My Scout 80

[MochaMike]

Originally Posted by Four Paws

Bump to the top...curious on the progress you have made over the last year! Love your rig! How are your BFG's holding up in the rocks? 15" or 16" rims? How do you feel about 5.13 gears in Scout II Dana 44's? I am deciding between 4.88 and 5.13 at the moment for my rig - 67 800 with a 266/T18/D18 and probably new 35" BFG KM2 tires.

I've been meaning to update this, thanks for the reminder.
Last June my motor started smoking real bad, so it took 2 months to find & swap in a new one. While I had the motor pulled, I cut out the front crossmember, installed some dom tube in it's place & made new body mounts.

I bought a bender in November, & started bending up a rear halo portion for the cage to protect the kiddies. It's 1/2 done now (holidays got in the way), but I'll finish it over the next few weeks (pics of all of this to come).

The BFGs have done fine... I've been running used ones because I got them cheap, but they are almost done.
I'm 99% sure I'll also be moving up to D60s in the next few months.
Plan is to run 37"-39" tires... Options are BFG Crawlers (37s), BFG KM2s (37, or the new 38s), or Pit Bull Rockers or Mad Dogs (37 or 39s). I haven't decided yet... It all depends on prices & what I can find (I'd have to find the Crawlers used).
Any of these will be run on 17" Hummer H2 rims with Staun Beadlocks.

What ratio is 1st gear of the t-18?
If your doing primarily wheeling, go with the 5.13s (I wouldn't got lower, because the gear gets really thin).
However, with 4.88s or 5.13s on 35s, you will be hating it on the highway.
An Overdrive for the D18 would be a must & would be a big help.

[MochaMike]

Originally Posted by Jeff Melber

Mike,

Nice job. What is your throttle pedal out of? I need to convert to cable and was looking for a simple fix. Your's looks like a good solution.

Take care,
Jeff

It's actually really common/simple.
70s-80s Chevy truck or van.
You will need to do a spacer plate under neat to give it more clearance.

[MochaMike]

Here are the new Engine mounts, body mounts & crossmember from my engine swap:

[MochaMike]

New cage Halo:


I had a minor mis-hap while welding in the Halo, a spark caught my DS seat on fire... Toasted the rear of the seat, and the Harness shoulder straps.
Ironically, I found another exact seat at PNP a week later (85 Toyota MR2)... 1st time in years I've seen that seat anywhere....


Plans for the cage:










The A/B pillar crossbars will have a slight bend in the middle to allow better cab access:

[MochaMike]

Pix from the summer:

Rubicon in Aug 09:



SlickRock Sept 09:

[guidolyons]

Originally Posted by Jeff Melber

Mike,

Nice job. What is your throttle pedal out of? I need to convert to cable and was looking for a simple fix. Your's looks like a good solution.

Take care,
Jeff

Originally Posted by MochaMike

It's actually really common/simple.
70s-80s Chevy truck or van.
You will need to do a spacer plate under neat to give it more clearance.

[hijack] Jeff, when I still had the 152 in mine, I used a Chevy pedal (thanks for the idea Mike) Mine came with the plastic spacer. Then I used a Spectre universal throttle cable kit ~$25-30 in the ricer aisle at your local PepBoys/AutoZone. Made a simple bracket off the side of the coil.
Pics here in my build thread: http://www.justih.org/Binder-Bench/s...&postcount=109
[/hijack]

Mike, the Scout is lookin' good

[binder man]

where are you at mike? i have a set of full widths that I'd work out a trade on those SII's they have disks all the way around

[MochaMike]

Originally Posted by binder man

where are you at mike? i have a set of full widths that I'd work out a trade on those SII's they have disks all the way around

Four Paws is looking for axles I think (from his post above).

I already have axles....

My D60U is out of a 99 E350 van, so it has a smooth bottom, disc brakes, and 32 spline shafts (spindles are the same size a 35 spline ones).
I have some 35 spline Yukon shafts and I just bought a 35 spline spool & spring perches/u-bolts, so all I have to do is set up the gears & weld it up.

Front is 79 Ford HP D60, but I'm working a trade for a Chevy D60 so I don't have to redo the exhaust, plus I can put of the doubler for another year.

[Four Paws]

Originally Posted by MochaMike

The BFGs have done fine... I've been running used ones because I got them cheap, but they are almost done.
I'm 99% sure I'll also be moving up to D60s in the next few months.
Plan is to run 37"-39" tires... Options are BFG Crawlers (37s), BFG KM2s (37, or the new 38s), or Pit Bull Rockers or Mad Dogs (37 or 39s). I haven't decided yet... It all depends on prices & what I can find (I'd have to find the Crawlers used).
Any of these will be run on 17" Hummer H2 rims with Staun Beadlocks.

Not considering IROKs or LTBs?

You welding on the beadlocks yourself, or are they internal bolt-together type? I have a set of stock 17" H2 wheels and D60s out of a '79 Ford for a future project :)

Originally Posted by MochaMike

What ratio is 1st gear of the t-18?
If your doing primarily wheeling, go with the 5.13s (I wouldn't got lower, because the gear gets really thin).
However, with 4.88s or 5.13s on 35s, you will be hating it on the highway.
An Overdrive for the D18 would be a must & would be a big help.

