I (Finally!) Bought 2 Commandos

Seller sold me:
1970 Commando with 3 speed manual (T-14?) 225 Buick V-6
Newer 33 x 12.50 15 Goodyear Tires
Bikini Top
Full Soft Top
Hard top
Service Manual
Tow Bar and hitch
New Bestop rear seat

PLUS: 1967 Commando with Automatic trans
Hardtop
Everything there, except alternator missing, and Radiator unbolted
Pics of the 67 coming- my batteries went dead

 

Interior- I just installed a sony cd player- PO cut the dash

 

Anybody have a clue in getting new door stops ?? My doors swing out into the fenders.
Saturday, my wife and I were out cruising, and my driver door swung completely open! Yikes- I fixed that today- the lock mechanism was frozen up.



Got a nifty service manual too- with a lock box bolted to the floor:


Alas, there is some rust:

 

A Jeepster with rusty rockers and a cut up dash, don't see that too often . Looks like a good start. Those door stops come up on eBay occasionally or post and ad, maybe someone can help out. The part that attaches to the body is the hard one to get a hold of, they're welded from the inside before the body panels are put together, should be able to come up with something for it though. What's your long term plans?

 

Ahh, rust. Just a way of life for Florida Jeeps........AMHIK



Great lookin' Jeep!

 

You could add a strap for the doors like on a CJ or Wrangler. Nice Jeepster to start with.

 

Pic of build date sticker... You rock!

 

There was a dude just north of Jacksonville in GA (first exit off of 95) that rebuilds jeeps. The building he is in seems to be an old AMC dealership. He has a bunch of NOS parts. Bins and bins. I dug in them for while on a saturday morning.

He was working on a half cab 'mando. real cool. But he had a lot of parts for them. He used to advertise on the jax. craigslist.

Here is the email and his contact information:

Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 8:50 AM
Subject: RE: JEEP PARTS, CJ, COMMMANDO, FULL-SIZE


I don't have a CJ6 frame, but have some good early-model Commando frames - will those work? I believe the wheelbase is the same, might be an alternative. I don't have the windshield your looking for unfortunately, or the top parts. The best times to come up are Fridays and Saturdays, tomorrow I'll get to the building about noon, and Saturday I plan to be there all day. These are located diagonally across from Flash Foods in Kingsland, right beside the railroad tracks - old red brick building. Get off I95 at exit 380 and head north approximately 5 miles on US17. It's about 20-25 minutes north of the Jacksonville airport. You can call me at home at 912/729-7548 and we can arrange a time to get together.
Thanks,
Hal Rogers

He is a good guy. I bought a complete PS setup, wtih all brackets, hoses, etc, and an extra PS box, some NOS gauges, a speedo, and other parts for $125 or so. Very nice.

I need to make another trip up.

 

Thanks for all the info guys! Looking forward to keeping this one for long term- It's going to my buddy's transmission shop today, as the PO installed a clutch without doing anything to the flywheel, and it's doing a LOT of hard chattering coming out of first. I'm hoping that the first gear isn't chipped up, or I'll be looking for tranny parts...

Got some work to do on the rear tailgate- missing the license plate holder, and PO tried to primer the rust there withour repairing it.

Lots more pictures here:
http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg29/grouperboy/commando/?start=0

 

Just got back from the transmission shop- they informed me that the PO had installed a new clutch, and now I know why....he took the Jeep out to one of the local "bog-ins" in Perry, Fl. (One of the largest swamp areas in N Florida, second only to Okefenokee) and blew out the clutch after some adult liquid refreshments. PO then tried to load it on a trailer, and bent the front leaf spring (which has been replaced) when it fell off the trailer. The transmission shop dude told me he thought that the ramp on the passenger side fell off or something.

Anyway- what I thought was clutch chatter was the engine motor mounts clattering, as they were both busted, Trans mount too. So the whole drivetrain was just "sitting" in the frame. Lovely.

They're also checking my transfer case while it's there- lots of slop- prob full of swamp water....

You can see the motor mounts here:


Here's the new leaf spring

 

I love it. Little body work, few personal touches, it'll be great!

 

Looks like a great start on a good trail rig I like it.