Mini-Build 11 ~ Steve L

[Damian Grihalva]

The hinge mechanism is a simple spring bushing in a tube being held between two halves of a shackle. Simple, rebuildable, strong.

The tire carrier itself is some 1.75" tube, bent in three spots, this will help enclose the spare for safe keeping.

We then used two straights to build the mount for the tire itself.

After things were tack-welded together, this is the open position.

As you can see, this will aid in lifting the tire into place, as well as provide steps for climbing into the back of the Scout.

The problem with mounting the wheel like this, is that you normally want it to face outward ~ for people to see ~ cause lets face it, the back side of wheels ~ even these Champion Wheel Beadlocks ~ isn't nearly as nice as the front. The problem is that the wheel mounting plate is too big for the face of the wheel...

Here's another view. The plate it just big enough that if we were to bolt it down, it'd scratch the polished surface pretty good.

So I marked a few cut lines in it, and prepared to trim the plate down to a more usable size.

After we made darn sure all was well, everything was welded up.

Picture from the side to show its basic orientation when closed.

 

[Damian Grihalva]

To attach it to the cage, we are using the clamps noted before, and a bar on each side that will completely encase the tire.

Here's another view from straight back.

Here's the attachment to the tube clamp. As you might guess, these copes were a pain to get right.

But eventually they worked out well.

After the pieces were fitted and the tack welds done, we opened the carrier and made everything permanent.

This is the old 'dead spider' position as we let the tube cool

Meanwhile the hinge plates also got some welds.

 

[heman]

how will that work when you put the top on??? will it be in the way of the straps that come down to tention the top???

have you get it running yet??

when will it be done????

 

[heman]

will there be any winch points on the rear bumber???

 

[shoobear]

nice looking scout....need more photos!!!

did this really start in 2007?

 

[heman]

yea me too. i talked to damian last friday he said he was going to post more pictures, i haven't seen anything ethier. he said it's almost done 3 month ago. still waiting on that too.

 

[BigRigg]

yea me too. i talked to damian last friday he said he was going to post more pictures, i haven't seen anything ethier. he said it's almost done 3 month ago. still waiting on that too.

Heman,
Good things are worth waiting for. You will have one of the nicest scouts on the face of the planet when Damian finishes it up!


Damian,
Awesome. Just awesome.

 

[Damian Grihalva]

Well, yes, its taken quite some time. Not all my fault but that's not any of anyones concern. The last three months have been 'Peak' season at UPS (who I drive for full time) so that hasn't been much help. Since the new year ~ and considering they haven't hired drivers for over 3 years, means that I've been working pretty much non-stop on the truck. Especially when you consider that the snow-storms of last few weeks shut down chicago and about 30 other hubs on the east coast, so now we're getting hit with all that volume.

HOwever, Jim and I visited last weekend and things are looking EXTREMELY good. The extremely small amount of stuff left will be taken care of in the next couple weeks, and the hope is to have things finished off within a month.

Like Steve said, we talked last Friday and I've got a TON of pictures to post ~ and hope to soon.

 

[heman]

i hope so, would like to spend some time driving it with the kid before the next one goes to collage next year.

 

[Damian Grihalva]

Alright, the wrap-around bumper didn't seem enough, so we wanted to build up some side protection in case of trees, rocks, small buildings...whatever might try and vex Cringer. To do this, I got some decent 1" round tube and popped it in the old bender.

I wanted the bar to follow the fender opening, so a couple 120*ish degree bends where put in them.

But when we put them in place, it seemed like they were too 'flat' ~ and needed to be angled away from the bumper to make it look right.

So a couple bends were put where the tube will come off the bumper. This will pop the bars out a bit.

And so it did. Here you can see the bends bring the tube outwards as the stock body comes outwards.

Then, it was time to figure out a way to wrap around the body similar to the bumper. So we put a 45* angle down starting where the end-cap is.

A second bend was needed to keep things tight, but as anyone who has worked with a bender knows, there are some limitations. Benders can't normally bend corners right on top of each other...cleanly. So we actually made two peices and sleaved the tube together here.

With that, we started looking at places where we could 'land' the tube on the bumper. Close in means that the body line is followed pretty good.

But I liked the room and look that landing it on the corner of the bumper would give. Here's a side look.

Still, the tube hugs the body work REALLY well. About 1-2 finger widths all the way around.

 

[Damian Grihalva]

Another view..(all welded up, no sanding).

Another bar was placed to match the angle of the back bar, this is to tie in some strength between the tube wrap-arounds.

From the side.

The bumper was removed as we did some paint work... While removed, I placed a shackle holder in the middle (where you'd expect a tow-hitch to be). So Yes, the bumper will have a anchor point on it.

Then it was time to get things to the muffler place. So I borrowed Old Sarge's trailer, and loaded up.

