Re:Dana 30 front disc conversion

[Doug Rasmussen <DougRasmussen@domain.elided>]

Message text written by "Gary Billings"
>I'm thinking about doing a disc brake conversion on my white Scout with
the 3.73 Dana 30.  Is everything that's listed on the BB FAQ correct? 
Since you have done this, I was hoping you could give me a little advice!<

Gary,

  From what I see in the BB FAQ, that's describing conversion of a Scout II
Dana 30.  The 800 Dana 30 is a little different, the main difference being
the axles are smaller diameter and the 800 D30 spindles are a smaller
diameter than Scoutt II D30 spindles.     Also, you can't easily put the
disk brake M/C on the 800, but that wasn't a problem since I'm using the
stock M/C and it works fine.

  I did my conversion  using spindles from a Scout II Dana 30 (drum brake).
 The reason was I thought that was the only way to do it, plus my stock
spindles were badly worn on the bearing mount positions.  If you use Scout
II D30 spindles a new bearing has to be put in place of the inner needle
rollers because the 800 D30 axles are smaller diameter at the outer ends
than the D30 Scout II axles.  In my case I removed the needle bearings and
machined a bronze bushing as a replacement.  Note that the original 800
spindles used a bronze bushing, while the later Scout II 30's and 44's used
the needle bearings.  Since I used the Scout II D30 spindles I could use
the large bearings like the D44 use, so the D44 disc hubs fit right on.

   My conversion ended up with larger front wheel bearings and heavier
spindles that were originally on an 800.

  Since I did my conversion, I've been told that the spindles don't have to
be changed.  Apparently, 800 wheel bearings can be put into the Scout II
disc hubs.  That would save a lot of hassle dealing with the axle bearing
inside the spindle.  I checked some parts I had and it looks to me like the
800 wheel bearings do fit the Scout II hub, but there may be a problem with
the grease seal cause neither the 800  or the Scout II seals seem to fit 
with the 800 spindle/Scout II hub combination.

  I used '75 Chev pickup discs as mentioned in the FAQ and the chev rubber
hoses fit my  hard lines with no adaption.   

  That's about all I can think of now.  Let me know if you've got more
questions.

Doug