spankrjs's Biloxi, MS '83 Scrambler

[spankrjs]

And just for @bigwalton, not a tree, but close, @Bad Karma favorite Harbor Freight trailer/ mobile paint booth!!!

Primed and painted the plate, because it just wouldn't be a Spankrjs project without painting something!!





Back to the proportions valves last stuck fitting, bolt cutters to cut the line.



Used the press as vice to hold the valve, drove a six point socket over the fitting, it backed out easy enough with a 3/8 ratchet, happy dance!!





Cleaned off the exterior of the valve, and blasted out the inside of it with Brake Parts Cleaner.



Removed both front rubber brake lines.



Easy enough to remove the driver side front hard brake line, the shorter of the two front hard lines.

 

[spankrjs]

Ok, time for the PIA passenger side front hard line.

This little Phillips head screw can be fun to remove!



Came out no problem.

Two clips that hold this line to the frame, front cross member, under the radiator. I used a flat screw driver and hammer to pop the line upward and out of the two clips.



This is going to be the suck part, up near the driver side front corner.



Lots of stuff up here: steering shaft, power steering box and lines, lower radiator hose, etc etc.

Pulling the grill and radiator would make this easy, I also have AC, so don't really want to disconnect all that crap, too.

What I'm thinking, and will try: loosen grill from fenders, remove grill to cross member body mount and bolt, remove my front frame cross member cover. Feed this line in from the front, under the grill. I will just temporarily hold/suspend the grill up high enough to feed this line in from the front.

Well, that's the thought anyway.





Stopped there for now, needed a break. I should have changed all these front lines out years ago when I had the front clip off for the engine rebuild/swap. Oh well, that would have been too easy!!

 

[xatu40]

I'm sure you know this, but just in case. When connecting those new fittings, tighten the connection, then back it off 90 degrees and retighten, then do it two more times.

 

[spankrjs]

Got the passenger side front hard line installed tonight. Not as much as a PIA as I thought.

Original line unclipped, fairly easy to pull it up and out the front.





Quick reference picture for me, this brake line runs under the PS lines.



Removed the front frame cover, grill body mount and bolt, and all the grill to front fender bolts. Picked the grill up and rested it on some pieces of 2x4.



Wants to come out, so close.





Removed the driver side grill strut rod to get a little more movement on this side.



After that, not too bad at all, line came out, no collateral damage, very happy.



New line closely matches the original. I think it is a hair long on the portion that runs back from the front driver side corner along the frame back to the proportioning valve. More on this in a bit.

 

[spankrjs]

Ended up removing the under engine tube brace to make routing the new line easier. Reference pictures for me.





Routed the passenger wheel well end out first. Not too fiddly, not easy, meh. The bends and length here will work out perfectly.





Line fits tight at the passenger front corner, clipped it in place.



Fits well at the center of the cross member.



Hard to picture, but the line fits well in front of the power steering box, so clipped it here, too.



So, this line is too long on the driver side frame rail, as mentioned earlier. BUT, it is not properly secured, and I can still make a few more bends up front around the steering box to shorten it up some.



This is workable. I noticed this when I went out and looked at my red Scrambler which uses the same lines. So, not perfect, not bad.

 

[spankrjs]

Used this hole to run the line through the frame rail on the passenger side.



Line looks good under/behind the grill, bends and length look great here. Too bad it won't be seen here!





So, four lines installed, three to go. Re-attached the front grill and fenders, happy with this progress for the brief time spent tonight.



That's it for now!

 

[spankrjs]

Put the original clips on the new master cylinder to proportioning valve lines:



Dropped them down from above, threaded them into the proportioning valve.



NOTE - I have kept the proportioning valve loose, NOT bolted to the frame.

I just let these two lines run wild up top for now.



I tried to install the passenger side front line next, but couldn't not get it installed with the two top lines installed, couldn't get the angle correct, so disconnected the two top lines and installed the passenger front line first.



Then reinstalled the two top lines.



Time for the driver side front line next.



Four down, one to go.



Went ahead and installed the rear line while I was at it, so all five lines reinstalled into the proportioning valve.



All seven original lines removed and in the trash pile.



I will wait until the two master cylinder lines are strapped to the proportioning valve plate and firewall before bending them into position up here.




So, that whole process was not fun, but not terrible. It is much easier to install all of these lines on a bare frame!!

I need to bolt the proportioning valve and plate to the frame rail, then reinstall all of the frame clips, bending the lines slightly as necessary. After that, new flex lines, flush out the front calipers, then finally bleed the brakes.

Yep, not sure how changing rear pinion bearings involved removing the grill, welcome to my world

That's it for now.

 

[Belizeit]

That’s what you call jumping all in.

 

[spankrjs]

Pecking away at it.

Fished the mounting plate behind the valve, loosely started valve mounting screws, started the clip bolts. Once the clip bolts were started I tightened up the valve mounting bolts, then the clip bolts.



Those clip bolts are fiddly, leaving the valve/plate loose from the frame rail makes it a bit easier to get everything started.

Slightly uphill, pushed a new "push lock washer" on the OEM stud over the second set of clips.



Two clips on the driver side frame rail to secure both front lines.



Replaced the OEM Phillips headed screw with a stainless hex head screw at the PIA location.



Easier to get started, more importantly, will be easier to remove in the future if need be.

Reinstalled the lower steering shaft coupler to the steering box.



