Money Pit - Phase III

[KyleQ]

Well tonight I finished up the access cover for the hole I cut into the floor - turned out pretty good.

Cut it out with the plasma cutter

Measure, drill, sand, and clean for paint

Drink beer while paint dries and then rivet in


I also threw in one of my seats - not bad for $20 ;D


I only shot the cover in primer so I could paint it to match the truck at a later date. It is held very well with just the 4 rivets - but I'll put the rest in anywase...

 

[regshawn]

Its always nice to make progress on the Bronco.................can't wait tell I'm able to get up and at it!!

 

[neonizagas]

Looking good Kyle!

mmmm--Plasma Cutter;D
mmmm--Grain Belt Premium;D
mmmm--time off work to work on Bronco

Gerry

 

[KyleQ]

Looking good Kyle!

mmmm--Plasma Cutter;D
mmmm--Grain Belt Premium;D
mmmm--time off work to work on Bronco

Gerry

Hehehe... a little slice of paradice

 

[BronCowie]

Another uncut project! Lookin' good!

 

[KyleQ]

Another uncut project! Lookin' good!

It will remain a LUBer until next year - 5.5" Cage lift and cut 37" boggers..

Ugh - it started raining almost immediatly this morning so I pulled it under the roof line of the garage so I could work on it.

I tried installing the other seat and that was a complete failure... The seat wasn't even close to fitting - it hit the roll bar and was way off center if I tried clearing it.

So out came those seats and in went the seats that were in there... I also added the track to the passanger side and made a support so it can actually support weight.

End result

So I also installed the seatbelt for that side - now I can have a passanger!


I also yanked out one of the rear axleshafts to take a peek - splines look good, brakes looked like they disinagrated years ago. Both wheels seals are shot as well - it is a 74' Bronco with 10" rear drums - so it is a big bearing 9".
I'll yank the shafts, get new bearings, install a minispool and rebuild the brakes before the end of this year.

 

[KyleQ]

Well - I have been collecting parts to lift the Bronco for a little over two weeks now and I ordered the rest of the parts I needed. I've got some 2.5" front progressives, 3" rear blocks, and 3.5" rear lift shocks.

I tried installing the front coils last weekend and the stock brake line was tight with the stock coils at full droop - so I ordered a 6" drop front line to solve that. When I changed the front drums I noticed that the flex lines coming from the axle to the drum were in bad shape - so I also ordered a set of stainless lines from BC Broncos. While I was trying to fix the coils I also noticed that the c bushings were obliterated - I could move the axle housing by hand they are so bad... so you guessed it - ordered those as well. Damnit - I looked at the ujoints by mistake and realized they need to be replaced as well.. ka ching - those hit the shopping cart as well. Ugh - there, the front end has new brakes, new brake lines, new c bushings, and new ujoints in it - so much for keeping cost down on an axle I won't be using much. Well - on to the rear - I am getting some used shocks from BUCKETOBOLTS (thanks man) and I got lift blocks from the PO. I ordered up some longer ubolts and another 6" drop brake line. The rear axle leaks and the brakes are shot because of that - and I'm not going to fix it. I'm going to have to rebuild the D60 rear I'm getting and cannot justify spending money on another axle that will probably end up scrapped.

When the boxes show up I'll start the lift install and document that. I also want to yank my twin stick access panel and heat up the twin sticks with a torch and bend them out of the way. I called up Tom's and they suggested I do this - so that is what I'm going to do. If my LTB's don't fit after this lift - this truck will not be uncut anymore... Only a matter of time - no way to fit 37's without cutting and no body lift.

If you are wondering what I'm going to do with the front shocks here is my answer -> I'm going to extend the studs with a turnbuckle and threaded rod. I don't care if I have to drill out the shock tower - it won't be usable with the Cage arms anywase. I bought the long brake lines because I am installing a 5.5" Cage lift kit next year with the full widths. The trails in my area have lots of off camber wheeling and I want the full widths for stability.

 

[KyleQ]

Well - got some work done this weekend.



I soon realized that nor the ebrake cables or the drive shaft was going to work... %) So I've got a FWD Bronco for now - twin sticks sure comes in handy now.

I think it sits much better with the rear lift and tire clearance - little rake is nice too




Backing up in fwd low for the first time was a bit interesting without rear shocks... lol - those are in the mail and will be installed before i do any more tooling around. I'm almost a bit weary of installing the front coils in fear that my drive shaft will be too short as well - I've looked though the catalogs and it seems that the rear drive shaft is only good up to 2" of lift and then needs to be lengthened - it also looks like the front is good for 2.5" and those are the coils I've got. Will I be ok to lift the front 2.5" with the stock drive shaft?

