On to the next one: Bronco build

[YJKrawlin]

Worked on pulling apart the donor body while waiting for parts to arrive and the transmission to be built. Going to try to pull most of the wiring harness and sort through what will be needed and what wont be. That should be fun.

Looking great!!! The teal and black look really sharp! Curious to see how you end up liking the Excursion springs (if you go with them) cushy ride sounds nice!!!

That's what I have already, i think. I bought them from a guy parting out super dutys and he said they were excursion springs. I dont mind a cushier ride, but without a diesel engine up front i didnt want to be struggling to compress them either. You cant exactly pull springs from that pack to make a softer spring. Being that it's in a bronco and not a diesel 1 ton truck, I dont think it will be an issue, but we shall see. Ordered some more parts today, going to a 1 wire alternator, ordered the dust shield for the c6, ordered a red head steering gear as well. Debating getting a universal wiring harness, but I may just wait for aater date to do that. I've spent a little more than i was planning at the moment and i still have to buy my nwf black box titan. Hoping for some overtime here soon.

 

[87GMCJimmy]

Worked on pulling apart the donor body while waiting for parts to arrive and the transmission to be built. Going to try to pull most of the wiring harness and sort through what will be needed and what wont be. That should be fun.

That's what I have already, i think. I bought them from a guy parting out super dutys and he said they were excursion springs. I dont mind a cushier ride, but without a diesel engine up front i didnt want to be struggling to compress them either. You cant exactly pull springs from that pack to make a softer spring. Being that it's in a bronco and not a diesel 1 ton truck, I dont think it will be an issue, but we shall see. Ordered some more parts today, going to a 1 wire alternator, ordered the dust shield for the c6, ordered a red head steering gear as well. Debating getting a universal wiring harness, but I may just wait for aater date to do that. I've spent a little more than i was planning at the moment and i still have to buy my nwf black box titan. Hoping for some overtime here soon.

Look forward to seeing how you like those Excursion springs, my F-350 is on hold for quite a while so, you'll likely get some miles on your build before mine moves forward! NWF black box titan?!?!?! AWESOME!!!!! I am very jealous of the doubler setup your're going to have with that and the NP205, that's going to be freaking amazing!!!!

 

[YJKrawlin]

Look forward to seeing how you like those Excursion springs, my F-350 is on hold for quite a while so, you'll likely get some miles on your build before mine moves forward! NWF black box titan?!?!?! AWESOME!!!!! I am very jealous of the doubler setup your're going to have with that and the NP205, that's going to be freaking amazing!!!!

Trying to keep the drivetrain as short as possible and build something that I can have complete faith in. I'm rebuilding the 205 once the rebuild kit comes in next week. Unfortunately I went a little overboard on buying some parts/ forgetting about some of the things I would have to purchase (dust shield for the transmission, opting for a 1 wire battery, ordering a redhead steering gear, among other things) so that pushes back me ordering the black box titan. I may go ahead and push forward on getting the body swapped over once the transmission is in instead of waiting until the doubler is installed.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Cleaned up the engine and started reassembling it. Waiting on hearing back from the transmission shop. Until then, just starting to get things together and working on getting the donor body ready to put on the frame. Painted some of the accessories, those that aren't painted either Have to come off again or will be replaced (power steering bracket will be replaced with a saginaw kit so not going to paint the ford bracket. Tensioner pulley will also be replaced at some point so I'll paint the new one.) Happy to see this coming together. Got my brake lines built by a local hydraulic shop to save time and headache.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Got my steering gear box in from redhead, got the steering all mocked up (I'll need to double check everything once the body is on). Installed the core support to check clearances and mocked up the fenders to start getting an idea of the size of this thing. The suspension is still practically at full droop, but it's starting to come together. Also set the old winch from my jeep in to get an idea of the clearance for the winch and ac condenser. I intend to have ac and cruise control on the bronco by the time I'm done. Transmission should be done tomorrow and I'll be grabbing it thursday, then I'll be making plans to get the body swapped over officially if I can get some extra hands over to keep an eye on things. It will be a busy couple of weeks coming up.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Got the transmission back yesterday and the brand new pump was seized up so the shop threw another one in it and delivered it back to me today. Everything went together pretty smoothly. I roll the chassis out and wrapped it in blankets and tarps tied up with rope to keep it dry tonight. Also pulled the donor body into the shop and pulled the hood, hard top and wiring, etc. To get it ready for pulling the body. Only thing left should be the body mount bolts and the wiring to the tail lights/ some ghetto trailer wiring. Seeing the chassis outside with the grill on has me ready to get the body fenders and hood on asap. Still trying to go through and make sure I'm not skipping anything though. I'm no master welder/fabricator but I'm pretty happy with how the bronco has come along, even if it is only 2-3 hours at a time.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Found some time before worked and finally swapped the body to the correct frame. This is 4" of lift on 40s, I'll need to cut the fenders to flex but it clears surprisingly well at the moment. The suspension definitely needs to settle thought. The best part was finding out it fit in the shop without deflating tires. Although I cant open the doors without deflating the tires. Threw a fender up for an idea of clearance, the core support still needs to slide back a few inches to be in line. Going to tighten down the body this weekend and hopefully that will be it for the majority of the heavy work until the transfer cases go in.

