Well Its been almost an entire year since I last posted about this bronco. Time flies doesn't it!
I realize I never really gave an update about the work that Brandy did. I've been driving it a lot since the work has been done, sometimes 300 plus miles a week, and I haven't had any issues with anything. It's been an incredible highway cruiser with the ax15 getting 18mpg and being able to maintain speed with most traffic. I'm not a speed racer in it or anything, it is still the stock motor but it drives nice and makes a great daily. I've gotten used to the clutch but it's the one thing in setup I would have changed if I had known. The center force clutch with the kit is super stiff and not the most enjoyable but it works.
I think I turned the a/c on maybe 5 times this summer. I guess I am more of a windows down kinda guy, the a/c is really for the dog when it is super hot out. It blows cold and seems to function the way it's supposed to so no complaints there. It's a clean install too. Brandy did custom lines and a couple other small things to keep it even tidier and out of the engine compartment. I ended up with this kit:
https://www.oldairproducts.com/product/underdash-cap-200-complete-system. The 800 system I originally ordered was way too large. Old Air Products customer service guy Jose was great to deal with and helped me figure out exactly what I needed and how to return/exchange the incorrect items.
I also ordered the WH front disc brake kit. I have used Tom's kit and loved it, install to functionality and everything. It made sense to me at the time to just order the brakes from WH since that's where I was ordering the transmission kit. Surprisingly the WH kit does not stop nearly as well as the Toms kit. The only major difference is the proportioning valve as far as I can tell. I originally planned to swap out some parts to figure out where the difference is exactly but haven't gotten around to it. This has been an extremely busy year for me. After test driving it with Brandy one time, I left it with him to go back over all the brake stuff and double check nothing was missed, odd or whatever. We talked to WH about it and they said it sounded like everything was correct and installed properly. I picked it up and have been driving it for the past year as is. It got a little better once the pads were fully broken in but I still feel I have to give myself a little more room to slow down. Every time I get in my 69', which has the toms kit, I almost throw myself through the windshield. The brakes on the 69 are just so much better. I'm curious if anyone else has felt the same or if anyone has figured out the difference. Don't get me wrong, the WH kit stops fine, I just feel there is some slight difference somewhere that makes the Toms kit superior.
Brandy also did some other things like resealing the motor, water pump, timing chain etc as well as resealing the transfer case and fixing anything else he came across in the process which wasn't much. He also removed the old rusty headers an installed factory manifolds and new single exhaust. He also installed the toms tachometer which I love the looks of, however its pretty bouncy.
I went out to take some photos of the areas this morning and realized I had a battery go bad and had apparently blown acid all over the fender well like they usually do. I spent a little time cleaning that up this morning. I hate I didn't realize that for so long. Everything still functioned so I never opened the hood. haha The battery tray was covered in that mess so I scraped it all up washed it all off and coated it with some loctite rust neutralizer. I also neglected to ask Brandy to paint my master cylinder before he installed it so it had that lovely orange surface rust coating on it that we see so often on new brake systems. I also wire brushed the master and coated it this morning with the loctite neutralizer. It goes on whiteish purple but dries to a black finish. Easy to brush on as well. You can paint it or leave it as is. I'm a fan of this stuff. Some of the photos show how white it brushes on. Remember when looking at the pictures that all this has been installed and just about daily driven for a year. Things get dirty fast. haha.
All in all I have been super pleased with the upgrades and Brandy's attention to detail. It's a great bronco and I will continue to drive it regularly.
Future plans are to finish up the interior. I purchased the ivory mat and a headliner for it but I haven't gotten around to installing those things. I need to get my cb installed and I think I'll put in a retro sound radio that has a more classic look to fit the already cut hole in the dash. Still need to find some nice original sport door panels for it. I also may do the more supportive seat foam and covers that one of the vendors sells. I'd also love to find some vintage rear sliding windows for this bronco. I think they would fit it perfectly.
Time will tell but for now I'll just enjoy the drive, yall enjoy the pictures.
