Day 7:
Wiring completed and ARB compressor installed.
ARB switches where installed to the left of the steering wheel, the switch locations easily cut out with a box cutter. However, I carefully trimmed the boxes to be perfectly square and match the moldings only to find out the switches are just a touch smaller then the moldings in the dash. So they wiggle just a touch, that will be resolved with double sided tape. I also had to trim the top of the ARB switch just a touch to stop it from rubbing on the top edge of the dash. If doing it over again I would make the box a bit smaller and make it as low as possible in the dash.
The Mini-ARB Compressor is mounted in front of the air filter in the front end. With the fender off I actually mounted it sideways to avoid drilling into the fender well, mounting it off the side instead. I had to dent the corner of the strut mount cover for clearance but everything fits. Waiting to run the ARB hose until the diff is mounted.
Rear carpet/rubber bit removed from the back as it had some oil on it and water soaked into the carpet, was likely where the slight musty smell was coming from.
Day 8:
Spent almost the entire day working on the front differential. In order to use the steel front diff Dad welded a tab for the IFS bushing mount. But to do that we needed to pull the pinion out to avoid cooking the bearing. The bearing race was damaged during removal and had to be replaced, but we had a spare rebuild kit that was accidentally purchased so we decided to just replace the bearings. Sadly the bearings did not agree and want to be removed from the ARB carrier.
Not sure how the guy installed them, but on one side we were able to remove the race by cutting off the bearing, then using a ARC welder to lay a stripe across the race then taking it off with a punch. The second side this failed to work, and the race could not be moved or removed through any normal means. We ended up taking a dremel to a large chunk of the race and cutting it as far back as possible. Once this was done we were finally able to get the race to spin and slowly chisel it off. This took from lunch until supper. Once the races were finally removed we cleaned the sides of the carrier up, the new bearings went on without an issue and we assembled and torqued down the diff until everything was in spec.
Long day with little done, but it is done. A 26 spline front axle shaft has been ordered along with a drivers side CV. If all goes well we should have a rolling vehicle next weekend minus fenders. And hopefully the rear transmission seal on my DD will come in so we can get it put back together and out of the garage.
As she sits right now:
Fender clearance:
Fender Trimming to clear the tires:
