Well its been almost 2 years now, since I got rolling on the Maiden.
A recap of whats gone down getting ready to go to Moab, and the results of that Maiden voyage.
Started like this about 2 years ago:
I think you all know about the trans saga...what a drama that turned out to be, and once again I can't say enough good about COAN transmissions...that trans works great now.
The master cylinder issue comes to mind also. I bought a 78/hydro boost m/c and the pushrod from the 82 diesel hydroboost wasn't long enough to engage the piston in the m/c...so a buddy made up a spacer, that fit over the pushrod in the h/b unit and a blunt end to fit into the piston in the m/c...again that was a Saturday fix before leaving on Monday....man I still can't believe I even got this thing together enough to make the trip. So much help, and a long weekend before made it possible.
The wheels issue gave me grief too on Sunday night...I hadn't had the wheels mounted up yet, and ran into issues with the lugnuts and stud lengths when we were putting them on....we had to cut the length of 16 lugnuts so they wouldn't bottom out on the hub, then we had to cut the crowned end off so the stud could stick through them...PITA at 8pm Sunday night.
Then we still had to get all the sheetmetal on...haphazardly it got put on...didn't have time to even put on a latch, I used a tie down strap underneath to hold it down...Kert made up some hood pins when I got to his place Monday night/tues AM we put those on. Kert also whipped out a skid plate for the doubler and welded that on, and the other 4 guys Kert had waiting (on a Holiday Monday night???? thanks to Kert, Brett, Terry, and Kert's son) worked on a CB install, Hi-lift mounting, windhshield wiper arms installation (Kert robbed them off his K5) and a couple other needs to get it trail ready in Moab...Wow still can't believe we made it.
The Moab trip turned out hugely successful considering it was a pretty much an untested truck. The rear axle wheel bearing being the biggest problem all weekend.
Followed closely by death wobble. Kert and I worked on that Friday AM, and got it rolling pretty good, but taking it out on the trail Saturday brought it back with a vengance, so now hydro assist is in the works.
Other minor issues that showed up included a leak between the master cylinder and hydroboost unit, that somehow stopped leaking on its own, and the serp belt that stretched enough to let the tensioner pulley rub on one of the Windstar fan motors. A shorter belt installed Sunday AM took care of that.
The rest of the shortcomings of the Iron Maiden can be attributed to higher than desired tire pressure (aluminum 16.5 rims don't have much of a lip to keep the tire on) and driver inexperience....I simply don't have the time behind the wheel of this truck or in the rocks to do what some of the others could accomplish with their trucks.
But man I'll be back in 2013 to give it another try!
I guess my biggest satisfaction of building this truck is CK5...without you guys I wouldn't have taken on what I did building this thing. A lot of help from the brotherhood has made a lot of new friends, and great commeraderie with the build and greet and the trips to BB10 and BB11. What an awesome time it is in Moab.
The truck has turned out to be what I was hoping it would be...it puts a big smile on my face when I push the starter button, and pull the Winters shifter back to 1 and stomp the pedal. Playing in the sand next year will be a ballsout blast.
The 454 is awesome, the T400 works great now, and the doubler is perfect for the off roading I'll be doing. The 4.56's seem about right. The suspension, as simple as it is, seems to work pretty well too. The boxed frame and full cage tied into it, make for a superstrong chassis, with no creaking or growning at all...just stout!
I've pretty much had every nut and bolt off this thing, at least once, some so many times I dont' care if I ever see them again. I think Its about 90% of what I want it to be right now. some fine tuning on a few things, a few minor mods, and some paint, and it'll be ready for next year.
Heres what we got right now: