My Build Thread - Clifford

kbldawg · Feb 27, 2008

I figured I'd start my own build thread...so, here goes.

I bought it from a guy in Alabama that found it in a field and started fixing it up. This is what I got from the previous owner.

The body looks pretty good. The paint is a few years old and still has a good shine. There are several flaws in the paint but looks really good far off and in pictures, but when closely inspected, not a high quality paint job. The floor pans were butched up by the PO and covered up with a spray-in liner, one of these days I'll have to redo that. I have found very little rust and the spots I have found is just mild surface rust. The wiring has been cut up and most of it is either not original or not hooked up. All-in-all the body is good enough for now and will have to last for a while.

The drive train is in rough shape and that is where I am focusing my attention. I inherited a ragged out Dana30 with worn kingpins and drum brakes. The Engine barely runs, leaks badly, and needs rebuilt or replaced. The tranny seems to be ok, but the shift linkages are badly worn. The Transfer Case appears to be working fine, but the shifter is worn badly. The rear operates fine, but leaks and the rear brakes need to be rebuilt. The 3.50 gears aren't cutting it with the 35's. The front drive shaft clunks pretty badly when locked in, so I've got to investigate that.

The build direction:

I'm building an all purpose vehicle that will be just as capable off-road as it is on the highway. I want to retain the stock interior look, yet have the most up-to-date drive train as possible.

Planned Mods:
Dana44 - DONE
Hydroboost - DONE
4.56 gears - DONE
Upgraded Axles and Front and Rear ARBs - Rear Done
ZF Tranny - DONE (NP435)
Twin-Stick Dana20
Rebuild rear drum brakes
Rebuild/Replace 302 Engine (maybe 351W or 347 Stroker) - DONE (explorer motor with gt40p heads)
Centech Harness
Might go EFI, not sure yet.

That's pretty much it...

This is what she looked like when I bought it...

kbldawg · Feb 27, 2008

New Coolant System

The first thing on the list was to fix the death wobble. Everybody knows all about that so I'll skip the details.

Second, I had to take on the leaking coolant system.

Not many pics, but...pretty basic stuff. I went with JBG's 4-Core Standard Radiator, 180* Thermostat, New Hoses, Chrome Upper and Lower Radiator Mounts, and Resevoir.

I found out that my temp gauge is broken so I've gotta find a new/rebuilt gauge soon.

For the most part, I the install went really well; no big surprises or hold-ups. The new radiator seems to keep her pretty cool.

kbldawg · Feb 27, 2008

In search for a Dana 44

Ok, so for those of you running 35's and no power drum brakes, you know why this was high on my list of things to get done. Eating the back-end of someone's Lexus was at the front of my mind everytime I took her out for a cruise.

I also noticed that the Dana30 kingpins were bad and needed some work. I figured the front end would need rebuilt since the rest of the drive-train on this rig was toast and since i liked runnin' the 35's I figured all this added up to...

DANA44 TIME

I found a 76 front end from a member here for $350 bucks so I had to jump on it.

1st pic shows Dana30 with worn kingpins.

kbldawg · Feb 27, 2008

D44 Rebuild

I sand blasted the axle housing and painted it with two coats of POR15 followed by two coats of Chasis Black. I think it turned out pretty good. My son, Dillon, actually painted the last coat by himself. Good job buddy!!

I also decided to paint the new hub/rotor assemblies. I figured that after a couple years they'd start looking pretty rough anyway. Same formula as the D44...POR15 and Chasis Black.

I installed all new seals, bearings, axle joints, slingers, and new mile marker hubs. The ball joints were recently replaced and very tight so I didn't replace those. I also installed all new brake hard line and stainless braided caliper lines.

I also picked up the 3-Way adjustable steering and Drop Pitman arm used from BroncoJAK for a heck of deal, thanks man!!

kbldawg · Feb 27, 2008

Dana44 Install

After several months of collecting parts the big day came this past weekend to finally do the swap.

I had also picked up all the stuff I needed to convert to power hydroboost brakes.

Oh yeah baby!!! I knew I was in for a surprise going from non-power drum brakes to hydroboost disc brakes. Holy crap, what a major improvement.

We also found out that the steering knuckles put the tie rod ends right up in my wheel weights so I went with some 1.5" wheel spacers to get the clearence i needed. One nice surprise is now with the spacers in the 35s don't rub the radius arms anymore; very nice!! ;D

A huge shout-out to bigmuddy for all his guidance, patients, and help installing this stuff with me. We had a great time and he stocks some pretty good beer too! <grin>

I went with the BC Bracket. This is a very nice bracket and it came with everything I needed to get the job done. I followed the silverfellatio.com advise and went with the 79 Lincoln Saginaw and Corvette MC to mate to the 98 AstroVan Booster I found for $35 at the local u-jerk it yard.

The cool thing about the BC Bracket Kit is that it had a bronze bushing in the kit that made it possible to re-use the end of the hydroboost pushrod instead of a clevis. We just had to cut the center section out of the rod, weld the end back on, insert the bronze bushing and put the pin through it. Worked pretty slick.

For the pedal rod, the kit came with a peice of think wall pipe. One end of it is the clevis end that goes to the bracket, the other end just has a hole in it. So, you just cut your pedal rod down the size you need, slip it inside the pipe, tighten the set screw where you want your pedal height and your good to go.

