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Update from the Busted Knuckle Garage - After the Fire

bsquared

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Dec 4, 2010
Messages
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There's nothing like a little fire in the engine bay to get you motivated for a little "Bronco time" in the garage. Luckily for me the fire was contained mostly to the carb and intake area, but it did make a mess of things. I'm pretty sure my harness was spared, but the loom was melted all over it, so it's going to need some serious TLC to get cleaned up.

My engine bay has looked like crap since 2010 because I didn't put enough hardener in the paint when I tried to do a garage paint job. So, I figured this was as good a time as any to correct that.

Got the engine out last night and Bronco is going to the pros tomorrow. I am also going to try and match my Reef Aqua color and have the valve covers, intake, alt bracket and water pump all painted to match. Maybe the timing chain cover, but I REALLY do not want to have to pull the harmonic balancer. We'll see how that goes. I'm shooting for a look similar to that awesome yellow Bronco featured in BD's last issue.

Does anyone know how to remove the heater air inlet on the pass side? I'm hoping I don't have to drop my heater unit to get to it. Don't have time before it goes to paint.

More to come! Cheers, B2
 

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bsquared

bsquared

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Here is the air inlet I'd like to remove before paint.
 

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bsquared

bsquared

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Also, what color should I paint the engine to go with the Reef Aqua? I picked up a can of Old Ford Blue, but now I'm thinking of going with black to match my tops.

Thoughts? Thanks, B2
 

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Apogee

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Bronco Guru
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Nov 26, 2005
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I'd go black on the engine block and heads.
 

Bronco Junkie

So Cal Broncos
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Feb 29, 2012
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I think either would be fine. I was going back and forth with the same colors for my engine and I ended up going with Ford Blue.....mostly for nostalgia.
 

Scoop

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Have Bronco, Will Travel
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
10,580
Loc.
Cuchara, CO
The fender is pretty easy to get off. The bolts on the grille are the hardest - especially the top 2 on both sides. Just depends on the amount of rust on the bolts and if you've had them off before.

As for color I think you have 3 good choices to consider - stock Ford Blue, body color or black. My preference is in that order.
 

Crush

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Greenbottom, WV
cast blast castiron grey looks good on the block intake and inside the finns on the valve covers
 
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bsquared

bsquared

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Dec 4, 2010
Messages
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Happy New Year, Amigos!

I've made a lot of progress on the rebuild. All of the engine accessories have been cleaned and prepped for paint. Bronco is at the paint shop and they're going to mix up some extra for my painter at work to spray. They're kinda giving me the red-ass for dragging ass, but I've still got plenty to do and it's been nice to have the whole garage to work with.

Does anyone have any tips on taping off the fins and Bronco script on the valve covers? (best tape to use, etc)

Engine is primed and I should have at least one coat of black on it this afternoon. Going to strip and clean upper and lower intakes today as well.

EFI Guy has a pretty long lead time so I am going to "attempt" the harness re-work myself. (Yikes!) He's already been a great source of info as I get my head around what all I have to do and which wires I should be deleting out of my Bronco harness.

Question about the upper intake....Are the 4 long vacuum lines on the underside of it used in our Bronco builds and, if so, can they be removed and reinstalled? It would be nice to have them out of the way for cleaning and paint.

More to come! Cheers, B2
 

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Skiddy

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Oct 8, 2003
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11,557
looking good amazing what a little upgrade turns into. on the valve covers you could just sand off the top after paint
 

Crush

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I used regular blue painters tape and taped off the whole valve cover and then used an exacto knife to cut out what I wanted painted. it was tedious but it looked great when I was done. Before and after
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painted all thebackground stuff with cast blast cast iron grey. Masked off the fins words and sides
 

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1buckeyefan1

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I used regular blue painters tape and taped off the whole valve cover and then used an exacto knife to cut out what I wanted painted. it was tedious but it looked great when I was done. Before and after
attachment.php
painted all thebackground stuff with cast blast cast iron grey. Masked off the fins words and sides

Looks great! I just bought the same valve covers and like the modification. How did you prep the area for paint to adhere?
 

Crush

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May 30, 2007
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Greenbottom, WV
Just cleaned with thinner and then alcohol. dries them real good and ran a tack cloth down in every nook and cranny. dont press hard with thw tack cloth though, they will cause fish eye
 

67RT

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Jan 17, 2014
Messages
1,308
Bummer on the fire. Any idea what happened? I see all hoses were burned up. What kind of fuel line did you have running up to carb? I just switched mine to all metal and removed the plastic in line filter after I saw another carbeque. Good luck.
 
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bsquared

bsquared

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Thanks 67RT,
Some other folks replied that they had the same thing happen to them when running a quadrajet carb. I think my not setting the secondary air doors when I installed the carb was my biggest mistake. Then romping on the skinny pedal got too much fuel into the top of the carb. What actually sparked it, I don't know.

Good idea on going with a steel fuel line around the engine. The fire wasted no time burning through my rubber line and just made it that much worse before I could get it out. Going EFI is going to be a big challenge, but no more fires is a pretty good payoff!

Cheers, B2
 
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