Ms Piggy- Cummins 4BT Bronco with a slight weight issue!

[broncosbybart]

So I just named her. Virtually every part on this thing weighs a ton on a long-overdue project that I'm beginning. It will finally be the one that I've wanted to build for years.

Specs are as it sits:

67 Bronco. Currently it has a 302 with NP435, semi-float D60 rear axle, Dynatrac Pro rock 60 front axle, and some misc bolt-ons. Color is some kind of crap brown or something.

Here we go! It has only been 15 years in the making, so don't expect lightning progress...

 

[broncosbybart]

I bought this truck basically because it had the Pro-Rock 60 under the front with 4.10 gears and ARB. I have (had) a 78-79 HP60 front axle that I was going to build, but it would be full width and 8 lug. This axle is 5x5.5 (which I have tons of tires/wheels for) and has about a 64" WMS. The body is pretty good, but needs some ding/dent repair. It was a CA truck.

My plans are to pull the entire drive train. I have to redo the front axle. Right now it has a -1 degree caster angle. I don't think that is within spec... I am looking at putting a 14 bolt in the rear, 4 linking the rear, Cummins 4BT engine, NV4500 trans, and Atlas 4 spd transfer case.

Parts have been sourced from all over the country for this thing. It has been a very slow accumulation but most of it is here. So, follow along and post your thoughts, or input. My plans are to make a daily driver type rig that will get good fuel mileage, drive well, and be about unbreakable on the trail.

The hood was trash, so I removed it and threw it out. It had a hole in it for the air cleaner and was all bent up and cracked as they always seem to do. Then I sold the hard top and gutted the interior to what you see above.

 

[broncosbybart]

Some thoughts I'd love input on:

I'm sure this is going to be a big and heavy pig of a truck. I've never built something this heavy before. t will see mainly street use honestly. I'm really debating on keeping the rear leaf springs and stretching the wheel base a few inches by moving the spring hangers back, or going 4 link. I've had trail rigs with 4 links and they work well off road but do tend to exhibit a good amount of body lean.

Comments/thoughts from the peanut galley? I haven't begun to run any numbers or do any calcs yet on the 4 link. A lot of it will be a guess, as I don't know the weight (sprung or unsprung), COG, final wheel base, or ride height. I'm sure I'll land on some of those numbers, but things like COG and weights will be a theorized guess.

 

[ford man]

Sounds like a good plan I like the idea of the 4bt lots of torque and good mpg.

 

[broncosbybart]

I did get the doors and nose metal torn off. I'm planning to cut the inner apron off and make it removable. I want to keep it all there instead of tubing it out, as I do plan to drive it regularly.

Of course, 11 of the 12 bolts that hold the door hinges onto the door posts would not come out without breaking. Spent the better portion of half a day drilling the old bolts out and chasing the threads in the door posts. The older Broncos used Phillips head bolts rather than the regular hex head bolts. What a pain. At least the bolts were fairly soft and drilled somewhat easily.

After all that I began to bend some tube for a roll cage. Crawdad really wanted my Crab cage, so I'm building a new cage using 2" .120 wall DOM. Stuff is stout! My bender really doesn't like it...

I fabbed up the base plates using 3/16" steel and bent the main hoop. Here are a few pics of the work so far.

 

[snipes243]

looks good

 

[BluebroncoNC]

Oh, good, a closer to home build thread! Can't wait to watch the progress!

 

[broncosbybart]

Went down to the garage today for a bit to bend some more tube. Got the rear tube bent and fit into place.

Next, I worked on the front cage legs. In my haste, the very first bend I did on the driver's side tube was wrong. I ended up cutting the tube by the notch and adding a few inches to it, just to use it for mock up. After a little head-scratching and re-thinking, I bent the passenger side tube up without issue. I began to think about running the cage through the dash, but in the end logic prevailed. Hopefully I will be able to finish the bones of the cage up sometime soon.

 

[Mill KNOB]

Looking real good.

