Project '87 Chief

So I sold my XJ due to self inflicted financial woes :wall: and took the leftover money and bought an 87 Comanche Chief from my mechanic. Apparently he bought it from a local steel company that used it to haul steel. They took the factory roll bar out and threw it away. :fool: Anyway stats are as follows:

1987 Comanche Chief 4x4

4.0L I6 with 145,000 miles

Automatic Trans

Short Bed

Dana 30 up front Dana 44 in the rear with 3.54's

Here is what it looked like when I got it.

The plans I have at this point are to:

-Paint it

-Herculine the Bed and Lower portion of body

-Lift it (4.5" springs in the front, SOA with custom leaf pack in rear to match the front)

-32" BFG A/T's on soft 8's

-Re-gear 4.10's or 4.56's not sure yet

The lift and re-gear plans are contingent on the finishing and selling of this:

Anyway the first order of business was to clean the engine bay out some

Before:

During:

After:

oops..still need to take that picture

While cleaning I put a new valve cover gasket on, new plugs, wires, cap and rotor button.

Then I decided it would be a nice time to start on the paint job:

I'm sanding off all of the surface rust and treating it with a special primer. That is the stage I am stuck at now due to the 10" freak snowstorm we just got hit with the other day.

More pics to ensue in the following weeks. Thanks for looking folks.

Looks like a great starting point. The truck looks a lot better without all of the factory decals on the side (what was Jeep thinking in the late 80's with those things?).

Did you do the underhood cleaning by hand, or with a pressure washer?

Looks like a nice truck - how is the interior?

Looks like a great starting point. The truck looks a lot better without all of the factory decals on the side (what was Jeep thinking in the late 80's with those things?).

 

Did you do the underhood cleaning by hand, or with a pressure washer?

Yeah those decals were a huge pain. Went to Harbor Freight and got a heat gun to speed up the process, but still had the glue to deal with after that. :fs1:

Yeah I did all the underhood cleaning by hand. I know some people use pressure washers, but I'm always nervous I'll get water in the electronics and cause trouble I don't want. haha

Looks like a nice truck - how is the interior?

The interior is pretty much flawless. The seats have a rip or two, but other than that the Black interior with Bucket Seats is in great condition.

Make it look like this.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13830

PS I like the decals better.

That is a nice rig, only problem with it is the decals :D . I'm getting mine all taped off tonight and hopefully going to shoot some primer in the morning and if all goes well paint on sunday :banana:

So this whole painting thing isn't going as smooth as anticipated. I've finally started shooting some paint on the thing and will try and finish up all the trim tomorrow. Also bought some herculiner today and will hopefully do that tomorrow. Sorry I only have this picture, didn't have the camera at the barn with me.

Looking good!

More details and pics on the painting process would be great!!!!!

So I got some time today to do the Herculiner. I guess it turned out pretty good, but I think some of it leaked under my masking tape. Oh well, live and learn. Anywho in terms of the painting process, I planned on shooting Rustoleum through a HPLV gun, but I couldn't get it thin enough to spray without cutting it by more than 50% with acetone and I wasn't sure how the paint would hold up. I ended up just going to Lowes and buying some Rustoleum rattle can paint. Took about 10 cans to do it all. I'm still working on the trim. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have it back together and on the road. I'm getting tired of not being able to drive it.

Here are some pics.

:banana: NEXT PICTURES....FAAAAAST. GOOD JOB

should have sprayed the "undercoating". now you are going to need alot of coats. been there done that. i did my whole YJ, and it pulled really quick where i rolled it. so i had to do it twice. and with the taping, always do 2 strips. but it looks really good. i love home done spray bombs. there the best. and when i did my car i used Tremclad and mixxed her quite thin and she stuck very well.

Don't get any on your Hootus!

:rotfl2:

wow talk about bright white in the sun

Lol @ spraying over the tailgate handle. :shake:

Don't get any on your Hootus!

 

:rotfl2:

:rotf:

Don't get any on your Hootus!

