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New owner from Germany

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
Got to love our community.. :) been a LONG time since I attended one of those. Back in 1987, 88 when I was at Hahn!! Sad that base has all faded away now...

had a visit from a fellow member yesterday, who is visiting germany - mainly for the oktoberfest!

he brought me an antenna assembly, which was completely missing from my bronco. that was one of the parts i just could not justify buying yet due to shipment costs. size easily brings shipping in the $50-70 range, and with customs to pay a $200 price tag was just too high.
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
wow, some heavy rain yesterday - and a dripping wet bronco. on the inside.
it was dripping from underneath the dashboard, so i suspect the windshield hinge seal. also, the windshield seal seems to have no sealant, it was pushing water through the seal on the two lower corners.
that seems to be a damn fine winter project...
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
wow, some heavy rain yesterday - and a dripping wet bronco. on the inside.
it was dripping from underneath the dashboard, so i suspect the windshield hinge seal. also, the windshield seal seems to have no sealant, it was pushing water through the seal on the two lower corners.
that seems to be a damn fine winter project...

lol, good reason to stay in out of the snow time :)
 

66ALRIDE

Contributor
Just BIP It!
Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
1,785
Loc.
Dothan, AL
No rain here for about a month. Also it’s almost 6pm and still 90F......Ready for some cool weather!
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
I'm about to start the NV3550 conversion.

As usual, I need to figure how to get the parts shipped here. Summit Racing carries the conversion kit itself, duty and taxes prepaid with delivery.

And I found the old Hurst short throw shifter on ebay, seems like and old stock item. No pictures, but the part no. is correct. And cheaper than the core shifter version. Again, delivered through the international shipping program:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183990758637
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
I got sidetracked and now I need help...
Removed my steering box to inspect it. Bad idea.

But first - what kind of steering shaft is this? At the column, there is a clamp, but the shaft is a one piece unit. At the bottom, there is a cup shaped thing. Lots of slop in there.
IMG_3422.jpeg

IMG_3421.jpeg

IMG_3420.jpeg


I then disassembled the steering box. Lots of pitting everywhere, on the teeth of both the sector shaft and the rack block, on the worm gear and even on some of the balls. Too far gone?
IMG_3412.jpeg

IMG_3417.jpeg

IMG_3416.jpeg

IMG_3415.jpeg

IMG_3414.jpeg

IMG_3413.jpeg

IMG_3419.jpeg

IMG_3418.jpeg


The question is - what to do?
One of the sector shaft bearings broke while removing it, so I will have to find a way to get the remains out of the box. I can slap it back together and adjust it, but I will need a solution in the near future. A new box and a new steering shaft is what I would be looking at.
As usual, shipping is an issue. Found this kit which can be shipped through the ebay international shipping program:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-1977-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l9372

But what kind of steering box is this? Is it a Borgeson unit? Is that a good swap? The mustang guys over here are extremely pleased with the boxes.
Or are there other options you would recommend?
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
ok, what i found is that this seems to be the original manual steering column, which was used together with the power steering box. i see that replacement parts for the coupler are available.
as i already have bought a rebuild kit for the steering box i guess putting that in will be the most sensible thing for now, to get it at least back on the road.
but the question remains, which is the best complete replacement steering kit?
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
started working on the steering box.

got the old upper bearing out, with a dremel:
IMG_3425.jpeg

after getting it out i could see the ridge against it was stuck. crud and rust, got that away with a dremel, too.

as everything was disassembled, i blasted and painted everything:
IMG_3426.jpeg


got a rebuild kit for the steering coupler. for a j**p, but the parts seem to fit. that took away a lot of slack already.
IMG_3428.jpeg


steering box is almost together. i'm waiting for the second sector shaft bearing which was not in the kit.
IMG_3427.jpeg


adjusted the preload, but the readings were not consistent due to the parts being so seriously damaged. but it's kind of there.
once the bearing arrives i'll see how everything goes together and how much better, if any, it steers.
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
second bearing arrived yesterday, had only little time today to slap it back together today.
it's leak free so far, so i don't have any immediate issues. i consider this a major achievement :D

steering feels a lot tighter, but i have not driven it yet.
will keep you updated!
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
so, back to the NV3550 swap. i read a lot on the swap during the last weeks, and i see that the exhaust routing can be an issue.
i have a setup of unknown origin, where the front tubes may be following the original routing in to 1-into-2 muffler with pipes out on each side.
here are to pictures of the y-pipe in the crossmember area. would you think that this will clear the nv3550 crossmember?

IMG_3433.jpeg

IMG_3434.jpeg
 

txtruk15

Contributor
Sr. Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2017
Messages
749
Loc.
Highland Village, TX
I think that's going to be a tight fit - I had dual exhausts running back with my old NP435/D20 combo - when I went to the NV3550 swap with the atlas tcase, I had to go to 2 into one and routed it in front of the nv3550 along the passenger side - much cleaner, and no issues with clearance on the drivers side....
 

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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
ok, back to the power steering. it does feel a lot tighter, but i had to take out the steering box again.

there was just too much preload, so i loosened it up some. without the sector shaft, the readings were pretty consistent in the 10 in/lbs range.
with the sector shaft installed, it was a little erratic, though. no noticeable rise preload on center, but a rise in preload more or less all the way around.

put it back in, and drove it a little. steering is a lot more precise, but steering will now not return to center. caster was on the low end anyway, at around 2° with 4° bushings. but now it might just be too low with the steering box tight as it is.

i will remove the steering stabilizer shock to see if it frees it up a little.
and i have 7° to go in as well. but i was too lazy to start on this project today...
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
removed the steering stabilizer shock. no noticeable difference.

lift was occupied by my buddy working on his mustang today, so i replaced the hardtop window side seals. removed the windshield with the seal intact. put it back in with LOTS of sealant.

also tinkered with smaller stuff as the gas pedal spring or the hood-to-cowl seal.
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
well, it's friday 13th, right?
here's my personal misery:
IMG_3495.jpeg


when putting in the seal with lots of sealant, the old gasket was not fitting properly on the top. apparently, applying pressure was not a good idea. I now have a cracked windshield :(

i'm hoping this is not too expensive of a mistake. a local friend is currently shipping a car from the states, and he can bring a windshield with him. i asked the vendors for a shipping quote, but was lucky on amazon with $110 for a tinted windshield with free shipping.

other than that, i folded the windshield down and removed the dash pad:
IMG_3496.jpeg


here it is with a badly fitting dash cap cover on:
IMG_3498.jpeg


and here it is removed:
IMG_3499.jpeg


i will now try to remove the dash to replace the rotting firewall insulation. what i noticed that the dash seems to have been white. would this have been factory color for the dash, or would it have been painted body color?
IMG_3497.jpeg


i'll try to remove it this weekend.
 

74BroncoCO

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
2,374
Sorry for the bad luck. I was going to attempt to replace mine too but decided to let a pro do it.

I'll bet the dash color is factory. Looks identical to mine.
 
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tody

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
207
so, here it is:
IMG_3500.jpeg


pretty dirty underneath:
IMG_3501.jpeg


and this is the main reason for pulling the dash. rust underneath, and it's smelling fairly bad:
IMG_3506.jpeg


so this will all have to go. from what i read on here, it's best to fully reassemble the dash before reinstall. so i'll pull the complete harness and rewrap it:
IMG_3507.jpeg

IMG_3508.jpeg
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,353
Would love to find a re-designed defroster duct to improve airflow. At the very least a new design, reduced diameter hose to use. More velocity to the window and more room under the dash. Win win!

Paul
 
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