I thought the two front lines were going to be too long, but they ended up fitting really well IMO.



These two lines way out of alignment.



Some gentle tweaking, line up much better.





A trick I've learned with the power brake master cylinder line attachment: loosen the two nuts that hold the master cylinder to the booster, much easier to get those two lines installed if you can move the master cylinder around some.



That's it for now.

 

[spankrjs]

I've been knocked out of commission the last few days with cold/flu/covid/sinus infection, will wrap this up once I'm better.

 

[Belizeit]

Hope you get feeling better soon !

 

[spankrjs]

Piddled some tonight.

Triple checked all five line connectors for tightness. The forward, vertical fitting is the PIA. It takes a 9/16" wrench, but when the valve is bolted to the frame rail you can not get wrench around the fitting. So, loosen valve, tighten fitting, rescue valve.



Ran the brake warning light harness upward, secured it and a vapor hose/speedometer cable to the two vertical brake lines.



And attached the ends of these two lines to the master cylinder. Will probably remove these lines to bleed the master cylinder before attempting to bleed the rest of the system.



Just need to flush out the front brake calipers, install the three flex lines, bleed the whole system, should be back on the road soon.

That's it for now.

 

[timo439]

I sacrificed a 9/16 wrench for that fitting. Had to cut it down and I think bend it. Its in my "odds and ends" toolbox now, hopefully never to see the light of day again.

 

[spankrjs]

Not too terrible, old front caliper brake fluid.



Pulled each caliper off, left bleeder screws in, filled caliper up with brake parts cleaner, drained, repeated, clean calipers.



That's all the piddling for tonight.

 

[spankrjs]

Brake line time now, lots of choices!!

From top down:

OEM sized NAPA lines
Spare set of Rubicon Express extended lines
InLine Tube extended lines
Some O'Reilly's lines for another application



Ended up using these lines from O'Reillys, about $130. Same lines from NAPA were close to $200, so shop around!!





I did not like the lines from InLine Tube for two reasons:

1) the end fittings all screw on, no crimp connection, maybe more potential leak spots
2) the ends that go through the OEM steel plates on the frame do not work well (rear line fitting slips through the bracket hole and too long)



Also, no way to install two clips to retain the frame end, only one machined clip groove.



My spare set of Rubicon Express lines. These lines will work, even with only one groove clip, because the hex head is bigger then the bracket hole so it will not slip through.



Found these old Explorer Pro Comp lines on eBay, they might work, threw them in a spare parts box for now.





OEM length NAPA lines versus the longer, different application, rubber lines. OEM length top, O'Reilly's line bottom. Both front and rear lines are longer so should work well on lifted Jeeps.

 

[spankrjs]

Frame end of lines, details of bracket security.

OEM style, clip on both sides of the frame bracket.

Thinner clip to the outside groove.



Thick clip to the inner side of bracket.



The two OEM style clips.



On the Rubicon Express lines, the the larger hed head OD prevents line from slipping backwards through the bracket, and you can clip the backside, so secure.





The O'Reilly's lines will clip/secure just like the OEM lines.





The InLine Tube lines, two issues. The small OD hex head will not secure well against the bracket on the outer side. You could clip the inside, maybe, but the outside will just wedge inside the bracket hole at an odd angle.



On the rear line, the length of the InLine Tube fitting will cause the hard frame mounted brake line to jamb up tightagainst the frame, or keep the fitting from ever being secured in the bracket. Maybe it could work, I gave up on them.

 

[spankrjs]

I ended up using the O'Reilly's lines. I used these lines before, on my old Tan Scrambler with a 4.5" RE lift, so knew they would work here, as well.

I like these lines due to the metal tube on the caliper end. Even though this line is NOT for a Jeep CJ, it works well. I did have to hand tweak the angle a bit, but it clears the upper ball joint nut and axle C perfectly. I even turned the steering wheel 100% in both directions to make sure there would be no contact, good to go.

Hard to take pictures, but...











Attaches to the frame bracket just like OEM.



Happy with these lines on the front, the metal end kicks the lines away from rubbing the inside of the tire, just like OEM. The additional length will easily work with the modest 2" lift springs. Again, not for this application, so use at your own risk.

 

[spankrjs]

Almost finished!!

I always like to clean the backside of the tires/wheels when they are removed, especially after doing any type of maintenance. Any new leaks will be easy to spot.



Got the rear flex line installed. I installed the lower axle mounted "T" block pointing backwards compared to the OEM direction.





The backwards "T". I also put one of the plastic line clips that came on the front brake lines back here. This will keep the slack line from chafing against the fuel tank skid plate. It probably wouldn't, but easy enough.



Put the limited slip additive in the rear differential and topped it off with new gear oil.



Rear driveshaft reinstalled, all finished up back here.



Went ahead and bled the master cylinder, was not needed, but easy enough to do.



This is probably not the correct method, but this is what I did to get brake fluid moving through the lines. All bleeders closed, lid on master cylinder, I firmly pushed down on the brake pedal a few times. Went back and loosened the furthest bleeder, pushed and held pedal down a few times. Would then not touch anything, leave bleeder cracked until fluid started seeping out. Went around and did that to the other three bleeders.



Not correct, but I have fluid coming out of all four bleeders. I will probably gravity bleed each corner, then do the old "pump pump" bleed method.

Should be rolling again tomorrow.

That's it for now.