That is one sexy looking scout. You'd be quite amazed at how many people stare when your driving around with this beast on the trailer behind you. Old people, young people, boys, girls, men, women, and everyone in between. It almost gets embarrassing!

As I didn't get a good picture of the steering setup, I wanted to snap this one. Here you can see the ram attached, D-link, TieRod, Panhard/track-bar. Its almost dizzying with the links and such following all the 'stuff'. But I definitely like it.

 

[Rascus]

Looks good Damian, all done?

I passed you the other day along Markscheffel and constitution. Need to stop by the shop sometime.

 

[Damian Grihalva]

Looks good Damian, all done?

Its getting there. Definitely not fast enough, but there is amazingly FEW things left. I have more pictures I'll post later, but we have about a weeks worth of 'finish' up work to do before its ready to wheel. Right now, we're hammering out Sonny, then it'll be Cringer's turn.

I passed you the other day along Markscheffel and constitution. Need to stop by the shop sometime.

We're out of the old shop off Valley ~ and back at the house. With the amount of work I'm doing at UPS it didn't make sense to keep a shop space. So everything is at the house now.

 

[heman]

hey damian, whats been going on with the truck?? i called a couple times left my number on your pager but you don't call back. just left one today 4/2/2011 at 9;35 am. it's been 5 month since oct finish time. whats going on!!! why won't you call me back???

 

[Damian Grihalva]

Sorry about missing your call. My phone was in my wifes van, which is with my wife 'garage sale-ing' early Saturday morning. Which is why I didn't pick up, or call you back. I've sent you an email.

 

[Damian Grihalva]

Last we left off was getting Cringer to the exhaust and brake shop

Pulled into its own space, I couldn't help but take a few pictures of the beast awaiting some work.

Good stuff.

Here's one of my favorites.

Good stuff.

I guess it does look like its leaning, but I think its because I'm standing on the planter. The other shots are all at the same place and they don't look like there's a tilt to me.

Undercarriage shot from the back.

Here is an example of a driveshaft setup for CVs.

Notice there is no deflection (bend) in the lower joint where it connects to the pumpkin.

Exhaust ~ comes straight out of the manifold and through the hump in the oil pan.

Collects near the trans...

 

[Damian Grihalva]

Past the trans to the muffler next to the t-case.

Then straight out to the rear suspension where we bent it out to exit behind the tire.

Another shot of the 2.5" pipe.

Brakes were done too. We used custom lines from the chassis to the axle then 'T' them at the top of the truss.

Then they snake along the upper side of the axle to the wheels.

Where short braided lines connect to the calipers.

The front is similar but comes from the driver side...

T's off the axle

And the hard lines connect near the knuckles to short braided lines.

On really flexy suspensions we do the front lines this way to keep the brakes lines from binding, limiting or getting caught in the suspension or tires. Also keeps them HIGH and out of the way.

 

[Damian Grihalva]

After that, Jim came to pick up the old beast and take it off to the shop for the small amount of finish work. I say small, but honestly, its the small stuff that can take the most time. However, since it was easy, I got a picture of the aluminum radiator.

With that, Cringer and its related parts were loaded up.

LOVE the look of the front end. Its freakin' sweet.

And we were set to go.

THAT WAS THE 1000th picture in this thread.

Oh, and here's the rear bumper and tire carrier back from the powdercoater.

And this one is the 1001st!

That is a record.

 

[heman]

Hey damion, just sent you email. Truck looks good,, why does it look like it's leaning to the left? Also, I noticed the steering ram is welded to the dif cover?
Is all the wiring done now? Is it running? Have you tried to top yet? When well it be finished???

 

[Damian Grihalva]

We are now taking care of all the little things. For instance, there was no O2 sensor bung welded into the exhaust, so we're taking care of that. We've installed the bumper and tire carrier ~ which required a small amount of fab work. Right now, we're putting everything together. We started on the air system, now we're finishing it off and testing circuits. I hesitate to say 'how long' simply because I"m not sure. I had Jim look it over and make a list, but he's been helping a buddy with some carpentry skills so I haven't had a chance to go see the list and see how long it is. But as you can see by the last few pictures, he's now got it and its moving along.

To answer the questions. In one picture it does look like its leaning, but really, its not. But still, if it does ~ when we fit the shocks, we will correct that.

Second, no, we didn't try the top.

Wiring is mostly there, just need to finish and tidy things up.

Yes, the ram is on the diff cover. But this is not any regular diff cover. Its 3/8" plate ~ which about the same size as the stock Scout II axle tubes. It's plenty beefy, but that's not all. We used taper-head allen bolts to bolt it onto the diff. That means that the surface area is not limited to the bolts and whichever ONE or TWO bolts is the tightest, but the load from the steering is spread across ALL bolts and the surface area they combine have by the tapers. So its going to be fine.