Keep up the good work and the pictures coming.

 

[crab]

Now you can see why it's so hard to get my fabricators to knock those things out. We only built a few all DOM, and yes, the bender certainly talks to you.
Looking good!

 

[broncosbybart]

Thanks guys. Yeah, Crab, the cage I had from you was hot rolled. Crawdad wanted it really bad (he's been on me for a few years about it), so I sold it to him and went DOM with this one since the Bronco is going to be one pig of a vehicle when done. Nothing on it will be light...

Today I braved the melting ice and snow to get some more work done. The driver's side front leg was fitted and tacked into place. It fits great! The parking brake is not hidden or inaccessible and the uprights fit nice and snug around the dash pad.

 

[broncosbybart]

Next, I put the windshield wiper assembly in place to make sure I will make enough room around it. It is a unit from AM equipment. It is a nice piece but I don't know if they are still available. The windshield frame on the Bronco is a 67, but it had been drilled for the later style linkage by someone. It had the dual electric motors on it that weren't synchronized and I didn't like that, not to mention having a windshield frame with a bunch of holes in it. I will be replacing the windshield frame with a 69 and later one for electric wipers.

 

[broncosbybart]

After that, I cut and notched some tubes to go diagonally from the main hoop to the rear hoop. About that time, a guy came by to look at the engine/trans/t-case that I had for sale. I started it up and backed it out of the garage so he could check it all over. He ended up buying it, which is great! Now I can begin the process of pulling all that stuff out to make room for the 4BT!

While it was out, I took a few pics so you guys can get an idea of how it looks so far. I think you'll get the idea of the direction it is heading. Not too elaborate, but should be plenty strong when finished.

 

[Arikilen]

Do you plan to reinstall the doors? I found out that when I put my roll bar that close that the doors ended up hitting it. Had to cut out the center and smash them together to get clearance. The project looks great! Keep up the work, I have subscribed to your thread.

 

[broncosbybart]

Yes sir, doors are very much the plan. Measured it all out to hopefully ensure that they fit. Right now, it is all just tacked together in case something has to change.

Got started on the rear seat structure. The tubes are about 1/4" off of the bed. There will be tube going from front to rear and the bench seat (Jeep TJ rear seat) will attach to that.

 

[broncosbybart]

Today I spent some time with a couple of well known tools- the grinder, the sawzall, and a hammer. I now have a removable front apron. Good times!

Downer to that is that I will have to do some fab work to put the front apron back on. I am planning on making some brackets to have it bolt on and off, for ease of doing work in the future. I hate the welded on apron when it comes to doing bigger repairs.

 

[broncoitis]

I would think that you are gonna need some quick disconnects for the wiring. No?

 

[crab]

Looks like you can bend tube. Don't stop now!

 

[broncosbybart]

I'm not going to bother with a firewall connector or quick disconnects for the wiring. If I have to take the nose off, it will take a while either way.

Crab, I did some similar tube work on my race rig for the nose. I like it a lot and it adds a lot of strength to the chassis, but this truck will be driven regularly and I want to keep the inner fenders. On a crawler or trail rig, tubing is hard to beat.

On the rear seat support structure, my plan is to tie the rear tube that goes across the floor into the rear body mount bolts to make an easy frame tie in for the rear section, versus running tube all the way to the corners of the back of the tub. There isn't much room to work with back there.

Here are a few pics of some new goodies. Got some quarter panel guards from Duff's and some marine speakers and Kicker Amp from a marine dealer here in NC. Gotta have some loud tunes to overpower the diesel...

 

[broncosbybart]

I named her a fitting name. Clay came over today and we moved some parts around that will be going on her. Nothing on this truck is going to be light. Probably going to weigh as much as a Navy destroyer. She'd now officially dead! The removal process for the engine/trans/t-case has begun. WAHOO!!

In the process, I've run across a metric ton of unnecessary wires. Guess the theory there was more is better... Anyone want an Oogah horn?

Thanks for the help Clay!