A Website For The FMC XR311  Enthusiast

March 20-2001

Carl Konefsky who sold me the XR311 (kit) told me that the Ryder Truck with trailer transporting all parts of the XR311 and the rolling chassis its on his way from Indiana to California. 

March 22-2001

Rick Harmon who drives the truck gave me a call telling me that he run out of fuel money. He got stuck in Firnley Nevada. I managed to transfer him money via Western Union per internet. Well it works, its a great service. Rick promised to complete his 2600 miles  journey tomorrow here in California close to Disney Land. He must be a fast driver if he completes the trip in 3 days flat. 

March 23-2001

Rick arrives in Anaheim California past 9pm. He had a flat tire on the trailer of his Ryder truck that transports the rolling chassis of the XR311. I meet Rick at a gas station near to my home to guide him for the next mile. Rick is very tired from the last part of his trip. We decided to park the truck in front of my house to unpack the next day. I put Rick in to a comfortable  motel close by to let him rest.

March 24-2001

Saturday......the light is on the California sun is bright....I am surprised about the condition of the XR311 chassis. Well it looks like this was stored for the last 30 years in Indiana (outdoors). Just a lot of rust besides the already faded away paint. My neighbor came to ask if I want to start a war??!! Than he commented...was it in a fire??..pointing a the frame of the XR311. Well, I told him that it was sitting outside for the last 30 years and that I will restore it to its original condition. He gave me a blind stare and disappeared. Now it was time to pick up Rick to unload the 24 feed Ryder truck. Unloading took almost all day Saturday. Most of the parts where very heavy like engine, transmission, transfer case, axles etc. We had to construct a hoist to unload. At the end I was happy finding a lot of new parts for the XR311 inside the truck. We stowed all away in my backyard and garage. Now it was time to drive Rick to the Amtrak station  in Los Angeles, so he could catch a train to Chicago. We arrived in time at the LA Union Station and Rick departed for his two day trip to Chicago.

March 26-2001

Its Monday, I could not explore any of the XR311 parts on Sunday (family reason) so I started to look at some metal panels right after coming from work on Monday evening. I discovered the faded serial number of the XR311 on the left and right hand side panels. See ..the number is XR311T003 on one side and XR311-003 on the other side. This means that this is a very early prototype, one of 10 XR311 purchased in 1971 by the US Army.

According to my source  Gary Gore < ggore@mail.transdata.ca > serial numbers 2 to 11 where tested at that time. These vehicles where classified a the second generation vehicles. 4 outfitted with TOW launchers  for AT use, 3 with .50 cal for recon use, 3 with 7.62 mm M60D for use as escort/ security vehicles as well as crew armor kits.

I will start to make some picture to show the "as is" status of the Vehicle before I lay hand on it. ......Well I found already a sandblaster in my neighborhood...cant wait to start!

Here are the pictures before restoration, as you can see, lots of work to do.......

Click on the Picture to enlarge

April 27-01 

 The project is  still in my garage. I am planning to work on the frame tomorrow. I have to disassemble some components from the frame to make it ready for sandblasting.....Will let you know about the progress.

May 2001

 I spend a lot of time on the weekends to remove components from the frame of my XR311. It was a difficult task due to rust and heavily corroded bolts and nuts. Finally all parts sensitive to sandblasting are removed. I had to cut and chisel off some bolts to finish that step of preparation. All old and rusted brake lines are gone.  Now I am searching for a good sandblasting company.

June 1-01

I have a short vacation, thinking about the next step for my XR311. In the back of my mind, I know that I have to work around the house first, to make it ready for the summer to come. If I don't work on the house first, I will never start to finish  it. So I  postpone the XR-Project for few days until the work around the house is done. I ended up with installing a sprinkler system for the front and back lawn, planting some fruit trees and setting up the patio for the summer. Now I can relax  and think again about my project.

June 8-01

Contacted Quick Sandblasting and Metalizing close to my home in Stanton. The owner Steven Booth told me that they are to busy with metalizing, (spraying Aluminum on blasted  iron metal) they would have no time to do my XR. Steven recommended Primo Powder Coating in Huntington Beach and Orange Country Sand Blasting , Inc in Orange. First I contacted Primo, they said yes we can do it, but it cost minimum $3,000 and we are busy at right now, come back after June 18th. Well not a very good answer and very costly solution. Now I called O/C Sand Blasting in Orange. Don Gravely answered the phone and told me very friendly, no problem, we can handle the job, we do only sandblasting, bring your project over at any time. I was very satisfied with Don's statement and price quote. I decided to move on.

