Ol Reliable

[Nathan43]

Did some investigating on her today. Frame Vin matches. It seems to have double shock mounts on front and rear on the frame, But not on the axle. The glove box door tag says its a U152 with B90 axle, and from what I understand that would make it a "HD" package. Would someone mind deciphering my 9" and tell me if it is the right one for my Bronco.

The 44 doesn't have a tag but here is the 9" tag numbers.

WEM-E3 4EA
3.50 9 605c

From what little I could find. WEM-E3 ment it was for a 74-77 bronco. And obviously 3.50 was the gearing, and 9 was 9" ring gear.

 

[Nathan43]

Haven't done a lot to her lately. Washed er today. Doing a little here and there as money comes and goes. Finally gathered all of the parts for and installed the parking brakes. Found an air cleaner and have been hooking up all the misc hoses and came up with a way to mount it on a repro bracket with headers.

Choke parts will be in on Wednesday. The wiring seems to get worse as time goes by, harness is planned for September as I might have to put her on the road before the end of the year.

1.Can anyone recommend a good brand for a vacuum gauge?

2.Trying to come up with a good name, really like Ginger but every other Eb with ginger paint is named that.

3. I have a "Haze?" at the bottom of my windshield, is there any way to get rid of it?

Pics make er look good. Good from afar but far from good.;D

 

[mcknight77]

Haven't done a lot to her lately. Washed er today. Doing a little here and there as money comes and goes. Finally gathered all of the parts for and installed the parking brakes. Found an air cleaner and have been hooking up all the misc hoses and came up with a way to mount it on a repro bracket with headers.

Choke parts will be in on Wednesday. The wiring seems to get worse as time goes by, harness is planned for September as I might have to put her on the road before the end of the year.

1.Can anyone recommend a good brand for a vacuum gauge?

2.Trying to come up with a good name, really like Ginger but every other Eb with ginger paint is named that.

3. I have a "Haze?" at the bottom of my windshield, is there any way to get rid of it?

Pics make er look good. Good from afar but far from good.;D

Ummm, how about Mary Ann?

 

[Nathan43]

Well I rebuilt the power steering gearbox and pump over last week. No more steering fluid all over the shop floor. Good learning experience and helps you earn a few more noob mistake badges! Thanks Viper for the tips.

I am getting close to getting a wiring harness. I think I am going with a painless one. I have a few more questions.

1. What should I get to cover the wires under the hood? The plastic hardish type or the braided?

2. I'm in need of a quality wire crimper/strippers. Which ones? I don't like cheapy variety. My grandpa has always told me this saying with tools and trucks "You can pay me now or pay me later."

3. My 74 has the hazard switch on the column (and dash%)). I'm having a hard time finding out what I need for putting back on an original steering wheel. Right now it has a regular old grant.

I would prefer the earlier style with the round horn button, would it work with this column? At all?
If that one won't work then what will I need for the later version?

If pics are needed let me know?

 

[blamejane]

Seems you're making great progress on your bronco Nathan. Can I ask how hard it was to rebuild the power steering gearbox and pump? I know right, Viper is the man! Congrats on your bronco.

 

[Nathan43]

Seems you're making great progress on your bronco Nathan. Can I ask how hard it was to rebuild the power steering gearbox and pump? I know right, Viper is the man! Congrats on your bronco.

Slow progress! haha The box wasn't to bad, all I did was replace seals. I think people have made it sound harder than what it really is. The pump was harder for me because I put it back together wrong the first time. Just have patience and take your time. These videos are what motivated me to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ-89YhvAXU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=661ov4GIXAA

Can't wait for the app by the way!

 

[6677ebman]

That Stimco thing in the door jam is an "ambient temperature sensor" came mostly in '72-'73, maybe some early '74's. You could prob Google it to find what it actually did.

 

[DirtDonk]

...My bronco is a 74 so thats what I ordered it for. The control that was in it had a blue strain relief (not sure if that is what it is called) and the new one had a black one. Do I have the wrong harness in my bronco? black is for 74 and 75 and blue is 76 right?