 

[NorCalBronco]

Mines lifted 3.5" in the front and the driveshaft was fine, been running it for years ;D

 

[KyleQ]

Mines lifted 3.5" in the front and the driveshaft was fine, been running it for years ;D

Great! Then I'll tackle the front without worry. That one is going to suck - ujoints, c bushings, and brake lines...

 

[mustangtoby]

Looking good, looks like you're having fun! Keep us posted, love to see build threads and all the progress.

 

[gabronco74]

looking good...really enjoy watching the progrss

 

[KyleQ]

looking good...really enjoy watching the progrss

Looking good, looks like you're having fun! Keep us posted, love to see build threads and all the progress.

Thanks guys - I love the progress as well!

 

[KyleQ]

Well - got a lot done today, which is pretty good because I was at The Rock until 1AM this morning...

This is getting to be all too common of a picture...



I wrangled up some help today from a friend and got most of the front lift installed.



We installed the 6" drop brake line (that was fun, all original lines - but they all came apart with a vise grips) and then replaced the flex lines from the axle housing to the drums. We ran into a snag (one of the fittings came loose, but the brake line was trying to spin with the nut). After making a new piece (it was only 8" long) we were back in buisness. The other line went in without any troubles.


I had already taken apart the passenger side spring and what not - so installing the lift coil was easy. Ran into trouble on the passenger side because it was still original. Got everything apart to find that the coil cups had been redrilled and it was a PITA to try and line them up again. This is about the time we ran out of day light and called it a night.

 

[KyleQ]

My front shocks limit travel big time - but they work for ditch flex'n.

After I got the passenger side all put together I took the vise grips off the front brake line because I wanted to start bleeding the brakes. Well - I soon found that I had 3 leaks (new brake lines and old brake lines don't exactly play nice together) so after I took one apart and tightened it and replaced a small brake line off the distro block - the only thing that needed fixing was the rear drop line. Some more squirreling around and it stopped leaking (I pretty much tightened the fawk outa it).

Bled the rear brakes just to retain my pedal feel (there is oil keeping my rear end from rusting instead of keeping my gears lubed up) and then bled the fronts. Well - some miracle happened and my brakes work so good they hurt. Yeah - I was used to just the fronts locking up... that steering wheel is tough! All 4 brakes lock up with a vengeance now... %)

Front axle isn't centered anymore, but I'm just happy the driveshaft is long enough. It is only off about an inch - so it isn't that bad.

What do you guys think?

 

[Spot]

I had that same orange carpeting in my bedroom when I was a kid in 1976.

 

[KyleQ]

It has been a long time since I've updated this thread, but not much has actually been going on. Besides driving this thing around, I picked up a spare set of front axle shafts and replaced the u-joints and modified the shafts for full circle snap rings. After that I scored some new 4GA batt, ground, and starter cables and swapped those out. I also replaced the neutral safety switch with the spare I had - starting in park is kinda nice ;D

I made a parts run yesterday and picked up my new rear axle - this beefy D70.

It has matching 4.11's to my D60 front and is welded up tight. I am going to install disk brakes courtesy of RuffStuff's bolt on bracketry. Thinking of cleaning the axle up and giving it a por15 treatment... may just end up doing the hubs though...
Today I am picking up a low mileage Cobra Mustang Hydroboost unit to replace the stock brakes. I am hoping I will be able to run a hydraulic ram for my assisted steering after the booster, but if now I will have to fork out a rather large chunk of cash to have it ported for flow. I am going to send out a big bronco steering box to Redneck Ram and have them rebuilt it, swap in the 2wd components, tap it for hydro assist and also purchase the hydro assist kit from them. That should take care of the steering and the brakes - only things I need to purchase now to get this whole thing started are a lift kit and beadlocks.

 

[73bronco]

Is that a revered 70U? I have only seen one and almost bought the entire truck for it! (truck was cheap)

 

[KyleQ]

Is that a revered 70U? I have only seen one and almost bought the entire truck for it! (truck was cheap)

Yup - the truck that this was under had some 47" ditch witch tires on it and he only broke one shaft behind a big block. I believe the WMS is 72" - the front is 69.5".... May just get the same rims and use the offset to my advantage...

 

[75 Ranger]

The Bronco is looking great! I'm loving the uncut flex pictures, I'm gonna have to do that. Keep up the good work.