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The Lab Rat - SFR's R&D Comanche
- Thread starter StinkyFab
- Start date
Well I finally found a little time to spend on this one. It's been pretty busy in the shop lately, so the Lab Rat has been on shop truck duty rather than getting built. I've been collecting all the parts for the real parts of the build, but I decided to start with some cosmetics this weekend. I picked up a late model header panel and grille used and ordered a pair of new fenders on Amazon. I've never been a fan of the early front clip, especially the base model all black that this one had, plus one of the fenders was already a little mangled and the grille wasn't perfect either.
So here's the starting point.
First step of course is to strip off all the old stuff...
Then start test fitting. First problem I found was contact with the A/C lines going to the condenser. I forgot to take a pic, but the inside corner of the passenger headlight bucket was hitting. Just took a little work with a die grinder and everything was happy.
So here's the starting point.
First step of course is to strip off all the old stuff...
Then start test fitting. First problem I found was contact with the A/C lines going to the condenser. I forgot to take a pic, but the inside corner of the passenger headlight bucket was hitting. Just took a little work with a die grinder and everything was happy.
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The first real problem I ran into was on the radio antenna. On the early models the hole comes through right in the corner of the fender at a pretty steep angle. There's a bracket spot welded to the inside of the fender to give the base a square place to sit, and there's a plastic escutcheon on the outside to take up the angle. The new fender just has a hole on top.
Inside the old fender.
The obvious answer would of course be to just get another antenna, but I'm cheap and didn't feel like going shopping in the middle of the project. I also have a lathe and a mill and a bunch of materials. I grabbed a chunk of aluminum that had been drilled and tapped for a heim joint, but had messed up threads, drilled it out and started making a spacer to get everything to fit and sit at the right angle.
Inside the old fender.
The obvious answer would of course be to just get another antenna, but I'm cheap and didn't feel like going shopping in the middle of the project. I also have a lathe and a mill and a bunch of materials. I grabbed a chunk of aluminum that had been drilled and tapped for a heim joint, but had messed up threads, drilled it out and started making a spacer to get everything to fit and sit at the right angle.
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Next up was wiring the lights. The late model uses a totally different lighting harness with a different plug, so some adapting was in order. I'm sure there are some lists of wire colors and such on here somewhere, since this isn't the first time someone has done this, but I found the simplest way to figure it all out was to just turn on all the lights and start clipping wires and keeping track of what went out, then labeling the wire.
On the new harness I did basically the same in reverse. I did a little educated guessing on the ground wires, hooked up a jumper lead to a battery, then started jumpering positive to the other terminals to see what lit up. The late model has everything split left and right, so there are 2 wires for a lot of the stuff where the MJ harness only had one. I just twisted the pairs together and it seems to work just fine.
Add a little rattle can white, bolt it all together and you have a much more modern looking pickup.
And here it is all spliced together.
On the new harness I did basically the same in reverse. I did a little educated guessing on the ground wires, hooked up a jumper lead to a battery, then started jumpering positive to the other terminals to see what lit up. The late model has everything split left and right, so there are 2 wires for a lot of the stuff where the MJ harness only had one. I just twisted the pairs together and it seems to work just fine.
Add a little rattle can white, bolt it all together and you have a much more modern looking pickup.
And here it is all spliced together.
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- Location
- Williams AZ
If you haven't decided on lights yet, may want to consider the option I did.
Cheap ebay housings. $30ish
Bixenon hid 2.5" projectors... $67 for everything on amazon.
I cut out the rear of the housings and epoxied the projectors in. A couple hours and $100 later... I had super bright lights, with high beams, and a very sharp cutoff (so I'm not blinding people on the highway). It is seriously the best $100 I've spent on a jeep.
Cheap ebay housings. $30ish
Bixenon hid 2.5" projectors... $67 for everything on amazon.
I cut out the rear of the housings and epoxied the projectors in. A couple hours and $100 later... I had super bright lights, with high beams, and a very sharp cutoff (so I'm not blinding people on the highway). It is seriously the best $100 I've spent on a jeep.
- Location
- Torrance, CA
Why have saggy old headlights when you can have ones that reach out and point forward!