June 11-01

This morning I called Sai Gong Towing Mr. Dao to pick up my XR311. He has a flat bed tow truck and a very reasonable rate. Mr. Dao towed the XR Frame to Orange County Sand Blasting, just 12 miles from my home. We arrived at O/C Sandblasting and Don Graveley guided us to a spot to unload the XR frame. Everybody was interested to hear the story about the XR311, what it is and where it came from. After telling my story I ask Don if he can recommend somebody to do the priming and painting work. Don replied, powder coating will be very expensive, why don't you try Maaco Paint.  I left the XR Frame with Don, who told me that it will be done in two days. Now I will start researching about the paint job and some minor welding that need to be done after sandblasting. 

June 12-01

Chris Burd of Maaco Paint called for the painting estimate. He told me : priming would cost 500 Dollars and painting in olive drab would be 900 Dollars, minor welding extra. That's for the frame only! I was shocked and replied: Thanks for the estimate, I will think about it!!

June 13-01

Tom Greenwald of Orange County Sandblasting called me this morning to tell me that the XR Frame is ready for pick up. That's great O/C Sandblasting is very efficient! I called Sai Gong Towing to arrange pick up at 1:30pm. Than I drove my Jeep to Urban Rental in Cypress to rent a small trailer to transport the XR body panels and all other loose metal parts ready for cleaning to O/C sandblasting. I got the trailer for 18 Dollars a day (what a deal), drove home and loaded all panels etc. Than I drove to O/C Sandblasting. The XR Frame was parked outside the building of O/C Sandblasting, the look of it .....completely different, a matte like aluminum finish from blasting. Tom Greenwald ask me if I like it, yes ..yes it looks very cool..no more rust and paint. What a difference if all grid and rust are gone. Only the pan of the frame had some small holes. Well I have to weld a little bid ...no problem for me (if I have the equipment). Don Graveley told me where I could unload the trailer. I paid my bill and we exchanged some story about restoration projects until Mr. Dao arrived with his tow truck. Don helped to load the XR Frame with his forklift and off we wend to my home to unload. I am fully satisfied with O/C Sandblasting. Don and Ed are very helpful. I can only recommend them if you have any sandblasting project. Thanks to Don and Ed!

Here are pictures of the XR311 Frame after Sandblasting.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

Summer 2001

First of all I had to spray the whole frame  with primer to prevent rust build up. This was relatively easy to accomplish. The compressor and spray gun came from Craftsman and the primer from my local paint supply shop. I installed plastic foil around all walls and the concrete flour of my garage. Ready was my spray booth. The spray job was done within one day. I was a little bit difficult to reach all areas, but I did it and I will do also the final paint job to come.

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I worked all dents out of the fenders and sheet metal that came with the XR311. Lot of work but with the right tools relatively easy to do. All you need is plenty of time and patience (I am lacking booth). After taking the dents out from  the panel I primed the in my back yard. Than I assembled the panel to the frame to check for fit and missing pieces. I discovered that several underbody protection plates where missing and that the rear deck was not exactly what I had in mind. The main flour pan (driver seat area) had some rust holes too.  

I concluded that I need professional help from a metal and welding shop. I found Shadow Trailers in Cypress and negotiated with Fritz the owner what could be done to complete the XR311 body. We came to terms and again Sai Gon Towing transported the XR five miles to Shadow Trailer. We decided to replace the rusted out areas, to fabricate the missing flour panels and covers and most important to fabricate a rear engine deck with hatch that could be opened to service the rear mounted engine. I left the XR311 from July until beginning of October at Shadow Trailers. Fritz's crew worked on it whenever they had time. They spend about 52 hours fabricating, cutting  welding and powder coating piece by piece until the work was completed.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

In the mean time I took the automatic transmission and transfer case to Bestrans transmission repair in Stanton. Mike Flores promised me to overhaul the Chrysler transmission and to install a shift kit. He also ordered a new torque converter for my application. The transmission was no problem but the transfer case custom build by FMC was frozen up due to water inside. Apparently water must have entered the transfer case and the inside was only a lump of rusted metal. Mike is still trying to get parts to complete the overhaul. The transfer case consist of a  Detroit locker differential carrier that is driven by a chain. Its relatively simple but the spare parts are hard to come by. I also opened the front axle differential a short Dana 44 to see if there is any surprise. I was pleased to see  a Detroit locker in it with a 5.38 gear ratio. All looks ok I am only surprised to see this  high number gear ratio. I though that it would be 3.73 as I read  in another report. Well  its a prototype vehicle, FMC must have tried several gear setups during development of the vehicle.  This must be good for extreme rock climbing.  In my collection of spare parts I  found another NOS differential carrier, again a Detroit Locker but with 4.77 gears. This carrier would be good for the rear axle, I will use that differential with a 5.38 ring and pinion gear  for the rear axle to be build. The XR311 came only with the front axle.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

