Big Blue Bronco Build!

[BigBlueBronco71]

Hey, its BLUE, that's 1/2 way there already! Keep it up, it will be heading down the street in no time.

Haha hey thanks!

 

[Charley Brown]

+ 1 for you being half way there with it being blue!

Looks like a fun project, part of me wishes I would of had to get my hands dirty to earn the first drive of mine. But the other part of me loved being able to drive it home immediately after purchase. Guess I'll have to get another one down the road that I can build from the ground up. I'll just have to tell my wife that the new one is "hers." Ya right.

Your making quick work of this, I bet your driving her down the street in no time.

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

+ 1 for you being half way there with it being blue!

Looks like a fun project, part of me wishes I would of had to get my hands dirty to earn the first drive of mine. But the other part of me loved being able to drive it home immediately after purchase. Guess I'll have to get another one down the road that I can build from the ground up. I'll just have to tell my wife that the new one is "hers." Ya right.

Your making quick work of this, I bet your driving her down the street in no time.

It definitely would have been nice to drive this baby home!
haha good luck with an explanation for another bronco, maybe a learning or bonding experience ahah
Fingers crossed for the first drive!

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

The pops and I decided to go with a re manufactured engine as a stock replacement even after all the horror stories I found online of these things failing in less than ten minutes... The way I figure this company specializes in remanufacturing these engines so they can't be all bad, obviously have lower quality control than say ford but fingers crossed this thing works! Ordered through Autozone with a warranty so if we have problems we can deal with a big company. Wish me luck!!

Its like Christmas in September, I love getting all these parts in the mail, always something to look forward too!

Decided on an Edlebrock Performer intake and some headers just to let the engine breathe better, parts are even reusable on a performance motor in the future

Top end buttoned up lookin pretty good, stay tuned

 

[crzy hillbilly]

any updates?

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

Haven't been able to work on big blue since I've been away at school for a few months, but I will be able to put a little work in during the break so I will try to post some pictures soon! For now Ill catch yall up on where im at,

Had the engine sitting in the bay with transmission and transfer case only to find out the transmission won't turn and must be pulled because the bearings inside fell out... extremely frustrating, but decided to replace both tranny and transfer case to make sure there will be no issues. Both have since been pulled and the new ones are waiting to be put together and installed and this will hopefully get done in the next week or so, fingers crossed.

It seems like this damn thing is fighting me as much as possible, but I'll keep at it until its up and running, stay tuned and wish me luck!

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

Here's a picture update as promised

Engine sitting in the bay with timing cover, water pump, carburetor and a few others bolted on, also the new high efficiency radiator mounted up front

 

[rhino2104]

Haven't been able to work on big blue since I've been away at school for a few months, but I will be able to put a little work in during the break so I will try to post some pictures soon! For now Ill catch yall up on where im at,

Had the engine sitting in the bay with transmission and transfer case only to find out the transmission won't turn and must be pulled because the bearings inside fell out... extremely frustrating, but decided to replace both tranny and transfer case to make sure there will be no issues. Both have since been pulled and the new ones are waiting to be put together and installed and this will hopefully get done in the next week or so, fingers crossed.

It seems like this damn thing is fighting me as much as possible, but I'll keep at it until its up and running, stay tuned and wish me luck!

Some projects fight you at every turn and some just want to be built and put back together. At least you're discovering your transmission issue now and not after everything is bolted back in place and you try to take it out for your first run around the block. Good luck on the build. It's looking good so far.

 

[Rustytruck]

When you pull it out before you put it back in clean up the engine compartment and frame and paint them. Its alot easier when the engine is out.

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

Assembled transmission and transfer case were installed successfully last night! Now just need to figure out how to get all the linkage back on right hah

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

Its alive!!!

Big news guys! Been away at school for a while but got a change to work on big blue over spring break. Fired the engine and it runs!!! Beyond excited about this;D After having some trouble with the firing order got it all figured out and the engine fired right up!
Had to break in the new cam so ran it at 2200 rpm for 25 minutes per the instructions, had consistent oil pressure, no overheating, no knocking or other horrible sounds. Some oil leaks as expected and some messing with the carb to do but a huge step! Still nervous that something will go wrong though, don't think Ill be comfortable until ive driven a few thousand miles ha.
Sad I have to go back to school and leave her for a few months again. But summers right around the corner so I can get some serious work done and hopefully have her inaugural drive!

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

First Drive!

Was able to get home this weekend and after a carburetor change, driveshaft install and pcv setup I was able to start the bronco up and take it on my first ever drive! Amazing feeling to see how far its come in such a short time. It was just a drive around the block but it was awesome, everything worked well, engine felt strong, tranny shifted easy and brakes stopped. No exhaust yet so i got to piss off the neighbors a bit with open headers haha, I'll try to throw a short video up soon, four weeks out till summer so fingers crossed for my first trail run soon!

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

Here's a video of pulling out of the driveway for the first time, as you can hear from my mom and gramma, bronco building is a family affair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHa3iu3EaBQ

 

[AFLtCol]

That deserves a "Like"!

 

[WASP1971]

Congratulations. Engine looks great

 

[BigBlueBronco71]

Hey fellas after fighting with timing and cooling problems for the first few weeks of summer and getting some odds and ends fixed up as well as a new exhaust system and shiny new bumpers the bronco is fully functional! 70 miles of total driving so far and hopefully my first trail ride this weekend.

 

[CopperRanger]

Good job, glad to see things are going well. Engine looks great, keep up the good work.

 

[Bferrari]

Congrats! Hit me up if your ever in Nipomo, i would love to check out your rig!

 

[Bronco73]

Here's a video of pulling out of the driveway for the first time, as you can hear from my mom and gramma, bronco building is a family affair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHa3iu3EaBQ

That was awesome with your mom and grandma cheering. congrats

 

[mudwisr2]

congrats man. Good looking rig