Napa made the high pressure lines I needed for about $85.

Tito · Feb 27, 2008

Where did you find the red dust boots for the tie rods?

kbldawg · Feb 28, 2008

I got them at autozone. They are located on one of the isles in my store.

Part number on the box: 9.13101R
Made by: Energy Suspension

I've got an extra set, if you want 'em, they're yours.

-Chad

sprdv1 · Feb 28, 2008

Looks Great Dude. Nice work

dmargnut · Feb 28, 2008

Hey kbldawg, I'm inspired by what I see. Great work! Quick question though, what size bolt did you use to press your pulley back on to your power steering pump? The tool I borrowed from Autozone was stripped and their backup tool was broken where the smaller thread goes to the larger thread. I tried measuring the tool and thought it was 5/16, turned out too small. I also tried an M8 but it was too small too. Is it even metric? I could try an M10 but I thought I would ask someone who might know.

kbldawg · Feb 28, 2008

dmargnut said:
Hey kbldawg, I'm inspired by what I see. Great work! Quick question though, what size bolt did you use to press your pulley back on to your power steering pump? The tool I borrowed from Autozone was stripped and their backup tool was broken where the smaller thread goes to the larger thread. I tried measuring the tool and thought it was 5/16, turned out too small. I also tried an M8 but it was too small too. Is it even metric? I could try an M10 but I thought I would ask someone who might know.

That thing was a pain in the butt.

It's probably a 3/8ths bolt. I remember that the socket we used to tighten it down with was 1/2". I used the bolt, nut, and washer supplied with the pump (pic 5 posts up), but it stripped out about half way through the process. bigmuddy happened to have a pulley install tool and we finished if off with that, but we ended up stripping his too. It's a pain, but just keep working with it.

As far as the bolt size, I dunno. Maybe take the stripped one to the hardware store. They will usualy have a bolt indentifier area where you can double check which one you need.

bigmuddy · Feb 28, 2008

He destroyed the one that came with the pump and then he destroyed that one that came with my install kit. Bastard and then he drank all the quality beer.

Knucklehead

Ben

WyleCoyote · Feb 28, 2008

Did he bring a sixer of Keystone, and drink all the Sam Adams?;D

kbldawg · Feb 28, 2008

bigmuddy said:
He destroyed the one that came with the pump and then he destroyed that one that came with my install kit. Bastard and then he drank all the quality beer.

Knucklehead

Ben

Hey, I don't remember a thing, it was the brew.

ha ha ha, what was the name of that stuff again. 90 Shilling or something? Mmmm tastey!!

You must have bought the pully install kit the same place I got that double flaring kit.

Completely off topic, but...somehow I just managed to catch my jeans on fire welding that broken seat tab back on. Don't ask, cause I have no idea how that just happened.

ryan_289 · Feb 28, 2008

kbldawg said:
Completely off topic, but...somehow I just managed to catch my jeans on fire welding that broken seat tab back on. Don't ask, cause I have no idea how that just happened.

Its the cheap beer;D

bigmuddy · Feb 28, 2008

Get off the pipe kbldawg! No really we had a good time upgrading kbldwags rig and I have to say it everything went a whole lot smoother than the mods I did on my truck. I was joking about the beer thing! I know better than to leave the good beer out where he can find it

Yep good ol Ft.Collins 90 Schilling, now that I know that you like I will have to hide it

Those wheel spacers are pretty slick and I am thinking about a set of the 1.5" for my rig. By the way, the bracket we used for his hydroboost was from BC bronco's and made the install alot easier and a little cheaper than the Duff bracket I used. I do however like the firewall seal that Duff used better than the BC unit.

Ben

kbldawg · Feb 28, 2008

ryan_289 said:
Its the cheap beer

Ha! I bet you're right!!

bigmuddy said:
I do however like the firewall seal that Duff used better than the BC unit.

Ben

X2!! The seal had already pushed out on the firewall side by the time I made it home.

I think I may try and fab up something up to keep it smashed up against the bracket, instead of sandwiched between the bracket and firewall.

bigmuddy · Feb 29, 2008

Next time your over, check out the seal on my bracket (duffs) You might be able to order a replacement through duff? I think it would probably work OK if you can get it to stick to the firewall and then get the bracket down and tightened over it.

Ben

dmargnut · Mar 2, 2008

Kbldawg, Thanks for the reply. I may just crack and buy a tool or I may just keep trying larger bolts. One has to wedge itself strong enough to get that pulley back on. I'll figure out a way.

kbldawg · Mar 2, 2008

ryan_289 and I traded front bumpers today.

He needed a deep winch bumper for that tall boy Warn Winch he got and I wanted a stock one.

I used the center bumper bolt holes for mounting my Hella Lights to. It worked out pretty good once I found some 3/8ths inch nylon spacer. With out them, the lights wouldn't point up strait.

I think it turned out pretty good, now I just need to find a rear bumper that looks as good.

kbldawg · Mar 3, 2008

dmargnut said:
Kbldawg, Thanks for the reply. I may just crack and buy a tool or I may just keep trying larger bolts. One has to wedge itself strong enough to get that pulley back on. I'll figure out a way.

Maybe try using some PB Blaster one the pump shaft before you start tightening it down.

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