Amatuer Attempt at a Buildup (this should be funny)

[blu311]

Well heres the deal. - About a month ago I bought a 69 Bronco with the intent of making it a nice off-road toy. Nothing major. just a new suspention and tires. - That sounded easy enough, espcially for me and my father, neither of us has ever really worked on a car before, We thought this would be an easy first stab at auto-mechanic 101.

HA - if only it were that easy.

Heres what we started with.
Fairly stock Bronc, the only mods were cut fenders, dual shocks on every tire and a roll bar. It had the original 302 with 200,000 miles (supposedly) and ran pretty good (except for the oil that shot out the tailpipe when you cranked it). The body had hardly any rust - or so we thought.The floor pans and bed, which are made of fiber-glass(its not very pretty) are a sad sight and maybe I'll show you the 2x4s someday.

Having never done this before, I forgot to take a nice "before" of it when I started. So heres how she sits halfway through the suspention.

 

[OldieTwoShoes]

sounds kinda like me 69 bronco father sun type project, have fun and be sure to spoil us with pics ;D

 

[blu311]

The suspension is a Duff's 3 1/2"

-Leafs
-Coils
-shocks
-pitman arm
-trac bar drop bracket
-brake lines
-U bolts
-bushings

Just your typical kit. I thought we could knock this out in just a few days. And at first thats about how it was going. dumping the old leafs and adding the new ones and U bolts wasn't exactly a breeze, but it wasn't hard. We bought new grade-8 bolts just to do it right. - heres how it looks

 

[blu311]

Just a couple things about the rear end -

First - you'll notice that it still has the original e-brake lines. I'm not sure if this is a good idea. I've gotten mixed opinions on whats nessasary. they do tighten up when the axle hangs. But at ride hight there's plenty of slack. (we'll probably just buy new ones some day)

Second. you can clearly see the splines of the axle hanging out about an inch. Is this OK? Axles are expensive so I think we'll run it until it becomes a problem.

Third - Its UGLY - we started thinking that if we are gonna do this, we're gonna do it right. And try and turn heads (even if its our own heads - No one appreciates the finer details like the guys who did em')

So when we started tearing down the front we began sandblasting and painting parts. (Half-way through, I was ready to quit and just leave the rust. Rust is cool, right?.....) But now that its done It was worth all the sand in the hair..... I think.

Check out the oil pan.

 

[blu311]

Here's the poor man's sand blasting kit

Includes cheap attachment for your compressor, a few bags of sand and one sucker of a younger brother (just kidding Chase, I'll let you drive it at least once or twice)

 

[blu311]

Yeah thats a welding mask, It actually took us a whole day to think up that one, Before that we were using a bandana and gogles. Did I mention that sandblasting sucks?

Heres a good side by side to really appreciate our work

We had to junk that set of coil cups, but the other set was still good. got a new set for $20 from a local truck repair guy - thats a lot better than the $50 a set the catalogues charge

 

[SaddleUp]

That rear drive line isn't going to work. Looks like there isn't more than an inch at most of engagement. First good bump and it will probably come apart. On the ebrake cables see if you can reroute them or move them to gain some extra slack. BTW, it looks like that pinion seal needs to be changed as well.

Almost missed the 302 which will need some work. If oil comes out the tail pipe when it is cranking then it probably has bad rings in addition to bad valve seals/seats. With 200,000 miles on it it is probably in need of a complete rebuild including rebuilding the heads for using unleaded fuel.

 

[blu311]

Thanks for the input

I'm just wondering if there is an easy fix for the driveshaft, or do I need a a whole new one? Also The E-brake lines are on the shopping list. And we thought the oil in the exhaust might be a bad valve or two and then this....

Here's what happened with the engine -

We pulled the oil pan off with the idea of painting it (Ford Blue, of corse) and then we found our first big mystery. The oil pan had what I thought at first to be small metal chunks in it. But It was mostly some hard plastic bits. Our mechanic friend said it might be part of an old timing chain set-up. (He said the upper gear might be made of plastic, and maybe its pieces of an old one in the oil pan?) anyway we went to poking around at the timing chain and realized it was loose. So now our very simple suspention mod was about to become a serious drivetrain overhaul. So while we debated whether to do this ourselves or pay someone else to not screw it up, we went ahead and finished our newly painted front suspension.

We painted the trac bar, coil cups, raidius arms, and steering damper blue to match the coils and bushings from duff's, the steering linkage and axle got a fresh coat of Black.

