My 76 Bronco Keeps Changing

[rcmbronc]

So I have had this truck for 17 years. Bought it as a stock 76 bronco with 302 and three on the tree. First put a 3 1/2" lift with Cage arms and 33" tires. Then roughly fixed some rust and painted it flat black. Then put a 351W with factory EFI and 5 speed ZF. Then changed to 4R70W. Next was to change to coil overs front and rear and 4 link rear and custom Camburg floater rear housing. After this I pulled the body off and totally cleaned and painted the frame and suspension. During this time also I installed a 427 SBF with Haltech EFI system. I then removed that and installed a 408 SBF with Holley Terminator EFI system.

I then decided that I wanted to try a 5.0 Coyote engine and 6R80. Works great.

The rear suspension has great travel and works great. I did have to cut holes in the rear bed for the coil overs so that makes it noisy and dusty inside.

This next step is to removed the body again and totally fix all the sheet metal and repaint. I am fully sick and tired of the flat black color on the truck. Thinking a grabber blue but not sure yet. Also some other revisions to be made to make it a bit more friendlier to drive and fix some issues.

I have a Currie 9 inch from axle to install and will probably builds my own front links for it. probably going to put D60 ends on it also. Going to maybe a bit shorter coil over in the rear to maybe make some more room inside.

What is peoples opinion on 2.0 coil overs instead of the 2.5 i have now? Would help a bit with some packaging.

So Here are some pics of the progress. Plan on also changing the front seats as I am sick of climbing over the Corbeau Baja seats high sides. Also probably three point seat belts as sick of the 4 point harnesses also.

It is crazy how many times I have changed this truck but it is was it fun about having these trucks, I hope to never sell it so changing it is part of the fun.

 

[nvrstuk]

Love your build and how it's morphed into what it is today.

I can definitely relate to all your changes since I have "recreated" mine many times over the past 46 yrs of ownership too.

I'll comment on a couple of your Q's.

I don't know much about the difference btw 2.5"s and 2.0"s but if you enjoy doing high speed stuff you might notice the difference. The 2.5"s are a much heavier duty combination of parts. Others here will be able to help you out but I 100% agree that comfort makes a huge difference in whether you hop in the Bronco for that quick trip to town or take the truck because it's more comfortable... HUGE factor whether for DD use. So packaging is important but if your Bronco weighs what mine weighs you might need to keep the 2.5"s.

100% agree on seats. High bolsters are a royal pita. OK for the guys that use their rigs a couple times/year or maybe once/mo but not for daily driving. Seats are a huge personal taste/fit item but here is what we both know you gotta have: comfortable, must be low profile, easy egress, adjustable, full suspension (oh, and heated which I installed on mine). OE seats I think outperform any other seat for all these qualities for many reasons. Check the warranty for wear on aftermarket seats lol. Sports car seats are almost always lower profile than any sedan/car seat, always full suspension, adjustable, etc.

I think your D60 or 14 bolt outers on the Currie rear is an excellent improvement also. I did the same with a 9" rear by putting 14 bolt outer hubs on and loved the security of never having to worry about a 9" axle brg failing and letting my axle/tire slide out. I called it my "914". I put inner axle seals in close to the 3rd member to keep oil leaks to a min. Check out RCV for a bulletproof easy to build yourself FF. I loved mine till I grenaded another TruHi9 & 35 spline ARB I had in it. If you're interested I have a build thread on it.

Looks like we have researched & built our Broncos in the same direction!

Question for you- which 6r adapter did you use?

Wish ya the best on your build.

 

[Yeller]

Lot of cool stuff going on there, I like it

as for the 2" vs 2-1/2 coil over unless you are running a lot of long distance off road at high speeds you probably won't notice a difference as long as they are valved correctly. I’ve built some pretty heavy rigs on 2” CO’s that were phenomenal, excellent drivers and off-roaders but weren’t long distance desert runners. I didn’t get them tuned once they were on. I’m a firm believer in shock tuning being a key in making coil overs excellent.

 

[sprdv1]

Love your build and how it's morphed into what it is today.

100%

 

[rcmbronc]

Just kind of a crazy idea. Anyone done an independent front suspension on and EB?

 

[nvrstuk]

I'm doing one.

... but it's missing a frt axle.

 

[Yeller]

Here ya go

 

[nvrstuk]

Yeller, If I could get Tammy in over the "doors" and get it licensed I'd drive it every day!

 

[sprdv1]

Here ya go
View attachment 891538

great shot

 

[rcmbronc]

Trying to imagine in my head how to package all that under an EB

 

[nvrstuk]

Trying to imagine in my head how to package all that under an EB

You don't. You buy an EB body and chop it up! and set it on top!

 

[Yeller]

You don't. You buy an EB body and chop it up! and set it on top!

Yep that’s how that works. Mostly because it will be comfortably capable of off road speeds that require enough safety equipment to be prepared for “The Big One” and all of that factory sheet metal is in the way.

One thing I learned doing high speed off-roading. Trail trucks turned into race cars generally suck, race cars turned into trail trucks usually are awesome

 

[rcmbronc]

Getting it torn down now and ready to start cutting in new body panels. Also have to get started on the new front axle install.

Putting is a 609 axle. Cant decide whether to three link the front or make some custom radius arms. I have Cage arms right now but do not want to go with wedges and bushings and from what I hear if you use the weld on mounts for the Cage arms it is alot of stress because of the lack of vertical separation in the mounts. Not sure yet if I have room for a upper third link mount. Also trying to make a better set up for rear shock mounts but not sure.

Also a pic of my new toy. Got to get working on the EB before I decide to start on this one.

 

[rcmbronc]

Some panel replacement started.

 

[bigmuddy]

Looks like that air cleaner is compensating for something

 

[Slowleak]

Also a pic of my new toy. Got to get working on the EB before I decide to start on this one.

My neighbor has one of those Mazdas with a LS3 under the hood. I think he is about to sell it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Yeller]

in stock form those little mazdas are some affordable, fun track day cars. Can hang with most any production car in the corners, well enough to pass most of them back after passing in the straights.

 

[sprdv1]

Also a pic of my new toy. Got to get working on the EB before I decide to start on this one.

Nice toy congrats. Def put the bronco first on the to do list

 

[rcmbronc]

So I am getting the body work going. Think I am now done cutting old out and starting to put in new. Will really like getting it going back together.

Got my D60 inners and outers to start on the front axle. Also going to revamp the rear shock mounts to get them out of the rear passenger area but not sure where yet. Going to change to 12" 2.0 coil overs instead of the 14" 2.5.

 

[Yeller]

Glad to hear it is going back together, not much left LOL

I hadn't seen a Thermal Dynamics Econopak 50 in a few decades, glad to see one is still out there running.