012 KK in.


Now that the axles are all rolling, The Jeep was then moved from my Aunt's house to my house, So I'll have more time to look at it. 

All the lines to the rear were rusted off, so I pulled what was left of them and pinched them off. Once I get it to start, I'll repair the rear lines, I've already got all the tools and lines to do it. Is capping the load prop enough or do I need to swap to a XJ prop for safety purposes? 

I wired up a new inline fuel pump, though I'm not so sure its pumping enough, I also need to figure out what to use for a tank. I have an XJ plastic tank that I might just strap to the bed and run a line through the bed grommet for a while. I've thought about getting a stainless Keg as well. Finding a 14PSI pump has made me heavily consider an engine swap.

The clutch had no pressure and I found that the clutch MC was seized. Funny enough, there was already a socket on the master cylinder bolt from the last owner. Free 18mil! A quick tap with a hammer freed it and then I gave it a good cleaning. 
 

There was a gasket between the MC and the firewall, it probably wasn't necessary, but I wanted an excuse to get the first print on the truck. With the new print and design technology, I was able to measure it, model it, print it, and install it faster than I could have even gone to the parts store and back. 

So far no leaks! Hoping that means the slave cylinder is still in decent shape.

Next up I'll be getting a fresh battery and checking spark and fuel. The TB definitely smells like its getting fuel now with the new pump. Last owner put a new distributor and plugs on it. I'm about 60% sure it has spark. I'll be going over all the cruiser tips and watching a lot of videos. The grounding tip helped me get the pump started!

[Salvagedcircuit]

Oooh. I'm watching this one. I'm thinking of doing the KK rear axle swap. Looks like a good candidate for all round disc conversion

[Jfcouper]

KK is the much later Liberty, Its factory setup has links/control arms instead of leafs. It was an absolute nightmare to even get mounted. I would highly suggest just doing an XJ 8.25 axle swap and then doing the KJ disc swap. If you're handy and could find a U-Pull with a XJ and KJ, I bet you could even do 95% of the swap there and save on buying parts. I grossly underestimated how long it would take to remove the unnecessary brackets on the axle, but maybe I'm not that good with a angle grinder. I wish I would have read more. lol.
I cut off basically everything from the dust plate to the differential, painted it black, mounted the leaf plates, and hung it on my jeep to get it rolling.
I still need to get brake hoses, plumb the brake lines, cut and fit the e-brake lines, adapt the axle U joints, and shorten my axle.
Here are some older pictures I took before trimming and fitting it. If you want some pictures of how it is now or if you want to know more about how I did it, let me know.

[Pete M]

what's the WMS to WMS measurement of the KKs?  I'm assuming it's the same as the KJs?

[Jfcouper]

  

34 minutes ago, Pete M said:

what's the WMS to WMS measurement of the KKs?  I'm assuming it's the same as the KJs?

I hadn't though to even measure that yet. I actually had to google what WMS is. lol. Without taking the wheels off, it looks like 64.5.