Long Arm 1/4 Ton Manche

[RedJeepster1]

Dug into this project last night. Been accumulating parts in the shelf for this project for about a year now. This Jeep belongs to my friend Calvin who quite a few of you have met before. It’s an 80’s Comanche with a HO 4.0 drivetrain out of an early 90’s Cherokee. Started life as a long bed. That’s the first thing to go.

Yesterday after lunch we brought the Jeep out of the back yard, pulled the fuel tank and the bed, knocked all the scale off the rear frame to get an idea of what we will be working with, and then pulled the front axle and got the front half on Jack stands. Pulled the grill and the fenders as well.

Plan is Clayton 3 link front, trussed hp30, 1 ton steering, WJ knuckles, OTA track bar, front and Mia stiffeners, new floor pans. The back we still aren’t sure on. Plan to truss the rear d44, and we will either be bobbing the frame about 15” or cutting the whole thing off behind the cab and starting over. Axles are getting 4.88 gears and front and rear lockers. Going to build around 35” tires. Planning to go for about 5-6” of lift.

Here’s some pics of day 1.

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[joe98tj]

Heck of a project ahead of ya. Cant wait to see it

 

[Stovec]

Gotta love it! Looking forward to seeing this come together


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[A new level]

This is going to be a fun watch

 

[TJlongworth]

It's like this comanchees figured out which home to stick it in .... They are everywhere now

 

[harryhood]

Nice

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[Red Rocker]

Looks like a lot of work, will be watching the progress

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[JeepinMaxx]

Sweet!  Looking forward to the build

 

[A new level]

Knowing his work ethic, this will be done in a week

 

[2ndgearhero]

no one can accuse you of not taking the bull by the horns!

 

[RedJeepster1]

I definitely prefer to just go all in and do it all at once. I don’t like doing things twice for no reason. I’m a firm believer of “while I’m in there”. Just requires a little more planning.


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[A new level]

I over think things and “while I’m there” myself right out of projects.

 

[RedJeepster1]

Installed the front locker, and uncovered what I believe to be signs that this is one of the MJ frames that was galvanized. I had heard that some were. Here’s a picture of what I found when I removed the bumper bracing and cleaned the loose stuff off with a wire wheel.

I think I’ll be using a respirator for all the grinding and welding on this project.


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[RedJeepster1]

Respirator came in today so I took the grinder to the frame. Got both frame horns ground down, doors taken off, and started removing the stock control arm mounts. Also put the jeep up a little higher on blocks because the control arm mounts are a pain being so low to the ground.

The doors were a total pain, a few of the bolts wouldn’t budge. Broke two T40 torx bits. Ended up removing the doors with the sawzall. This weekend I’ll dig into the floor pans and finish cleaning up the frame. We have front and mid stiffeners for the Jeep.

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[RedJeepster1]

Starting cutting the rust out of the body today. Plenty more to do, but we made a good dent today. Drivers side is worse than the passenger side. There will be quite a bit more to cut still going up into the tunnel.

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[A new level]

Separating the floor pan from the unibody has to be a hoot

 

[Red Rocker]

That's a lot of rust and metal... better put a couple more jack stands in the middle so it doesn't fold in half

 

[RedJeepster1]

It’s actually very sturdy still. I was stepping on the door sill and even that doesn’t budge. Stiffeners and sliders will help though.


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[crushtheogre]

So cool, saving the 80s and 90s Jeeps!

 

[joe98tj]

great progress