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
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DAY 2
EXTREME BUILDUP 2000 Project 2
Damian's 1970 800a
The whole first week seemed to consist of finding bad parts and searching for replacements. Wanting to stick with all IH parts
made this additionally troublesome with the regular parts supplier (Napa and Advanced). Luckily, Giddum Up Scout
(www.GiddumUpScout.com) is only 10 minutes away, had everything IN STOCK, and was roughly HALF
the price of the regulars.
Because we have so much lift in this project (2.5” springs with a SOA in front - which gives between 8-10 inches total),
we angled the pinion up over 10 degrees and put about 3-5 degrees of caster in the knuckles themselves. We were planning
on going to a front CV joint but having an automatic transmission leaves us without this option. Why is that? Because
the auto is wide enough to intrude on the "personal space" of the driveline, making it impossible to fit the CV. These axles
show a bit of surface rust, but they will be completely taken apart and painted after the modifications.
This first picture is of where you grind to turn the knuckles themselves.
The second is of the pumpkin side of the front axle. You may notice that the perch is ground more outward on the axle housing
(the 800s have a wider spring perch in the front than Scout II’s do). The third and fourth pictures show the axle temporarily located
under the rig with an angle finder (to make sure everything is where they are supposed to be).
Now that we are making some headway on the front axle, some decisions had to be made. The big one on everyone’s mind was STEERING.
At this point we simply create the high clearance crossover steering and extreme duty drag link using factory tie rods. But since we are using
Hiem Joints for the rear suspension links, we thought we would use them up front also. This way, if one breaks (either in the steering or in the
rear links we can use the same joint to replace both).
There are a couple of pictures of the making of the cross over steering arm (don't mind the surface rust, we aren't done with this axle yet. We will state (again) that THIS TYPE OF CONVERSION MUST
BE DONE WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS AND BY A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL. With that said, this is what we do. Using a custom piece made of the same alloy that our stock knuckle is made from we have an arm that we attach to the
stock component. Using the latest technology we pre-heat both the new extension and the stock knuckle to over “X” hundred degrees F. Then using a
special alloy welding rod we attach the new extended arm to the stock knuckle. After the arm is attached we use more material to reinforce the attachment.
Please note, that every aspect of this conversion must be done absolutely correct. If a person uses the wrong rod, doesn’t preheat the metal correctly,
doesn’t use the right welding technique, or doesn’t allow the pieces to cool correctly this bond will be weak and brittle. I shouldn’t have to remind you
of the danger you can be in if you lose your ability to steer on the highway…so please, leave this to the professionals. The first shot is of the future steering components.
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
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