First bronco

[gator71]

Just need some advice, this is my first bronco. It is a 66 with the 3 speed manual and stock 6 cyl. When I start to rebuild I will be pulling the 6 cyl. and replacing it with a v8. Being the bronco is going to be mostly on the highway, should I pull the 3 speed and replace with a c4 or is the 3 speed good enough for the highway?

 

[BRONCO_POWER]

I had a three speed on my 1970 and would drive at 65 to 70 mph with no problem.

 

[broncobsession]

Congrats man! Welcome to the addiction. Depends what you want. "Mostly on the highway" and bronco don't usually go together. Could put a floor shifter kit and call it good. Does the 6 cyl run well? I would drive it as is while you save money and decide which route to go...you will invariably change your mind many times

 

[gator71]

That's what i was wondering thanks.

 

[broncnaz]

The current 3speed you have is not really considered strong enough for a V8 but I've known a few people that have run them with no issues. but the 6cyl tranny with adapter is longer than a V8 tranny and adapter so you can run into issues trying to use the 6cyl stuff. (thats usually how you can spot a bad v8 swap) Overall there's no differance between running a C4 or 3speed on the hiway both have a 1-1 3rd gear. but autos do tend to pull slightly more RPM's.
Also considering that 6cyl broncos come with either 4.10 or 4.56 gearing so depending on what tire size you go with you may also want to consider a OD transmission for hiway use.

 

[Scoop]

If you are maily going to use it on the street I would swap in a 4 speed or AOD - something with OD. As broncnaz said, you either have 4.11's or 4.56's so OD or big tires will drop your cruising rpm's.

 

[gator71]

Yes the 6 cyl runs. I don't drive the bronco just yet. I just been buying body parts.

 

[broncnaz]

Modifying a bronco always results in the snowball effect.;D

 

[gator71]

I'm sorry I should have mentioned the 3speed is a rat ce2. The transfer case is a j shifter.

 

[gator71]

The bronco has a 5.5 lift with 35's.

 

[BronCowie]

The bronco has a 5.5 lift with 35's.

Welcome... we've had a lot of "first EB" members lately, this is way cool. Yours does not sound like it was being set up for highwhay driving by the PO, but like others said, just drive it for a while and compare to other daily drivers, to find the right combo you're looking for.