 

:rotfl2:

So I googled that and luckily I didn't encounter that problem. :rotfl2:

Lol @ spraying over the tailgate handle. :shake:

You missed the door locks and antenna mount as well. :banana:

Don't worry, I'm spraying them back black. I figure I have to tape them off to paint a fresh coat of black, so why tape them twice if I don't have too.

I'm almost done. Still need to do some finishing touches stuff. I'll post some pics in the next few days.

So it's been a little while since my last update. Not a whole lot has changed. I finished the paint job and herculiner. Didn't turn out perfect, but good enough for me. I ended up buying a 2" budget boost kit and some 31's. Me being the swift thinker I am, I bought a XJ kit not realizing that the XJ shackles are about 3/4" shorter. Anywho it doesn't look too bad and I'm planning on going bigger pretty soon anyway. Here are some pics of the progress.

Doorless

Doors in the apartment (hahaha)

I just cut the bottom part of the hinge off and trimmed the pin so that they just pop on and off

I took the speakers out of the doors and mounted them in the kick pannels

I suppose that's pretty much it for now. Thanks for looking.

So it's been a little while since my last update. Not a whole lot has changed. I finished the paint job and herculiner. Didn't turn out perfect, but good enough for me.

How did the edge lines on the herculiner turn out? Did you prep as the product recommended?

I ended up buying a 2" budget boost kit and some 31's. Me being the swift thinker I am, I bought a XJ kit not realizing that the XJ shackles are about 3/4" shorter. Anywho it doesn't look too bad and I'm planning on going bigger pretty soon anyway. I suppose that's pretty much it for now. Thanks for looking.

Check AutoZone for chevy 1500 lowering shackles. I was looking for u-bolts and I saw what I think will be a 1.5-2" lift shackle for our trucks...$29.99!

I ended up taping the edges for the herculiner and then had to cut the tape with a razor blade. It turned out pretty well. As far as prep, I had just primered it so I didnt see much sense in "roughing" primer. Its holding up pretty well (hauled some mulch and a bunch of busted up concrete and its not tearing up anywhere). It's not as thick of coverage as I was hoping and its rough as hell. Other than that, not bad at all.

So it's been a long time since I've updated. I just got a 6.5" lift kit through Rough Country. I got the Cherokee kit because it came with more stuff for the same price as the MJ kit. I was able to get it for $860 shipped to my door. I am doing a spring over in the rear so I don't need the rear springs. I spoke with my mechanic and worked out a deal for him to do the SOA in exchange for the leaf packs.

I got the front done myself this weekend and dropped it off at his shop for him to get everything else done and aligned properly. So far I am happy with the kit and can't wait to wheel it.

I only have 2 pics so far and they are with my cell phone. I will have more pics when I get it all done.

It's sitting on 31's right now, but I am going to move up to 33's and sell these 31's in a few weeks.

6.5" up front and 1.5" in rear

What it should look like after SOA (except tires will actually be on the ground)

sexy truck man!

So it's been a long time since I've updated. I just got a 6.5" lift kit through Rough Country. I got the Cherokee kit because it came with more stuff for the same price as the MJ kit. I was able to get it for $860 shipped to my door. I am doing a spring over in the rear so I don't need the rear springs. I spoke with my mechanic and worked out a deal for him to do the SOA in exchange for the leaf packs.

I got the front done myself this weekend and dropped it off at his shop for him to get everything else done and aligned properly. So far I am happy with the kit and can't wait to wheel it.

I only have 2 pics so far and they are with my cell phone. I will have more pics when I get it all done.

 

It's sitting on 31's right now, but I am going to move up to 33's and sell these 31's in a few weeks.

 

6.5" up front and 1.5" in rear

 

 

What it should look like after SOA (except tires will actually be on the ground)

 

Look almost like my 87 CHIEF

[quote="offroader461"

Look almost like my 87 CHIEF

I saw your MJ a while back and may have gained a little motivation from it. haha

ill be changing out the "tow-mirrors" for some 97-01 cherokee ones here shortly

I'm eventually gonna do that, I just don't want to deal with the holes in my door quite yet. haha