1969 complete frame-off rebuild - started 5-12-2017

Happens to the best of us.. Congrats on the new addition to the family!

Uncut1970 said:

Time to bring this thread back to life!

Not a whole lot has happened since I last posted. 2017 blessed my wife and I with our first child. Also, went from two incomes down to one - and I left my steady corporate income to go out on my own... needless to say, the Bronco disappeared off the priority list.

That all changes this year. My goal is to drive it to the Super Celebration in April.

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On May 8th, I made the following statement in a post above: “the fella helping me says I’ll be driving in June, but I’m not holding my breath...”. Good call on not holding my breath; I’d be long gone. Not much was accomplished in the month of May; it was probably the wettest month in recent history for Cashiers NC.

We were able to get the LizardSkin thermal insulation sprayed inside and on firewall inside & out. Once this dried we were able to proceed.


Went to work on the Bronco yesterday and knocked out a decent amount:

- Mounted and shimmed QR hinges
- laid out the Centech wiring harness; essentially just got it into the correct places. Now the fun starts!
- installed new gas tank, filler neck, sending unit, and hoses.
- installed new gas line
- started on the X-terra/Cherokee/F-150 power steering conversion. Got the Cherokee shaft inside the Xterra box. Got the X-terra steering shaft married to the F-150 shaft. Still need to cut and square Bronco shaft to fit into F-150 joint. I’ve heard it mentioned previously, but in hindsight, purchasing a ready-to-run PS kit would have been much easier and quicker; but I would have missed out on several “learning opportunities”.

Next on the punch list for today and tomorrow:
- finish the steering shaft measuring, cutting, and install
- work on steering shaft tube; just want clean it up and install new boot.
- install all the new bushings, wires, and adapters for new wood/stainless steering wheel.
- start wiring dash and guage cluster
- drop in engine for fitment


When you rebuild veterans are going through reassembly; do you follow a checklist or a chronological project flow chart?

If so, could you share? I’d love to plan our next moves so we aren’t having to backtrack because we didn’t know “Part B” won’t fit if “Part X” is already installed. Question particularly applies to the drivetrain, exhaust; headers and wiring of engine compartment

Progress over past two weeks has been great!

Got the interior side of the vintage A/C kit installed, the dash wired and installed, all new steering parts installed, all new accessories on the dash installed, kick panel speaker pods modified and installed, ran brand new brakes and e-brake cables, bled new brake system including new Wildwood proportioning valve, and finished the x-terra/jeep/f-150 steering box conversion

Hoping to drop engine in today!

Really nice looking truck there. The one thing I learned redoing vehicles is to not put time frames on them. It can be a fun hobby and the reward you will have when it is finally on the road will be unbelievable. There are ups and downs when building them but you'll know everything about it and really understand the "built, not bought" saying. You are going to have an awesome Bronco when its done. Ken

Great build my friend. I really like the updates and the pictures. I am just at the end of the little thing stages of my frame off. So I understand you. But when you start it the first time, then drive it it is all worth it. Keep up the great work.

I mean just in the last two days, I’ve spent probably $300 dollars on parts that I hadn’t even thought of, but figured I would replace while everything is accessible... it’s stuff like ARP bolts for the drivetrain, new volt regulator, little gaskets, u-bolts for driveshafts, map lights, etc... it really never ends!


As for the voltage regulator; I need some guidance on the wiring...

New tuff stuff Voltage regulator,
90-130 high amp alternator (one wire) from Wild Horses,
MSD 6al,
MSD coil,
And Summit HEI distributor

I want to make sure I have everything wired correctly on the first try... guidance is appreciated

May as well do it while you doing it right

Fantastic project! Looks great, in spite of the usual delays and "surprises" thrown at you on a semi-regular basis.

Love that color too. Your original did look more like the Lunar Green, but the one in the pic you posted from our website is Caribbean Turquoise in case you didn't already figure that out. Sure looks like your paint guy nailed it!
Did I miss it, or do you have a full side shot with the Ranger-style stripes in all their glory?

Good luck with your family and this family member.
And remember, as long as you are finished before your first gets (her?) driver's license, all is good. Well with them at least! Be nice if dad got to drive it to work as well!

Have fun at least.

Paul

DirtDonk said:

Fantastic project! Looks great, in spite of the usual delays and "surprises" thrown at you on a semi-regular basis.



Love that color too. Your original did look more like the Lunar Green, but the one in the pic you posted from our website is Caribbean Turquoise in case you didn't already figure that out. Sure looks like your paint guy nailed it!

Did I miss it, or do you have a full side shot with the Ranger-style stripes in all their glory?



Good luck with your family and this family member.

And remember, as long as you are finished before your first gets (her?) driver's license, all is good. Well with them at least! Be nice if dad got to drive it to work as well!



Have fun at least.



Paul

Click to expand...

Paul- you are correct. I switched from Lunar Green to Caribbean Turquoise at the painters suggestion; and I am glad I did. We repainted the Wimbledon white trim and orange pinstripe; then used the orange throughout as a statement... (And as a shoutout to my alma mater, Clemson). The Ford letters on grill and tailgate are orange, as well as the bezel on guage cluster.

My upholstery should be done soon; and they too have orange piping to tie it all together.




I can’t wait to wrap this one up!

