Here it is. 1986 jeep comanche, 2.8 liter v6 POS engine. the replacement is a 3.8 liter Buick v6 from a 1996 camaro, which although it is a 90 degree engine, mates up perfectly to the gm 60 degree bell-housings.
Overall it should be a fun project...i'm basically done with the engine, just need to finish cleaning the accessories and mounting them. scheduled installation is 3 weeks from now...around december 20th once i'm off school for break.
this should increase the 2.8's horrible gas mileage (10.8 on a good day) to around 22 mpg as the camaro gets 30 mpg, and increase power from 115hp and 135 ftlbs/torque to 200hp and 227 ftlbs/torque.
The truck itself I've fully restored, as you can see by the pictures and body work i did. the worst thing about the body was that the rear right fender was rusted out, and the front left fender had a whopping dent in it at the back and top of it.
So what i did was replace the front left fender with a OEM replacement. I had to pull out the panel behind it, as it was dented in too. What i did to repair the rear right fender was to take the wheel opening from the front fender (i cut it out) and match it to the wheel opening on the rear, then weld it in and smooth it with a MINIMAL amount of bondo. that's what bondo is for, smoothing, not filling holes as some idiots think.
after that, I had it painted ($1800 for the finishing smoothing, and painting).
i got a set of american racing rims which are 15x8.50's, and then some nice 10.50 all-terrains (which now have 15,000 on them and still look new). Mate that with the Rough Country 3 inch lift (consists of rear add-a-leafs, new lower control arms, stainless brake lines, new shocks and stabilizer, sway bar drop brackets). I'm really happy with the performance of this lift, it's a stable and smooth ride. i do want another 1.5 inches on it though.
This was the Custom version of the Comanche, meaning that it was a base model. it was a radio delete, all manual, bench seat, 2 wheel drive pickup when i started. I put bucket seats from a cherokee in it, along with the full center console.
I added a aluminum toolbox to it later on, which looks really good.
there's also a picture of my brother's and my dad's comanches.
the blue one is my dad's, it's a 1986 2.1 liter Renault Turbo diesel, which is rare in the extreme. we got lucky enough to find a brand new engine for it for cheap, so we are going to replace the one that's in it as it has a small crack in the number 2 cylinder, and a crack in the head (at 200,000 miles)
My brother's is a 1987 4.0 liter, but we are probably going to put a stoker kit in it to make it a 4.5 or so. we've completely rebuilt mine and my bro's, and the 2.1 is the last one we need to redo. we also own another 86 2.8 which is our off-roading one.
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