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New guy here: UPDATE page 3 with pics - Going to look at a 76 that's been sitting.

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BroncoLew

BroncoLew

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Jan 19, 2023
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32
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Alabama
This video seems to cover some of the same areas you will touch when dropping the tank and clearing the lines. I would just take a new hose (3/8 I think?) and hook it up to the fuel pump and run it off a small gas can to get it on the trailer. Then drop the tank and clear all the lines when you get her home. Looking at it on saturday huh? This will be the longest week of your life!

Thanks for the reply! And yes, this is already the longest week of my life.
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
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Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
This video seems to cover some of the same areas you will touch when dropping the tank and clearing the lines. I would just take a new hose (3/8 I think?) and hook it up to the fuel pump and run it off a small gas can to get it on the trailer. Then drop the tank and clear all the lines when you get her home. Looking at it on saturday huh? This will be the longest week of your life!


There ya go
 

El Kabong

Contributor
Driving stuff Henry built
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Oct 8, 2009
Messages
1,486
Please excuse the cut & paste, but here's my regular reply to the "long sitting engine" question:

You should expect the compression to be low at first after sitting several years with no oil on the rings. Dry rings alone will drop the compression. You should squirt oil in all 8 before trying to crank it.

My dad was a guy for bringing those back to life. He had a garage when I was a kid, then taught auto shop for years, & was always trying to revive some old engine. His routine was to change the crankcase oil & filter, squirt a little Marvel Mystery Oil thru the plug holes, rotate the engine without starting it just enough to coat the cylinder walls, add a little more thru the plug holes, & let sit for a bit before firing it up. He'd run the engine easy for little awhile (Maybe 15 minutes to 1/2 hour?), then change the oil & filter again. Of course the 1st fire up would smoke a lot as the oil burned out of the cylinders. Sometimes he'd mix in a little ATF (1/2 quart at the most) with the crankcase oil in the 1st oil change to aid in cleaning if he thought the old oil looked especially bad. He'd drive it easy for few days, & make the call after that as to whether or not it needed more work or just another oil change. It would usually work out pretty good.

And of course, check all rubber parts for signs of cracking or stiffness. Tires, hoses, belts, wiring, & especially anything handling fuel.

Look for signs of animal damage. Chewed wiring, nesting material under the hood, along the exhaust, or even in the intake to the air cleaner. I've actually removed nuts stored by squirrels from inside an air cleaner.

Check the brakes. Low fluid is not unusual after sitting for awhile. If the master cylinder is dry, you will probably have to bleed the brakes. Check the brake hoses for cracking, stiffness or swelling. Check the entire system for leaks after topping off the master cylinder & stepping on the brakes several times. Also step lightly on the brakes & hold them to see if the master cylinder creeps down. Even after inspection, be sure that they're working right before driving. Try them in the driveway several times before taking it out. Expect the brake drums & rotors to have some surface rust, but that's usually light enough to come off after a few stops. But the brakes might be prone to grab or pull until it's gone. Depending where & how long it was stored, the rust might be more serious. It's not a bad idea to check the condition of the pads & shoes anyway, you can see how much rust there is at that point. Does the parking brake work & release? Lube its cables while you're at it.

Check all the fluids. A radiator flush with a change of coolant is a good idea too.

There is also the condition of the fuel to be considered. Sometimes it has sat so long that the tank & components have a build up of varnish that requires removal, cleaning, or replacement. If you decide to not remove & replace/clean fuel system components, here's a routine for a carbureted engine when the fuel isn't that bad. If marginally bad fuel is suspected, disconnect the fuel line at the carb & run a fuel hose from a small gas tank sitting on a blanket on the roof. I have used a lawnmower tank for years, & recently got a small boat tank for the job. So you have known good fuel & positive gravity feed to the carb for the first fire up. If there is a fuel issue at that point, you know the carb itself has the problem. Also remove & plug the fuel line before the fuel pump so you don't have to deal with it pumping bad gas just yet. Even so, still direct the output line from the pump safely into a container in case there's a little fuel in the pump. I like to run a hose to a can on the ground. Later the input to the pump can be reconnected, the line from the pump can be used to empty what you couldn't get out of the tank, & flush a little new gas through the system into the gas can while the engine is run from the temp tank. All of this requires attention to fire prevention (Being sure that nothing is going to pump, leak, or drip fuel anywhere & that anything spilled while making connections is wiped up, dried, & the rags removed from the area & allowed to dry before throwing or washing) since the engine will be run while some lines are disconnected.

