been a busy week on all fronts but here's an update.
ended up painting the stock bumper, spent 2 1/2 night trying to situate the rack and pinion. i took it all apart and lubed it. when i reinstalled it i noticed the left front had a 1/2 inch of swim. the rack was still , just the LF moved. turns out the inner tie rod end cup had a bunch of play and was worn out. i had a 150R rack and took the rods and cups from that and put them on the original rack. turns out the tie rods are an 1 3/8" shorter than the stockers. why? i dont know. i called BD the next morning to compare their 150 vs 150R tie rods. still waiting for the return call 4 days later. anyhow i did make a set. i found a baja DN250 rack abd those cups work w/ the stockers so i'm good and have backup . in the meantime racks do bite. i got my finger good .
engine is rebuilt and back in , buggy is completely wired except the tail light, all brakes ar installed and just need bled. wheel spacers were routed for the hub centric ring on the front hubs, exhaust is done and painted. shocks are in, tried on a front for fitment.....much easier than trying to do fronts on the 400. i'll have no problem w/ airing them up while installed on this buggy so at least i learned something.