No more than 250 miles each way to destination when driving, and most of it will be 2 lane highway rather than interstate. Driving at 65mph has to be bearable. How did you like the Detroit up front? Was the spool crappy on pavement? I was thinking Detroit out back, Power Lok up front.

Originally Posted by MochaMike

Four Paws is looking for axles I think (from his post above).

I already have a set of Scout II Dana 44's from a 75. Need to get parts ordered and build them though!

[Four Paws]

Oh, and another thing, how is the spring over with the shackles still up front?

[guidolyons]

Originally Posted by MochaMike

Any of these will be run on 17" Hummer H2 rims with Staun Beadlocks.

Originally Posted by Four Paws

Not considering IROKs or LTBs?

You welding on the beadlocks yourself, or are they internal bolt-together type? I have a set of stock 17" H2 wheels and D60s out of a '79 Ford for a future project :)

Staun Beadlocks are internal beadlocks, like a short, fat inflatable innertube with a sleeve. Not weld on.
http://www.staunproducts.com/

Similar product Inner Air Beadlock:
http://www.innerairlock.com/Prices.html

Ballistic Fab used to have a weld on beadlock kit for H2's. That's what I have. I don't see them listed on the website anymore, though. Even with 3/8" thick rings, some guys had trouble with the welds cracking on the earlier versions. They added thicker anti-cone rings/spacers and that seems to have fixed the problem. Mine seem to be OK, but I haven't really beat on them. You might give Jeff Bullock a call at Ballistic if you are interested. I bought mine used, but they were pretty expensive IIRC.

[MochaMike]

Cage is getting there....

Click on the pix to see larger ones...

I went with the slight bend next to the seats...
(DS seat fits fine, but I have to move/remount the PS seat... as well as bend the T-case levers).


Windshield area... with a new mounting bracket for my rear view mirror (no more wondering who is behind me on the trail).



Decided on an X over the rear seat:


The C pillar connectors were a tad shorter/harder than I thought to make with the compound angles, so I made sure it has plenty of triangulation.:flipoff2:


Yes, I finally did make some good welds...


I took some measurements & adding the diagonal connecting the top & bottom of the B pillars would take up too much room/move the seats forward too much... I also ran out of tube.

I still have to make 2 L bends which will go inside the rear inner fenders connecting the C pillars to the frame (currently just two plates sandwiched on the inner fender well).

[Rick Westra]

Nice work on the cage . makes me wish I had the $ to do some more work on my cage.

[MochaMike]

Decided to remove the permanent bulkhead today to make more room for rear seat passengers...


I went to work with the sawzall today.
Discovered a bit of rust where the floor/bulkhead/cab met.
Did the prep for some sheetmetal work for tomorrow...

Before & after:

[235frog]

Nice work! Now get those D60s in!

[MochaMike]

60s just about ready to go in.

I'll be mocking up the rear/welding up the perches, this week then off to a friends to get it regeared.
I'll be reassembling the front while that is being done....

[Rick Westra]

Busted a front axle in my d44 wheelin this weekend.
Im jealous.

[MochaMike]

Lol...

Finished the rear truss....
Now just have to do anti-wrap brackets.

[Jensers]

That should keep it pointing the right way.

Wait - did I just hear Rick say he broke? That's a new one - What would be even more interesting is if Rick broke and Troy didnt!!
Where are the pics man?!?

[MochaMike]

Here is the rear after I got it in a few weeks ago...



Took me a bit of time to get the front in.
I moved the axle back a few inches so I had to do all new spring/perch mounts. While I was at it, I decided to swap out the YJ springs for 44044 Waggy springs (hopefully they won't be too tall).

[MochaMike]

I also finalized my doubler & tire plans:

SM465/NP241/NP205, H2 rims w/Staun Beadlocks on 37" BFG Krawlers.

I had to modify the Ford 205 for rear shift (it will run flipped).
These levers will connected to my twin sticks.



It will be mated to a SM465/NP241 once my doubler arrives.
Today I pressure washed both:



Here is my D60, on new to me 44044s.
Keeping with the overbuild theme, today I made steering linkage from 1.5" .25 wall tube. :yikes:

[guidolyons]

Love the upgrades Mike.

The 241/205 doubler sounds good, too.

[MochaMike]

Doubler is done.... (just painted up the linkage & shif trails tonight.

I had to notch the frame to get the NP205 to fit.



Made an extra bracket to hold the NP205:






Also completed the new tranny cover over the doubler (no pix yet though).

[MochaMike]

Spent today installing the Staun Beadlocks & mounting my new BFG Krawlers.

4 Krawlers have less than 100 miles, 2 have about 20% tread left.
Good tires are mounted on Hummer H2 rims, while the spare is on a Robby
Gordon simulated beadlock. (second spare is off a rim).

[Four Paws]

Happy to see pictures of your progress! Everything is looking good! I have a set of H2 wheels out in the barn just waiting. Can't wait to see the wheels and tires on your rig!

You sure put your rig through the paces before upgrading axles - ever have problems with the 4.88 gears holding up to the 35's and the Chevy 350? Seems everyone says D44 gears are weak and not to go lower than 4.88's - I wonder if it is just people with no experience jumping on the bandwagon?