 

[fordwheelinman]

Are those 4x4 posts for the legs and a 2x10 for the beam?

Need to build something similar to swap a 78 pickup cab and was curious how well this worked on your body swap

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[YJKrawlin]

Are those 4x4 posts for the legs and a 2x10 for the beam?

Need to build something similar to swap a 78 pickup cab and was curious how well this worked on your body swap

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

They are 2x4 posts. I would definitely beef the legs up to a 2x6, my first attempt used 2 sets and while it worked, I had a hoist malfunction and used a ratchet strap causing the weight to shift when lowering it,which overloaded on of the legs and put a crack in it, it didnt break just had a really bad lean. The second time I used it for the front and picked it up from the fender mounts as close to the body as I could get, then used an engine hoist with a chain hooked to the inside lip of the tailgate. If you are doing a pickup cab, I'm sure you could fab something similar and either push them close together or build one with a frame at the top to get the separation to balance it while picking it up.

 

[87GMCJimmy]

Looks awesome sitting on the 40s!!! Nice to see an OBS Ford running a reasonable lift and real tires!!! (I’m on a few OBS pages on Facebook and the huge lift and rubber band tires on stupid huge wheels setup is running rampant) Great work man! Looking forward to seeing more progress!

 

[YJKrawlin]

Looks awesome sitting on the 40s!!! Nice to see an OBS Ford running a reasonable lift and real tires!!! (I’m on a few OBS pages on Facebook and the huge lift and rubber band tires on stupid huge wheels setup is running rampant) Great work man! Looking forward to seeing more progress!

Thanks! I got the hood fenders and grill on a few weeks back, this weekend I threw the battery tray in, swapped the intake, just to find out the bypass fitting is rubbing the distributor now, so gotta figure out something for that. With our house getting closer and closer I'm thinking I may wrap it up with the np205 for now and order the titan blackbox when I get the chance, but it just doesn't seem in the cards in the next few months. I also got to messing with the shift linkage for the automatic, not sure I'm happy with it yet but still plenty of room to tinker with it. Its slowly coming together.

 

[bulldogbronco]

Maaaannnn. I’m now thinking about upping the lift on mine. This thing is sexy. Great build! Starting mine soon as axles get out of the donor truck

 

[YJKrawlin]

Maaaannnn. I’m now thinking about upping the lift on mine. This thing is sexy. Great build! Starting mine soon as axles get out of the donor truck

This is only supposed to be 4.5" but man is it tall. I wish it was a little lower but it also doesn't have any fluids in it, no interior except the dash, no fuel, etc. I definitely need to figure an easier way of getting in and out because I wont have a stool everywhere I go usually

 

[bulldogbronco]

Most likely running stock leafs for a while see how I like it, then go from there. Great build.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Most likely running stock leafs for a while see how I like it, then go from there. Great build.

