The what did I get myself into 1971 Restomod - BUILD THREAD

[DirtDonk]

1. Reverse lights don't come on in reverse...thought it was a bad bulb, but nope.

Need to find the backup lamp switch for your setup.

2. PO apparently siliconed the side marker lights and screws into place, so my initial effort to remove the lenses failed. Have to figure out how to get the screws out an pry off the lens without breaking them.

Are you trying to remove just the lens, or the entire lamp assembly? It's one piece, so you access the bulbs from the rear at their twist-n-lock sockets.
When you remove the two screws the whole lamp should pull away from the body with the wiring in tow.
But you can access the bulbs without unscrewing the lamp assemblies from the body.

3. Drivers side rear marker light does not light up now.

Try smacking the body next to the light to see if that changes.
It's common for one or more of the side market lights to be dark. Sometimes twisting the wires and socket help, sometimes smacking the body will temporarily "fix" it too. Then sometimes the bulbs are just burned out.
No matter what though, if an old and a new one don't light up, you need to check for voltage to make sure it's at least reaching the socket.
All sorts of stuff can happen to those exposed lights over the years. The wiring is inside the wheel well after all.

4. Drivers side rear brake light is lit but does not flash/get brighter when brake is pressed...passenger side works fine.

That's a good sign at least. Shows that the brake switch up on the top of the pedal arm is working, and power is getting to it.
Does the driver's side turn signal work? If so, then it may be a faulty turn signal switch blocking the brake light signal.
Brake lights, hazard flashers and turn signals all run along the same wires and burn on the same bulb filaments after passing through the turn signal switch.
Because of this layout, your flashers will stop flashing when you hit the brakes, and your brake light is allowed to flash when you're on the brakes and hit the turn signal.


Paul

 

[Audifan]

Are you trying to remove just the lens, or the entire lamp assembly? It's one piece, so you access the bulbs from the rear at their twist-n-lock sockets.
When you remove the two screws the whole lamp should pull away from the body with the wiring in tow.

But you can access the bulbs without unscrewing the lamp assemblies from the body.

I was trying to take the lens off to start and ultimately change out the bulb.

I did finally get the screws out of the front passenger side lens, but the lens will still not come off or budge.

I had to pry the screws out far enough to get a grip on the head with some pliers and then unscrew and pull at the same time to tear the silicone

The lens back to the white trim is stuck solid to the chrome plate.

Tried prying it away with a flat putty knife, but it's not coming unless I wanna break it.

Also tried to pull the socket out from the rear, but its stuck too.

------

When I get back to the house tonight, I'm gonna try the other stuff you suggested on the lights that are out.

Thank you for the info on the voltage and power consumption.

 

[sprdv1]

You have now joined the Bronco club... Undoing PO's shoddy workmanship.
Sorry, but all of us here have been through it.
At least you haven't found any Wire nuts or Scotch-locks yet.

Use a test light or better a VOM, to make sure that you are getting the correct voltage and have good grounds

Indeed so true....

 

[sprdv1]

Just one step at a time, isolate where the problem may be..

Good luck

I was trying to take the lens off to start and ultimately change out the bulb.

I did finally get the screws out of the front passenger side lens, but the lens will still not come off or budge.

I had to pry the screws out far enough to get a grip on the head with some pliers and then unscrew and pull at the same time to tear the silicone

The lens back to the white trim is stuck solid to the chrome plate.

Tried prying it away with a flat putty knife, but it's not coming unless I wanna break it.

Also tried to pull the socket out from the rear, but its stuck too.

------

When I get back to the house tonight, I'm gonna try the other stuff you suggested on the lights that are out.

Thank you for the info on the voltage and power consumption.

 

[Audifan]

Not all the LED light swaps were a bust...

When I swapped out the Map Light bulb (winshield cover light) with the LED bulb, the light output was awesome, but I don't care for the parchment color light housing...especially since my wiper motor cover is black.

So I figured this was a good time to take the housing out and paint it black to match.

And since I was doing that, I decided to cut a new lens out of a piece of acrilic to replace the ugly yellowed out stock one.

I got this idea from another CB member who posted about it and I stumbled across it in a search.

The lens was simple to make, here's what I did:

1. bought a 0.25" thick piece of clear acrilic from Amazon
2. Used original cover as a template to mark the size of new lense.
3. Used acrylic cutter/scorer to score the lines enough to break the acrylic.
4. Drilled screw hole with countersink for the head to sit in.

