DAY 11
EXTREME BUILDUP 2000 Project 2
Damian's 1970 800a
Now that the rear links are setup, we are moving into the brake arena. On most conversions we would have kept the stock brake systems.
In this case we threw out our 800 axles and swapped in Dana 44s from a 1976 Scout II - the new axles come with disk brakes up front, so
everything might as well be switched out as well.
For the most part we threw out everything stock and re-ran everything. We first got rid of the old master cylinder and swapped in a
Scout II rebuilt unit (which is also bigger). To do this we had to drill out some holes, but after that was done the new MC bolted right
in. At first we had a little trouble deciding the proper way of doing this, so we gave a call to John Comer of Gryphin Racing
(http://www.gryphinracing.com/). John is the national expert on Scout mods
and has been in the business MANY MANY years. Even races a bit I hear! (just kidding John - John is known for his top finishes
in Tractor Pulls, Ice and Mud Racing, as well as many others)
His instructions were simple. Unbolt the push rod from the pedal assembly, pull it out of the old MC, remove the old MC, attach
the push rod back to the pedal, set it through the hole in the firewall, and install the new MC.
With that the new Scout II master cylinder was in place and ready to be plumbed. The stock proportioning valve (P-Valve) was then
thrown away and replaced with a Wilwood Racing P-Valve. Why did we do that - mostly because it allows us to adjust the brake
system with a twist of a knob. Currently we have the stock 11x2.25" rear SII Drums, but in the future we will do a Warn Full Floater
conversion kit with TSM rear disk brakes. When that happens we will need to readjust the brake pressure balance to accommodate
the rear disk brakes.
After that was set up we started running the brake lines to the wheels. Again we used new hard lines to insure that everything was
in proper order. I will say that it is definitely worth while to do this. It does add about $50-60 to the conversion, but to know your
whole brake system is new…it’s worth it. As noted before, rebuilt front calipers, rotors, rear drums, rear wheel cylinders, pads and
hardware was used to finished up the brake system. Got Brakes?
Now that we have brakes in working order, we can finally drive this monster up the ramp. This was a nerve racking experience, the
truck hasn’t ran for nearly two months, couple that with the fact that practically everything under the frame was replace, we were a
bit nervous to see what it’ll do. Upon our first attempt we found that the battery was completely dead, with a little charging the
“Lil Mule” fired up like nothing was wrong. When the charging system started to charge the dead battery it gave it a solid 63 amps…
which in turn BLEW the 50 amp protection fuse that came with the Painless Wiring system. The truck went dead. DUH!
After letting the battery charge for quite some time we disconnected the alternator and started it back up. The Lil Mule hiccuped a few
times (no choke) and then ROARED to life. We say “ROARED” because we had cut off the exhaust system leaving little more than an open pipe.
After warming up a bit, the Lil Mule idled its way into the parking lot and towards the 20 degree RTI ramp. The initial scores on the
RTI were NOT very pleasing. WE started out forwards and found that around 850 the rear wheels (which are BIG and WIDE) started
tearing into the rear fenders. In this picture this is the degree where the tires START to rub (about a 500-600).
Luckily no more body damage was done, and we got enough flex to see where to position the front shocks.
Then we turned the truck around and went up backwards. Without fail the rear suspension began to flex….and flex…and….DUH!
Somewhere in the 950 range the rear wheels again began to stuff themselves into the rear fender lips…this time they were much more insistent
and we have to back off the ramp to avoid any more body damage.
Drat! How anti-climatic! GET OUT THE SAW!! No..no, not now. We got the info we needed to locate all the shocks. And we now know that the
entire fender needs to come off to let this baby flex the way she wants too - but not today. Now we idle it back into the bay and finish the install,
plan on the necessary fender trim and plan on what to do about having TOO MUCH flex.
PLANS
| Day 1
| Day 2
| Day 3
| Day 4
| Day 5
| Day 6
| Day 7
| Day 8
| Day 9
| Day 10
| Day 11
| Day 12
| Day 13
|
