Gunmetal Gray Luber No More - Meet "Mallory," My Mallard Green Rig!

[ILikeBond]

I bought my Bronco 3.5 years ago (nearly killing myself and my wife in the process), did some initial safety and aesthetic mods, have occasionally taken her on a few short trips and even fewer long trips, but for a variety of reasons she's mostly been tucked away safe in my garage... which I hate! Well, enough is enough, and after biding my time far too long, I'm finally ready to get her in the shape I've been envisioning for too long. Here's what she looked like when I picked her up; on the way home (see 4th pic for the aftermath of my near-death experience losing a wheel while doing ~70 on the highway); and after I did the following:

- new trim (emblems, door handles, mirrors) & bumpers
- 6-point double-hooped roll bar
- retractable lap belts
- bikini top
- power steering
- steering geometry adjustment (e.g., drop pitman arm, drop track bar bracket, steering stabilizer)
- Tuffy console and rear storage locker
- Small fixes (window and lock mechanisms, rear window mechanism)
- Bling (chrome Maglight and high lift jack holders, chrome fire extinguisher (also functional!), chrome steering wheel, "FUEL" gas cap, a few red accents, red "FORD" letters on grill (crooked, unfortunately %)))



Issues: Bronco is currently a 200c I6 with 3-on-the-tree. Fun for the novelty of it, but she's under powered (especially because the compression on one cylinder is terrible and far less than ideal on two others). Suspension sucks - rear is comprised of some thin old leafs on blocks with ancient-looking shocks, and it POUNDS HARD whenever I go over even a small bump - like teeth-chattering hard. Steering is ok, but lots of body roll, could use more stability. Brakes are acceptable, but I don't fully trust them on significant downhills or when I need to stop very quickly or from speed. No working windshield wipers, no horn, and recently the gauge and turn signals seemed to go out. No radio and a terrible exhaust system, and no insulation makes her uncomfortably loud.

Goal: Build a streetable rig, capable of daily driving, equipped to handle San Diego's endless road dips, holes, bumps, cracks, and its many hills, with speed and comfort, while at the same time building her with sufficient strength and flexibility to handle occasional moderate off-roading (the type a LUBER is capable of). Ideally finish by the time my current lease is up, August 2013.

Plan: Build in phases: (1) Suspension & Steering; (2) Drive Train; (3) Peripherals & Aesthetics. In reality, some components from different phases may be taken out of turn depending on what works or is best to do when doing another thing. Also, body and paint are far from perfect, but that just gives her character and she's not getting a frame-off or show-quality refurbishment, so this is not currently in the plan. Body is totally free from rust, so this, fortunately, is not an issue.

I haven't made all the decisions yet, and surely much will change as I go through it, and it's almost impossible to list every little thing I'm thinking about, but here's what I'm thinking:

Phase 1 - Suspension and Steering
- 3.5" body lift: WildHorses leafs & coils, Shock Jock rear shock mounts, F250 front shock mounts
- Billstein (or possibly Fox) shocks, 1 front and 2 rear on each side
- 1" body lift (WildHorses)
- Peripherals: 7* bushings, 3" front and 4.5" rear bump stops
- New steering linkage (possibly WildHorses's "Clydesdale" setup, though that may be overkill)
- Possibly power-assisted steering (this may be overkill for my application)
- Possibly front and/or rear sway bars to improve roll

Phase 2 - Drive Train
- Clean up and paint engine bay (probably rattle can black)
- Mustang 5.0 V8 EFI swap, may do a 331 or 347 stroker, probably with serpentine setup
- Headers, exhaust
- NV3550
- Rebuild or replace Dana 20
- New drive shafts
- 4.88+ gears (and possible new lockers, front and rear, maybe ARB air lockers)

Stage 3 - Peripherals
- Hydroboost brakes
- New wiring harness
- Radio & speakers (maybe in rear kick panels fabric matched to seats and door inserts)
- Horn
- Front and rear bumpers (with winch and possibly lights on front and spare tire mount on rear)
- All new fuel lines, brake lines, emergency brakes
- All new bushings wherever possible
- 23-gallon fuel tank (possibly auxiliary fuel tank, though this would require drilling the body for a second fueling hole, which I'm not anxious to do)
- Black wheels and possibly other black accents (hood scoop, quarter panel guards, stuff like that)

Just so y'all know I'm not lyin', and to keep myself honest, here's what was on my front step when I got home from work today. ;D



And here are a few items I've bought and am waiting to pick up:

1987 Mustang 5.0 block bored 0.30 over, Magnafluxed, hot tanked, honed, decked, line bored, new freeze plugs and new cam bearings. Painted Ford blue with white epoxy in lifter valleys to improve oil drainback

GT40 intake, hot tanked and coated with high temp paint, from Ford Explorer

I may also buy some GT40 Cobra heads (magnafluxed, tanked, valve job, resurfaced, new valve stem seals and new freeze plugs, from an Explorer during that brief period where Ford put the cobra heads in them) from the same source. I know they're not ideal or anything special compared to AFR 185s or TWs or whatever, but I think they'd probably be fine for my application.