(this was the only PIA. The acrylic is very brittle, especially near the edges where the screw holes have to go. I broke my first 4 lenses trying to drill the holes and do the countersink.

The acrylic specialty bit I had sucked, and so did the brad point bits. What worked the best was a small tapered bit with attached countersink. That bit combined with high speed on the drill and it worked perfectly.)

5. The clear lens looked ugly with the bulb showing, so I painted it white with a satin clear...in hindsight, I should have done gloss, since it's a lens, but it still puts out a TON more light than the factory lens.

 

[DirtDonk]

I was trying to take the lens off to start and ultimately change out the bulb.
I did finally get the screws out of the front passenger side lens, but the lens will still not come off or budge.

That's because it's not a "lens" per sé. It's a "housing with a translucent face" more like.
I was trying to say in the previous thread that it's just one piece and not serviceable/removable without special work. You can only change the bulb from the back.
The lens is part of the housing and is glued/sonic-welded to the housing. So the only way to remove it is to cut it off.

The lens back to the white trim is stuck solid to the chrome plate.

Well that's a bummer. The chrome bit is definitely a separate piece, or at least it used to be, before the PO glued it with silicone.

Also tried to pull the socket out from the rear, but its stuck too.

Guess the PO was tired of leaking, or of the socket coming out on it's own.
You did try twisting it though, correct? It's a quarter-turn kind of thing.

Good luck!

Paul

 

[broncobsession]

How big is the garage. I dig it!

 

[Audifan]

How big is the garage. I dig it!

It's 28'Wx53'L with 16' stem walls. 14x14 and two 8x8 doors.

The mezzanine runs the entire length of the west 53' wall over the top of the single car door and is 10'8" wide.

I wanted to go bigger, but county setback requirements and our HOA's CC&R's wouldn't let us.

Once the mezzanine is finished we can texture and paint...then start moving everything in...can't wait...it'll be amazing to empty my attached 3 car garage and have it actually hold 3 cars

 

[Audifan]

Paul...thanks for the clarification, I figured thats what you meant and yea, its stuck in there good. I did try to do the quarter turn twist a few times as well.

Gonna give my FIL shot at getting it loose tomorrow, and if not, I'm just gonna break the face off and see whats really holding it in place.

 

[sprdv1]

Once the mezzanine is finished we can texture and paint...then start moving everything in...can't wait...it'll be amazing to empty have my attached 3 car garage and have it actually hold 3 cars

I heard that... I'm sure you can't wait..

 

[Audifan]

Smog issue solved

Got referred to a different engine shop and was able to get the Bronco in first thing this morning. The shop is Infinite Velocity Motorsports and I was quite impressed with the owner, Jay's, knowledge of EB's and my style of engine.

Asked him to start with the engine and smog issue, then also go over the whole bronco and see what he finds.

Jay called me back this afternoon, with 2 big issues and a list of little nickel and dime type things that can be addressed whenever.

The big 2...

1. The Smog issue, is being caused by a huge exhaust leak, which is also messing with the O2 sensor. The exhaust pipes are also small and routed very poorly through the undercarriage. This issue doesn't bug me one bit, as I had already planned to install a new exhaust, and instead of waiting, I'll be having a custom 3" full exhaust fabbed up this week and we'll install it as soon as it's done.


2. The Bronco was shifting very hard in certain gears, which I attributed to the shift kit, but as it turns out, the reason for the inconsistent shifting, is because the PO used 1/4" galvanized all thread to make the linkage...which is bending and rusting. Plus the way the PO routed the old exhaust, prevented the Lokar kick down cable from being installed properly, so they bent the bracket out and jury rigged it. Needless to say this needs to be fixed and will be as soon as I decide on a new tilt steering column, that way we can install the new column and fix all the linkage and shifting issues at once.


Other little things, are paper seals leaking that need to be replaced, wires going through holes without grommets so they are rubbing through the insulation and shorting.


The only other thing he said I might want to look at was the fuel tank, which has a top mounted external fuel pump with lots of little pieces of hose and 90degree connectors, He said it looks very inefficient and should more than likely be replaced with a more traditional tank/bump combo...or have him modify this tank with a new pump.


Good news is I should be able to get the Smog certificate by next week and get it registered...which brings me to another point...INSURANCE...holy shit balls batman!!! To get stated value insurance I had to go with Haggerty and my Premiums are $1,500 per year!!!! ...That's nuts...my twin turbo RS7 is less than that! :/

Oh well, it's a pay to play world, so nothing to do but suck it up and move on.

