'69 Derelict Rescue

[serial car restorer]

Came from a different tailgate, one that had terminal rust along the bottom.

 

[serial car restorer]

Holidays or not, I've still found time to work on the project over the past 2 weeks. Rebuilt and installed both the gas pedal and the main pedal box. The throttle and clutch both work great. Also fitted the left fender. Fit up really nicely, great door gaps all around.

I also picked up a lightly used TBP power brake conversion, a pair of stock exhaust manifolds, and a Duff dual exhaust kit.

And that's when I got derailed by one thing leading to another.

I started looking at installing the brake booster rather than hooking up the seized original master. Setting it in place for mock up made it obvious that if I mounted the brake parts now, I'd just need to pull it back off to get the mis-matched header off the driver's side.

So I decided to at least swap the left side header for the cast manifold, and move then back to the brakes so that I can move the Bronco, as I'll need to turn it around to have room to fit the right fender and door.

Got the header out (for sale here) and the manifold on, so I went back to the brakes. Quickly found that pretty much every flare nut fitting I touched is seized, and I'll need to cut them to remove. This is not a horrible deal, as I planned to replace all the hard lines later anyway, but I wasn't planning to do it now, but later when I do the front disc conversion. Oh well, ordered the lines and center hoses today.

While I wait for the new brake lines, I went back to the exhaust replacement. Got both cast manifolds on, the old exhaust removed, and have begun mocking up the new duals. So glad to have the old stuff off. Really poorly jury-rigged set up, and way wrong choices. Who would have decided that headers into a full 3" pair of duals was a good idea for a stock 302 2BBL? And who tries to cram dual 3" piping under an early Bronco anyway? Major mess, but now gone. The new Duff system is looking quite nice so far, especially in comparison.

 

[serial car restorer]

No picture today, not much has changed visually. I made a parts run to the coast last week. (Lot of used stuff) @Gupster88 has a pile of good parts available at more than fair prices, well worth the trip if you are in driving distance of Tillamook. Picked up a bunch of parts for both soon and later in the project. Notably a nice pair of bucket seats to be re-foamed and recovered later, a pair of taller front springs, and an adjustable track bar. I installed one of the taller front springs as a test, they appear to be around 2½" to 3" lift, and look like they will be a better match with the (apparently) 3" or so rear springs. Should sit much closer to level when they are both installed.

After the brake hard lines and hoses arrived, I returned to working on the brakes. The booster and master are now in place, and the prop valve, hard lines and center hoses also. New rear brakes are going on this weekend—drums, shoes, cylinders, springs and adjusters. Once these are done I'll bleed the system and turn it around so I can do the other front spring and then fit the second door and fender. So far, so good.

 

[serial car restorer]

Brakes are now mostly wrapped up. No p-brake cables yet (on the way), and not doing anything up front until I do the disc conversion, but not in a hurry on that.

Installed the second front spring, I'm now going to call it about 3" to 3½" suspension lift on both ends. Then adjusted and installed the new track bar. Got the axle centered to the frame within about ⅛". Looks like the uncut fender clearance will be fine with the 7" wide wheels and 31x10.50 tires. New shocks will arrive soon.

Hung the right door and fender, and then the grill. Fit seems reasonable so far, other than the bottom front of the 2 fenders tucking a bit sharper underneath. Will need some massaging to make them match the grill.

Gathering info and testing parts in preparation for the complete rewiring of the truck. A few more parts (mostly replacement switches) are also on the way.

 

[serial car restorer]

New milestone today. Read on.

Since the post above, three new p-brake cables have been installed. Which means the brakes are all new except for the upcoming front disc conversion. Later this spring, I'm guessing.

Four new shocks have also been installed, so the suspension is mostly done.

Finally, the last few days have seen the beginning of the complete re-wiring project using the Ron Francis kit I picked up a while back. I'll write up a more detailed review on it when I'm farther along (or maybe finished) with the install. But here's the new bit—today I actually started the engine using the key in the original ignition switch! No more hacked or McGivered wiring and switches needed. And since I replaced both the alternator (slightly upgraded) and the regulator (external solid-state) while doing the wiring, I've confirmed that it is delivering a nice, stable ~14.4v to the battery.

Lots more wiring yet to do. Stay tuned.

 

[serial car restorer]

Wiring continues, slowly. I've been taking my time to route it sanely, and not do anything stupid. And I discovered as I worked that a couple of the switches that I thought were OK were not, and had to wait for replacements to arrive. It's time-consuming, for sure. Good thing a stock-ish Bronco is pretty simple, electrically. I'm working through the lighting now. The headlights (new H4 w/relays) are mostly done, just need a few more connections to the switch. Turn signals are coming together also, the left front (incl. the gauge indicator) is tested and working. I must be doing OK, I have not blown any fuses while working or testing so far.

 

[serial car restorer]

The new wiring is mostly done now. All lights, horn, and engine wiring is complete and works (except the brake warning light, still fussing with that one). The wipers and heater fan aren't wired yet, as none of that stuff is currently installed.

Starting to move on to the fuel system now. I replaced the main tank at the beginning of the project, and ran a fresh temporary hose to the fuel pump to get it running. Now I'm going to add a new auxiliary tank, a new electric selector valve and new, correctly routed fuel lines. Once I have that wrapped up, I'll use the kit and parts I got from Mike's Carbs to rebuild the '72 2100 with auto choke that I picked up a while back. That should get the fuel system dialed in.

