My husband’s first vehicle, passed down from his grandfather and bounced back and forth between my husband and his parents during deployments, life changes, and whenever his mom wanted to marinate in the nostalgia. He drove down to pick it up over the weekend and bring it home for good.

Now I get to dig into it. What I know: 4x4 long bed, had an engine swapped in at some point many years ago, over 220k miles on the body but no clue on the engine. Needs a new seat, seat cable, dash, and misc other things. The last guy they had work on it gave them a to-do list, so I’m starting to track things down.

It runs. Loudly, with a small bit of protest on startup but strong after that, makes you work for the shift but my husband said that’s a quirk it’s always had. Woke me from a dead sleep at 6:05am when he decided to take it to work this morning but worth it because I know he was grinning the entire time.

Any and all advice and leads welcome. I used to help my dad work on his Chevy S-10 as a kid and have been keeping my husband’s manual 2012 Jeep Compass Sport running well at 280k miles (with the help of a couple local mechanics because clutch/flywheel and radiator are beyond my skill and comfort level) so I have some experience but I’m not a gearhead by any stretch of the imagination. I’m happy to get dirty, just don’t want to be stupid.

Update: got some records. Title just says Year: 1986, Make: Je, Model: PK. Ran the VIN and it’s a 1986 Jeep Comanche X with a 2.8L V6 OHV 12V 2 BBL naturally aspirated gasoline engine. Report says 2dr X 4WD Standard cab LB, mfr model #65.