1996 Comanche build

[RockRodHooligan]

1989 Jeep Comanche Pioneer

4.0/AW4/2WD/D35/Short bed

Vent wing windows, sliding rear glass, cargo light, tilt, AC, cruise, bench seat, factory 4 speaker stereo.

 

I picked it up back on 2016 with the intention of using it as a parts truck for my 89 Sportruck for $200, no title, no keys, transmission won't shift out of park, 4 flat tires, they pulled the doghouse, and tailgate, drivers wing window was out, window rolled down(don't know how long). They had said that the drivers leaf spring was broken only to find out they cut it at the eye for the bushings, then pulled it around the guys yard by the bumpers almost ripping them off. When I saw the passenger side pictures in the add, I thought they had camo wrapped part of it, no not Mossy Oak, just moss, the plates expired 02/28/2002 so it sat for the better part of 15 years. The engine and bed were full of nut shells and other junk.

 

Came to look at it on a Friday, and paid for it, me and a friend came back the next day with a trailer to take it back home. After several hours of working on it, we got the drivers vent window back in(bottom tab rusted off), got it sat back on the drivers leaf spring(luckily they left enough to use as a cradle for the bushings still on the body), removed the driveshaft, swapped on the wheels and tires off of my Sportruck, we found out the drums were locked up and NOT coming off, so we were going to have to drag it onto the trailer. As we were doing all of this, I start noticing little things, like the interior is in surprisingly good shape(aside from the mouse poop smell and the headliner that's been chewed on), the body is in decent shape, fairly rust free(the frame is in great shape), we pulled the bed mat out with most of the nuts and junk, the inside of the bed is in pretty good shape, no rust despite all the crap that had been back there for who knows how long...... This thing looks like it has good bones.

5 hours after getting there, we finally got it on the trailer and back on the road(no help from the seller, they weren't even there). Once I got back home, I decided to take it to the car wash and spray the dirt and crap off of it so I wasn't dealing with it falling in my face once i start pulling parts off of it........ And i wanted to see what she hid under the years of dirt, see just how good of bones she had.

 

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I decided to see if there was any chance the registration was still in the glove box, and sure enough, there it was, at the bottom of a big mouse nest that filled the glove box. Some of it was destroyed by the mice(maybe chipmunks?), but the important information was still there, the names and address last people who registered it. Something was nagging at me, so i did a quick Google search of the guys name. He passed away about 6 months earlier and I found the obituary that the funeral home put up. Turns out they guy was a Jeep guy and off-roader too. 

 

 

 

 

 

[skigots]

Curious to see where this goes. Good luck to you 

[Salvagedcircuit]

Wow. She cleaned up nice. Definitely looks like a solid restoration candidate.

[RockRodHooligan]

Fast forward president day: I picked up a 96 Cherokee 4 door for $500 that had a lot of rust and rear suspension issues, but had a good running engine, transmission and transfer case work well, the dog house in good condition and intact, and the interior was in decent shape. The best part is, it was fairly unmolested.
I wanted to stick with the older body style since there would be minimal modifications needed to make everything fit, I think I prefer the older body styles, I wanted the HO motor, the 96 came with better side impact doors, and OBD2 helps with diagnosing issues.

 

I’m on a slight time/cost constraint as:

1) The lease on my ‘21 Gladiator is up next September, and after some changes in work situations, me and my wife can now car pool to work and spend most of the time driving her Toyota Corolla, we only need to drive separately 2-3 days a month. So plan is to finish the Comanche for use as a second vehicle and turn in the Gladiator, then trade her car for a 2024 AWD Prius. The MJ will still be driven year round, but only 1 day a week at best.

2) Late April I took the 1961 Impala my Dad left me to Indianapolis Raceway Park for the season opener for Cars and Coffee, they had the track opened up for Fun Runs and wanted to see what it would do. Long story short, the motor spun a bearing and I’ve got to go through the motor. While I’m in there I’m going to do some upgrades, EFI, port and polish the heads, port the oil passages, deep sump oil pan. The catch is, since the wife didn’t outright tell me she didn’t want me to take the car to the drag strip, but didn’t want me to take the car to the drag strip, and I’ve had the Comanche for almost 7 years with very little progress, I promised I would finish the Comanche before I started on the 61.

 

The floor pans in the Comanche are in bad shape(likely a leaky window and sitting for 20 years), the drivers side rocker panel and cab corner have a little rot, and there’s some surface rust inside the frame rails in the cab. I looked into having the unibody sand blasted, and got some quotes ranging from $650-$800, or to have it chemical dipped for about a grand. Seems like a no brainer to be able to eliminate ALL the rust. I’ve done rockers and floor boards before, and I’m fairly confident I can get the get the body sealed up.

 

I’m not in a position to go all in on the bodywork for decent quality paint job, especially since it’s still going to get driven year round, if only 3-4 times a month. The market isn’t quite there yet to go full restoration yet either. But I can preserve what’s still good, and repair the sheet metal where it needs it.

All things considered, I’m going to do something a little different for the paint. The interior, chassis/frame/undercarriage, engine bay/doghouse structure, etc. will all end up getting painted with POR15 and top coated black. Yes I know it works best if painted on rust, it’s not hard to get metal to flash rust. And yes I know POR15 doesn’t have UV resistance, it will be top coated. The skin of the truck, anything that would see direct sunlight, I’m going to clear coat the bare metal. POR15 makes their Rust Preventive in clear, it should work as a good primer to clear coat over. I’m not positive what rust looks like after it’s been painted with the clear, something I’m going to have to play with. I’ve got a nephew that’s a extremely talented paint and body guy, and does a lot of custom work, I need to see if he recommends anything.

Clearing the bare metal allows me to leave a lot of the little imperfections, I can even kinda half @$$ cleaning up the welds when I replace the rovers and cab corners, don’t even try to hide that it’s been repaired. If the paint gets chipped or it starts to rust, sand it clean and clear it again, move on.

[Pete M]

nice save!    I wonder what the PO's plans were for it?

 

there are a couple dozen ways for water to leak in to the cab.   be sure to find them all before putting carpet back in.