Mayday’s 91 Restoration

[Maydaymalones]

Hello everyone, I recently picked up a 91 that is pretty complete.  It is SWB, 4x4, 4.0, 5spd, with a roll bar.  It has just over 30k miles, so I have a great canvas to start with.  It looks great wet and from 10 feet, but the paint is pretty shot as the clear coat is pretty far gone. Unfortunately, I know my limits and I’m not blessed with the skills needed to accomplish what some of the others of this group have done. Hat tip to those experts!

 

Before I go any further, I feel like I should give a bit of my background as my love for jeeps started as a kid.  Shout out to my Jeep loving parents. My dad was a 35 year+ pipe-fitter and I was with him as a kid when he bought his 1978 CJ7 new from the lot, black renegade with the Levis tan seats, 304 automatic v8.  The only car he ever bought new.  I can still feel the heat from the floor board and hear his old metal Stanley thermos rolling around on the floor along with the sound of the AT tires rolling. Alan Jackson’s song “Drive” really hits home when he says “rusty old floor board, hot on my feet”.  That jeep held lots of memories on some great camping, fishing and hunting trips, and driving old tank roads on our way to deer hunting at Fort Knox. That CJ became my first car a dozen or so years later in high school.  I lost my dad last January and my mom just 7 weeks after him in February. Tough year for sure, but my love of Jeeps started with them.

 

After the CJ finally went over the Jeep rainbow, my first “car” I purchased on my own was a used 1988 Jeep Comanche.  Pic attached on the day I bought it, with my then girlfriend (now wife of 30 years).  I love that Colorado Red!

 

Later in life I bought a 1967 Jeepster Convertible.  It was a fun ride, great for a Sunday drive or a UofL Cardinal tailgate. That was a beautiful jeep but tough to find anyone that knew much about it.  Talking about hard to work on or hard to find parts…. I sold it to a guy from NJ that used to work on them.  He knew so much about them, I was glad it went to a good home. 

I currently drive a 22 Wrangler JLU, mostly stock Sahara.  I do have a cool grill though! Go Cards!    

 

It’s been fun starting the Comanche parts chase.  Expensive for sure but I’ve found some great stuff so far to really make this build out special. I did find a nice, crack free dashboard out of a 95 cherokee to replace mine (small crack).  Also some great parts from @GritHound, making me dip into my “fishermen’s fund”. (Those that have been married for a while should be able to relate to a private stash Fishermen’s fund) lol.  I HAD to get the OEM brush guard and NOS Marchal fog lights. I also have the Turbines and Caps secured!  I actually found NOS Caps, still in the Mopar boxes.  The only holy grail items left that would be a really nice addition would be a rear OEM chrome bumper or the unicorn bumper winch to go with the brush guard.  Already special thanks for some early great advice from @GritHound @Pete M @Gjeep @eaglescout526

 

I have 3 kids that I have hopefully passed the Jeep Gene to them as well.  I hope to keep this truck in the family for a long time.  More pics to come as things get updated!

[fiatslug87]

Sorry for your losses, but it’s awesome to have such great memories.

Welcome, although I see you’ve been around for a couple years. That’s a great looking truck, what happened to the ‘88?

[Maydaymalones]

7 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

Sorry for your losses, but it’s awesome to have such great memories.

Welcome, although I see you’ve been around for a couple years. That’s a great looking truck, what happened to the ‘88?

Thanks, yes, long time lurker, lol,  but was able to finally get back in the game last month.  The 88 went the way of a trade in on a Mazda MX6… not one of my best decisions. lol 

[fiatslug87]

I think we’ve all made hard/bad decisions so you’re not alone. Do you happen to have the VIN of the ‘88 to post in the registry?

[Maydaymalones]

30 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

I think we’ve all made hard/bad decisions so you’re not alone. Do you happen to have the VIN of the ‘88 to post in the registry?

Yes, 1JTHS64P6JT129415.  I tracked it down when getting back into the Comanche game, thinking it would be cool to rebuild it.  I was able to get the VIN from a nice person at the DMV.  I ordered a carfax on it and started searching FB marketplace and asking anyone that had one like it for sale.  I eventually found it in Moores Hill, IN.  It was actually for sale not long after I was searching for it, but it was too far gone for my interest. 

[GritHound]

The jeep bloodline runs deep here.  So looking forward to seeing this build.  Love the black Comanche’s.  

[Gjeep]

Great find! Looking forward to the build.