 

[DirtDonk]

Doesn't Haggerty have lots of restrictions as well? Such as treating it like a "classic car" and only driving 5,000 mi a year, and entering it in at lest two shows a year?
That's what they told me I'd have to do with my '68.

You're not going to run dual-3" exhaust, are you? A single three hopefully.

Paul

 

[Audifan]

Doesn't Haggerty have lots of restrictions as well? Such as treating it like a "classic car" and only driving 5,000 mi a year, and entering it in at lest two shows a year?
That's what they told me I'd have to do with my '68.

You're not going to run dual-3" exhaust, are you? A single three hopefully.

Paul

I have no restrictions on my Haggerty policy and have same full coverage limits I have on all my other cars. The only thing they questioned me about was the engine...I had to send them specs to prove it wasn't "blown" or raced out.


As for exhaust...no not dual.

Also, once the exhaust and transmission is fixed, they will do a full Dyno tune of the engine.

 

[Audifan]

Since I was Bronco-less today and took the day off, I knocked out a bunch of work on the mezzanine.

Finished gluing and nailing the inch and an eighth tongue and groove subfloor down.

Notched and installed all the railing supports. Still need to bolt them in tomorrow.

Threw up a temporary railing to keep the electrician and flooring guy from falling off.

Glued, nailed and lagged Honch braces to all floor posts.

My 550Lb Lift gets here on Thursday and will go in the slot next to the stairs.

Can't wait to finish this thing!

 

[Audifan]

We put the bronco back on the lift today to start on the new exhaust and discovered a new surprise...cracked headers...yay.

So, talked with the engine shop about options, found what we liked and ordered a new set of headers.

Everything is on hold till the headers get here.

 

[DirtDonk]

Well bummer. That exhaust has been one headache after another hasn't it?
At least it'll be all new now, and in theory won't have any of those previous issues.

I wonder if the cracked header was just a natural phenomenon, or if it was related to the pipes being loose and all that?

Where was it cracked?

Paul

 

[Audifan]

Well bummer. That exhaust has been one headache after another hasn't it?
At least it'll be all new now, and in theory won't have any of those previous issues.

I wonder if the cracked header was just a natural phenomenon, or if it was related to the pipes being loose and all that?

Where was it cracked?

Paul

Yep, all new and sounds great.

The headers were cracked right at the collector.

New headers are headman inch and 3/4.

Also, now that the exhaust leak isn't messing up the O2 sensor, the engine is running right.

Passed smog test with no issues.


Next up will probably be new fuel tank and pump to get rid of the hodgepodge set up thats there, as it's the weakest link in terms of DD reliability.

Then fix shift linkage, and swap in new column shift steering column.

Hopefully at that point I can start doing fun mods.

 

[Audifan]

Oh, and there was another EB at the shop that was being picked up as I walked in.

It was a gorgeous metallic green with a white hard top and a 5.0 Coyote engine....made me realize how far I still have to go on mine (not that I've really started yet)

Didn't get a chance to meet the owner, but hopefully will get a chance to connect with another local EB fan. Apparently he has a few other EB's in his collection as well.

 

[Audifan]

Been doing that work thing and haven't had much time to mess with the Bronco...plus the fact that it's been raining and snowing AND my bronco hasn't had a top on it since I bought it.

The PO did give me a very nice Bestop soft top that he said went with the bronco, but when I got around to trying to install it, it was clear he'd never tried.

All the mounting hardware that was on the bronco was wrong...Kayline riser, rampage side rails. And Bestop soft top frame and fabric.

So ordered the necessary replacement parts from Besttop at the start of January and after shipping me the wrong parts 3 different times, they finally managed to send me the 2 windshield brackets I needed at the start of Feb.

Lost a month of driving the bronco due to that fiasco.

But happy to report that the with the help of my 2 little workers the top is now on and fits better than I thought it would.

We also worked on adjusting the doors to shut correctly with the new weather stripping.

Found that the PO had taken duckbilled pliars and bent the bottoms of the doors out to try to match the body line, so gonna have to figure out how to fix that.

I also could not get the striker plates loose to adjust them. We tried PB blaster, impact driver and ratchet with leverage bar and couldn't get them to budge.

After searching the forums, it looks like people are having to heat them up and drill them out...hoping I can avoid doing that as I'm not ready to burn the paint off this thing.

 

[Dbteak]

Keep hitting it with the PB Blaster every couple of days then after a couple of weeks use a 5 lb hammer with the impact driver. Doug