First 'Manche! - '86 Longbed Restoration

[89 MJ]

The 97+ pedals are not the same as 84-96. Something to keep in mind. 

[aris_garage_builds]

1 hour ago, 89 MJ said:

The 97+ pedals are not the same as 84-96. Something to keep in mind. 

Yeah since I have the 97+ master cylinder I'm not sure yet which pedals I'll need. Which is why I took the 97+ pedals with the transmission to be safe. I've also got my current pedals I can reuse, I'll have to see which work best once I have the new master cylinder in place on the firewall. 

[89 MJ]

23 minutes ago, aris_garage_builds said:

Yeah since I have the 97+ master cylinder I'm not sure yet which pedals I'll need. Which is why I took the 97+ pedals with the transmission to be safe. I've also got my current pedals I can reuse, I'll have to see which work best once I have the new master cylinder in place on the firewall. 

Good plan, you’ll likely reuse your stock pedals, but those 97+ pedals are fairly valuable. 

[aris_garage_builds]

To cover some stuff I missed over the break, I was able to find a few key items for the Comanche. First, after lots of hunting, I was finally able to track down a long bed topper on facebook marketplace. I appears to be a Leer topper and fits perfectly. It needs a repaint, and one of the windows repaired, but otherwise is watertight and in pretty great shape! 



I also ordered a hitch from Krusty here on the CC vendors section. It fits like a glove and will be great to have for small towing jobs once the truck is running again! The truck came with Wey bumper which is not compatible with the hitch (they share the same mounting holes and don't fit together) however this bumper is super dented and rusted beyond saving. So I was planning on removing it anyway. I plan on getting a JCR DIY Bumper to replace it, which I might have to fab up a custom mounting solution for to fit with hitch - I'll cross that bridge when I get there haha.



The bumper was dented / missshaped enough that it made significant contact with both the bed and the tailgate. You can see where it would grind when lowering the tailgate based on where the paint has been scuffed up. I've also got some pretty massive dents on the bed corners from the bumper hitting it. However there's rust in that area that needs removed anyways, so I've ordered new bed corners from Key Parts to replace entirely with clean metal. Lots of bodywork in my future 

[aris_garage_builds]

Lots of progress on the 4.0 rebuild. Made a trip to the junkyard to grab some XJ odds and ends that I was missing, and then got everything cleaned up and hit with a coat of paint. 

   

Once everything was ready to go, I began assembling. The bottom end came together fairly quickly. The only thing that gave my issues was getting the oil pump pressed into the pickup tube. I tried all the usual tricks but still couldn't get it in. I ended up grabbing a special tool / driver and it immediately pressed in. Best $20 I've spent so far Proform 66491 Oil Pump Pick-Up Driver Tool



  



The top end however, I ran into a bit of an issue when installing the valve train. This block is from a '99 XJ and I didn't realize that was a transition year where the valves + retainers switched from a single groove to a triple grove. The new Melling Valves I ordered have the older single groove design while my existing retainers were the triple groove. Luckily a new set of retainers were fairly cheap, albeit backordered so they took a few weeks to arrive. Crown Automotive Valve Spring Retainer Keepers 33003521. Once they finally arrived, they fit like a glove.

[89 MJ]

The color of the valve cover is excellent

[aris_garage_builds]

1 hour ago, 89 MJ said:

The color of the valve cover is excellent

Thank you! I'm really happy with how it came out. I used a two part Duplicolor Metalcast paint. Starts with a metallic base coat and then layers on an anodized red on top.

[aris_garage_builds]

More progress on the rebuild. With the new valve retainers I was able to get the rest of the valve train buttoned up. Now onto accessory drive. Weather has been a bit bad for body work, but I got my key part replacement bed corners in. It should clear up soon and I'll start stripping what's on the truck to prep for welding. I'll also need to do a little fabwork in the engine bay before I begin swapping things over. I've got the pesky 86 firewall which won't quite clear the 4.0l - I know most folks just push it back a few inches with a BFH, but I wanna try to weld in a piece of an XJ panel. Planning on doing the same for the radiator support and hood support. 

  

 

  

I also managed to snag a HVAC box from a '95 XJ - My MJ did not come factory equipped with AC and I figured when I already have the dash pulled apart for the swap there's no better time to add it. The old box was pretty disgusting inside... so I scaped off all of the crusty foam, power washed and scrubbed it out with dish soap, and re-foamed it inside. This took significantly longer than I'd care to admit, but I think it will be well worth it for cold AC in the summer. Plus there's no chance I get my fiancée to ride along in the jeep without it  The entire box is covered in a mix of 1in and 1/8th thick foam (I tried 1/4 at first and it was just a bit too thick to clear in certain areas. Getting some with an adhesive backing made it way easier to mount, all I had to do was trace over the old foam shapes and cut it out. New Heater Core, AC Evaporator Core, Blower Motor, and Resistor are going in the box as well.