BALCH-Autoworx: 1973 Build Thread

[BALCH-Autoworx]

So I haven't made much progress since this post: http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165179 in fact in some respects I've gone backwards.

That changed Thanksgiving weekend.

But first a quick recap of the last 3.5 years.
- Good "uneventful" Afghanistan deployment
- Became a dad
- Became a single income family
- Got orders to Hawaii (shipping and everything else = $$$$$$)
- Bronco engine died bringing home a Christmas tree in 2011
- Bronco sat largely untouched for two years
- Moved out of a garage and into a carport
- New neighbor has an EB
- Ride in / drive new friend's Bronco
- Friend paints Bronco red . . . now it looks like my Bronco is parked across the street
- Tired of seeing / hearing friend drive Bronco
- Daughter can identify Broncos and "no that's a Jeep"
- Wife accepts "the other woman" is here to stay
- DD Mustang is for sale
- Bronco rides again in 2014

I ordered a 408W long block from ATK and Holley Terminator EFI, parts have been trickling in, the engine is finally on island (but there was a hang up with the warranty paperwork).

I didn't get as much work done over the holidays as I had hoped I would. The fuel system is almost complete, then on to wiring and O2 sensor bung, hopefully I can make some progress next weekend, and pick up the motor.

Pics and progress to follow . . .

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

As purchased plus bumper sticker.

In her hey day.

40th Anniversary with not yet wife.

Wheelin' with the hound (I got the Bronco a few weeks after I got her, she slept in the Bronco on both of my subsequent deployments).

The woman that would be my wife behind the wheel . . . unfamiliar trail I got a lot of crap for having the lady friend drive the hard part.

The PO's cage might be sketchy for rock crawling but it can move a longboard.

. . . and the carnage brought on by a worn bottom end and low oil pressure.

 

[swampu]

Cool pics. Looks like some good places to ride there.

 

[AFLtCol]

Looking forward to seeing pics of the 408 going in!

 

[BRONCROB]

Damn neighbors.

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

The long block I ordered Thanksgiving weekend was finally ready for pickup Monday, and yesterday with the help of some neighbors I got it home. One of my neighbors is a car flipper, he's currently rebuilding a Triumph Spitfire and happened to have an engine hoist sitting around while his car is painted. So we pulled into the neighborhood Saturday morning with the engine in the bed of a neighbor's truck and the gearheads quickly converged in my garage to check it out / help unload, there were 7 guys all excited about my project.

After all the excitement my wife wanted to go out to lunch, I was hungry, but wanted to get to work . . . hunger won.

After lunch, I got to work, and my Bronco buddy showed up just in time to pull the old engine.

Progress!

Today, hardware run, then I'll get the oil pan, flywheel, and clutch on the new engine, mount the O2 sensor, then it'll be time to put the new engine in.

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

The above pics are kind of crappy, I'll bring my good camera out from now on.

This got me thinking of my last engine swap, also in "winter" but that one was in a very cold unheated garage in PA, so HI has that going for it.

My brother threw a rod in my dad's Lightning 10 days before the Spring Break Nationals in Bradenton FL.

So we put this in . . .

We made it anyhow . . .

I've have had a print of this in my garage for years . . . one day I noticed the typo . . . my brother the engineer caught it right away, but never said anything, oh well.

Once in FL we did this . . .

and this . . .

and this, all after driving trouble free from PA to FL.

Trust me this all ties back to the Bronco, in late 2004 or early 2005 when I was on my second tour in Iraq I had my dad pick up a 1993 Lightning for me, after my deployment I planned to fly to my dad's bolt a few parts on my new truck and then drag race with my dad and brother in FL then cross country back to SoCal.

Here's me in the 1993 . . .

This truck was stolen 4 months later from almost the exact spot this photo was taken, it was also broken into once before it was stolen, the insurance settlement (included all of my mods, I love USAA) and a decision to stay on active duty lead to the purchase of my Bronco. That's my second Mustang behind it, which I traded for my third, which is for sale to save the Bronco.

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

Today, I brought the good camera along but didn't make enough progress to warrant uploading the pics just yet. We (Bronco neighbor ((who happens to be a Denver Broncos fan)) and I) mounted the harmonic balancer, flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and oil pan and in typical TV fashion were done in 10 minutes . . . I took forever getting out the door this morning, then brought my daughter on the hardware store, barbershop, commissary adventure to earn Bronco time. Once I was making progress, my wife intervened with a minor plumbing emergency . . . then I discovered that the roller 351W blocks require different oil pan gasket than the older blocks . . . shockingly the local O'Reiley's had one in stock and it was 2 hours before close. We mounted and dismounted the oil pan 7-8 times in order to get the proper pickup to pan spacing (we utilized tactically acquired Play Doh for our measurements). My buddy is flying early tomorrow so I cleaned up, fixed an issue with my low pressure fuel pump, and came inside to relax / update this post.

Tomorrow, MLK Day . . .a great man who changed our world. I hope my daughter, 50 some years removed from his strife never has any concept of discrimination.