I'm running stock leaves in the rear with a shackle flip and excursion springs in the front.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Warning: lots of pictures
Long time since an update and a lot has happened. First, we finally have our house! It took a few months to get the bronco where I could get it there but I finally did. After I got it here I finally got to a point where it was ready to start. It idled amazing with the sniper and I thought we were finally going somewhere! I was wrong. I kept having an issue where everytime I put it in gear it was struggling to stay running, throttle input made no difference on keeping it running. Thought it might be the torque converter but had it looked at by the transmission builder and ruled it out. With no driveshaft or "load" on the engine it ran fine. Also noticed it was pushing fuel and oil put of the dipstick and exhaust. I imagine the rings were beyond gone and fuel and oil were mixing in the combustion chamber once the load was put on the engine. It was just a guess but I decided to just pull it and not deal with the headache. Parted out that setup and moved onto something I was familiar with. LS swap it. Was holding out for a 6.0 and 4l80 but ended up settling for a 4.8 and 4l80e. Got the wiring done and some motor mounts from autofab. Went through the engine briefly to clean it up and replace a few questionable parts. Installed it today and glad to see it coming back together a year and a half after i started haha. I am replacing the front and rear seals in the 4l80 before installing it then installing a sye on a gm np241. Still a ways to go but on the rise again.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Got some more work done. Engine is buttoned up, still need to run some vacuum lines and make some radiator Hoses but it's coming along. Got the transmission in and the autofab crossmember. The crossmember didn't bolt in as nice as I was hoping but it wasn't terrible, considering I don't have the means to do a big custom fab project at the moment. Looking to go pick up an np241 soon. Got my Winters Shifter for the 4l80 and buttoned up a few other parts (NSS wiring, vss wiring, dipstick, etc). Threw a cheap cold air intake on as well. Slowly coming together. Need to order some Shocks for the rear and move the mounts still. Ready to have it back on the road. The week it was running and 1 mile I drove it before has me itching to drive it again. Lots of small things to do and going to try to use the 4l80e NSS to power my reverse lights. Its coming along.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Got the Transmission Lines cut and built, installed the cooler just need to get some zip ties to pass through the radiator and hold it in place. Still have to find the time to head up to @02gmc5.3 and pick up a transfer case, but ordered my SYE and hoping to get that all installed in the next couple of weeks. It's coming along. Once it "runs" and will at least idle and putt around we will probably order the corbeau baja rs seats and work on a temporary center console to mount the shifter so I only have to drill 1 hole for the cable to pass through. Got the wiring for the NSS finished and the dipstick installed. Also got the headers installed (speed engineering C10 Ls Swap header) but I will need to trim the ears on the 4l80 for clearance. It's been a busy couple of weeks with overtime at work but it is slowly coming together. Also decided to rewire the fuel pump. I have some 14 GA CCA wiring going to it and that's probably enough but just in case, I picked up so OFC 10 GA to ensure I don't have any voltage issues or potential fire hazards. Anybody have a recommendation on heat/sound deadener to put in the floors? I was looking at the Kilmat on amazon but have read some reviews saying it isn't a heat shield just sound deadener so it has me holding off until I read some more reviews.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Had a busy week. Drove up to VA to get the transfer case from @02gmc5.3 . Got my SYE ordered and it came in today so I got the NP241 torn down and have it mostly installed in the truck. I still need to install the output shaft/yoke and test fit my driveshaft but that shouldn't take too long. Looks like I might need to space my transmission/tcase up to allow my front driveshaft to clear, but that's a problem for another day. While I was waiting for the SYE to arrive I got to messing around with some CAD (cardboard aided design) and tried to flesh out a center console. I'm wanting to have a double din stereo so I can use a backup camera and have some better than factory cupholders at the same time. It will be nice to have some modern amenities in the cab. I also got the trans dipstick mounted so I can fill her up soon. I test flexed the suspension to measure for some rear shocks and after saving some money on some generic shocks that fit the length, spent all my saved money needing to modify them to install in the truck. The truck has more travel but I was almost touching the fender in the front so I stopped it early. Slowly getting there. Time to start double checking torques and filling up fluids. Waiting for my tuner to have an opportunity to throw a base tune on it so she can fire up for the first time.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Got the driveshaft in and actually raised the drivetrain about half an inch to try to clear the front driveshaft when I get that made. Got the truck to turn over but it is waiting for the tune before I can actually start it. In the meantime I've been messing around with things that don't matter like building the center console, Getting the back window to be reliable, topping off fluids, etc. Also spend some time making a rear bumper. Still needs a little bracing but it will work for towing my little utility trailer to take trash off. Ready to hear it crank for the first time and to take it to get some exhaust done! Since these photos were taken I have extended the wiring for the rear window and put it in the center console since it fell off of the climate control section and added a switch panel for rock lights, back up camera switch, and any other future control options.

 

[YJKrawlin]

The Bronco runs! Got a base tune put on it until the exhaust is finished and got to putt it around the yard. Power steering is leaking from the fitting on the feed line so I'll be making an AN line for it to fix that. Once that's complete I will be slowly trying to shake it down, drive it to the local gas station and fill it up and try to gain some confidence in it. This is the first time I've stripped something to the frame and put it back together so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

 

[ponykilr]

Congrats man!

 

[YJKrawlin]

Congrats man!

Thanks! Still a ways to go. Still needs exhaust, gearing and an official tune but I can putt it around and give it a bit of a shake down once the power steering is sorted. Need to find a shop nearby who can gear it for me. Thinking about putting a factory for E locker in at the same time but haven't come to a decision yet. It won't be a massive wheeler but I still want it to be capable when I take it out.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Well the bronco has been running for a little over a month, I seem to have some electrical gremlin that might be killing the battery or just a battery starting to go out. I drive it around locally from time to time and got the power steering sorted by making an AN line for it. I may end up having an actual crimped line made to ensure it can hold up to the pressure. It still needs exhaust and then the tune will get finished once I can drive it without ear plugs in. But i'm happy with it so far! Just needs some gearing to allow it to use overdrive and give it some guts down low.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Now that it's on the road, progress will be slowing down. I bought a 1972 El Camino project that I'm starting to tinker with in my free time while I wait for my exhaust guy to free up some time. Anything to stay busy at this point.