Project freebie!

[Justutt67]

Progress on freebie has slowed and it's driving me nuts! I can really only work on it on Saturdays at work till I'm able to bring it back home. So I brought the front axle home and started preparing it for the SOA. I was gonna use a chevy front dana 44 but I figured by the time I shortened it I wouldn't really be ahead. Plus with the scout axle I don't have to run a caster shim. Not hard at all to do this. The spring perch part only took maybe 20 min. I used a sawzall and made a vertical cut down to the axle tube (just eyeballed it) then made a bunch of horizontal cuts to get the big chunks off then fine tuned it with an angle grinder.

 

[Justutt67]

Then came time to cut the yokes off the axle tubes. This is no big deal either. I just followed the advise of those before me and did the grind and hammer technique. I feel like I went too far into the axle tube on the first one. But it's only like a 1/16 of an inch and I will fill it with weld when I re install. On the second one I ground more into the yoke and it went a lot faster than the first one. I used the same sawzall technique that I used on the spring perch part and basically cut the entire factory weld off the yoke and then used a die grinder with a 3" cutoff wheel at a 45* angle or so to cut into the yoke. Hope this makes sense since I didn't take a picture of it.

 

[Justutt67]

Went into work this morning and got a little more done. Mocked up the 350 TBI engine w/ 700r4 transmission. I bought the advanced adapters motor mount kit from IH parts America as well as their 5/8" U bolt kit front and rear, spring perches for SOA front and rear along with U bolt plates and 5" shackle set front and rear to be used with factory front sway bar. Was gonna go reverse shackle too but decided to stay with stock configuration. The AA motor mounts are top notch very well built. They were a little too wide so I cut the outer most hole off which they say you can do in the instructions sheet. Also had to cut the metal between the two outer holes cause on the Scout II frame it lines up dead center between two holes. I wanted to have the engine centered in the frame. For the rear crossmember I simply cut the brackets from the frame, welded a small piece of flat bar to the top of it and drilled 2 holes for the stock 700r4 mount studs. Bolted the tranny to the cross member and welded it back to the frame. (It moved back a few inches from stock)

 

[ABryan]

I am in the early stages of doing the same repairs. Your detailed progress report has helped me a lot. The pictures are great. I see now how to replace the mid body mounts and rebuilding that particular area.

 

[Justutt67]

I am in the early stages of doing the same repairs. Your detailed progress report has helped me a lot. The pictures are great. I see now how to replace the mid body mounts and rebuilding that particular area.

Great I'm glad the pics are helping others. I am new to a full scout rebuild myself so I am learning as I go.

 

[Justutt67]

Thought I would post some fairly detailed pics of what I had to do to the underside of the front axle for the SOA (passenger side). You have to grind out the area where the U bolt will rest cause it's squared off from the factory. I used a die grinder for this and it worked awesome. Just have to do the grind a little then fit U bolt then grind and fit and so on and so on. I had to grind a little more cause of the extra thick 5/8 U bolts.

 

[Justutt67]

Got a little more done today. Sanded the frame down as best I could. Probably should have had it blasted cause it's impossible to get into some of the nooks and crannies. I don't really want to spend money on that right now so it will have to be good enough. I cleaned it as best I could applied a catalyzed etch primer and then top coated it with NAPA industrial black. It's made by Martin senior but is labeled with NAPA badges. BTW they make this stuff in international red as well. It's supposed to be pretty durable and a buddy at work recommended and has used it many times on his hot rods. Next will be to loosely mount the axles so I can weld the perches then I will paint the axles, power steering gear, and leaf springs with the same paint. Almost to the "BOLT STUFF BACK ON" stage!

 

[Scavenger Scout]

Great project, frame is looking awesome! Thanks for the info and inspiration. I'm gathering for a chivvy swap and have never seen photos of those mounts installed. Was planning to fab but am considering buying now.......real clean install.

Question for ya.....lets say you had a 3/4 ton squarebody chevy dana 44 in your parts shed. Would you still SOA/C&T the stock scout 44, or would you have worked with the already-SOA chevy axle since narrowing & putting scout brakes on is basically no additional work over cut and turn.

 

[Justutt67]

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah those motor mounts are sweet! I was real impressed with them when they came in the mail. I had searched for hours trying to find good pics of them installed in a scout and couldn't find any. This is the real reason I have posted so many pics. It's hard to find good pics of stuff and how things can be done.

