Bringing a new project home today

[Lowrange2]

Yeah, hopefully I can recoup my lost money by selling the good tail lights, flairs, fuel tank, sender and bumper. All of which are in good shape.

The bed, after further inspection, is a rusty piece of shit. When I looked at it i leaned down and looked in the fender wells. They looked good so I figured the bed would be fairly nice. I pushed on the bed above the flairs. It seemed solid...

When I got home I got a pushed harder on the bed sides at the flares and it popped loose and revealed the rust...

Now, I could do two things.

I could drill out all the spot welds on the white bed, pull the sides off, repair the white bed sides with panels cut from the black bed, then put the white repaired bed sides on the black bed. That would yield a decent looking bed if I could pull off the body work... I've never really done body work. I don't think I'd have the patience.

OR

I could TRY to do ALL the body work on the black bed. It's pretty beat up and has several pounds of bondo in it. I'm fairly certain I don't have the patience to dig out all the bondo and do that much body work to make it nice. Tho, the black bed has only lite surface rust...

OR!

I could get the truck running good and roll with a beat up truck until I find a steal on a mint bed...

If the truck wasn't as solid I'd just take the whole thing to the scrap yard... I'm frustrated as hell. So frustrated that I just realized that was 3 options. ARG!

and a dumbass, lets not forget that.

 

[Vanimal]

swapping bed sides isnt too big of a deal. i'd do that.

 

[Lowrange2]

Yeah, I agree. It'll be easy... It's just that the sides above the flairs would need to be patched...

Oh yea, There's technically nothing wrong with the white bed except the rear end of the bed rails are leaning outward... When the tail gate closes there's about a 1 inch gap between the two sides of the tailgate. I KNOW it wasn't like that when I saw it the first time... They managed to do that somehow when pulling it. I don't know if I could fix that or not.

 

[bigalpha]

I'd say make one of the beds structurally sound enough to use as a DD and get the rest of it mint. Wait until you find a steal on another bed.

I would hold off on selling the extra pieces - they can be hard to find.

 

[cody4359]

Are they that desirable? Personally, I can't stand the way they look. What do they go for?

im kinda a comanche parts hoarder but i never find them in the junkyards around me. some people like them, some dont. ive seen deals for $100 shipped before from people just tired of them laying around. did he give you a price on it?

 

[bigalpha]

That 'moonvisor' thing isn't MJ specific is it? I thought the front of the cab was the same shape as an XJ.

 

[cody4359]

a cherokee visor can fit, but it is a bit different.

cherokee lund visor 19030
comanche lund visor 19040

 

[bigalpha]

Interesting, so an XJ windshield won't fit an MJ?

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Interesting, so an XJ windshield won't fit an MJ?

Nah, it's the roof profile, not the windshield. Windshields are the same, but look at the "dome" of an MJ roof compared to an XJ. So, the visors were likely molded differently to fit that roof difference.

 

[Goose_XJ88]

i have the non-lighted visor that came on my xj. Removing it was the first mod that I did. Didnt like the look of it.

 

[kastein]

I would rock the original bed till you find a real nice one.

Assuming I find any free time this weekend I will measure the frame mounting points for the bed. I need that info for my new frame project anyways.

I bet that leaf hangar came disconnected from the truck when they pulled the rearend out, since it is SUA. Junkyard owners and workers can be some of the most contrary, mercurial dirtbags out there, especially when wielding an oxy torch or a sawzall.

 

[Lowrange2]

im kinda a comanche parts hoarder but i never find them in the junkyards around me. some people like them, some dont. ive seen deals for $100 shipped before from people just tired of them laying around. did he give you a price on it?

Honestly, I forgot. He's probably going to want an arm and a leg for it. It was in need of paint but it didn't looked cracked. I certainly don't need it laying around but if you're serious about me shipping it to you then I'll call him in a bit.

I would rock the original bed till you find a real nice one.

Assuming I find any free time this weekend I will measure the frame mounting points for the bed. I need that info for my new frame project anyways.

I bet that leaf hangar came disconnected from the truck when they pulled the rearend out, since it is SUA. Junkyard owners and workers can be some of the most contrary, mercurial dirtbags out there, especially when wielding an oxy torch or a sawzall.

Yeah, they were supposed to leave the shackles and leaf springs attached. They unbolted the passenger side front leaf spring hanger, the other front fell off completely with half the bottom side of the frame attached to it and they cut both the shackles in half... I raised hell.

 

[cody4359]

by the way thanks for taking the time to ship me the moon visor. any updates of your truck?

 

[Lowrange2]

Nope, unfortunately the transmission is still sitting in the shop floor. I've been so busy I haven't had time to put it back in. I need to go pick up a RMS and clutch alignment tool so I can do that before I put the tranmission back in. I don't want to have to pull again in the near future.

 

[Lowrange2]

Well, I'm sore as hell and the thing still isn't ready to move under it's own power.

I put the tranmission back in, got it bolted up. I some how misplaced the top two bell housing bolts so now I have to try to find some of those...

Brand shiney new clutch, pressure plate, pilot bearing, throw out bearing, slave cylinder and clutch master cylinder along with a different bell housing.

I got the external slave cylinder 'conversion' worked out. I had to do a small amount of mounting flange modifications on the clutch master cylinder to make it fit but those pre-bled kits are nice. Having to route the hose without being able to remove the slave cylinder was a major PITA but I got it in there. (Had to remove the brake booster, brake master cylinder and lines just to get it in there.)

I still have to find the top bolts, finish tightening the cross member, reinstall the drive shaft and reinstall all the brake stuff. Then I can fire it up and pray the clutch works...

Then I'll start on brakes, pull out the interior and patch the floors and cleaning it up to see what else I have to work with.

(Still need a bed)


On the bright side my buddy just sold his Toyota swb truck yesterday. He happened to be at my house and the guy that bought it didn't want his camper top so he gave it to me.

It's basically one of those 20 year old camper tops that have glass windows and looks like a box. Personally, I can't stand the way they look but it'd sure be nice to have to go camping with. It'll sit in the shed 90% of the time.

Anyways, no pictures for you to look at.

 

[Ghost]

Those top two bolts were most likely inverted torx. Replace them! IIRC they are a M10 or M12 thread. I might be way off though.

 

[Lowrange2]

I'm fairly sure they were standard bolts this go around. But I'm quite certain someone has had all this apart before so they could have replaced them with standard bolts.

I have no clue where the bolts could have gone! I put ALL the bolts in the battery tray as they come out. Unless I got some mixed up... I need to figure out how long they are. Someone needs to check that out for me.

 

[Ghost]

I'm fairly sure they were standard bolts this go around. But I'm quite certain someone has had all this apart before so they could have replaced them with standard bolts.

I have no clue where the bolts could have gone! I put ALL the bolts in the battery tray as they come out. Unless I got some mixed up... I need to figure out how long they are. Someone needs to check that out for me.

PM 5-90 he was working on a bolt index at one time. I think I might have sent him some 4 popper info back in the day.

 

[kastein]

If it is like the 4.0 it is a 3/8-16 thread. I have one in the yard, will check in a bit if I remember.

 

[Lowrange2]

I'll remind you.

Preciate it. I'll pick them up on the way home. Grade 14.