For the missing rear axle, I had several ideas. First to involve Currie Enterprises of Anaheim to build me the Dana 44 axle. They refused to consider this fabrication. I can not understand why but Currie is not interested !!!. The sales man, he has no name (would not give it to me) told me to contact Dynatrax in Huntington Beach. I did, at least they where interested to talk to me. The Engineer told me that it would be difficult to convert a Dana 44 case for my application and it would be to weak. ??? He wanted to talk me in to a Dana 60 axle! Well, why did FMC use a Dana 44?? and not a Dana 60.  I did some research and discovered that the high power Corvette and the Doge Viper (400HP) uses a Dana 44 short with independent suspension (similar to the  XR311 setup). I may have to modify the  the mounts on my XR frame to mount this Dana 44 but that would be no problem. I searched at Ebay and found a 99 Dodge Viper Differential in good condition. After bidding last minute I got it. This Dana 44 has a 3.37 gear, so I have to take the diff out and put my NOS Detroit Locker  with a new  5.38 ring and pinion in to it. Well, Bestrans will do this for me, I am not able to set up the differential.

I found some tires and wheels for the XR. After researching the original tires from Goodyear (tractor tire strictly for off road use only) I decided to purchase a set of 35x12,50 Goodyear side wall reinforced tires on 16x10 inch rims. I will keep the old original tires for display and authentic purpose. This new tire has the size of the original, so the setup is almost stock. With the tires on the XR311 the ground clearance is 18 inches. Wow, that's more than the Hummer! Yes it looks impressive. Checking the wheel bearings, they have a lot of slack, I decided to have them rebuild. New bearings must be pressed on all 4 spindles. They are from a Cadillac Eldorado front axle. Yes FMC used Cadillac parts. All four corners of the XR are equipped with Eldorado spindles and Eldorado 11 inch disk brakes.  That's plenty of stopping power! I took the spindles to a machine shop (Drum Garden) close to my place of work in Torrance to have the bearings pressed off and on. I purchased 4 brake disks and some small parts I will need to complete the brake job. I have the calipers, they came with the XR311. I did try to fit all and discovered that the wheel  bolts are to short for my new wheels. With the brake disks mounted there is not enough threat left for the wheel nut. I will get 20 new bolts to correct that problem.  Drum Garden will supply all bolts and missing break parts to complete the job. I will cut bend and flare the break lines after I have finished the body work und final paint work. Now I have more time to to fit and try some of the suspension parts. I do the engineering work every evening Tuesday to Friday if nothing else has priority. Saturdays I roll the chassis out of my garage and work on the body panels, mostly filling and sanding. Sunday I relax or update my web.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

December -01

Mike of Bestrans got the rebuild FMC transfer case back. Now I don't need to worry anymore about the transfer case. In the meantime I learned more about differentials. The Viper Dana 44 is a Dana 44.5. That means it is special and can only  be build  up to 4.10 gear ratio. I took both axles to Unitrax Differentials in Anaheim to have the ring and pinion gears changed to 4.10. Unitrax will also try to modify the Viper diff's side output shafts to accept the GMC independent axle shafts. That way the setup on both axles would be the same. The future setup will dictate that I install the original Dana 44 diff in the rear and the Viper-Dana 44.5 in the front of the XR. I modified the mounting of the Viper diff to fit in to the XR311. Basically, I cut off the original mounts of the front cover. Later I have to drill two new vertical mounting holes into the side mounts. I fitted the differential in the original front mounting location with no problems. See the pictures below.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

I believe with this setup that the XR311 will drivable on normal paved roads and perform well off road. The original setup had all 3 differentials locked. Its a permanent all wheel drive configuration. FMC changed later to a manually lockable transfer case to make the XR311 drivable. My setup has a limited slip differential in the front, a Detroit locker in the transfer case and a Detroit locker in the rear axle. Hopefully that configuration works. 

