Pete's Buildup '73 Scout II

And here is a picture of the steering box. I still need to clean up some of the ps fluid that burped out of the reservoir when I bled the system.
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I used a drop pitman arm that I had on when I bought the Scout. It had a superlift SUA 4" lift on it so I assume the pitman arm is the superlift arm.
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I still need to mount the ram and route the hoses, bleed the brakes some more, try and measure for bumpstops (so I don't smash my oil pan), and see what other random things need to be taken car of.
 
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Keep up the good work, it is nice to see what is being done out there, and the results. It is also nice to see pictures of the build move along.
 
Nice work pete. I think you're going to like your new set up. I'm running the same GM 44 up front, so far I've been happy with it. Only issue I 've had to this point is a blown axle shaft u-joint, everything else has held up to the 37s. It's been through the rubicon twice and numerous other trail runs, I think the foregiving powerlok has helped reduce the stress on things. Hope to see you on a run sometime soon.

Matt
 
scouty said:
nice work pete. I think you're going to like your new set up. I'm running the same GM 44 up front, so far I've been happy with it. Only issue I 've had to this point is a blown axle shaft u-joint, everything else has held up to the 37s. It's been through the rubicon twice and numerous other trail runs, I think the foregiving powerlok has helped reduce the stress on things. Hope to see you on a run sometime soon.

Matt
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Thanks Matt. I was asking you about how your d44 was surviving at the ralleye just to see if it would work out for me. (at least for a few years till I swap in a d60). If it ever stops raining I might be able to finish this project up.
 
Well I couldn't wait for the rain to let up so I made a lean-to to keep most of the water off of me.
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The position of the tierod really wasn't acceptable. There is only about 2" before it would smash into the oil pan.
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I was able to install the ps cooler this morning, but no pictures since I did it in the 15 minutes the sky was blue before it started dumping down rain.
Since I didn't take any pictures of my bling-blinging spacers on the d44 here you go.
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The rear d70hd is ~73" wms so the full width d44 needed to get a little wider to help with the steering (and so it wouldn't look too weird). The tires stick out about1/3-1/2 of the tread, so 4-6" or so.
And to help with the oil pan/tierod issue I added 2 leaves to the front driver pack. In this picture I have a punch sitting in the centering hole to keep the leaves in place as I add more and clamp them down. I need to put the spring clamps back on too. I will try and do the passenger side tomorrow and see how that helps. Then bumpstops.
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I finished adding the extra 2 leaves to the passenger side today when the rain stopped for an hour or two. This is where the Scout sits now.
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And the before and after adding the leaves with the tierod/oil pan clearance.
Before:
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And after:
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I still need to bleed the brakes (again), set the bumpstops, and mount the ram. I need to figure out where I can mount it without worrying about going into the oil pan when the suspension compresses.
 
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Mounted the ram.
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I only tacked the mount onto the tierod in case I need to adjust the toe-in. I will weld it on before any wheelin' trips.
I did realize that I need to take out one of the leaves that I put into the front packs since the driveshaft won't handle two leaves. Good thing I hadn't put the spring clamps/wraps back on because that would have made the whole ordeal more of a pain. Then I'll extend the bumpstops.
 
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I have the stock springs and they're doing just fine but I don't put them to the test like others do. Take randy for instance. He takes his truck to the edge and it always seems to ask for more (knocking on wood as we speak). Esspecially when his four low went out half way through the con. If you want to know if the stock springs are tough....
 
Removed one of the two leaves I had added to the front spring packs and mounted the bumpstops. I still need to replace the spring clamps and then it should be ready... "should" being the key word. :icon_mrgreen:
 
Pictures of bumpstops and mud flaps. The mud flaps are easily removable which is a good thing because they look ugly!
There is only a couple of inches of uptravel due to tierod/oilpan issues.
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And the axle swap is done. :cornut:
 
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Yep. I will bring it. I told you it would get done. :gringrin: it just took me a little longer than I thought. But, it would have been ready for a hollister trip in time.
 
So I finally got tired of my transfer case popping out of gear, so I tore into it and resealed it. While I was doing this, I added some small washers under the poppet ball springs.

In my case this didn't really help. The gears were chewed up a bit, from popping out repeatedly, and had rounded some of the edges of the teeth substantially.

Thanks to another forum member, I was able to source another Dana 20 and put that in.

Since I was in the mood to fix/change some things, I decided to cut off the rear spring perches, that were slightly off from where they needed to be. The pinion angle was slightly off (no big deal since I could have used shims) but, the perches on the Dana 70hd were about 1" off, which caused the rear shackle to be pinched inboard.

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So once I removed the spring perches, I decided to go ahead and swap the rear springs. I had originally thought to pick up some Chevy 56" springs and use the off-set center pin to stretch the wheel base about 4". However, I found some 63" springs on a 90's suburban that I liked. I placed them side by side with my Scout II rears (that had a few extra leaves) and the 63" springs are only about 4" longer. So, with re-working the front mount for the rear springs and fabbing up a new rear shackle mount, I should have the 4" stretch I was looking for without too much drama.

Here is a photo of the two springs on top of each other.

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And I pulled some 52" springs that I eventually plan on throwing under the front of the Scout. They are the ones on top, with the Scout II rears in the middle, and the 63" on the bottom.

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I'll update as I get time.
 
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I also finally mounted a winch, and welded the bumper on. The cb that my wife gave me last Christmas is still waiting to be installed though.

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Well, I was reminiscing about my Scout that hasn't moved in a while, and thought I would re-visit the build thread on it. Since all the photos weren't working, I went through and fixed them.

I have a Taurus electric fan sitting in my garage that will be going in soon (hopefully) since the last time I took the Scout wheeling (yes I know it's been a few years, kids will screw up anyone's schedule :crazy:) the Scout was running waaaay too warm. The stock fan/shroud setup wasn't doing it for crawling around.

I'll update with some photos when I throw the fan in.
 
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