Project New Gen Comanche

Got the annual notice to get this rig emissioned and registration renewed......... ugh. Always the dreaded "Will it pass?" anxiety.....

So, today I dragged it out of storage and ran it down to the sniffer station. While waiting, I surf Craigs and I come across a fiberglass air dam for an early '90's S-10. It REALLY looked like it could work as an option for the $400+ Archer reproduction......no not even close in appearance, but definitely in function. Guy was asking $100 and willing to meet me after my emissions test.

I go out and look it over put it in front of the truck and I think I can make it work. I offer the guy $40 and he takes it!

It's designed to go over the original S-10 bumper so my first fitment will be to take off the end caps and bumper pads and see if it'll hang on the MJ bumper and how it looks. I think the first set of indentations (for S10 turn signals) may interfere with the bumper so I may have to cut some clearance holes in the bumper. If it looks good that way, I'll have to shorten the ends that go back to the fender wells. They're about 3"- 4" too long.

If I don't like how it looks covering the bumper, then I may hang it from the bottom of the bumper and cut off that lowest part of the dam where the 2 narrower indentations are. The turn signal indentations could make for some nifty brake cooling vent intakes.........

Unfortunately, the guy couldn't remember the manufacturer of this bumper cover, he customizes trucks and said this got stashed in his garage attic for years........ I'll see if I can find something out about it.

oh and the truck passed with flying colors....... :D

Anyway, here's a couple pics of it sitting in front of the MJ:

IMG_20141205_162903863_zpsl0bryv88.jpg

IMG_20141205_162832652_zpse9cpsuz5.jpg

IMG_20141205_162845121_zpsl2c8bnh8.jpg
 
Mr.Smith said:
That will be pretty damn cool if it works. Are you going to paint it, two tone it, linex it? Anxious to see what you can do with it.
Click to expand...

Going for a similar air dam look to the original Archer trucks , but I'm keeping mine 4.0L and 4x4.

I'll paint it body color and look for creative ways to make it removable without too much work...... Dzus fasteners or possibly weld nuts behind the bumper and use large pan head flush mount torx bolts..... dunno.
 
If anyone knows of a WJ being parted out or someone that did a lift and axle swap and they have a good low pinion D30 with the big brakes and a good 242....... gimme a holler.
 
Well no doubt lots of you saw my for sale ad looking to thin the herd. Most of that was motivated by having hurt myself recently - bulging C5 spine and resulting severe left arm nerve pain. Many treatments and therapy appts and a cortisone shot later and I'm back up and running at about 80%....... lol. And feeling better is not helping with my addiction.


While I would really rather most of my trucks find new homes with folks enjoying them........ I can't leave any orphans behind.


Its a super nice '87 short bed 4x4, originally a 4 banger with an auto. I've known this truck for about 4 years, belonged to a friend Bob and fellow ComancheClub member. Bob bought one of my other MJ's as well back then and traded this truck a year and a half ago for the paint work on his other MJ.


Anyhow, that painter took this truck as payment from Bob, but then apparently owed another guy money and that guy told the painter he'd sell the truck for what he could get for it and put it toward his balance owed. It was on Craigslist for $3K for a month, then $2K for 2 weeks and then today down to $1500. I called, he agreed to $1200. Oh, and the guy lives 6 miles from my house...... I'm like - how can I NOT go rescue this truck!?!? Back when Bob had it, it had been freshly painted, super straight and rust free.


There may be a title issue with the truck...... won't know until I try to title it with the DMV so I've got a call in to Bob to see if he has the previous owner's contact info when he bought it - just in case I gotta try to get them to go get a duplicate title and make a correction. Yeah, this kinda stuff is always "fun"..........


Took it to the car wash to blast off all the layers of crap that was on this poor thing. I discovered that the "jeep" letters are barely glued on (supposed to have those stamped nuts on the back of the studs).... the "J" went flying off during the wash. The front fenders and header panel are held on with only the bare minimum of screws and bolts, the lower parts of the front fenders were flapping around when I washed it.


