Planning a build....

okiennc

New Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Location
Charlotte
Here are my plans (thoughts) on my build. Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 1986 Bronco II. Sorry no Jeep here.

Swapping in a fuel injected 302; C4 or newer A4OD, I have heard good things about NP203 or 205 tc's, if budget allows might order an Atlas; D44 up front maybe a 8.8 in the rear (would a 9" 3rd member make the rear drive shaft too short with a 3.5 - 4 inch susp. lift?); either 4" Superlift or 3.5" James Duff susp. lift I just don't like the :gay: blue color of the Duff equipment also seems kinda' high priced; 2" body lift; 35x12.50x15's. Numerous other mods that can wait until after the important stuff is taken care of.

Any help or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. Also, any suggestions on the proper placement of the front STRAIGHT axle would be helpful. IFS.....whats the use?

I am not too concerned about my ability to put all this together, just engineering something that will work well. This is going to be a daily driver and a weekend warrior rig (used and abused)for me and my son. I know things will break so replacement parts need to be fairly accessible and not outragiously expensive. Any help or suggestions?
 
I would go with the C-6 tranny. It's stronger, and when you need a rebuild, you can have it built for $200 to $250 including the converter. The 205 is a good choice of T case's. Pretty much bullet proof and easy to find and cheaper than an Atlas. Although it's gearing sucks and the talked about 3 to 1's for it has yet to hit the market. So, you would want to go lower in the diffs.

I would stay away from the body lift as much as possible. I am not sure of the length of a C-6 205 combo, but added to a 9inch you would have a great drive line combo if it's possible.

If you do this, post up some pics! I have an 89 Bronco II I have thought about doing myself.
 
CHip certainly knows his stuff no doubt, but I would think a C4 is just fine. lighter, and saps less HP.

That's like saying my 305 needs a TH400... :lol:

Oh, and Jeeps are for Barbie. No apologies necessary about driving something else. Oh wait, it's a Ford? nevermind.. :D
 
isn't the C4 shorter than the C6 also? not sure, but i "think" i remember hearing this... if you already have one it would be one less thing to buy.

OH, and there's nothing wrong with having a jeep... just as long as you replace everything in it with chevy or ford parts.:lol:
 
C6 is longer/bigger...and hard to find to bolt up to a 302 (at least when I was looking for that combo). A late model AOD has been known to lose its "prime" on steep inclines and sorta goes from pulling to neutral without any warning. just some info...
 
The C-6 is longer but not that much longer, and bigger. In stock form it's about the same difference as the 350 vs the 400. But you can build a C-4 to handle mucho HP! The advantage to a C-4 is the interchangable bell housing to fit what ever engine. The C-6 doesn't have that option, so you have to pick you a C-6 to fit the engine you have. Many C-6's came out behind the 351W, which is the same pattern as the 302. The C-4's are getting harder to come by since they have not been produced for a good while. If you do choose the C-4, first important mod to it should be a deeper pan and moving the dipstick from the housing to the pan.
So pick and choose your poison and go with it.
 
Not doggin Jeeps

Thanks for the info on the trannies everybody. Hey Rich, I wasn't trying to dog Jeeps, I think they're great vehicles, just that my grandpa was a Ford man, Dad just didn't care what he drove and I personally will never spend my money on another Chevy. Never personally owned a Jeep or a Dodge, though, I have driven lots of Dodges. It's just that every Chevy I have ever owned (3 of them) turned out to cost way more to fix them than it was worth and almost seems like I spent more time donig that than actually driving them. Not had too many problems out of my Fords (own 2 of them now, I have owned 2 others that went over 250k).

Back to my first thread, to comply with emissions I have to stay with fuel injection (according to the experts at Mr. Inspection). I want the power and torque of the V8, C-4 is shorter, I just didn't know if the AOD was worth its wieght on the trail or rocks. Thanks for the info about that.

I think the body lift is almost a "must" when putting the 302 in the Ranger-size engine compartment of the B2, at least that's what I have researched. Plus, I think it will give me added clearance I need for the 35" tires.

My question about the front straight axle is how to link it to the frame appropriately and effectively. Has anyone seen any good articles or know someone who has done the conversion?
 
The problem with the C4 is that it doesn't have the same output as the C6 and all of the "good" tcases. 203/205/208/1345/1356/etc all bolt right up to a C6. C4, you'd have to buy an adapter. I think AA or somebody makes the parts, but they cost some money, of course.

The C6 came behind smallblock motors for about... oh, 20 years or so. Nearly 30 years if you consider that it was still an optional trans for many years after the OD transmissions became standard equipment. ;)

But yeah, if it's behind a 300, 302, or 351W, it'll work.

C6s also came with two different length tailshafts, depending on the year and the tcase they were bolted to. They all still swap, but one of them is about 25-26" long, and the other is 29-30" long. The 205 is 11.25" tip to tail with a plate yoke on the back, a bit longer with a regular yoke. The 203 gear box is 5-3/4" long, and the doubler adapter is usually something like 2-3/4" long.

Hope that helps.
 
bellhousings?

Thanks for that info Shawn. I hope I am correct in saying this; doesn't the C-6 have a large bellhousing and the C-4 a small bellhousing? I wonder if the "big" bellhousing will fit in the tunnel of the smallish Bronco II. I have been told that a body lift is almost a requirement when doing the V8 swap on these vehicles. Also, do the adapter plates you were refering to cause problems with structural integrity between the two units? Once again everyone, thank you for your input, I think it will be very helpful to me when I get started putting all these components together.:)
 
The C6 is a bit bigger around than the C4, yeah. I'm not familiar with the particulars of putting them in Bronco IIs and Rangers, tho.

Looking through the AA price sheet, I don't see anything for C4/31spl Ford conversions. It looks like you can go AOD or C4 to Toy case or D300, though.

There shouldn't be any structural probs... but the adapters cost $5-600 or more, depending on what you're trying to do.
 
sheesh, I have a 302/c6/np208/full width 9" combo just sittin around. My roomate said he wanted to run it a while ago. I'll ask him if he still wants it or not.
 
Might I suggest going with a C4/Dana 20 from an early Bronco. The 20 can easily be twinsticked, has 2.46 or 2.34 gearing depending on the year, and the width and length should work perfectly in a II. I've seen a Ranger with this set up and he also ran the 44 up front and 9" out of the same early Bronco.

The C6 is 2" longer than the C4. The NP205 only has a 1.96:1 low range. The NP208 has so much offset of the front output it won't fit in a narrow frame. The AOD can be adapted to the D20, but cost quite a bit.
 
Check out therangerstation.com for axle swap info. I did the d44 and 9inch swap in my ranger several years back. The front axle swap is almost a bolt in deal if you take some time and find the right brackets. I just finished redoing my front sup. to get some more flex. (wristed radius arm, longer coils, and new upper coil/shock mounts) I have ran a 3 inch boby lift on the ranger for 6 years and have had no problems with it.

Sam(slim)
 
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