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Question for the jeep heads out there, I have a friend who is here from Ireland for a few years and wants a fun car, he really likes the idea of a jeep. We test drove a 1990 wrangler here in Raleigh with the 4.2 6 cyl in it. I looks like the PO did a mechanical restoration (most outside parts of the engine were rebuilt or replaced) and has a rebuilt carb. It also appears that every bit of the emissions control equipment was removed. Drove it and it appears to run great, the downside it has 198,000 miles on it. Now if it had the 4.0L Chrysler engine I would have no qualms about giving him the go ahead, but I don't know much about the AMC engine, is it as reliable?
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May 5, 2008 15:41
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It's not as great as the 4.0, but still a pretty good motor. I wouldn't really have a problem with buying it, personally. Sounds like the guy took good care of it. I see 4.2s on craigslist a lot for a couple hundred bucks, so if it does go it won't be too bad to replace.
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May 5, 2008 16:04
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Isn't the 4.0 a direct descendant of the 4.2? I always thought the problems people had with the 4.2 was the "electronic" carb / early FI, etc.
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May 5, 2008 16:40
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Disciple of Pain posted:Isn't the 4.0 a direct descendant of the 4.2? I always thought the problems people had with the 4.2 was the "electronic" carb / early FI, etc. I could have sworn it was the other way around
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May 5, 2008 16:46
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Yeah, it is. There were a lot of improvements. I think a big one is oiling. I've heard of a lot of 4.2s spinning bearings. They are still good motors, but they don't have quite the tolerance for abuse as the 4.0s.
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May 5, 2008 16:49
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Hooray! All my hopes and dreams came true. Well, not quite, but close. As of today, I am the proud owner of a blue 1987 Jeep Comanche, 4.0 litre, 5-spd, (working) 4wd, and as rust free as it gets in Michigan. The bottom of the box is even 100% solid. There are a few things that make you go "hmm", such as the GM steering column/wheel/ignition key, but other than that, its fine. Pictures coming as soon as it stops raining and being lovely out.
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May 11, 2008 19:53
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russ6570 posted:1987 Jeep Comanche, 4.0 litre, 5-spd, (working) 4wd This is like winning the lottery, good find. Except I think 87 had the Peugeot transmission, yucky.
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May 11, 2008 21:46
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SNiPER_Magnum posted:This is like winning the lottery, good find. Except I think 87 had the Peugeot transmission, yucky. Yea, it does. An AX-15 swap wouldn't be too hard, and they aren't too hard to find, right? I hope? Here it is: 
russ6570 fucked around with this message at 01:21 on May 12, 2008 |
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May 12, 2008 01:16
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Looks great, although I'd personally drop the bed cover and roof runner lights.
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May 12, 2008 01:34
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You'll need to get the transfer case (NP231) with the AX-15, too. I think it'd be too much trouble to adapt the NP207 you have now. Plus the NP207 just isn't as good and the NP231 has a lower low-range.
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May 12, 2008 01:37
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The King of Swag posted:Looks great, although I'd personally drop the bed cover and roof runner lights. Way ahead of you on the topper, but I'm not sure about the roof lights yet. I disliked them at first, but I actually am starting to like them more and more. And for 800 dollars, who am I to complain? SNiPER_Magnum posted:You'll need to get the transfer case (NP231) with the AX-15, too. I think it'd be too much trouble to adapt the NP207 you have now. Plus the NP207 just isn't as good and the NP231 has a lower low-range. Yea, I have already been thinking about doing that this summer. We'll see though, everything is in good condition, so no reason to fix whats already working. I'll take more pictures in a few days when its registered and insured in my name.
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May 12, 2008 01:48
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Nice looking Comanche! And if you don't want those roof lights, give them to me! I absolutely adore the way they make any truck look. Get a picture of them on at dusk will ya? Also, I'm currently doing an AX-15 swap in my '89 Cherokee. It had a peugeot and it's starting to grind in every gear and it has horrid driveline slack. The swap is fairly straight forward. Take the AX-15 and a 23 spline transfer case, and measure the input shaft on the AX-15 to make sure your pilot bearing will work. If not, one from a V8 CJ-5 will work I believe. I personally took an AX-15 out of a 1990 XJ, and an NP242 from a 91 XJ. That way I will have AWD (well, full time 4x4) for dirt roads and winter time. Whee! Total cost is around 300 bucks for everything. Gotta love self serve junkyards. Also I love that blue 
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May 12, 2008 01:53
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Nice truck. I have been tempted to add running lights to the cherokee. I have a guilty passion for vehicles that look like christmas trees. Evidence from last christmas. 
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May 12, 2008 01:57
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I have a 2004 Jeep Wrangler with the soft top. There is a small tear at on the top side of the top. What would be my best option for fixing it, ideally inexpensive but not overly cheap? *Also, could someone tell me what size fuse needs to go into the interior fuse box for slot #4? Pulling this fuse disables the interior lights when you have your doors open/off. I removed it several years ago and want to replace it, but I can't remember the size (I think 10A) and I can't find a schematic for that panel. Thanks! Hughmoris fucked around with this message at 23:10 on May 12, 2008 |
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May 12, 2008 22:54
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Hughmoris posted:I have a 2004 Jeep Wrangler with the soft top. There is a small tear at on the top side of the top. What would be my best option for fixing it, ideally inexpensive but not overly cheap? It's a 10 amp.