 

[Jeepster]

the timing chain is no big deal. On a 200k mill just get a stock replacement for $10 (?) at the local parts place and call it good till you decide to rebuild/replace the mill. Remember working on a old rig is gonna employ the "domino effect" in that once you touch/replace something, 2 other things will want to be replaced also till you have gone through the entire rig. ;D

Do a search on timing chains, also a good tech article on the subject is to the left , top of page.

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[atx-davis]

What kind of paint did you use?

 

[blu311]

PAINT

We've been painting up the undercarrige for a couple weeks now. At first we were sandblasting the parts we wanted painted and then used a spray-can of primer and then a spray can of color for a couple coats. This worked for the radius arms and cups and oil pan, but there was no way I was gonna sandblast the axle. So we found this stuff called OSPHO. It stops rust and turns it black, it says its safe to paint right over it so we did, thats how we did the axle and trac bar and steering linkage. Am I gonna be re-painting this stuff in a few months? Anyway, it looks great and now I think I need to do it to the rear end (this project just keeps growing- but thats half the fun).

OSPHO

My dad had the bright idea of putting the OSPHO in a spray bottle, I still disagree with this, it contains phosphoric acid or something, I don't think it should be airbourne. The Bronco on the spray bottle was a complete coincidence
oooooo..... weird......

Heres that beautiful oil pan

 

[blu311]

Domino Effect - yes that is right on

here let me explain

BEFORE

NOW

 

[SaddleUp]

Thanks for the input

I'm just wondering if there is an easy fix for the driveshaft, or do I need a a whole new one?

You might be able to replace just the slip yoke with a longer one (From the pic it looks like you have the short yoke) If not then you will need to replace the whole thing. If you do replace just the yoke be sure it gets clocked right when you put it back in. I.E. Be sure the caps get lined back up.

 

[blu311]

So one thing led to another and we've decided to get the heads machined, paint the valve covers and a whole new exhaust system. I want to port the heads and manifold, but thats yet to agreed upon. I hope this solves the oil out the exhaust problem.

HOWEVER in true Domino effect fasion we have discovered the next problem. the Timing Chain cover has been tore up by the end of the cam shaft. It has some offset cylinder thing thats been rubbing it. There was all kinds of metal shavings inside the cover.

Heres a couple pictures
You can see the offset dealy thats been rubbing on the upper gear -

Heres the damage -

 

[Jeepster]

That offset thing is your fuel pump eccentric. And if not grooved out too thin you can still use your cover.

 

[blu311]

ok, it works the fuel pump, that makes sense. But is there any way I can keep if from rubbing the cover again?? I was watching "Trucks" just the other day and I saw him install a little bumper on the end of his cam shaft to keep it from rubing the cover. Or do I even need to do anything at all??

 

[blu311]

Well I just got done removing the Heads. Just a few Questions.

1. How should I clean the old gaskets off the block?? or should I get the block decked??

2. What kind of headers do you guys recommend?? Its time to buy some, and I've heard that the headers for a 86 to '90 Mustang will fit and go on easy. Ever heard of this??

3. The timing chain cover thing. Were one of the gears originally made of plastic?? and If so is the fact that I have two metal gears the reason the offset fuel dealy was rubbing on the cover?? What should I do about this??

 

[hackyrat]

Lots of scraping on those heads then use a small buffing pad on a drill. I wouldn't deck them unless you really have to. It can make problems with fitment of the intake manifold if decked too much. I don't think you had plastic gears in there. Something has come loose or is worn out. Check that center bolt holding the eccentric on. I think the eccentric has a tab on the back side, make sure it is in the hole properly. Also check the bolts behind the large cam gear to see if they have come loose and allowed the assembly to move forward. Obviously it should not be touching the housing.

Kind of sounds like you have a very tired engine. You may want to just pull that sucker out and rebuild it all or find another engine to slip in.

Just take your time and enjoy each project.

 

[Dennis]

No advice on the rubbing, but plastic gears are not unheard of. They are definitely not the preferred choice and steel gears are better. I have to agree here. As far as you are into the engine, it makes a lot more sense to go a little further and freshen up the lower end also. However, a short block may be an easier option. At the very minimum I would replace the bearings and look hard at doing rings while at this point. The oil pan is already off. How was the oil pressure when the engine last ran. New crank and rod bearings are fairly cheap. I know this is not what you're gonna want to hear. You have it down this far, don't stop there.

Take your rear drive shaft to a drive line shop and get it lengthened. It is at an unsafe point where it's at.

 

[blu311]

Thanks for the input, Ill try my best to make that housing fit without rubbing,

And Ill get the driveshaft fixed

But you bring up good points about what all I should be doing at this stage. The motor is torn down so it is the time to fix any internal part. How about a list of what I should fix/take a look at?? That would be a big help.

Thanks again for the advice