I've also picked up an A9L computer, 2 stock 55m MAFs, a complete '95 mustang wiring harness, and have some other EFI parts from a complete 1986 Mustang 5.0 EFI motor that I decided not to use (e.g., fuel rails and injectors).

I look forward to sharing my progress and, more importantly, asking all sorts of stupid questions that I know my Bronco Brethren will graciously and patiently help sort out for me. I also welcome any comments or thoughts on my build plan.

Wish me luck!
Bond / Jack

 

[SP66]

Looks like an awesome project. Thanks for sharing. The new suspension parts sitting there are gonna be a great addition to your rig.

 

[sprdv1]

Nice Ride Bond / Jack!!!! Look forward to the build..

Gun metal grey is a great color choice..

 

[okie4570]

Nice bronco!! Sounds like you have a plan, and the motivation!

 

[Hank_]

Great looking bronco. Looking forward to following your progress. Keep the pics coming.

Henry

 

[Justafordguy]

Sounds like you're off to a good start, keep us posted.

 

[Prizefighter]

From just reading the title it sounds like a beast. This will be fun to watch.

 

[Heus33]

Oh this is gonna be sweet to watch!

Check out my old build - I tackled many of the same concerns that you have.

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172330

Info on exhaust:
http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196828

Info on bushings:
http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144905

 

[ILikeBond]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, and thanks for the links, Tom - I'll defintiely check those out!

 

[motoman]

Great looking Bronco.... and love your energy to keep going!

Got a question for you. What seat belts are you using for the rear seat? I like the way they stick up so they are easy to buckle

 

[blamejane]

Looks like a great bronco Jack. I like your plans for it. Definitely seems well thought out. I look forward to the progress pics.

 

[ILikeBond]

Great looking Bronco.... and love your energy to keep going!

Got a question for you. What seat belts are you using for the rear seat? I like the way they stick up so they are easy to buckle

I installed them more than three years ago, but I believe those are the BC Broncos 2-Point Lap Belts.

Here are a few more pictures, front and rear, belted and retracted. I went with lap belts, rather than 3-points because I liked the vintage aspect of it and you can only get away with that in classic cars, although I acknowledge it's probably not as safe as 3-point or harnesses.

 

[ILikeBond]

Started to scratch the surface.

First, after disassembling the 1986 Mustang 5.0 EFI engine I purchased on craigslist (first picture), I decided for a variety of reasons to find another 302 block. I traded the '87 block and cylinder heads, and some of those green paper things, for this. Enjoy her "virgin" engine porn.

This is a 1987 Mustang 5.0 roller block, bored 30 over, with Cobra GT40 heads and a GT40 intake, both from (different, I think) explorers. All the parts were hot tanked, magnafluxed, machined and painted, and the block included freeze plugs and cam bearings. I'm going to be matching this to a stock 55mm MAF, A9L computer and mustang wiring harness (tempted to buy the RJN, but will see how the one I got on craigslist works out first).



Next step is to buy a kit and some other parts to build it up (cam, crankshaft etc.). Given what I'm working with, any suggestions? I want to emphasize the low end to the extent possible while building power. Summit has so many options...

Also debating between 19lb and 24lb injectors (will probably buy a new set as the '86 ones have probably seen better days and from what I understand were poorly designed compared to ones Ford used later). Thoughts?

Finally, over the past week I have been intermittently attempting to remove ONE leaf spring. After removing the front bolt, the front bushing got lodged in the shackle, and I had to sawzall the rear bolt off on both ends. To remove this thing, I went through gallons of penetrating oil (not really), all sorts of lever and hammering angles and contraptions, a variety of air tools, a 3-ton car jack wedged between the spring and frame (I know, not safe!), and a blowtorch, before finally noting a bottle jack at Harbor Freight, which I immediately realized would solve my problems. %) I used a plate between the jack's cylinder top and body to prevent it from poking through or denting the floor.