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May 13, 2008 00:13
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alright here are some more pictures  
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May 14, 2008 00:10
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russ6570 posted:alright Looking good. Now go get it dirty. Also check out my 4x4 thread for good advice from the offroad goons. I'm going to be hitting up a bunch of fire roads on friday to try out my new gps mount. I will also be picking up a map for the Sam Houston national forest that is up the road. Hopefully I can find somewhere fun to go camping and fishing. If any Houston goons want to come driving I'm open to having company. Atticus_1354 fucked around with this message at 00:27 on May 14, 2008 |
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May 14, 2008 00:20
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Atticus_1354 posted:Looking good. Now go get it dirty. I'm going to be hitting up a bunch of fire roads on friday to try out my new gps mount. I will also be picking up a map for the Sam Houston national forest that is up the road. Hopefully I can find somewhere fun to go camping and fishing. If any Houston goons want to come driving I'm open to having company. Definatly. And if any Michigan goons know of anywhere to go that is relatively good for beginners near Lansing, please let me know.
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May 14, 2008 00:26
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russ6570 posted:Definatly. And if any Michigan goons know of anywhere to go that is relatively good for beginners near Lansing, please let me know. A few websites that would be good for finding people and places to wheel are jeepforum, naxja and expeditionportal. All of them are full of friendly people and great advice.
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May 14, 2008 00:29
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russ6570 posted:alright drat dude, that looks sharp. Kinda makes me wish I had a Comanche now. That blue is killer. Throw a 3" lift and 31's on that and you'll have yourself a badass truck. Also, why does your shifter knob look like it's from an Auto?
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May 14, 2008 00:38
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MrZig posted:drat dude, that looks sharp. Kinda makes me wish I had a Comanche now. That blue is killer. Throw a 3" lift and 31's on that and you'll have yourself a badass truck. I think they're called a t-shifter, or something like that. I like the ergonomics of it, but I don't like this particular one. My dad has a Mr. Gasket shifter with the same setup, but is much nicer than this one. Plus, sentimental value, as it was in a truck he had since I was born, and only just recently sold to my uncle. Interestingly enough, it was very similar to my Comanche in how it was setup (manual, 4x4, Blue/blue, no carpet or headliner). Also, here is a short, lovely video of it running. Dig the purple hair tie on my wrist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjQ4353s-84 russ6570 fucked around with this message at 01:27 on May 14, 2008 |
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May 14, 2008 01:25
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Atticus_1354 posted:A few websites that would be good for finding people and places to wheel are jeepforum, naxja and expeditionportal. All of them are full of friendly people and great advice. Trust me, just skip the poo poo and go straight to Pirate4x4.com. If you get into wheelin' enough you'll end up posting there and nowhere else anyway.
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May 14, 2008 03:13
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Oh great, I test drove a Wrangler tonight and now I'm probably going to end up being one of you assholes. How do these things age? Am I better off just buying an older one with a lot of miles rather than spending way too much for something used at a dealer?
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May 14, 2008 03:19
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BEEP BEEP Inherited this for the summer. Got a little work to do before I can hit the dirt.
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May 14, 2008 03:29
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Hopefully this is in the right thread. I'm going to look at a 1961 Willy's Jeep Wagon tomorrow after work. Guy says it runs good but needs brakes. Has a new master cylinder but needs rear brake lines. 3-speed, 4wd works fine. frame has been painted with the body off already. Front clip has been sanded and primered already. The rest obviously still needs work. No gas tank either, but it has a fuel cell in the cargo area for now. He wants $1300 for it as it sits with the "new" 31" tires and the fuel cell, or will take $900 for it w/out tires and cell. I've tried looking around online and prices for similar year and condition stuff are all over the map. I just want a neat/decent 4wd project to mess around with. Not planning on restoring it for show or anything like that. Is this a decent deal? (click for big on the first one)  
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May 14, 2008 03:50
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mas posted:Hopefully this is in the right thread. I'm going to look at a 1961 Willy's Jeep Wagon tomorrow after work. Guy says it runs good but needs brakes. Has a new master cylinder but needs rear brake lines. 3-speed, 4wd works fine. frame has been painted with the body off already. Front clip has been sanded and primered already. The rest obviously still needs work. No gas tank either, but it has a fuel cell in the cargo area for now. He wants $1300 for it as it sits with the "new" 31" tires and the fuel cell, or will take $900 for it w/out tires and cell. I've tried looking around online and prices for similar year and condition stuff are all over the map. I just want a neat/decent 4wd project to mess around with. Not planning on restoring it for show or anything like that. Is this a decent deal? I'd buy that thing for 1300. I don't know if it's a good price but I'm stupid when it comes to that stuff anyway.
