CrustyBoy Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Hello Everyone, I bought this 88 Comanche Eliminator a couple months ago and have been tinkering with it a lot. For now I just want to get it stabilized to a point where I can drive it daily. Eventually I'd like to challenge myself with some rust repair and body work but I have no experience in that realm. I would also like to do some swapping, like an 8.8" rear end and AX15. The good - It starts and runs every time. Seems to hold its fluids reasonably well. The cooling system has already been converted from closed to open. Transmission shifts smooth and clutch feels okay. The floor pans from underneath look pretty good. Haven't felt a death wobble yet. Tail gate is decent, and it came with some other desirable parts (good tail light lenses). The bad - The body is obviously rough. Windshield is cracked. It's 2WD. The engine is tired and making a few concerning noises. It has a surging idle while cold, and then idles around 1000RPM when hot. A lot of shoddy wiring work has already been done under the hood that will need corrected. The steering is very vague and there is a fair amount of play in the linkage. No A/C. Here it is the day I drove it home: Removed spark plugs immediately: This picture isn't great but the bottom plug (Cyl 1) looks a little rich, the rest look a little lean? Looks like I'm missing the front-most exhaust stud: Not sure if it is broken off in there or just gone.. Anyway, I have already done a bunch of steps from Cruiser's list. I'll be documenting those in the near future here. Planning on doing all of those that I possibly can, and making sensible upgrades along the way. Appreciate everyone's insight in my repair threads so far. There will be many more I'm sure. - CrustyBoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-tofer Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Fun, fun,,, we are doing the same thing to my son’s truck. We got him an ‘88 that has a remanufactured 4.0 from a ‘95. In the process of adding air conditioner and converting to open cooling. I already have him doing cruiser 54’s “list”. How is your reservoir bottle mounted? What kind of bottle is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrustyBoy Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share Posted July 12, 2022 The other weekend I went through the valve cover mod process, here's some pics. Before: This is the inside of the vacuum fitting that goes in the rear-most hole of the valve cover. Super clogged wow.. While I had the cover off I did run the engine for a few seconds to confirm all the rockers are flowing oil good. Seemed fine. Cleaned up: This is as far as I cared to go with cleaning the inside. Took a good bit of wire brushing to get it this far. Flutes chopped and drilled: Crappy crinkle paint job I did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrustyBoy Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share Posted July 12, 2022 7 minutes ago, Chris-tofer said: Fun, fun,,, we are doing the same thing to my son’s truck. We got him an ‘88 that has a remanufactured 4.0 from a ‘95. In the process of adding air conditioner and converting to open cooling. I already have him doing cruiser 54’s “list”. How is your reservoir bottle mounted? What kind of bottle is it? The reservoir bottle is mounted to a couple "L" brackets that have been bolted to the firewall. There is also a zip-tie holding it on there for good measure.. I am about 99% sure it is this bottle (Dorman 603-001): Amazon Some day I'd like to get a proper Jeep bottle and mount it down around the distributor where they would've been from the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-tofer Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 I have the stock bottle & mount from a ‘96. Just trying to figure out the cleanest way to do it. Your looks good and leaves lots of room to get oil filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrustyBoy Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share Posted July 12, 2022 9 hours ago, Chris-tofer said: I have the stock bottle & mount from a ‘96. Just trying to figure out the cleanest way to do it. Your looks good and leaves lots of room to get oil filter. Yeah it is definitely convenient for access around the filter and distributor. I can take some up close pictures for you that show how it's fixed when I get home later this evening. Edit: Here's how it's fastened Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 On 7/12/2022 at 10:42 AM, CrustyBoy said: This is the inside of the vacuum fitting that goes in the rear-most hole of the valve cover. Super clogged wow.. oh my! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrustyBoy Posted August 19, 2022 Author Share Posted August 19, 2022 I have begun the process of swapping my transmission with a 2WD AX15 I found online for $100. I have pretty much everything disconnected/removed at this point and just need to pull out the BA10. Here's some random pictures: The AX15. Is there no breather hose/fitting on these things? My BA10 appears to have one. Need to figure out a new rear bumper situation. Leaning toward the black Westin-Fey unit. Looks like I have a Dana 44 in the rear. Should I just rebuild it or is it worthwhile to swap in a Ford 8.8? Driveshaft out The bracket here that sits between the BA10 crossmember and the trans itself was not bolted to the trans. When I got it all loose it just fell right out.. So I think my trans was just sitting on top of the whole assembly with no fasteners this whole time. Great.. Speedo Cable. Does anyone know how to adapt this two-prong electrical connection from the BA10 to an AX15? The connection is different from one to the other. I noticed the internal slave cylinders are different between the two transmissions as well. My BA10 has a threaded style fitting for the hydraulic line. The AX15 has some kind of quick-snap disconnect thing. I'll get a picture of the difference later. Does anyone know off hand if there's a way to adapt the older style to the newer style? Would like to avoid buying another slave cylinder if I can. Edit - Here is the connection type I'm talking about: More pictures and progress soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 Keep the Dana 44, and keep plugging away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 there is absolutely a breather on the trans. though it might not have a hose coming off of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrustyBoy Posted September 27, 2022 Author Share Posted September 27, 2022 On 9/22/2022 at 4:35 PM, Pete M said: there is absolutely a breather on the trans. though it might not have a hose coming off of it. Thanks for clarifying, Pete. I've read a few places that it just breathes out the top of the hole where the shifter goes? I guess I'm just wondering if there's anything I need to connect or hook up in that regard. Just an update on my progress overall - I'm at a standstill right now because I can't find a correct crossmember (for AX15). I have tried ordering one from DeadJeep but they've had me waiting now for about a month. I'll be posting a classified here if anyone has one they want to sell me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 there was one on my 99 TJ AX-15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howeitsdone Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 Breather port is suited for 3/8" ID hose. The BA10 is 5/16" ID. Tight fit but can maybe squeeze on your old one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now