Last picture is comparing new and beefy to old and tired (still have to remove the rear upper shackle). Can't wait to see how these things ride.

 

[Passauf]

Build

Lookin good Jack... keep up the hard work and call the San Diego troops when it gets to tough for you...lotta good guy's in town can help

 

[ILikeBond]

Thanks, Tony - it was great seeing your Springtime Yellow beauty the other day. I'll keep you posted on the 200 I6. I think I'm more or less going to tear everything off the Bronco that I can without removing the body, clean it all up, then reassemble with new parts, which is probably where I will be able to use the help.

I also signed up for SoCal Broncos. Just have to post my first message when I get a chance.

Talk soon!
Jack

 

[904Bronco]

Hey weren't you in Santa Clara not that long ago...

 

[ILikeBond]

Yeah, I moved to San Diego in July. Miss Nor Cal tho.

 

[ILikeBond]

*I tend to intersperse questions in my ramblings, which can get them lost. So for those of you who, like me, don't necessarily read full posts but may respond to a discrete question, I've highlighted them in bold and underline*

Took the day off work and got a lot of work done yeterday.

- Emptied and dropped the gas tank



- This made it easy to remove a stubborn rear leaf shackle bolt with a BFH and air chisel.

- Removed drums from the 9" to get at the e-brake cables. I remember reading a post here at some point that said you cannot damage the iron drums by pounding on them to remove. Well, not so.



Does this hurt the integrity of the drum? I may replace both anyway, but is this something I definitely need to replace? The retaining clip inside was a real pain until I went back and re-read a tip about using a hose clamp. Whew. I also removed the axels then spilled and dripped the fluid in the 9" (is that differential fluid?) all over the garage and driveway, and it stinks. Guess I should have drained it first. Lesson learned. This was only the start of my troubles, though, b/c I had to transport this thing to the side of my house. Sounds easy, but just outside of my garage is a short (10 ft maybe) HILL to the (busy) road, which is my "driveway." I must go over the driveway to a path on the side of the house to wheel this back there. This causes all sorts of excitement when using a shop crane to cart around heavy metal, especially when doing it myself.

- Removed a bunch of other random stuff (bump stops, brackets for the gas tank, rear bumper, e-brake lines etc.)

What I'm left with is a clean rear end from the transfer case forward, except for fuel and oil lines, the parts of the rear drive shaft and muffler sticking past that, and the gas filler neck. %) The three screws around the filler hole on the body were rusted and painted on, but with some PB Blaster and heat, I managed to get 2 off. The third is being crazy stubborn, however. And it caused me to stupidly do this with the blowtorch. :-X



Clean rear end:



I'm not doing a frame-off, but I do want to address everything as completely as I can with the body on. So the plan now is de-grease and wire wheel all metal surfaces from the trasfer case back, then paint it all before putting the rear suspension back together. Then I'll take apart the front and do the same thing, followed by replacing the engine and tranny. Trying to decide whether to use POR15 or something less complicated.

I'm also installing a 1" body lift soon (prepped with loads of PB Blaster last night and will probably continue to hit the mounts each day for a little while before attempting). I'm thinking I'll do that before getting too far into cleaning the frame and underside of tub, since it'll give me more access once done.

Question - is there a preferred order or sequence to replacing the mounts? I imagine that with some on and some off, there is some undesirable leverage on the body. Is it best, for example, to install the new mounts one at a time right to left, rear to front? To remove all 4 on one side then replace them all 1, 2, 3, 4 before moving to the other side? To do the 4 rear ones followed by the 4 front?

Last pictures, I thought I'd show my work space a little. It's pretty cramped, especially since we moved a few months ago and still have lots of house stuff in the garage. Stupidly, the hardtop overlaps the Bronco's hood a bit, preventing it from opening, and I obviously can't move the Bronco any time soon, so that's going to be fun to deal with when I evetually have to.



Not much room left to store the junk coming off (and some going back on), so I've started making a pile on the side of my house (normally covered with a tarp). My guess is this will get bigger before it gets smaller. Some of this stuff will eventually make an appearance in the classifieds section.

 

[ILikeBond]

Major project out of the way - WH 1" body lift is in. Wasn't too bad, about 3 hours to remove all the old mounts and another couple to get the new ones in and tightened down. Only snag was dropping a sleeve through a frame hole. Dumb, but worked out ok.

Looks a lot better than the old stuff, huh?

 

[Heus33]

BL looks good! Looks like you have a very solid rig! I had some nice rust holes waiting to surprise me on my rear frame rails.

How do you plan to fix the bubbled paint from the blow torch?