Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Last night I focused on the brake lines. The Wilwood calipers require AN fittings, which were part of the braided stainless hose kit. It includes an adapter to attach to stock lines. Of course I was having no part of keeping the ugly stock shielded lines.

I bought new hard lines from Oriellys and bent them to follow the contour of the axle housing. Fortunately this line is rather forgiving and made my tube bending skills look much better than they are.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I also replaced the flex line that attaches to the housing. I found out the hard way that the new one was a bit narrower than the old. No big deal unless you have hard lines with no room for variance. I will be remaking one side of the axle hard line to accommodate the narrower bulkhead.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

After looking at the parts coming together, I decided I really liked the satin black accented with polished fatner them I had going. I decided to paint the differential cover satin black instead of cast iron.

Which version do you prefer?

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

My vote would be for satin black cover, subtle and classy with the hardware. The cast iron cover draws the eye and it looks good but I think it takes focus away from the more interesting features you have going on back there.

Love following your builds, wish you had an instagram for these too!

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I also prefer the look of the black cover.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I do cover my builds on my Instagram feed. I just cant go indepth like I do here.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Thanks for the input.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Since ya asked... When focused on just the third member, I do like the contrast of the black with the fasteners. However, for overall presentation, I like the third color to differentiate (see what I did there) various elements. Biggest question, why didn't you knock out the big dent in the lower right of the diff cover while you had it off? (Kidding)

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

You know I tried, right. I'm not sure why that dimple is there, but I can tell you they wanted it to stay.;)

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

With that brake tee mounted center high like that, Will it hit the bed floor when you air that thing out ?

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

As a matter of fact, it probably will. I built the last two that way, but they were static dropped. I totally forgot that the pumpkin goes that close to the bed. I wasnt satisfied with the line on the right side. Looks like I'll be remaking both sides. :crazy:

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I have been trying to find the correct U joint to mate the original drive shaft from the 12 bolt to the 87 10 bolt yoke. I know its out there, but so far I'm not having much luck. I consulted Chris Lucas and he gave me a Oriellys part number. It was sorrect for the drive shaft, but too big for the yoke. I'm headed back to Oriellys today.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Since my U joints wouldnt work, I moved on to the brake line. The rear supply line runs along the passanger side of the frame. Mid ways there is a factory union that makes a good point to start replacement. I run that along the frame and add another union before the crossmember. This allows the section that goes to the soft line to be much more manageable in length.
I got the long and short line bent and flared. I used Made For You Products nylon clamps to hold the line in place. With everything tested for fit, I pulled the lines to paint them satin black.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I have the answer....it's to hold the big, round metal shavings collector magnet. It has a hole in the center which fits the dimple.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Can you measure the openings? Feel that it shouldn't be too difficult to find the correct combo joint.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Have you tried looking through here: http://www.jegs.com they have the cap and length dimensions listed for the conversion series joints. My guess is 1350 x 1330 sized.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Good answer. Must have been optional though. Mine doesn't have a magnet.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I went by Oriellys today and spent an hour researching. A young employee and the store manager went through several dozen combinations and we couldn't find the right fit. Tomorrow I'm going to a local drive shaft shop. If they can't figure it out, I'll get a new yoke put on my old drive shaft.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Ken I had this same problem a couple years ago, turned out two parts stores in town had u-joints placed in the wrong box from the manufacturer. I've got the correct part numbers on the wall in my garage somewhere I'll grab them tomorrow if you'd like.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I'd bet it did at one time....a couple of guys that worked in dealerships I worked at would pull those out and leave them in the drain pans or use them to post stuff on their tool boxes....the rear suspension is really looking great!

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Adam I truly appreciate your offer, but I got it resolved.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

The kid at Oriellys gave a valiant effort to finding what I needed, but just couldn't find it. Talking with the Manager I said my next stop was at a driveshaft shop. If they didn't have what I needed I was going to have it built.
The store manager suggested Northwest Drivetrain Service so I gave them a call. The man said the magic words. "I have what you need" and "we're open on Saturday ". Folks we have a winner!

What this conversion requires is a 1310 / 3R combo U joint. This uses external clips in the driveshaft and internal clips on the differential. This took some effort for a fairly common conversion but I feel like it's worth it. I went from a 12 bolt with 3.08 gears to a 10 bolt with 3.42 gears for less than $100.00

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

To back up just a bit, I'll go back to Friday night. My shipment from Switch Suspensionarrived. As mentioned I opted for a pair of ViAir 444 compressors in satin black.

I unpacked the box from Switch and discovered a couple of extras in the box. Seth sent a shirt and stickers along with the stealth black air pumps.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I played with the placement of the compressor location, but there's not a lot of options. The intake filter should be somewhat protected from the elements if possible. The output hose is rather rigid so the location chose it self.
Time to call it done for now

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Saturday morning we took care of pure driveshaft issues. After Chris got that painted he moved on to the gas tank. It was in good condition, but had a factory undercoat sprayed on randomly. He grabbed a grinder with a wire cup and went to work.
After he stripped the tank it was blasted with coats of sealer primer, then topped with satin black. Rather than try to suspend it for painting, he opted to spray one side at a time.