 

[serial car restorer]

The fuel supply is pretty much done. Both tanks and all fuel lines from tanks to the pump are new, as is the selector valve (electric). The fuel senders (also new) are wired as is the selector valve. I will run new line from pump to carb when I swap out the carbs.

Speaking of carbs, the used '72 carb is undergoing full rebuild and electric choke conversion, all courtesy of Mike's Carbs.

 

[serial car restorer]

Another post with no pictures, still visually unchanged. The fuel system is now wrapped up. I set the idle mixture screws on the freshly rebuilt stock 2-BBL at 2 turns out, set the electric choke thermostat at center index, bolted it on and fired it up. It started right up, and ran better than it ever has during my time. The old carb may have a damaged body, as I found lots of pooled gas in the PCV adapter and the manifold. No wonder it was running horribly rich! I warmed it to operating temp (first time, ran too rich to warm up before), adjusted idle air screws, idle speed and choke settings. Let it sit for a day and did it again, then dug out my ancient timing light and set that also. Runs nicely, clean with no smoke, and sounds good now with the stock manifolds and Duff duals w/turbo mufflers.

Now that I know it runs well, next up will be to strip the engine down to replace gaskets and seals, and clean up years of crud. Planning on a new water pump (just because) and checking the timing gears and chain while resealing everything. Planning to do the same for the transmission, T-case and axles as well.

 

[serial car restorer]

Spent the past couple of days stripping the engine. Dropped the pan, pulled the water pump and timing cover, and started assessing it all.

First thing I found is that the engine is not a 302. Crank casting mark is 1M, which is the 289 crank. Frankly, that's not a big deal in my opinion, not much difference between a bone-stock 289 and similar 302. About the only difference this will make is that I won't drill the new fenders and install new 302 badges.

Water pump was installed by someone who was... shall we say, generous with RTV. Yuck. And everything is seriously grimy, much cleaning will be required.

Found a couple of issues, none major since I found them now. Distributor shaft has more play than I like, the balancer has a noticeable groove worn where the seal rides, and the timing chain is about as loose and sloppy as I've ever seen.

I'm putting together a big parts order now. Included will be timing chain and both sprockets, water pump, Speedi-sleeve for the balancer, complete DuraSpark package, and all the normal stuff—many gaskets, t-stat and housing, plugs, molded hoses, gauge senders, heater core and valve, etc.

Lots of cleaning and painting will start tomorrow. Parts probably won't all be here for a week or so.

 

[1969]

I discovered the same thing with the 289 engine in my Bronco.

 

[serial car restorer]

I discovered the same thing with the 289 engine in my Bronco.

@1969 - That begs the question - was the 289 in yours a later swap? Or did Ford use up old stock of 289's in '69 Broncos while claiming (and badging) them as 302's? My assumption has been that mine was swapped in later, but I suppose it could have been a factory "fudge" to use up excess 289's.

 

[1969]

Mine was a later swap, that I did my self. Purchased the engine from a guy who said it was a 302. Turns out it wasn’t ! No big deal to me.

 

[serial car restorer]

Mine was a later swap, that I did my self. Purchased the engine from a guy who said it was a 302. Turns out it wasn’t ! No big deal to me.

And that's the most likely scenario in my case as well, just a couple owners removed.

 

[serial car restorer]

Making progress. Still no oil pan on it yet...

 

[serial car restorer]

Also had a small change of plan. I was originally going to finish all the reseal and maintenance on the engine, get the radiator in place and get it running, then pick another part of the project to work on. But after seeing how much access I have to the steering box area right now with the grill and radiator out, I've decided I want to do the power steering conversion now, before putting the cooling system all back together. So I'm back to ordering parts again. Will probably rebuild the steering column while I'm at it.

 

[serial car restorer]

A quick addition. I was looking at the 'original' distributor tonight (replaced with a newer DuraSpark II), and decoded the date and part number. The distributor was built on Aug. 23, 1967, and was intended for use in a 1968 Fairlane. That is enough different from a '69 Bronco that I suspect it is original to the 289, and so my engine was most likely salvaged from a Fairlane. The swapper did use the '69 Bronco carb though, which makes some sense since the exhaust heated auto choke of the cars wouldn't adapt easily.

 

[.94 OR]

Would the distributor be curved differently between the Fairlane and the Bronco?
Vehicle weight may not have been enough different to warrant, but still a possibility.

 

[serial car restorer]

Would the distributor be curved differently between the Fairlane and the Bronco?
Vehicle weight may not have been enough different to warrant, but still a possibility.

Not sure. My rig hasn't been driven on the road or trail for over 15 years. I had it running on the Fairlane distributor after the carb swab, and it seemed OK. But it is only academic at this point, as I've swapped to a single vacuum Duraspark II.

 

[serial car restorer]

The oil pan is finally back in place, oil added. As noted above, I'm not going to install the fan, fan shroud or radiator until I get most of the power steering in place—at least the steering box and pump. And to that end I ordered one of the new OER factory-style steering boxes last week, and bolted it in today. Nice fit. I'm not going to be able to work on the Bronco for a bit, but now that I've seen and fitted the OER box, I'll order the pump kit and steering shaft parts sometime next week. Once the pump and brackets are mounted, then I'll install the fan and radiator and fire it back up.