Lots of progress in the last three days. The drivetrain is in, the headers are in, the clutch linkage is installed with new bushings all around including a custom bracket for the equalizer bar, the transmission linkage is in with all new bushings, the alternator, P/S pump, and A/C compressor is in...

Just need some belts and a carburetor and we will be able to hear it run for the first time ever!

Very exciting. Looking nice! Good luck.

Looking Great! Keep going and posting!

Looking sharp....

Got it running for the first time ever! What a relief; but more work to do!

But we are probably pulling the shroud, radiator, and condenser in order to replace the harmonic balancer.

Need some help clarifying what my mechanic is telling me... I trust him, but I don’t need to be throwing good money at a “potential problem that one day may arise”...

The guy helping me said we need to replace the harmonic balancer in order to nail the timing and make it perfect. He said the rubber piece on the original balancer is worn out and the timing marks and weights aren’t lining up. He said while we had the engine idling, he could see the balancer wobbling.

Assuming we need to replace the balancer, could someone tell me which one I should replace it with? Through research, I think I need a 28oz, correct?

If its pre 1980 motor should be 28oz, my 1975 was wobbly too so I got a Professional Products damper, it takes both the 3 and 4 hole pulley. Summit also sells one that's similar.

Hotrodjohn said:

If its pre 1980 motor should be 28oz, my 1975 was wobbly too so I got a Professional Products damper, it takes both the 3 and 4 hole pulley. Summit also sells one that's similar.

Click to expand...

So you agree it’s worth replacing?

if the rubber on original is coming loose I certainly I would because that outer ring can come off.

***11-5-18 UPDATE*** Also - follow 1969_LUBR on Instagram for more pictures and updates on the build


So it has been exactly 542 days since embarking on this project/journey/rabbit-hole/money-pit (or insert any similar adjective).

I brought the Bronco home in early August and started driving it on short drives around town (Greenville, SC). It was 85% complete at this point, lacking drivers side fender being mounted, liftgate class, and interior panels being installed by upholsterer. I had a friend of mine that owns a local body shop put it on his frame machine Sep. 10th to straighten the frame, fix the panel gaps, align the doors, and mount the fender. This helped me out tremendously and was well worth the $600 in my mind. It came home on the 13th and I continued to drive it around the house.

Unfortunately, every time I returned home, regardless of time spent behind the wheel, my wife would make me immediately change my clothes because, according to her, I smelled like "I had taken a bath in gasoline". Needless to say, it was running very rich. So I took it up to the exhaust shop that installed the custom exhaust and had them inspect for any leaks - which none existed. The exhaust guy recommended that I find an engine shop to investigate and diagnose the cause of the rich burn and the curious "ticking" the engine was conjuring up.

Luckily, a friend of mine's son is a genius when it comes to engines, particularly carbureted ones. He dove in immediately and tuned the new Edlebrock 600cfm carb which made a huge difference, but did not fix the root cause of the rich burn and smell. He called me up and indicated he thinks the problem exists deeper in the engine and asked if he could pull the valve covers to investigate further. I said, "go for it and let me know what you find". Within a couple hours, he sends me pictures of a rocker arm sitting nearly 90% off of a valve spring and a damaged stud. According to him, I was at risk of catastrophic failure at any point driving it around. He says we need to pull the heads to further investigate.


I just shook my head in disbelief, as my "budget" had already been blown through (months prior), and I had thought I purchased a ready-to-run, rebuilt, and "upgraded" engine from a guy in GA (not the case). I ask my buddy's son if I could come wrench on it myself to pull the top end and accessories, 1) to save labor costs & 2) to learn about the process. He said sure, come on up. So I spent several hours one night pulling the carb, alternator, A/C compressor, P/S pump, intake, headers, and eventually the heads.

We discover its a wonder the truck ran at all; as well as the (multiple) causes of the rich run. The heads, which were supposedly rebuilt by the guy I bought it from, looked like they hadnt been touched since 1969 and had hundreds of thousands of miles on them. Only 3 of the 16 valves were seated, none had guides, two were literally chipped, and there is a chance the pushrods were the incorrect length. So I took them up to Chris Dover at Dover Cylinder Head at the recommendation of my buddy's son. Chris called me 10 days later and said they were ready to be picked up. When I went to pick them up, they looked like they had literally been cast the same week. It was hard to believe they were the same heads I had previously dropped off. Everything that could be replaced was replaced, cleaned and/or rebuilt.

I delivered the beautiful "new" heads back to the shop a couple weeks ago. This past weekend was the first chance we had a chance to start putting it all back together. I went up to the shop on Saturday evening for a couple hours to help out but had to leave prematurely to help my wife at home. He texted me at 10:30pm and said, "we got her running good again, but I am still not 100% confident in the lower end of this engine". I am so anxious to get the truck back, but I sincerely appreciate his attention to detail. He wants to test drive the truck some more before sending it home again and see if any other problems rear their head- fingers crossed they dont!


I also was met another CB Forum member, Crawdad, and his son yesterday. He and I were able to swap some parts - he had the liftgate glass I needed and I luckily had some parts he could use in his projects. So I chalk that up to a success!

Sorry for the long post, but I am doing this as much for myself as I am for the readers enjoyment of my project-perils. I am chronicling this adventure so that one day when it is running right, I will be able to look back and remember everything it took to get to that point.

Quite a story! Too bad about the heads. Keep the ball rollin' and the pics and thread coming!