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May 14, 2008 03:52
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FogHelmut posted:Oh great, I test drove a Wrangler tonight and now I'm probably going to end up being one of you assholes. How do these things age? Am I better off just buying an older one with a lot of miles rather than spending way too much for something used at a dealer? They age fairly well. It all depends on what you're looking for. YJ: First generation Wrangler. Very good off-road, very poor on-road manners. Uncomfortable, loud, etc. Parts are dirt cheap, and it's easy as hell to work on them. They sometimes like to rust. Also since they were 80's and early 90's vehicle, it's easy to find them with weird rear end colors and factory graphics. TJ: Second gen Wrangler. Very capable off-road, although some might argue less capable than the YJ. Coil spring suspension all the way around, which, while still easy to work with is more expensive to lift than the YJ. Probably more reliable, although some things may be harder to fix. More electronics started creeping into these vehicles. They do well on-road as well. JK: Third gen Wrangler. Much more comfortable on-road. I personally don't think they're as good off-road as the TJ, but that might just be from the seat of the pants feeling I get from my Unlimited Rubicon. They're much more expensive, and drat near impossible to work on yourself. IMHO, the TJ is the best balance of off-road performance and on-road comfort.
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May 14, 2008 03:54
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mas posted:Not planning on restoring it for show or anything like that. Is this a decent deal? Eeh, it's a cool vehicle, but honestly I think you'd be better off taking that $1300 and putting into a cheap YJ or XJ. It all really depends on how much wrenching and waiting for parts you want to do.
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May 14, 2008 03:55
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russ6570 posted:drat, man that is sharp. My buddy's Comanche was a piece of trash. Granted he only paid $500 for the rust bucket, it did last a while until the tranny and water pump both crapped out on him. At least he got some scrap metal bucks.
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May 14, 2008 03:58
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ZippySLC posted:They age fairly well. It all depends on what you're looking for. Thanks for the info. I went in looking for a truck and said "oh hey that black on black on black Wrangler looks pretty sweet..." It's an 04 5-speed Wrangler Sport with a hard top and 82,000 miles. Shifts easy as anything though. I drove stick once about 3 years ago for 10 minutes, and I only managed to stall this once and was on main roads after only a few minutes practice. But if they don't come way down on the price I'll be looking somewhere else. Or I might just split the difference and look for a Comanche. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 04:03 on May 14, 2008 |
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May 14, 2008 04:01
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ZippySLC posted:Eeh, it's a cool vehicle, but honestly I think you'd be better off taking that $1300 and putting into a cheap YJ or XJ. It all really depends on how much wrenching and waiting for parts you want to do. I agree with this. Unless you really, really want a Willys, you should probably walk. You can get a much more reliable, complete, and cheaper to maintain project for $1300.
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May 14, 2008 04:05
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SNiPER_Magnum posted:I agree with this. Unless you really, really want a Willys, you should probably walk. You can get a much more reliable, complete, and cheaper to maintain project for $1300. Kind of what I was wondering/figuring. I'm not looking for a Willys/Jeep specific. Just a 4x4 of some kind and i saw it on the way to work this morning and thought I'd check it out.
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May 14, 2008 04:08
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Jack_Handey posted:Trust me, just skip the poo poo and go straight to Pirate4x4.com. If you get into wheelin' enough you'll end up posting there and nowhere else anyway. I love pirate for tech, but not so much for finding people. But you are right that I should have mentioned them. I also like expedition portal because that is were I get all my good traveling info and offroad trailer tech. A word of warning about pirate to anyone who may venture there. They are a rough group and it is best to approach cautiously.
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May 14, 2008 04:08
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Out of three forums I've posted in, JeepForum, NAXJA, and JeepsUnlimited, I would say that NAXJA is the best one to post in as they're a pretty decent group. There's also a few very knowledgeable people there. I go by the name "MattBred" there. JeepForum is OK as well, though I don't go there much.
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May 14, 2008 04:12
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MrZig posted:JeepForum is OK as well, though I don't go there much. I find jeep forum is a good way for someone to get in to tech. They are more helpful with small tech stuff. I do love naxja though and will be buying a membership there.
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May 14, 2008 04:20
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Atticus_1354 posted:I find jeep forum is a good way for someone to get in to tech. They are more helpful with small tech stuff. I do love naxja though and will be buying a membership there. Do you post at NAXJA? What's your username there?
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May 14, 2008 04:29
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MrZig posted:Do you post at NAXJA? What's your username there? Same username, but I don't post much.
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May 14, 2008 04:43
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I love naxja too, tons of information. Finding the little details can be a chore though.
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May 14, 2008 06:48
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russ6570 posted:alright
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May 14, 2008 16:12
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tonedef131 posted:Awesome man, I also own a blue 1987 SWB Comanche with the 4.0, 5-speed, and 4WD. Mine is light blue and is getting pretty rusty, but the bed and underbody are in great shape. I got it 3.5 years ago for $800 and it has been a great vehicle ever since. You can see a picture of it on the first page of this thread. If you ever find yourself a couple of hours south in Fort Wayne I know a couple of trails we could take our 'Manches on. Mine is a base model bare bones heavy metal motherfucker. Fort Wayne you say? I also happen to be a Fort Wayne Jeep owner.
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May 15, 2008 04:04
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