New 75' EB Ranger owner w question

I am happy to be the new owner of this 1975 Red Bronco Ranger and am appreciative of this great forum as I have been a lurker for some time. She is a bit dented up (apparently a tree fell on it) and has some floorboard rust but overall I am happy with how clean she is (original paint) and am driving it every chance I have. I plan on eventually replacing the hardtop when I find a decent one. To date I have had fun rebuilding and reupholstering the seats, replacing all lights w LED including JW speaker headlights and have started to chip away at the thousands of projects needed to bring her back.

My plan is to get the Bronco mechanically solid and use as a daily driver but keep the "survivor" look on the exterior. Maybe eventually I will do the body work but I really appreciate the honesty of its current state.

I plan on adding disc brakes up front with hydro-boost, WH saginaw upgrade, full (stock height) WH suspension kit upgrade with bilstein shocks. If my engine can handle it I would like to do the Edelbrock Estreet top end kit w new matched cam, chain, heads and intake and top it with a holley sniper efi.

I am concerned with the engine as the PO said it was rebuilt, I am not so sure. The engine seems to idle and run ok but is low on power. There seems to be a single hesitation under load but it feels like a timing issue (like its running out of gas). I have timed it and seems to be better but still there. I suspect the harmonic balancer has moved as it runs better when i advance dizzy from current markings. At higher revs it does smoke a bit but I question the pvc and possibly the PO's rebuilding of the stock heads and or using the original chain. Its leaking crazy oil from the pan and from the harmonic balancer as Im sure its worn or the seal wasn't installed right.

I want to do the edelbrock estreet top end kit but not sure if the engine is up to snuff. I wonder if perhaps there is a better option.

My compression test yielded 125 on #1,2,3,4,5 and 7, while #6 has 110 and #8 has 120. All within range of each other by 9% but I suspect these numbers are low and possibly causing issues? My question is should I venture to do the Edelbrock E-street kit, replace cam, timing chain, heads and intake...or should I do more testing to see if the rings are badly worn and approach from a different angle. Any help is greatly appreciated as this is some uncharted territory for me - thanks in advance.

You have to be a contributor to post pics $12 a year.

Its smoking and leaking everywhere? I rebuild mine 8 years ago no smoke no leaks and 10k miles and most were drivin like I stole it! Id do some more investigating before I just slapped a new top end on it.

Rebuilt is an interesting thing
sounds like you have to go through the whole motor and add the E street at that time.
I had a "rebuilt" motor from a PO once and with scope I saw big gouges in the cylinder walls
If you redo it you know it will be right
Good luck

check the backlash in the timing chain if its really bad then decide what you want to do. Understand you can have a rebuilt motor just depends when. A 40 year old old tech motor could have had 2 rebuilt motors. Back in the day 10 years and 100,000 miles you were due some serious motor work. Odometer only goes to 100,000 miles and starts over. How many times has it been around? Compression is OK but you need a leak down test to find out if there are upcoming issues. Another good indicator is to tun the carb and use a vacuum gauge and see if you can get a steady vacuum needle.

Hey leomd, welcome! You lurker you!
Congrats on finally getting your Bronco. Now the fun really begins!

The compression looks decent for a '75 engine actually. Those numbers don't indicate actual compression ratio, but they can go up and down with ratio too, so your low compression '75, especially with an original cam, would very likely be in the 110 to 120 psi range.
Was the testing done with the carburetor held wide open? What about a little oil in the cylinders?

Smoking can mean many things of course, but I've found that engines that have sat for a long tine tend to smoke a lot more than an engine that's been driven even with high mileage.
Personally, when time is available for it, I just drive them regularly and add "snake oils" to the oil and gas to see if the instance of smoking is reduced. Doesn't work for a vehicle you're trying to flip, since you just don't have the time. But for one you're going to keep, take the time before deciding to tear open a perfectly good engine.
It's always worked for me.

Where is the other end of that PCV valve hose going? Should be to full manifold vacuum at the base of the carburetor, or otherwise a common plenum point. Never to an individual runner though, like the brake booster, trans and other stuff.

Also, the opposite side valve cover has to have either a filtered cap or a hose running to the air cleaner housing for clean air to be pulled into the crankcase.

Does the VIN indicate it was a Ranger? If it is, it's certainly a plain one. You could always delete the stripes and even the chrome trim if you wanted I think, but a Ranger package would have had color-keyed dash pad, cloth seats, door panels, side panels in '75 too I'm pretty sure, and even a full colored floor mat or (more likely in '75) carpet.
Don't see any of those on yours, so was wondering.

Paul

Thanks for the great replies/info.

@spap great idea on the scope I will borrow my friends and take a look.

@rustytruck , I bet the timing chain is well worn as well as cam. The odometer reads 38k so I assume its 138k... hopefully...or maybe 238 lol

@dirtdonk, thanks for reassuring me on the compression numbers some things I read on internet suggested that at 110 I would be in trouble. I did the test with all plugs out dry, no oil and no open throttle. PCV inlet is from airfilter to passanger side valve cover. Driver side oil filler on Valve cover has elbow and hose that goes to plate at base of carb. I just ordered all new elbow, PCV, grommet, and hose since they are a bit weepy and cracked at base.

I was confused with ranger package too. Vin indicates C4 body which I assume is ranger package. Ranger tag is on the red original dash with ginger dashpad and the rat infested seats were originally ginger cloth , I decided to go parchment to match the door panels and give the truck a lighter look. The side molding must have been deleted but I do still have the chrome window trim all windows but the windshield. I also noticed the rear had brackets for the original interior side panels. Bronco came with no carpets, rear seat and door panels were parchment...but look stock. I think you answered one of my questions as I wasn't sure if you could get a ranger with side molding delete. I posted some pics of the interior and original seats.

Yeah, the color matched dash and seats does change things.
It's very possible that one of the PO's replaced the door panels with something when the originals were warped and rotted out beyond repair. A very common issue with the old door panels in fact. Only the basic steel ones last. Any of the uprated ones are prone to moisture damage.
Probably the same for any rear panels. Maybe even the back seat? Of course, the rear seat was an option on standard Broncos. I thought it was included automatically in a Ranger package, but perhaps you could "rear seat delete" too, just like so many other things back then.

Paul

If you're going to use that rear gas tank, make sure to test it with water or other fluid first, before going to the trouble of installing it.
Make sure to fix any seapage before.

Not every one had trouble, but enough of that design did to warrant a little extra effort up front I'd think.

Paul

* Update - I eventually got around to taking off the timing cover and chain and found the culprit. The backlash was huge...causing the timing to alter enough making the engine sputter under quick acceleration - crazy.

A new cam, chain , water pump, seal and gaskets and she runs great now.

Great result. Lot of work, but a good ending!

Paul

leomd said:

* Update - I eventually got around to taking off the timing cover and chain and found the culprit. The backlash was huge...causing the timing to alter enough making the engine sputter under quick acceleration - crazy.

A new cam, chain , water pump, seal and gaskets and she runs great now.

Click to expand...

Good deal.. Always a great feeling right

Looks like a good start. Half of the ones out there for sale have "rebuilt" engines with no paperwork, often just a line of BS. Though one seller was honest on a recent one who told me the rebuild was 18 years and 120k miles ago.