I finished most of the body panel work and painted the chassis with Gillespie OD green (olive). I still have to rework some areas where I messed up. I am learning constantly during the process of rebuilding the XR. Its a great experience to see the project taking shape over time. Next project will be installing the steering and re plumbing the break lines. Here are some pictures of the chassis after painting.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

January  -02

I put the steering components together to see if it all fits. The two idler arms where in bad shape. The ball joints had significant play  and I decided to replace or rebuild them  if possible. Rare Parts Inc. provided me with one new idler arm and rebuild the other. After installation of all components I could not see any  steering play anymore. 

Pep Boys provided me with straight 6 foot sections of hydraulic and brake lines for power steering and front & rear brake lines. A brake line flare kit, pipe bender and cutter would help me fabricate the necessary lines. I spend about two days to complete the job of plumbing all necessary lines including steel fuel lines from front to back. The master cylinder was installed next with some short lines connecting the combination valve. Than the Brake disks and calipers with its rubber connecting hoses where installed on all four corners. I crossed my fingers and hoped that all fittings and connections where tight and free of leaks. 

Click on the Picture to enlarge

February -02

I visited  the local car and performance swap meet in Long Beach to find some components that I could use to finish my project. A dealer provided me with two seats, mounting hardware and seat belt harnesses to complete the job. The seats and harnesses where installed in one weekend and the fit was perfect. The harnesses mounted to the original points of the original belt harness.

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I cleaned up the original wiring harness that I had in storage. Than I replaced the tape that was originally wound around the wiring to protect it. I had did the same to the instrument panel harness and the engine harness.

Steve Kopito of Owens Export provided me with NOS blinkers and taillights. He also managed to get a new blinker switch assembly and light switch assembly for me. With all those new parts in my hands it was very easy to install the electrical system. The wiring harness had numbered connectors and the light and accessories too. It was just plug and play to put all together. The two 12 Volt Energizer batteries are from  Pep Boys. After installing the batteries and cables the electrical system was finished with exception of the engine wiring assembly. But no fear, all ends have big  cannon connectors to fit all together. Now I must say that I was lucky having the original wiring harnesses. This saved me a lot of time and hassle.

After connecting the windshield wiper motor and flipping the switch, the wiper assembly started to move. Amazing  to discover that I had a two speed wiper motor and switch. The linkage needed a little fixing and I had to fabricate one part of the wiper linkage. In my storage of original parts, I found a matching set of wiper arms and wiper blades.

Next I tried to mount the windshields and discovered that I had to fabricate some brackets to bolt the windshield frames to the body. I decided to make those parts and took one broken windshield to a auto glass store. The glass  had been replaced and I cleaned and repainted the frames. Than I installed the windshields with my fabricated hardware to the XR-body and mounted the wipers. 

March-02  (First year anniversary of my project)  Time for a Engine!

I located a Chrysler Mopar 360 engine from a wrecked police car at my local "junk yard". According to the owner, the engine should have low miles and would be in good running condition. I did believe it, the junk yard is not a pick a part place but rather specialized to provide good quality parts. We made a deal and the engine was delivered one day later. I cleaned the engine, installed a new aluminum intake manifold and  the original Quadrajet 750CFM carburetor. The Distributor was replaced with a MSD unit including ignition module, coil and wires. I rebuilt the 24Volt Motorola alternator that I had in storage and welded a bracket to mount it to the engine. I kept the original 12Volt alternator at its original place, so I can run a dual voltage system. The air-condition compressor had to go to make space for the big 24 Volt alternator. I installed the rear axle that had been rebuild by Unitrax. I still have to wait until April to get the Viper axle for the front returned from Unitrax. It has to wait until the new side drive shafts are machined. The rear axle fits well and mated properly with the rear independent drive shafts.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

The Engine and Transmissions where bolted together and the starter installed. Then I hoisted the engine package with my chain hoist mounted to a big beam holding the garage roof. The garage is still standing!

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This hoist is a very useful installation and in a matter of minutes the engine/transmission was lowered in to the engine bay. I used Morse control cables to connect the transmission to the shifter and the gas pedal to the carburetor. This was easy, I only had to fabricate some brackets to hold the cable jackets in place. The instrument panel with its gauges installed easy due to a single connector  on the wiring harness. I connected the batteries and turned the light switch, all worked  perfect.