As for the axle question is yours a small bearing axle? If so you will have to spend a little money on ford rotors if you plan on keeping the same wheel bolt pattern but it's really not that much. If I had a correct chevy front dana 44 laying around I would have used it for sure! Internal hubs, and stronger stub shafts from what I have heard. Probably slightly more work as far as making sure you shorten the axle tube to the correct length don't want to go too far or not far enough. That said if money is an issue I wouldn't hesitate to do the C&T on a scout 44 again it's not hard at all. I also think once the perch is welded on it will bring the strength back to the passenger side of the diff housing. I may also get the warn internal hub conversion for the scout 44 in the future.

 

[Justutt67]

Got the leaf springs and 5" CPT shackles painted and mounted. Loosely mounted the axles so I can set pinion and caster angles and get a look at what the drive shafts are gonna look like. Need to tack weld the perches and yokes in place final weld and paint the axles then I can reinstall them for good. I am at 10* of pinion angle front and rear. This seams to be a good angle for me. I will set the yokes at 4-5* of caster. I gotta tell ya this thing seems tall to me I will have to wait and see what size tire I'm gonna run. I'm thinking 33-35". I need to clock the dana 300 down a little bit and still need a 27 spline input shaft for it to mount to the 700r4.

 

[Justutt67]

Well I'm back to a rolling chassis! Took a while but glad it's moveable again.

Man it's amazing how many parts there are on a front axle. Replaced stub shaft U-joints, bearings, seals, spindle service kit, ball joints (went with moog's), spindle nuts and washers. Still have some new pinion seals also. I painted the calipers and rear drums with Silver VHT caliper paint. Still will need to make a new tie rod and drag link for the high steer. Also bought a straight steer brace and steering box mount plate from IH Parts America. Seems like I'm placing an order with them every other week! Lol

Next step will be to remove the engine, tranny, and T-case so I can clean and paint them. Then re install and put body back on. Also bought a clocking ring for the dana 300 and a 27 spline input shaft so the 300 will mate to the 700r4.

Anyways here are the most recent pics!

 

[southernstyle4x4]

VERY NICE BUILD!!! Are those stock springs? I'm wanting to do the SOA with 4" SUA lift springs. Just needing an idea of the hight. Your build is gonna help me tremendously! !! Thanks and keep the pics comin.

 

[Justutt67]

Yeah these are stock springs with the IH parts America 5" shackles.

 

[Justutt67]

I have spent the last couple of weeks cleaning, re sealing and painting the engine and transmission. I figured while it was out I may as well do the things that would be difficult later. I went ahead and installed a new rear main seal, timing chain, timing cover gasket, oil pan gasket, new water pump, valve cover gaskets and intake manifold gaskets for the engine and new pan gasket and filter for the transmission. Painted them both black but am gonna paint the air cleaner and valve covers body color which is still undetermined so that's why the valve covers are still bare metal. Still have a couple brackets to install on engine also but it's back in the frame for the last time now.

 

[Justutt67]

Got some more done on "Freebie" I bought a dana 300 reseal kit and a twin stick kit from IH parts America. Pulled apart the 300 and resealed and painted everything. I soda blasted the aluminum front bearing housing and rear bearing housing and am just gonna leave them raw. I also went ahead and built a bracket for the far right side of the T-case to help support it and prevent excessive twisting. I used a poly spring bushing cut in half and ran a bolt through the cross member so it flexes with the engine and tranny. The pics should help if that doesn't make sense.

 

[Justutt67]

Things are getting exciting for me now. Starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Got the body back on the frame today, welded the tail lamp pockets onto the 1/4 panels and started mocking them up. Starting to look like a scout again!

 

[Gimlet]

Looking good man - you are an inspiration. Will be excited to see this once completed.

 

[Justutt67]

Ugggh! I stalled out for about a month. I hate it when I do that but life is busy! Got a little more done on "Freebie". I removed the rusty battery tray and noticed it was ugly underneath. So I had to repair a little more rust. I think this was the last of it though fingers crossed. Gonna take the doors, fenders, inner fenders, hood and radiator support upper tie bar to get media blasted this week so I can epoxy prime, paint and install them. Here is what I had to do.

 

[guidolyons]

That's some good progress Top notch work

How is the D300 front output and driveshaft clearance on the transmission pan?
Looks close

 

[Justutt67]

That's some good progress Top notch work

How is the D300 front output and driveshaft clearance on the transmission pan?
Looks close

Well it's not as close as it looks. Because of the spring over lift the angle of the front shaft drops quickly enough to clear it. The only thing I'm worried about is having turned the front pinion up high enough. I'm at 10-11 degrees and because of the 5" shackles I am gonna need those high angle Ujoints for the front. The rear is fine. I guess if need be I can add a couple of small degree shims on the front and still have 3 or so degrees of caster left to spare.