ECORS Class A race rig build

[SC74]

Winch mount looks great. Interesting to turn the winch on its side and mount it like an 8274. Keep the pics coming.

[broncosbybart]

Ok, here are some more pics. We've been busy...

I got the engine set back in place. With the new oil pan in place, it was time to take the front shocks and coil springs out. That way the suspension could be cycled to see what (if any) issues might occur.

The engine hoist and an axle strap hooked to the front hoop worked wonderfully for this. There is now 10 or 11 inches (can't recall at the moment) of suspension travel. At full bump the rear sump of the oil pan just begins to hit the front differential housing. Nothing major. Everything else looked great! A small tab for the hyro ram asssit did need some grinding as it wanted to bind at full extension.

Next the front shocks were mocked up. They started in front of the coil springs, to be attached to the radius arm caps. This would give them a mechanical advantage against the spring, since the mounting point would be further from the heim. The front tires were too close to them there. So after wasting about 4 hours in fabbing and fitting, that idea was scrapped. They are now behind the spring, as originally found. Another 4 or so hours, and the upper and lower mounts were welded into place. I used one of my dad's old drill bits. I didn't think I had a 5/8" bit, but found one in the drill drawer. Just had to say that. Bling Bling!!!

[broncosbybart]

The coil springs were then re-installed and everything on the front tightened up. Next I worked on the engine. Everything is reconnected except for the upper intake stuff and all the electrical and front dress.

Then came the winch and winch bumper. The center section is tacked in place. Believe it or not, the winch actually bolted up without any modification of the mounting holes. That might be a first for me! The winch is mounted vertically so that the upper section doesn't protrude upward into the airflow for the radiator.

Clay started working on the tubed ends for each side of the main body. While he was doing that today, I started on ripping the rear suspension apart in hopes for more travel and a better ride. The existing leaves were at least 2" shorter in arch than some new 3.5" WH springs I have. So, the WH springs are going in.

Easier said than done though. The front spring bolts were siezed on both springs. The cutting disc, some grinding, a lot of hammering, and a big air gun were employed here. My dad's old MAC tools air gun was truly a blessing. That thing is a beast of a gun.

The rear shackles were cut off and will be flipped to stock configuration. I guess I did too much thinking the first go-round and listened to too many 'web wheelers'. It seems that real racers prefer the stock configuration. After working on a couple rigs and trying the reversal, I concur that stock is best! That is about all for tonight.

Oh, forgot- got the 33" MT Baja Claws bolted up to the 15" Beadlocks as well. MRW makes an awesome wheel for sure!

[broncosbybart]

More pics:

[broncosbybart]

Shackle flip is done. Turns out that the factory shackle setup does yield the most wheel travel. The rig now has 12" of REAL rear wheel travel, measured from fully compressed to fully extended.

Nick up at Nick's Trix told me to reverse the shackles from the standard setup (with the plates facing rearward) so that the springs wouldn't contact them. He said that it can be an issue with the WH springs.

The front spring bolts were already siezed in their bushings after less than a year of usage. I had to cut them out with the cutting disc. Nothing is ever easy!

Also began bending up some tube for the upper rear shock mounts.

[NicksTrix]

.

Nick up at Nick's Trix told me to reverse the shackles from the standard setup (with the plates facing rearward) so that the springs wouldn't contact them. He said that it can be an issue with the WH springs.

.

i just wanted to clarify that comment.

it's not a WH spring in particular it's any large count set. the factory sets had what 5 leafs? that puts the spacing a good bit farther away than the aftermarket ones. with the # 9 or 10 leaf combos i've seen them run into a factory shackle plate when the factory shackle is installed with backing plate forward.
our shackles where designed with the intention for plate to go in the reaward position. this would totally eliminate any chance of it happening and you see the zoomie dimpled hole.

looking good there charles!

[broncosbybart]

Thanks for clarifying, Nick. Wasn't sure about the best way to communicate the thoughts via text.

Sorry I've been slack with the updates. Racer is done and ready to go. Runs well now. Doesn't seem to have that bad problem with the idling when it first reaches operating temp. I think it was the MAF. I found a used one on ebay and put it on. Found out that they make a spray cleaner specifically for MAF sensors. I used brakekleen on the last one and then I had this trouble after that.

Winch bumper is welded up, painted, and installed. I had a ton of pics on my camera and must have deleted them by accident. Here are some.

[broncosbybart]

BTW, we now have 12" of rear wheel travel! Might not be a lot compared to some, but is much better than it was. There is now 7" of up travel, which I hope really helps out in the rough stuff. Before we had about 3.5 and it didn't take a big hit to use it all up. That is what mainly limited my speed, or ability to go faster. We shall see how it does now.

[Bronco Biff]

Looking good!!

[broncosbybart]

Wrenching time again!

I finished a few projects up here. Then, on Friday I scored a 78-79 Dana 60 front axle that won't go under this, but under another project. This freed up a few parts that I have stockpiled in the garage.

The racer is now going to be outfitted with ARB's in the front and rear. I started with the rear axle first. 9" rears are easy to work on and I had all the parts handy. I reused the 4.88's and swapped the carriers and gave the ARB some new carrier bearings. For some strange reason I did have to add a .005" shim to the pinion to get a good pattern. Wierd how that works. I really don't want to have to tear the front axle apart to reshim the pinion...

Here are some pics.