- Location
- WA state
How much for a couple of those antenna apparati?
I've been continuing with the beautification theme lately. The tailgate on the truck didn't match, and was pretty beat up, especially along the top rail. I'm not looking for show truck quality here, since it is gonna be a wheeler, but I felt like this needed a little cleaning up.
A little sanding and a little bondo....
And a little rattlecan white.
A little sanding and a little bondo....
And a little rattlecan white.
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You'll notice I didn't bother to totally paint the top rail of the tailgate. Reason is because I decided that a proper shop truck needs a proper bedliner, and I planned to bring that liner all the way over the top edge to protect it as well. I ordered up a gallon of herculiner to do the job, as I've used the stuff in the past with very good results.
Step 1 is to clean and scuff the bed. I think the scuffing was thoroughly accomplished before I bought the truck, so I just cleaned it as best I could and masked off the edges.
Used a brush to get into all the corners, seams and hard to reach areas.
While I was at it I decided to do the tops of the bed rails on my tow rig as well. This truck already has a professionally sprayed in bedliner, but also has some holes in the floor from a 5th wheel hitch I believe. The dingus that sold me the truck tried to hide this with a plastic drop in bedliner that covered the tops of the bed rails, and after just a few months had totally scuffed up all the paint. I've been wanting to do this for years, so it was the perfect opportunity.
First full coat down.
And all finished!
And just to put the cherry on top, while I was at the local Lowes picking up spraypaint one of their staff passed me with a pair of truck bed boxes on a cart, one for a full size and one for a compact truck, both with reduced price stickers on them, but no prices. I asked him about the smaller one and he grabbed the manager. Turns out they were both returns, and the one I wanted was returned for a broken latch which had since been replaced. He says "I have to get the item number to get the original price, but I'll make you a good deal"
After walking across the store to find the new ones he says "Normal price is $179, I'll sell you this one for $30." SOLD! I now have a secure place for spares, tools, etc.
Step 1 is to clean and scuff the bed. I think the scuffing was thoroughly accomplished before I bought the truck, so I just cleaned it as best I could and masked off the edges.
Used a brush to get into all the corners, seams and hard to reach areas.
While I was at it I decided to do the tops of the bed rails on my tow rig as well. This truck already has a professionally sprayed in bedliner, but also has some holes in the floor from a 5th wheel hitch I believe. The dingus that sold me the truck tried to hide this with a plastic drop in bedliner that covered the tops of the bed rails, and after just a few months had totally scuffed up all the paint. I've been wanting to do this for years, so it was the perfect opportunity.
First full coat down.
And all finished!
And just to put the cherry on top, while I was at the local Lowes picking up spraypaint one of their staff passed me with a pair of truck bed boxes on a cart, one for a full size and one for a compact truck, both with reduced price stickers on them, but no prices. I asked him about the smaller one and he grabbed the manager. Turns out they were both returns, and the one I wanted was returned for a broken latch which had since been replaced. He says "I have to get the item number to get the original price, but I'll make you a good deal"
After walking across the store to find the new ones he says "Normal price is $179, I'll sell you this one for $30." SOLD! I now have a secure place for spares, tools, etc.
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DansGreyMj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Nuevo, Ca
Looks great! You got a killer deal on that box!
Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
- Location
- In a strange land
I hope you wore a mask while you took that box out of the store.:anon:
- Location
- San Diego
bedliner looks really good.
once upon a time I lined the entire underside of my jeep with Herculiner.
in the places I haven't ground it off for welding it has held up remarkably well.
once upon a time I lined the entire underside of my jeep with Herculiner.
in the places I haven't ground it off for welding it has held up remarkably well.
- Location
- Virginia City, NV
What rattlecan paint are you using? It looks great in the pics.
It's a rustoleum paint & primer all in one. I got it at Lowes with the fancy trigger spray top. The paint looks pretty good, but I don't love the funky sprayer. It's more comfy than a normal can, but the spray pattern isn't as consistent. I also found out that you have to really pay attention to re-coat times. You either have to put the second coat on within a couple hours, or wait 2 days. I painted one of the fenders at night, then gave a second coat in the morning and it started getting all wrinkled and messed up on me.