If you are inexperienced or don't feel confident about taking on this type of work, seek advice from a local experienced person, or take it to a shop to do the work.
 

bulletpruf

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Mar 31, 2019
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San Antonio, TX
Here's a video I did a few years ago of a first start on a '72 Bronco after sitting 20 years or so. You will likely not need to take all these steps if it's only been sitting for 4 years, but some of it may be useful.

 
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BroncoLew

BroncoLew

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Jan 19, 2023
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32
Loc.
Alabama
Here's a video I did a few years ago of a first start on a '72 Bronco after sitting 20 years or so. You will likely not need to take all these steps if it's only been sitting for 4 years, but some of it may be useful.

I watched your video the other day and thought it was great. You’re right, a lot of it was useful but we will see what the condition is on Saturday.
 

LUBr LuvR

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Dec 31, 2015
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1,956
Thanks for all of the replies. I am going to look at the vehicle on Saturday. VIN matches and clean title. My biggest issue I see is getting up my driveway since I already know its non-running. My driveway is a hill and there aren't any trees at the top for me to tie a winch to. I am going to try to get it on a uhaul car trailer and tow it home and then get it to a shop. I'm hoping that clean fuel and a tune up can get it running enough to drive it home.

So, inquiring minds want to know.......how did it go?
 

904Bronco

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San Martin, CA
I will add that you shouldn't be surprised that things start leaking after you get the Bronco up and running. Once you get some heat back into the engine and related components those seals might start leaking. Water pump, PS pump, PS box, Carb, fuel pump, and brake system. It is just one of those things when something has been sitting a while, with any luck you will just top off fluids and be able to drive it. But as suggested, all the fluids should be changed out at some point.
 
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BroncoLew

BroncoLew

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Jan 19, 2023
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Alabama
So, inquiring minds want to know.......how did it go?
I went to look at it on Saturday and I've been slammed with work so here's the update: going to get it on Sunday! Body is in great shape but somebody did a really bad black paint job. Original color was red and that's what I will be going back with. Engine bay looked great and didn't see any leaks. I made a comment about that and the owner told me that the 302 was rebuilt before he bought it! Has a new 4 barrel Edelbrock carburetor as well. All of the weatherstripping is either bad or missing so it'll need all new. It rolled as well but the brakes are bad so I'm getting new rotors and pads for the front and new drums for the rear.
 

sprdv1

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I went to look at it on Saturday and I've been slammed with work so here's the update: going to get it on Sunday! Body is in great shape but somebody did a really bad black paint job. Original color was red and that's what I will be going back with. Engine bay looked great and didn't see any leaks. I made a comment about that and the owner told me that the 302 was rebuilt before he bought it! Has a new 4 barrel Edelbrock carburetor as well. All of the weatherstripping is either bad or missing so it'll need all new. It rolled as well but the brakes are bad so I'm getting new rotors and pads for the front and new drums for the rear.

Congrats.. Plan to start a build thread so you can document from start to finish, ask more questions etc..
 
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BroncoLew

BroncoLew

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Jan 19, 2023
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32
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Alabama
Update: I brought her home on Sunday and took her to a local shop yesterday morning. Shop is going to drop the gas tank and advise if it will need to be replaced. Ignition control module was leaking so I know that will need to be replaced. It's getting a full brake job as well. I am going to send a check in to get membership so I can post picture. Send up a prayer for me that she won't need too much to get running again.

I am going to order a Haynes manual but is there any other resources for engine info/diagrams? This is my first carbureted engine so I need to educate myself.
 

billh1289

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Jul 2, 2006
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Jackson, NJ
Update: I brought her home on Sunday and took her to a local shop yesterday morning. Shop is going to drop the gas tank and advise if it will need to be replaced. Ignition control module was leaking so I know that will need to be replaced. It's getting a full brake job as well. I am going to send a check in to get membership so I can post picture. Send up a prayer for me that she won't need too much to get running again.

I am going to order a Haynes manual but is there any other resources for engine info/diagrams? This is my first carbureted engine so I need to educate myself.
Congrats. We’re fortunate that we have access to a ton of info on these trucks through this site and our vendors. I have always found the original shop manuals to be very valuable to keep on hand. They show up on eBay but there are reprints available. Steve’s site supermotors is extensive and you can find info on some vendors sites through instruction pdfs. A lot of members here also have print outs, diagrams and sketches squirreled away too.
 
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BroncoLew

BroncoLew

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Jan 19, 2023
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Alabama
After almost two months of a shop helping me out with a few things I drove it home on Friday. I am going to send a check in to get permission to post photos and I have some questions on a few things. One issue I have is there is something draining the battery. I've replaced the voltage regulator and the alternator but I haven't done much else to it yet.
 

DirtDonk

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Congratulations on getting it home. Even more for getting to drive it!

