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The Coal Burner Bronco

OPCJeff

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
99
Loc.
Orange, CA
Hey Everybody,

So I've been posting on some other forums and realized that I wasnt on the one forum that I really should be on. So to all my Bronco brothers Hello! I have frequented this forum so Im excited to be a part of it now. This is my 71 Bronco. It has a 4BT Cummins, 4R70W transmission, Currie F9 rearend and frontend with 4.56s and Detroit lockers, 37" BFGs, and a lot of blood and sweat from myself and my old man who helped out a lot with the body work. I have a ton of pics that I took during the engine conversion but unfortunately I dont have any of the body work part of it. It was an absolute disaster but we got it pretty nice when it was all said and done. Anyways here she is

 
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OPCJeff

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
99
Loc.
Orange, CA
Thanks guys for the compliments!

To answer your question about diesels in california - they dont mind diesels as long as they arent VW because those are the real smog polluters! I have never been a fan of those cars but now I have a whole new respect for those german engineers thinking outside the box :)

I've been seriously thinking about building a full independent Bronco with electric motors on each wheel and using the VW diesel as the generation engine.

As Bart knows I have a ton of pics on the conversion so I will start throwing them up here too
 

Justafordguy

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 26, 2009
Messages
6,253
Welcome to the forum, and the Coal burner Bronco looks awesome, nice job.:cool:
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
Great start right there bud.. Congrats & welcome to the best kept secret out there :)
 
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OPCJeff

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
99
Loc.
Orange, CA
So heres a pic of the engine compartment. The 4BT fit really well but its hard to tell with all of those tubes running around :)


Here's the Currie F9 frontend. I put the high pinion in before the diesel but I almost wish I didnt. I think if i had a low pinion my front and rear driveshafts would be almost the exact same length. So I could have one extra and it would be good for both
 
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KCBronco

Jr. Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
61
Hey take a look at my garage our broncos could be twins.
Mine is matte white is yours matte?
 
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OPCJeff

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
99
Loc.
Orange, CA
So i figure I'll just throw up the pics of the conversion. Maybe some of you that have been thinking about doing this can get some ideas for your own adventures. Im by no means a professional fabricator so please dont beat me up too bad when you see some of "my way of doing things" . It was all just a go for it and do the best I could scenario.

I started out by taking out the 347. I checked the angle it sat in there for reference.


Heres the engine compartment. The first step was to remove the stock engine mount towers. I was a little nervous because this was my no return moment


I was all in then


After putting the 4BT in and out a bunch of times I made the commitment to cut more of the frame. This is where the starter had to go so I started with a small hole and then finished off big once I felt comfortable with the placement








I had to reinforce it so I added a longer piece of steel than the hole to extend the stress further down the frame and then I boxed it in


 
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langester

Contributor
MASTER OF MADNESS
Joined
Mar 2, 2013
Messages
2,660
Very Nice! Can't wait to see more! Welcome aboard!
 

FRANKO289

Contributor
Bronco enthusiast
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Messages
6,807
looks sweet ... what month and year is your 71 ? U15GL??xxxx?
 
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OPCJeff

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
99
Loc.
Orange, CA
does my code tell you about the original paint color? I think it was orange but there were many different colors on different panels.
 
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OPCJeff

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
99
Loc.
Orange, CA
4BT Cummins Motor Mounts

So Here's what I did for the motor mounts

I got a bunch of "scrap" metal from the steel yard by my house.


I used large heavy wall square tube to make the frame side brackets




I welded those inline with the springs in the same position front to back as the old mounts. But the cool thing is that the cummins mount in the front not in the center so my weight distribution got way better.


And here's what I came up with for the engine side of the mounts.
I used this old break I picked up at a swap meet a long time ago to make the bends




I had to drill all the mounting holes which I amazingly got right the first time


and between the bends and the holes everything lined up and worked great. Here is one side mocked up on the motor
 
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