A old Dodge radiator found its way in to the XR after I modified the mountings and had the radiator rebuild with a new 3 row core. I installed the radiator and a additional external transmission oil cooler. The day  to start the engine came! I connected the front mounted gasoline tank with a rubber hose to the steel gas line. Than I filled up some gasoline and pored a little of it in the carburetor to prime it. I turned the ignition switch and started. The engine ignited with a cough and died. I poured a little more gasoline in the carb. and started again. This time the engine ignited and continued running with a nice idle. Oil pressure was ok and the engine showed all vital signs ok. Even the power steering started to work, it makes some loud noise when I turned the wheels, I believe that I have to bleed the steering from all air.  The exhaust tone created by two unrestricted flame pipes ending in the fender wells was very noticeable. (Muffler be installed later, it is not my field of experience to bend the big pipes.) All checked ok and the transmission and transfer case shafts turned in the right direction. Time to install the transfer case to rear differential drive shaft.

Well first I had to find one because I have only the front one but no front differential. So I made a measurement to determine the total length of the drive shaft and wend one more time to my trusted salvage yard. After searching  almost two hours for the "ideal" drive shaft, I found a new unused Spicer shaft laying inside a old Blazer truck. It was exactly what I needed and had a slip joint that would allow me to adjust it to the exact length. When I ask for the price, I was told just take it, we don't know what it is so we would not be able to sell it. That was a worthwhile trip to my favored used parts source. Pep Boys provided me with two new Jeep universal joints that would fit my application. I installed the drive shaft and tested the engine again. Selecting reverse, the XR311 started to move slowly reverse. Selecting forward, it moved slowly forward. Mission completed until I have the front differential! 

Next I had to make the XR stoppable. So I had to fill and bleed the brakes. After getting the necessary brake fluid, funnel and a suction pump I filled up the master cylinder reservoirs. After connecting the bleeding device (suction pump) to the front caliper bleeding screw , I was able to remove all air from the front brake circuit. All lines and connection blocks where tight and free of leaks. and I had some pedal pressure. Now I concentrated on the rear brake and attempted the same. I was not able to pump any  brake fluid out of the rear caliper bleed screws. It looks like some restriction somewhere. I was able to locate the restriction within the master cylinder. Removal of the master cylinder was not so easy. I had to disconnect all brake lines in a very confined area and messed around with brake fluid. That's for quality control at the rebuilder. During the honing process a metal chip must have plugged one of the little orifices for the rear circuit. The chip was still attached to the cylinder bore. I cleaned up the bore und tested the brake cylinder on my bench. I should have done this before first  installation to prevent all the mess. But anyway, the remanufacturer does not test his product otherwise he would have found the defect. After installation of the master cylinder I filled the reservoir and started bleeding the rear circuit. Bleeding worked but  under pressure two lines at the tee-connection-block leaked. Even trying to bend my fingers to get the wrench in place, I could not tighten the flare nuts at the tee-block. The FMC design engineer must have had an blackout when he decided to place the connection-block at an inaccessible place underneath the rear differential and engine block. After mumbling some curse words I decided to remove the rear brake lines and install a new connection block in an easy accessible place close to the original position. Again Pep Boys provided the necessary brake lines that I bend, cut and flared in one afternoon. Now the rear brake circuit worked fine without leak. I continued to bleed the front circuit and finally had full pedal pressure on the brake system. I drove the XR311 up and down my drive way to confirm that I had brakes. 

My next project is to install the mirrors and other little gadgets to complete the project. I still have to wait until the front differential is finished and my friend Tony has the frond hood (cover) finished. Tony will help me to have a front cover for the gas tank fabricated, The cover was too much damaged and could not be repaired.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

April 2002

I am getting close to finish now. All engine wiring is completed and I installed a third 12Volt battery for the engine electrics. It includes a modern 12volt high torque starter and a MSD ignition system. Two alternators power the electrical system. One with 24 Volts to charge batteries for  radio supply and and vehicle illumination and a 12Volt alternator to charge the starter battery. With this setup, I have redundancy and three 12Volt batteries available to start the vehicle in case of a battery malfunction. I test-drove the vehicle without the front differential installed to see if all sounds and feels ok. I discovered that the rebuild transfer case made a grinding noise during drive. The only solution was to take it out from the XR311 and bring it back to Besttrans for inspection. Mike Flores from Besttrans confirmed my diagnosis that a bearing was bad. That's not good for a newly rebuild transfer case. During my test-drive I had two mufflers installed, my neighbors will thank me for that.

I finally received the Viper Differential that Unitrax converted for my front axle application. It looks good and professional done! I will install it during the next days and see if all fits together.