There are some easy tests you can do to check the system. The easiest of which is to simply disconnect the battery next time it’s going to sit for a time.
If it still goes dead, then it’s the battery itself that is bad.

If not, how handy are you with a voltmeter?😁
 
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BroncoLew

BroncoLew

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Congratulations on getting it home. Even more for getting to drive it!

There are some easy tests you can do to check the system. The easiest of which is to simply disconnect the battery next time it’s going to sit for a time.
If it still goes dead, then it’s the battery itself that is bad.

If not, how handy are you with a voltmeter?😁
I put a disconnect on the negative battery pole and just keep it unhooked if I'm not driving it. I've done plenty of 120V wiring in houses but not much with automotive so I'm ready to learn it. I bought a test light and a meter from Harbor Freight but that's as far as I've gone with it so far.
 

DirtDonk

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You'll get the hang of it quickly then. Wire's is wires... Only these won't kill you if you forget to disconnect the battery first!
Don't get me wrong. You can still cause some drama and smoke to be released if you don't, but usually not much and not much work to fix it. And only burned pride vs burned hair.

First, let's get this out in the open if you don't know already. New parts are crap!
Ok, not all of them, but with things like regulators, alternators, Ford starter relays, the instance of failures or defective parts right out of the box has long since reached epic proportions. So never, and I mean NEVER throw a new part at a problem unless you know with 100% certainty through testing that your old part has finally bit the dust.
It's so bad that we often tell members that can, to just go hunt down old parts in the junkyard before buying a new one.
And no, I'm not exaggerating even in the slightest here.

One test you can perform with the battery connected and sitting for awhile is, does the alternator get warm? If so, then the system is draining the battery either by being "on" from something telling the regulator to get things going even though the engine is not turning. The other is a diode or ten going bad inside the alternator and causing the drain.
This can be a small drain, taking a full day or three to drain the battery, or large where the battery goes dead in just a few hours.

For the alternator/regulator test, either the light or the volt-meter will work. But I like/prefer the meter because it can tell you other things while you're at it.
Sounds like you should know your way around the volt-meter, so I won't go into details of setting it up. But plenty here can if you aren't sure about something. Obviously though you go to the DC Volts setting vs the AC volts in this case.
Disconnect the voltage regulator plug (this can be done with the battery connected or not) and verify a few things.

First, even though this is a 4-wire connector, only three positions are filled. There are often four wires, but two of them are Yellow and share the same cavity.
They should be oriented, Orange, Green w/red stripe, Yellow. If you have designations next to them (sometimes it's on the connector, most of the time it's on the regulator retainer) they would be marked "F, S, A, I" where F (field wire) is Orange, S (switch in our case) is Green w/red and A (armature, or just "always hot" if you prefer) is Yellow.

Voltage should be present only at the S and A wires. With the red meter probe in the cavity and the black probe to a good ground (battery post in this case is close) look for these readings:
1. In the A port, you should see full battery voltage at all times. Key ON or OFF
2. In the S port, you should see at least close to full battery voltage ONLY when the key is in the ON position. There should be zero volts when the key is either in ACC or OFF positions.
Those are your first tests.

You would normally also want to test for continuity/resistance on the Orange wire to make sure it's got a good connection at the alternator. This is the wire that, with varying voltage tells the alternator just how much to put back into the system as needed.
You should do some of the above tests while moving the wires around as well. Lots of these old wires get loose, corroded under the jacket/sleeve and don't work as well as when they were new.
I don't remember if you said, but is this a new wiring harness, or is it original? The original wires were excellent, but they are getting onward of 50 years old and more now, so you never know.

Do some of those first tests just to see what we can see. A common issue with Broncos that get worked on extensively by someone who does not know, or even a Ford expert that only worked on cars and never ran across one with an ammeter, is to wire the regulator up incorrectly using the full 4 wires that Ford would have used with an indicator lamp on the dash.
That's why I wanted to point out the number of wires used in a Bronco right up front.

Let us know what you find.

paul
 

Pops68

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Bronco Rookie
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Oct 11, 2010
Messages
1,667
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Bazetta Township
Update: I brought her home on Sunday and took her to a local shop yesterday morning. Shop is going to drop the gas tank and advise if it will need to be replaced. Ignition control module was leaking so I know that will need to be replaced. It's getting a full brake job as well. I am going to send a check in to get membership so I can post picture. Send up a prayer for me that she won't need too much to get running again.

I am going to order a Haynes manual but is there any other resources for engine info/diagrams? This is my first carbureted engine so I need to educate myself.


Maybe these books would help??

Pretty sure I got them at Summit Racing. They probably have other Ford engine books, too.
 

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