Dino Saga 050821

Dino Saga 050821

When I got the Dino in ‘86 I reveled in driving it, any time and anywhere (still do). We have freeways and lots of winding roads, down low and up in serious mountains. Mountain roads are seldom fully paved but are regularly maintained as fire breaks and access roads. When I was 21, I drove a 4WD Chevy panel truck with a trailer to the tops of many coastal mountains from San Diego to San Francisco. Was doing SHORAN navigation for oil exploration crews working offshore during the 50s. We would get to a US Survey marker on a mountain and tell the boats how far away they were. Two of us on peaks 20 miles apart worked boats to 30 miles out. Accuracy was about that of current GPS, about 30 feet. Anyway, I remembered many great roads and took the Dino on them. Sure beat the Chevy. One day there was a klunk and banging whenever the left front wheel went up and down. Looked like the car was about 1” lower on that side but wheel was tight and handling was ok. Came down, pulled the wheel and found the problem.

The steel ring welded to the top of the shock rod had broken and was wierdly bent. Shock (and spring) were wedged against inside of upper wishbone. Took a look at the right side and found that ring cracked and bent but still holding the rubber bushing. Pulled both coil/shock assemblies and asked around. Everyone was puzzled. I ordered new shocks and experimented. Pulled inner ends of upper wishbone so I could see what was happening and put shock back in place with no spring. Found that there was about 1mm clearance between ring and bracket. Dumped sand between ring and bracket and tried to rotate shock as in a bump. Locked solid. And I was not pushing with 2000 lbs of oomph. Just rotation. Ah-Ha!

Got out the handy Moto Tool and a Carbide cutter. Relieved back of mounting bracket so there was 2-3mm clearance. Fixed the problem for 3 years, then one ring cracked. Pulled things again, drilled four ¼” holes in a rectangle on back of brackets. Used Moto Tool to cut between holes leaving a window centered on shock mounting bolt. Now sand and dirt falls out. Bracket ears are still well supported. I TIG welded the shock ring back together and replaced the bushing. No problems for past 15+ years. Probably could have repaired original shocks. You learn!

I do most everything myself so have developed a minimum tool set. A trolley jack is a must. The Dino is awfully low. Pic shows a modified $20 Pep Boys special. A 4000 lbs rating is advised. There will be side loads. Check pad height to bottom of jack frame. Pad can not be higher than 3 ¾” from deck when you are done. Pad to floor is typically 4-5” on these little jacks. If pad to bottom of frame is under 3 ¾”, buy it and make new smaller front wheels. I had a machine shop bore and cut bar stock. Final touch is to use Moto Tool to grind BOTH left and right L shaped locking grooves in jack handle receptacle. Makes it easier to drag the jack around without it falling off the short handle. 2 tripod stands finish the lifting kit.

The front shock brackets and the shift housing/gate are the only real engineering design flaws I have found to date.

This is one hell of a car! Looks good too!

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John
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