- Location
- Virginia City, NV
Good to know. Ill have to get some.
Took a look at the interior the other day. As awesome as that bench seat is it's a bit scummy and the drivers side seems to have collapsed so you sit on a bit of an outward angle. Plan is to put some nice suspension seats in here, but with the small space of the cab I wanted to make sure things would fit before spending any big money.
Don't ask me what the stains are, I'm not sure I want to know.
It didn't get much prettier after pulling the seat out. Think I'm gonna have to spring for new carpet too.
It just so happens that I have a set of PRP roadster seats that belong to another project. These are their more compact seats designed for dune buggies and samurais. They are a couple inches narrower than their other seats, and with less of a side bolster, which is fine for me because I'm not a real big guy. As it happens the narrower width also makes them fit quite easily in the MJ, and leaves a lot of room between the seats for........stuff I guess. My dog maybe.
What didn't fit as well however was the headrest. Since it continues up at an angle it runs into the back glass before the seat gets as far back as I'd like. I'm thin, but also reasonably tall and like to have leg room. I decided to order lowback seats that'll actually go into this truck which will buy me about 2-3" more room. These seats can go back into storage until I install them in the other car.
Don't ask me what the stains are, I'm not sure I want to know.
It didn't get much prettier after pulling the seat out. Think I'm gonna have to spring for new carpet too.
It just so happens that I have a set of PRP roadster seats that belong to another project. These are their more compact seats designed for dune buggies and samurais. They are a couple inches narrower than their other seats, and with less of a side bolster, which is fine for me because I'm not a real big guy. As it happens the narrower width also makes them fit quite easily in the MJ, and leaves a lot of room between the seats for........stuff I guess. My dog maybe.
What didn't fit as well however was the headrest. Since it continues up at an angle it runs into the back glass before the seat gets as far back as I'd like. I'm thin, but also reasonably tall and like to have leg room. I decided to order lowback seats that'll actually go into this truck which will buy me about 2-3" more room. These seats can go back into storage until I install them in the other car.
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Alright, enough with cosmetics, it's time to finally start building this thing. I've been collecting parts for a while now, but I've been waiting to start the mechanical work because to do it right there are a lot of things that need to get done at once. I can't swap the trans in without building driveshafts, and if I'm gonna build driveshafts it's stupid to do it before lifting it and installing an SYE, and it's silly to do that before swapping the 8.8 into the back, and I can't do that without doing the gears. You can see how it all kinda piles up.
One of the other piles is the bumpers. I really wanted to build some nice clean tube bumpers for the truck, but didn't wanna do the front until after plating the frame and strengthening the steering box area, so that's where I started.
First the old bumper comes off and we start getting everything clean.
Then the sway bar, steering box and track bar all got pulled.
You'll notice that I also disconnected the steering from the passenger knuckle and unbolted the axle end of the track bar. This was because I wanted to swap out the stock track bar bolt for a button head. This buys me another 1/8-3/16 of tie rod clearance. I'm considering adding these bolts into my 1-ton steering kits to get just that little bit more turning angle without making contact.
For complex parts with a lot of bolt holes that need to match the vehicle it's often easier to design in sections. I started with the first 12" of the frame because that's where all the critical dimensions and bolt holes are.
After getting that dialed in it was just a matter of measuring the lengths and angles and turning it all into a CAD drawing.
One of the other piles is the bumpers. I really wanted to build some nice clean tube bumpers for the truck, but didn't wanna do the front until after plating the frame and strengthening the steering box area, so that's where I started.
First the old bumper comes off and we start getting everything clean.
Then the sway bar, steering box and track bar all got pulled.
You'll notice that I also disconnected the steering from the passenger knuckle and unbolted the axle end of the track bar. This was because I wanted to swap out the stock track bar bolt for a button head. This buys me another 1/8-3/16 of tie rod clearance. I'm considering adding these bolts into my 1-ton steering kits to get just that little bit more turning angle without making contact.
For complex parts with a lot of bolt holes that need to match the vehicle it's often easier to design in sections. I started with the first 12" of the frame because that's where all the critical dimensions and bolt holes are.
After getting that dialed in it was just a matter of measuring the lengths and angles and turning it all into a CAD drawing.
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