Remaining things to do:

Install front differential. Modify and fit front drive shaft between transfer case and front diff. Install fuel tank with final mounting straps. Paint and install front hood (cover). Finish the dashboard between the seats and install the radio equipment. Fabricate and install a safety loop for the front drive shaft. Repair and install the doghouse (tranny cover). Fabricate and install the battery compartment bulkheads (covers). Reinstall the transfer case after repair. Find and install new speedometer (the original does not work properly) 

May 2002

First I installed the finally fixed transfer case in its place, than the Viper differential in the front. This was not a big task, because it fit perfectly. I could not fit the front drive shaft because it was too short and had the wrong size joke. Anyway I completed the my work on the front of the vehicle by installing the gas tank and hood. Now the front looks ok like a real XR311.

Click on the Picture to enlarge

I tested drivability of the XR311 with the disconnected front drive shaft. All sounded ok. No grinding noise from the transfer case any more. Good I was happy and made some laps around my neighborhood. The front brake responded very good and I could look up the front wheels. The rear brake did not respond strong, I had the feeling that the rear circuit coming from the master cylinder did not got enough pressure. The brake pedal felt spongy...I guess that I still have a problem with the master cylinder that did not work well from the beginning. I decided that I would purchase a new master cylinder from a reliable source. I ordered a new master cylinder from MP Master Power brakes on the internet and discussed my drive shaft needs with Powertrain Industries in Garden Grove and decided to have a stronger rear and a new and strong front drive shaft custom made..

Waiting for the parts to be finished and shipped to me I painted the transmission dog house cover and installed it. I fabricated some bulkhead covers for the battery compartments and installed  the radio equipment and antennas that I had collected at several military swap meets. It took some time to finish the wiring for the radio stuff, but finally it got done and the radios are working. Installed is a tactical VHF radio 30 to 75 MHz, a UHF ground to air radio 200 to 400 MHz , a VHF ground to air radio covering 108 to 130 MHz. The radios are connected to a radio distribution and intercom panel. For off road emergency purpose, I also installed a 1 to 30 MHz HF Radio that will cover long distance transmission in case I got helpless stuck in the desert. A FRS radio and GPS connected to a computer will aid navigation. 

Click on the Picture to enlarge

June 2002

I collected the new drive shafts and immediately installed both rear and front drive shafts. This is a relatively easy job and requires only bolting down the u-bolts. Now I was ready for a test drive in real 4X4 mode. I took the RX 311 out of the garage and drove around the block. The drive shafts performed well, the 4X4 drive also. But I discovered a new noise apparently coming from the front differential. Under load, when I accelerate or cruise no noise at all. When I release  the accelerator and the vehicle is coasting, then I hear a relatively  loud grinding noise from the front differential. Strange, under load no noise, no load coasting grinding or shattering noise. I disconnected the front drive shaft and the noise is gone. I will have to ask Unitrax for a possible cause. The Viper differential is a limited slip type with internal clutches, maybe that is the source of the noise. I left the front drive shaft disconnected until I can fix this problem. Will drive to Unitrax to have Jerry evaluate the problem.

The new master brake cylinder from MP arrived with instructions on how to bleed and install properly. It looks already different from to one that I originally got. The reservoirs are bigger. After removing the brake fluid from the old master cylinder and covering all painted panels with rags to catch any spilling brake fluid I exchanged the old to the new master cylinder. The new one fitted perfectly and after bleeding the complete front and rear system I got a good hard brake pedal. Much better than before. Test-driving concluded that the old master cylinder must have been defective or the wrong kind not designed for a disk-disk setup.

Finally I found the problem with the speedometer and had a speedometer cable custom made by Stanton Speedometer in Buena Park. The new old cable was defective causing the speedometer needle to jump.

My project is now finished with the exception of some small improvements that I will make to keep me busy. I trust in Unitrax that there can fix the differential problem for me, I hope that I don't have to pull the differential out of the XR311, that would mean a lot of work.

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Conclusion:

The project was interesting and challenging to me. It did require a lot of engineering and hands on work to make the vehicle look and move alright. I had no help to install and complete the vehicle, except my wife who assisted me to bleed the brake system. I used only standard hand tools and left the rebuilding work to professionals. I must say that I was negatively surprised about the quality work that the rebuilders did. Most of the rebuild parts did not work correctly at the first time. I had to pull those parts again and ask the remanufacturer or machine shop  to correct the problem.