While I'll find a way to convey that to her young impressionable mind sometime tomorrow, I'll dive in on the O2 bung, and find a bolt for the fuel pump block off, this timing cover has shallower threads. Then we'll perform the long needed heart transplant.

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

Slow day again today, even though I was off work, I didn't touch the Bronco till after 3:00. I like my slow quiet mornings with coffee and a magazine (the new Hot Rod just showed up). Then my wife took off for a run, once she got back and just about the time I was sneaking out to the garage and shirking my parenting responsibilities, hunger won over again when she suggested going out, I was ready to eat something fast and get to work . . . oh well. My Bronco buddy was tied up all day at a volleyball tournament, apparently when your kid is good it takes all day to play volleyball. The good news is I definitey have a new car buddy, the guy that lended me the hoist came by yesterday looking for a giant 1 13/16" socket, sorry pal I don't own a Peterbuilt. But today I was able to help him out with a 1/2" breaker bar and a 1/2" to 3/4" drive adapter so he could use the socket he tracked down. I took care of a bunch of small things today:

- Fuel pump block off
- Clearanced the hood for the D.U.I. ignition
- Welded in the bung for the O2 sensor
- Installed new evap lines on the fuel tank only to realize I forgot about the filler and vent lines when getting hose at the parts store
- Cleaned up the water neck
- Built a wiring harness for my tachometer and mounted it, I bought the single digit speedo matching tach a while ago, but I'll want it to monitor the new engine
- Cleaned the garage a bit
- Now I need to order a few more parts . . .

Hopefully my neighbor and I can both leave work early (or at least not work late) one day this week so I can get the engine in before the in-laws show up.

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

Pics . . .

Flywheel mounted

Clutch and pressure plate

Clutch alignment tool

Exploded view

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

Got the new engine between the frame rails last night, but couldn't get it to mate up to the trans. I may have to drop the oil pan to get it to clear the front cross member. I stopped when I was tired, hungry, and a little frustrated, I'm proud of myself for that. I'll reattack, hopefully with assistance today or tomorrow.

 

[Dusty]

Hey long time no see! Glad to see you still have the Bronco and are back working on it. We all take breaks from it from time to time. Say hi to your wife for me.

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

Dusty, good to hear from you, I watched your latest build from afar. I would love to copy your cage but I need backseat coverage for the little one.

I got the engine in and on the motor mounts today, but I had to pull the trans/transfer case, the valve covers, and the oil pan to do it.

So here's a gripe . . . I bought the high volume (expensive) Milodon oil pan which contributed to my install challenge, but for an EB specific 351W oil pan it has the absolute worst oil drain placement on both sumps, and I am worried about front Axel clearance, hopefully the dip stick goes smoothly.

The supplied tall valve covers don't clear the throttle linkage, my Bronco Powered by Ford valve covers fit and clear the roller rockers but the hydraulic lifters aren't charged . . . will the Scott Drake covers clear Comp Cams roller rockers?

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

Thanks to a timely assist from Bronco neighbor we got the trans and transfer case back in. I've got mixed feelings . . .originally I was going to work Mon-Thu this week and join my wife and daughter on vacation with her family, but work didn't look as demanding next week as it did at one point so now I am taking two weeks off but my build will go nowhere as opposed to having four nights of Bronco-ing without family. Ultimately I know I made the right call, but I am itching to get this thing fired up.

I'll post some pics tomorrow or Monday of my progress, that is if I'm not off relaxing.

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

It's in!

But this was out . . .

Ready to link up.

Some pics of the fuel system.

Low pressure pump, I'm going to have to shorten that hose to the filter.

Tach mounted.

Intake and throttle body mocked up to test hood clearance.

A little more vacation then back to work!

 

[swyman]

I had the same problem with the Milodon Bronco pan front drain plug not clearing cross member. I ended up cutting a channel in the cross member and boxing the channel in to ease with engine removal. Probably not the easiest thing to do if you don't have the right tools. Keep up the good work!

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

I got the headers and accessories bolted up today, I have to go pick up a few items tomorrow in order to get the intake bolted up.

OH!!!

And I found out this week that I am headed to Okinawa! I got my first choice in jobs and I am excited about Oki, it just sucks that I'll have to put the Bronco in storage for three years, probably before I run through the break in period on the engine.

I am debating shipping it to my brother who could manage a paint job by our former employer while I am overseas.

Free storage and transportation to my next duty station, versus shipping to the east coast out of pocket.

Plenty to decide in the coming months.

 

[Mountain Ram]

Take it to Okinawa... We can't go another 3 years without an update. AND you will be the coolest guy on the island with that thing!

Nice build!

 

[BALCH-Autoworx]

Their laws only prohibit U.S. made vehicles newer than 1976, but I don't think that is really an option.

I got a lot done this weekend, I reinstalled the fuel tank, exhaust, accessories, radiator and fan, made a grommet for a fuel line, figured out how to mount two coolant temperature sensors (one for the gauge one for the EFI computer), and measured for and ordered an air filter.

Wiring, fluids, hood clearancing, clutch linkage, and driveshaft reinstallation remain, I might drive this thing next weekend!!!

 

[Bukin 67]

Hope you get it together to drive next weekend. Looking forward to pics of the completed engine install.