1989 Pioneer

[89SoFine]

Let's make my first post a good one! I'm a city slicker recently turned country. Moved out to 20acres in rural TN and decided I'd like to get my hands on a truck I felt would outlive me.

 

Made the plunge last week and after much research (thanks to you fine people here) got my hands on a 1989 Comanche Pioneer.

 

4.0 I6, automatic, 2WD (for now)

 

At the advice of the boards, I went ahead and pulled the carpet. All looks pretty good, currently scraping and treating the rust I did find but I thought this might be a good place to document our journey.

 

Like I mentioned before, former city slicker who's never done this type of work on any car, let alone a Comanche. I don't know what I don't know, any input or "must do's" for a Comanche noob is always appreciated.

[fiatslug87]

Welcome to CC. Nice looking truck, congrats. Make sure to post it in the Registry and someone will get you a build sheet.

[89SoFine]

1 minute ago, fiatslug87 said:

Welcome to CC. Nice looking truck, congrats. Make sure to post it in the Registry and someone will get you a build sheet.

Thank you, I'll do that!

[Pete M]

score! 

 

was the carpet wet at all underneath? 

[jpnjake]

Wow that truck is sharp, that blue is immaculate, I can’t believe the clear coat looks so good! Very nice truck

[89SoFine]

On 11/17/2022 at 7:50 AM, Pete M said:

score! 

 

was the carpet wet at all underneath? 

 

The pad on the passenger side was definitely damp. Not to the point that you could've wrung it out, but enough that it warranted replacing the pad underneath. Driver side was bone dry. But I'll tell you, since this is my first hardbody vehicle, I've got a much different outlook on water than I used to. Never thought I'd be the "no drinks in the truck" kind of a guy, but here we are.

[89SoFine]

On 11/17/2022 at 9:43 AM, jpnjake said:

Wow that truck is sharp, that blue is immaculate, I can’t believe the clear coat looks so good! Very nice truck

Thank you, this is the first car I've owned that's anything other than white/gray/black so this has been fun.

 

On the topic of color, do you know of any resources that might help me track down a touch-up kit for that specific color? I've looked at the manufacturers list of colors and there's a whole host of blue/greens, not sure where mine falls.

[Pete M]

any moisture indicates you've got a rain leak.  gotta track that down before putting the carpet back.   

[89SoFine]

Thank you! I'm out in the TN area and while it's garage kept, I'd still like to be able to drive it in the rain. I'll track it down!

[Big_Mark]

I had a leak coming from the cab vent panel cover mounting holes (those black vertical panels on the sides of the cab). There is a foam seal that goes around the sides and top of the plastic piece that can dry up. I pulled mine off, hit it with some silicone sealer then put the vent cover and my mystery leak from the back corners of my cab went away.

The Vent covers are held on by 3-4 body pins (plastics) allowing you to carefully pry/pull the covers off the truck. My front of cab leaks was from the windshield seal, other rear leaks from rear window seal.

Welcome to the club and have fun wrenching!

 

 

[jpnjake]

15 hours ago, 89SoFine said:

Thank you, this is the first car I've owned that's anything other than white/gray/black so this has been fun.

 

On the topic of color, do you know of any resources that might help me track down a touch-up kit for that specific color? I've looked at the manufacturers list of colors and there's a whole host of blue/greens, not sure where mine falls.

Here’s all the color options offered in 89, some colors were only around for a short time so sadly it may be hard to get a touch up paint. 

[fiatslug87]

Your paint code is PQ9, Dark Baltic Metallic Clearcoat, from your VIN decoding.

[89SoFine]

Thanks to both of you, y'all make this THE place for anything Comanche related. Thanks again!

[Pete M]

a trick I've used for finding the tougher leaks is to sprinkle some powder (baby, flour, etc) around in the suspect area.  the water will make tracks in it and lead back towards the source.  any al all openings are considered suspect and need to be inspected.  windshield, rear window, heatercore, any hole in the firewall, doors, etc.  I once had a windshield leak that was in an upper corner and trickled down inside of the a-piller and then dumped onto the floor at the bottom by the ebrake.  if I still had a-pillar trim in that truck I might never have spotted it.