This truck also appears to have been optioned with the skid and hook package but the gas skid is gone as are the hooks. It also has factory roll bar brackets with holes in the bed..... unfortunately no roll bar. The interior is in pretty good shape, but the color of the velour seat inserts and velvet-ish headliner are a bit to Ricardo Montalban for my taste. Not real complimentary to the original color.

So, yeah....... I have 7 MJ's again.......... :doh:

Back when Bob had it, shown with the silver one I sold him......

008.jpg


IMG_20141210_144331633_HDR_zpsqrrfyexv.jpg


IMG_20141210_144452197_zpsde5xacrz.jpg


IMG_20141210_144503702_zps8ffvfn1h.jpg


IMG_20141210_144249864_HDR_zpscog0dbwv.jpg


IMG_20141210_144510926_HDR_zps4ldbi2sy.jpg



This is the only body damage and "new" to when I last saw it when Bob had it. It's a shame, but at least it's not worse. The paint isn't the best job and has kind of a hazy texture to it, I'm hoping it'll buff out nice.

IMG_20141210_144319234_HDR_zpspf3iot4p.jpg
 
Last edited:
in4aride said:
No pics??? And 7?!?!
Click to expand...

No pics? You gots issues, there's pics.

Yep, 7 friggin' MJ's. '91 Eliminator, '90 Eliminator, '88 burned red, '88 red 4cyl, '89 raceTruck, '89 Metric Ton Dually project and this newest '87.
 
skycrawler said:
soo does the new to you 87 shortbed need a home?
Click to expand...

4 of my 7 MJ's need a home....... lol. Yes, this one will need a home, eventually. I first wanna get the title swapped to a Colorado title. This one may have title issues and could become a bit of a project just to get that straightened out.

I began filling out a VIN Verification form and when I got to the mileage box...... well....... THIS might be an issue as well........ LOL!

IMG_20141211_104220097_HDR_zpslz6xspsl.jpg




No idea how this ended up this way........ I got in touch with Bob. Gonna have to ask him if he recalls this odometer being like this when he got it. Probably not the biggest deal anyway since the truck is old enough, it's odometer exempt when being titled...... all my other MJ's have a "0" in the odometer spot on their respective titles. Worst case, I guess I throw in a different cluster. Just shocked the shit outta me when I first looked....... :laugh:
 
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jdogg4 said:
love the silver one both are nice looking.
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Looks like this now. Sweet truck for sure but he got massively screwed by the painter. He should have never completed the trade....... long, long story. Painter had it for over a year, lost (or stole) parts, had to re-paint a lot of it, bad color match on repainted areas...... dude is a crackhead and a huge liar. I personally wanted to go render that painter unconscious with a busted jaw.

006_zpsde8ea98c.jpg
 
Last edited:
YELLAHEEP said:
Looks like this now. Sweet truck for sure but he got massively screwed by the painter. He should have never completed the trade....... long, long story. Painter had it for over a year, lost (or stole) parts, had to re-paint a lot of it, bad color match on repainted areas...... dude is a crackhead and a huge liar. I personally wanted to go render that painter unconscious with a busted jaw.

006_zpsde8ea98c.jpg
Click to expand...

Yeah nice truck, but you can definitely see the color difference in the door.

One of these years maybe I'll build an MJ.
 
LOL....... good gawd. Went to the DMV to at least try to get the title work started or done on my latest MJ acquisition. Was pretty certain I was gonna strike out.........

Stupid-easy. No problems at all. She wasn't concerned about the signature not having the middle name. The only thing that almost kept her from getting the title work done was that the GA title didn't the truck's GVW on it. She initially said I'd have to take it to a scale and bring back a certified weight slip....... then she said she might have a source. She went to the "archives" and found some old book for '87 model year cars and was able to find it in there. When she went out to do the VIN inspection, she was an older gal and said she didn't want to climb up on the trailer and asked that I read off the VIN on the dash. When she asked about the odometer reading........ she also said "I know the truck is exempt, it's just a block I gotta fill in on the Verification form." So I looked at the dash and gave her a few random numbers ....... yeah I fibbed..... sue me..... :shhh:

Friggin' DMV. :D
 
Did it up here didn't ya?:yap:
 
Pretty sure I saw the white one you sold to the guy in Woodland the other day on my way to work. Love the way that silver one looks.
 
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