Newbie Questions

[ceaserxxv]

Hi All,

Disclaimer: I am a newbie with very less knowledge on fixing cars..

After a long search and saving bought myself a 1970 Big B (That's what I call it) and I am planning and learning and fixing it myself

I have been reading a lot on this forum and have been very helpful.. Thanks everyone..

Appreciate any advice on the following,

Main Fuel Tank - Should I swap to a new one or Replace with 23 gallon (Did read a lot on this and still can't decide)

Brakes - Disc Brake Conversion - Should I do Front only? or Front and Back? Also, any recommendations on brand?

Power Steering Conversion- Any recommendations?

Exhaust system - When I stop there is a huge pop - any brand recommendation?

Shocks - Any brand recommendation

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, I would recommend you get the Bronco to start, run, and stop safely. If you can drive it now, go over the brakes, do all the fluids, tune up, reliability stuff, and see where it goes.
The Bronco life is wide and varied. What you think is important now may fade away.
Drive and enjoy is the best advice I can give.
Certainly there are future projects, but to say now what needs to be done is silly.
There are way too many ways to go. Stock, restomod, trail dog, etc.
Drive, enjoy, see what happens.
Good luck

 

[Scoop]

Good advice from B RON CO. I’ll add a few specific comments.

Size of the fuel tank really depends on how you’ll use the Bronco. If you’ll be driving it a lot or you plan making long trips then get the 23 gallon. If it’s mainly a weekend driver to go get a burger get a stock replacement.

Disk brakes in the front is a very good cost effective upgrade. Adding rear disks is a large cost to only get incrementally better brakes. Most of the Bronco vendors have good kits. With a D30 only the chevy style kit will work.

Any “pop” upon decelerating is probably a timing issue. Tune it up first before you change the exhaust.

Shocks - no lift I like the Duff 70/30s. Lifted and used off road, I like Bilsteins.

Good luck with your Bronco.

 

[Remos69]

Best way to learn how to update your new bronco is to fix it first and get it road worthy as the above post stated. When you do that you can start thinking about your end goal. It took me 25 years to get to the point where I had the time, money and ambition to do it right the way I want it now.

Fuel Tank - Broncos are like electric vehicles, as long as you are not going over 100 miles there is no need for additional energy storage and if it ain't broke! Drop it, clean it, check for leaks reinstall install new filter New fuel lines may be in the mix too

Brakes - you can stick to drums until you get the system checked out and working. Fixing drums is cheap, if you want to go aftermarket vendor for disc expect to spend $$. First mod maybe new brake lines and fittings.

Power steering - I would worry more about the underlying steering components first. Tie rods, knuckles, wheel bearings (last 2 are not necessarily steering but often overlooked).

Exaust -pop sounds more like unburnt fuel in the exaust than a failed exaust. I would look for leaks/holes in the manafold/headers and exaust, if all is good leave it alone and tune it.

Shocks - depends on what the Bronco will be doing! Easy and relatively inexpensive upgrade.

Sorry I did not give you brand recommendations.

Mike

 

[ceaserxxv]

Thank you so much guys!

I will take get the car tuned, check brakes (Fix if needed for now) and make it road worthy and safe.

Will check and clean the existing tank.

Once I am done with this will slowly start thinking of what I want to do and ease in to it.

Again.. Appreciate your feedback!!!

 

[JoeJoe]

I totally agree with the other comments. Strongly recommend enjoying your bronco for a while. Just drive it or off road it some. Sometimes we over whelm ourselves with projects that take longer to finish than expected. Spend some money make it safe and functional.
But I do recommend disk brake swap from a donor like a 79 front end. Especially if you are not use to drum brakes all the way around might feel like Fred Flintstone.
Just my 2 cents

 

[ceaserxxv]

Thanks Joe.. Trying to get use to Drum but might consider Disc conversion as my first big project after all the basics..

 

[STalon89]

I would do the disc kit from Toms.
Gas tank down the road, unless theres an issue with it.
Shocks I would hold off and do a full suspension kit. Piecing it together you'll spend a little more money. Plus its nice to replace all of the rotted out rubber under there in one whack.
Any exhaust shop can help you, I like the sound of magnaflow mufflers on these trucks.
For power steering, there are a few kits out there. You could also source a 4 turn box from a later year, like 77.

 

[STalon89]

I would do the disc kit from Toms.
Gas tank down the road, unless theres an issue with it.
Shocks I would hold off and do a full suspension kit. Piecing it together you'll spend a little more money. Plus its nice to replace all of the rotted out rubber under there in one whack.
Any exhaust shop can help you, I like the sound of magnaflow mufflers on these trucks.
For power steering, there are a few kits out there. You could also source a 4 turn box from a later year, like 77.

 

[ceaserxxv]

Thanks STalon89!! I like the advice on Full Suspension Kit.. Makes sense..

 

[DirtDonk]

Agree that a disc swap might be a good first project. But the drums can also be made to work very well under "normal" circumstances.
That's mostly around town stuff, and other light uses. If planning any long trips fully loaded where you might see some long downhill runs, do the discs sooner!

Inspecting and adjusting the brakes is the perfect time for some often much-needed maintenance as well.
Most PO's (previous owners) will change their engine oil, and may even change the transmission fluid in an automatic, but the same diligence is not carried over to the wheel bearings and differential and manual transmission oils. Might make it a good time for you to make sure that stuff got done to yours.
Any chance the seller supplied any records of maintenance or parts replacements?
If not, I'd say it's up to you to do those things even if you think they "might" have been done.
When in doubt, do it yourself.

Pulling the front brake drums off involves removing the lockouts (locking hubs) and the wheel bearings. Perfect time to re-pack them with grease and make sure they're adjusted by the book. By the Dana 4-wheel drive book that is. Way different than most regular wheel bearings.

Same for the rear brakes. Pull the drums to inspect them, but pay close attention to how the axle-bearings feel. Any leaking gear lube or dry rattling sound to them?
Frankly, the rear wheel/axle bearings are one of those things that I say replace now, rather than run the risk of failure later when driving.
They are good for about 100k miles or 40 years, so if yours is north of either of those milestones, just change the rear wheel bearings.
It's cheap insurance...

And at the same time you get to inspect differentials and renew the fluids. And that's all good.
And congrats on the new Bronco, and welcome to classicbroncos.com too!

Paul

 

[ceaserxxv]

Thank you for the great advice Paul!

 

[SteveL]

Location? Tell us where you're at and you can probably someone from here to take a look at it and set you in the right direction

 

[ceaserxxv]

Oh that will be great... I live in DFW area..

 

[Scoop]

Oh that will be great... I live in DFW area..

There is a bunch of Lonestar Early Bronco Club folks in the DFW area. If you get on our Google Groups list you’ll get lots of help.

 

[airman]

1. Establish purpose of the Bronco.
2. Determine if daily driver or secondary vehicle to determine ability to have down time.
3. Make a wish list. Then write a parts price dollar amount next to it.
4. Prioritize by budget, need, want, function, looks or fun.
5. When taking on a task always ask in a post here "What else should I do while I'm into this project" this will save money and time.
6. look for youtube videos of projects.
7. Name the imaginary friend that you talk to while working on the Bronco alone. Makes things easier to explain to others like wives.

Above is a good start.

 

[sykanr0ng]

/\/\ +1
Good advice.