Project Morris: The 89 to 99 Comanche Long Bed

[RuBacon]

More to come...

[Awesome]

Can't wait.

[RuBacon]

While I would very much like to have a mostly original, reasonably restored Comanche in the collection...this is not that truck. We winched this red, 2wd, broken BA10, wasp nest of a Jeep out of a field in Northern Utah on a hot, August morning. The interior is really rough and smells like a cattle farm, but the Jeep is almost entirely stock and remarkably complete, with the exception of an obligatory cherry bomb muffler and a head unit that was wired externally across the dash to a single speaker in the driver's door...

 

 

 

Oh yeah, and the driver's door only opens when you pull down on a rope that was routed through a hole drilled in the bottom of it: 

 

 

I do like the original styling of the Comanche and early Cherokees, but I have a bit of a soft spot for the 97+ model years since my very first Jeep was a 2001 XJ. That was also the vehicle I was driving when I first met my wife, so this Comanche will be a bit of a tribute to those happy times.

 

We found a 99 XJ to use as a parts donor for the swap. It had been t-boned and while being sold as a "clean title" vehicle, it was very clear it should've been totaled and off the road.

 

 

 

We got it for a great deal, got all the parts we needed for our swap (except a passenger door), and we were able to sell off a handful of parts to recoup some money and help our fellow Jeepers with their projects!

 

Things started moving along slowly, but before I knew it, most of the parts were stripped, the engine and transmission were out, and then we only had the shell of an XJ remaining:

 

 

 

 

For future reference, an XJ rear hatch fits perfectly in the back of a Honda Element for delivery to its new home! 

 

 

What remained of the XJ was then pushed to the side to make room for the MJ to start it's disassembly process!

 

[MariaManche]

Awesome work! I am looking forward to keeping up with this build. 

[GonzoTheGreat]

This looks like it’s gonna be a good one! 

[jeff351]

before you get rid of the shell, don't forget to cut out the door striker sections so you can get the 97+ doors to latch shut.

[Awesome]

Oh gross. My '86 came with a Cherry Bomb too. Sounds soooo bad.

[Drahcir495]

 “Comanche will be a bit of a tribute to those happy times.” Don’t let your wife read this as happy times were just in the past! This, the rope that opens the door and the hatch in the back of the Honda has me laughing. Wow, did some damage on the donor XJ. This will be an interesting build 

[RuBacon]

Thanks for all the interest and words of encouragement! Now that I've had a chance to start working on the Comanche a bit, I'm getting even more excited to make some progress.

 

On 8/28/2024 at 4:34 PM, jeff351 said:

before you get rid of the shell, don't forget to cut out the door striker sections so you can get the 97+ doors to latch shut.

 

I appreciate the tip! I've been looking through your conversion for ideas, I really like how you managed the fuel tank situation!

 

I'm having similar thoughts at this point that cutting out the entire firewall may have just been better, but I went through the donor XJ and cut out a bunch of random parts I thought might be useful to transfer over to the Comanche and ended up with this pile just for the interior and doors: 

 

 

On 8/28/2024 at 6:39 PM, Awesome said:

Oh gross. My '86 came with a Cherry Bomb too. Sounds soooo bad.

 

I can see how it was probably some small-town teenager's favorite first mod, but it definitely won't be making the list of parts to be reinstalled...nor will the bailing wire exhaust hangers: 

 

 

On 8/29/2024 at 2:52 PM, Drahcir495 said:

 “Comanche will be a bit of a tribute to those happy times.” Don’t let your wife read this as happy times were just in the past! 

 

I definitely count myself lucky to have a wife that doesn't just allow a driveway full of Jeeps, but actually helps locate, repair, and enjoy said Jeep projects...the happy times continue!

 

[RuBacon]

The Comanche engine bay was dirty, but impressively complete and unmodified, the intake pre-heater hose was even in decent shape!

 

 

 

The main thing that stood out was the upgrade to a newer style radiator and a Red Green approved steering reservoir cap. Removing the air box gave me a clear view of the original cap that had been dropped and considered lost enough years ago that it had worn through the paint on the steering shaft.

 

 

Retrieved the old cap, cleaned it and the duct tape residue from the reservoir, and returned it to its original home. 

 

 

Spent some time getting the engine bay cleared out and prepared for engine removal. The wiring was all in much better shape than my last Comanche project started with, hopefully it can go to a good home and help someone get their Jeep back on the road. 

 

 

 

I then turned my attention to the interior. It was in really rough shape and almost dirtier than anything on the exterior. The more dust I kicked up, the more it smelled like a cattle farm. Luckily, it wasn't long before I had the dash and HVAC assembly removed.

 

 

Just as I turned the vacuum on to start cleaning up some debris, I noticed something interesting and barely avoided it with the nozzle. It was the original tag from when the dash assembly was manufactured. A quick Google search later, and I found out the company was actually still in business and operating to this day! 

 

 

At the end of a long evening I was organizing all the parts I had removed and got excited that I'd stumbled upon such an old QR code...then my tired brain wondered what kind of archaic technology they used to scan it when everyone lacked the supercomputer cameras that we all have in our pockets these days...then I felt kinda silly when I came to the realization that it was likely just a recently remanufactured ECU 

 

[Salvagedcircuit]

7 minutes ago, RuBacon said:

Just as I turned the vacuum on to start cleaning up some debris, I noticed something interesting and barely avoided it with the nozzle. It was the original tag from when the dash assembly was manufactured. A quick Google search later, and I found out the company was actually still in business and operating to this day! 

 

 

At the end of a long evening I was organizing all the parts I had removed and got excited that I'd stumbled upon such an old QR code...then my tired brain wondered what kind of archaic technology they used to scan it when everyone lacked the supercomputer cameras that we all have in our pockets these days...then I felt kinda silly when I came to the realization that it was likely just a recently remanufactured ECU 

 

 

That is very cool to know the dash manufacturer still exists. I do wonder what parts of the ECU are replaced during "remanufacturing". I bet they just ship them to some place in china, tell them to replace the few capacitors, re-seal with silicone, paint and bobs your uncle.