Here is some braking news. Yeh, I know. Remember this pile of rear brake parts from an earlier post? Finally got to the point of this build to install them. First a hardware rebuild kit from Carlson, part number 17396. All though this kit was pretty well complete with adjusting wheels, washers and springs we were not totally satisfied. The spring that goes on the spreader bar was not wide enough and the shoe springs and star wheel spring were too small. We had to use the old ones. Luckily for us I believe a brake job was done on this vehicle before

it got junked. Maybe too, this particular part number was for another year or brake size. Either way it all worked out. Used Isuzu brake hoses from Advanced Autos http://shop.advanceautoparts.com part number H380221. We previously welded the hose brackets at the same location as the Isuzu rear so it was just a matter of clipping it fast. Assembly of the emergency brakes were straight forward using the Isuzu shop manual. These rotors have an internal e-brake just like a drum brake. Used a brake shoe set up tool to measure the drums then adjust the shoes to match. Slipped on the rotors, caliper bracket, and loaded the calipers with Wagner part number ZD580 from B and S Auto Parts of Pine Grove, Pa. phone 570-345-8068. The original Isuzu e-brake cables were used with one exception. Since we are mounting the e-brake lever left of the drivers seat to conserve center console space the left cable was shortened by Air Brake and Power Equipment Co. of Pottsville, Pa. phone 570-622-6188 The right cable was a perfect length. These will enter the body directly behind the front seats where the floor kicks up. I should mention the Isuzu hoses have a metric thread of M10 x 1 and take a double flare. The center hose will be of 1979 Jeep J10 origin that has an inch thread of 3/8 - 24. Since we will be bending our own hard lines we purchased a 5' section of line with metric ends, will cut it and add inch fittings to the other end before flaring it. Problem solved. Front brake hoses will also be standard J10 issue with special frame brackets. Now we'll have to do are homework on master cylinder and proportioning valve choices.

This topic, fuel lines. One feed and one return. Ordered these from Z and M Jeeps http://stores.zmjeeps.com/StoreFront.bok for a 1977 CJ7 auto quadra-trac. Got something that came up short, terminating at the firewall, unlike the originals that ended further front at the fuel pump. Long story short these came from Inline Tube http://www.inlinetube.com/ and they have two sets of lines with the same part number. A phone call to them and everything was taken care of. and Z and M shipped me the correct lines. Fit was exceptional with only minor tweaking. Shown here are the differences in case you run into the same problem.
Maybe a difference in transmissions or non power and power brakes or location of charcoal canister? Who knows. If you can shed some light on this I am sure Inline Tubes would be interested. Found some really neat clamps from McMaster Carr http://www.mcmaster.com/#pipe-routing-clamps/=k9n26k part number 2993T35. These are double line clamps for 5/16" tubing with a center mounting hole for a 1/4" bolt. I backed this up with a  stainless steel spacer to keep the lines off the frame a bit further to prevent rubbing and fastened it all down with a stainless button head cap screw after drilling and tapping the frame for a 1/4 - 20. The

1/4" return line was too small to be clamped by the 5/16" hole in the clamp, so we fixed this By picking up some 1/4" I.D. x 5/16" O.D. plastic tubing from MSC Industrial Supply http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm part number 48700066. Just cut a 1" long piece, slice it and slipped it over the fuel line before installing the clamp

 Oops. Here is what happens when you are anxious. Anxious to see what that 401 looks like between the frame rails, plus we had to get it off my truck. Used the cherry picker to lower the engine in place with a bit of struggling. It didn't quite have enough reach, hitting the front cross member, but we got it. Next day we were cleaning up and suddenly it hit me. We forgot to put the sheet metal cover plate between the block and transmission. We were going to tow it back up to the house and use the chain hoist to ease the problem, then Jeffrey said, "why don't we support the back of the engine and lift the transmission and transfercase?" Duh! good idea son,

your learning. So we disconnected the drive shafts and did just that. Piece of cake. Cleaned up the plate, painted it and slid it into place. If you remove the hollow alignment pins in the back of the block it can easily slide in front of the flex plate. So moral of the story, no matter how with it you think you are, there is no better thing than well planning and patients. Sit back and analyze things and talk things out. AND PUT THE DAMN PLATE WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO TRIP OVER IT INSTEAD OF ON THE STORAGE SHELF.

Dyno Day. Arrived at Jensen's Engine Technology http://www.jensensenginetech.com/ at 10:00 A.M. Thursday morning. Jeffrey arrived from State College at the same time. This is the day where the fruits of your labor all come together or fall apart. Jeffrey brought a 6 pack along to either celebrate victory or to drown his sorrows. Time would tell. Gotta say a few words about Andy Jensen first. Great guy. He spent from 10:00 a.m. till 8:00 P.M. with us fully focused on our engine and it's needs.

 

Well worth the money. Can't say enough. Ok, unloaded the engine, got it hooked up to his dyno, poured some 93 octane in the tank, primed everything and hit the go button. Fired right up, but had trouble idling. Turned out when we rebuilt the carb we forgot to turn the idle mixture screws back out the appropriate turns after bottoming them out. Andy discovered that and it smoothed right out. Disconnected the vacuum advance and set the total timing to 36 deg. Broke in the cam and was rewarded with no leaks of any kind and it stayed

together. 1st. pull was at 4000 rpm which resulted in 338 hp. and 420 torque. Not bad, but the graph showed it was still climbing. 2nd. pull at 4500 with 333 hp. and 426 torque. We then added a 1" phenolic spacer under the carb, and at the same 4500 rpm the 3rd. pull made 341 hp. and 441 torque. Not bad for a $20.00 spacer. 4th. pull at 5000 with 350 hp. and 445 torque. 5th. pull at 5500 but peaked at 5200 with 355 hp. and 439 torque. We then left it cool down. By that time the Garage
Club started to arrive. http://keystonegarageclub.com/ To make thing a little interesting we listed the specs on the engine, then everybody threw 2 quarters in the pot (one for hp. and one for torque) and they guessed what it would do. 6th. pull we added 2 deg. of timing, at 5200 got 360 hp. and 445 torque. It warmed up by that time and the final pull at 5200 resulted in 367 hp. and 449 torque. One member guessed 365 hp., but nobody came close on the torque, all guesses were in the 300 range. Engine made 60 psi oil pressure all day, 20 psi at idle. All in all it was a great day all around. Made Andy's acquaintance, spent the evening with a bunch of motorhead friends but best of all enjoyed a father/son experience, and hey, it didn't blow up. Time to break out that 6 pack son and celebrate.