Here's another good one for Viper, as he's very familiar with the different color strain reliefs (yep, that's what they're called, along with "grommet" by many) and Black was one of them. Either yours was a different rating, perhaps had a 6-cylinder in it, had some wiring changes, or you just ran afoul of the wrong listings in the computer.
But the bottom line is (or should be?) that if you have a Blue strain-relief module in there now, you should just be able to buy another Blue one and connect it right up.
Wouldn't hurt to verify the wiring is stock and wired correctly of course, which would take some perusing of the wiring diagrams hereabouts, but if it ran before, a new blue box should work.
In theory...%)

And is there a difference between the coils because we had the slide on ones in the bronco but the 74 coil I bought had the nuts and bolts that held them on.

Common issue with stores stocking coils from manufacturers that are lazy. There are coils out there that do have the little t-tips for sliding the stock "horseshoe" connector on, or you can retrofit some special bolt-on contact tips that will slide into it, but getting the correct coil would be better.
Maybe they missed it by a year and you should see if a coil for a '75 has the same part number. If so, just try a different brand. Even MSD makes coils with the correct Ford tips on it.

Anyone have any tips on what order to fix (or try) them. Will have pics of vacuum lines in the morning, as it seems vehicle specific.

VERY vehicle specific unfortunately. Which is why you don't see enough vacuum diagrams these days. But you can get close with some. Don't have any myself, but there are some on the internet as well as some here on Classic that someone can link to.
Good luck there. I see you have the air cleaner housing with the vacuum fittings on it, but unless you have an EGR valve and a 2-port distributor advance mechanism, or other things that would take vacuum to control, I would just leave that stuff off for now and connect the front distributor port to the carburetor directly and leave off the air cleaner hoses for the time being.
Do you have smog checks in your area? If so, then you will definitely have to re-connect all of that, and then some. And hopefully you don't need an air pump too.
Damn PO's...

My 74 has the hazard switch on the column (and dash%)). I'm having a hard time finding out what I need for putting back on an original steering wheel. Right now it has a regular old grant.
I would prefer the earlier style with the round horn button, would it work with this column? At all?

Lucky you. You have one of the transition '74's it sounds like, going between the new and the old setups. Does your horn use a 3-wire relay mounted to the passenger side fender skirt by any chance? Or better yet, if you have the Grant wheel off, does your turn signal switch have 2 of the spring loaded brass horn contacts? Or just 1?
I'm guessing 2, since you do have the column mounted switch, but in the early days there were more choices in turn signal switches than there are now, so not sure if there was ever one with both the integrated 4-way hazard switch AND the single contact, but it's possible.

If you have the single contact, you can use the earlier wheels. If you have to dual contacts, you'll either need the later model wheel, or manage to find one of the rare interim wheels.
Or you could modify an early one to work, but I'm not sure how, of if that can be done.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[Nathan43]

Here's another good one for Viper, as he's very familiar with the different color strain reliefs (yep, that's what they're called, along with "grommet" by many) and Black was one of them. Either yours was a different rating, perhaps had a 6-cylinder in it, had some wiring changes, or you just ran afoul of the wrong listings in the computer.
But the bottom line is (or should be?) that if you have a Blue strain-relief module in there now, you should just be able to buy another Blue one and connect it right up.
Wouldn't hurt to verify the wiring is stock and wired correctly of course, which would take some perusing of the wiring diagrams hereabouts, but if it ran before, a new blue box should work.
In theory...%)




Common issue with stores stocking coils from manufacturers that are lazy. There are coils out there that do have the little t-tips for sliding the stock "horseshoe" connector on, or you can retrofit some special bolt-on contact tips that will slide into it, but getting the correct coil would be better.
Maybe they missed it by a year and you should see if a coil for a '75 has the same part number. If so, just try a different brand. Even MSD makes coils with the correct Ford tips on it.




VERY vehicle specific unfortunately. Which is why you don't see enough vacuum diagrams these days. But you can get close with some. Don't have any myself, but there are some on the internet as well as some here on Classic that someone can link to.
Good luck there. I see you have the air cleaner housing with the vacuum fittings on it, but unless you have an EGR valve and a 2-port distributor advance mechanism, or other things that would take vacuum to control, I would just leave that stuff off for now and connect the front distributor port to the carburetor directly and leave off the air cleaner hoses for the time being.
Do you have smog checks in your area? If so, then you will definitely have to re-connect all of that, and then some. And hopefully you don't need an air pump too.
Damn PO's...



Lucky you. You have one of the transition '74's it sounds like, going between the new and the old setups. Does your horn use a 3-wire relay mounted to the passenger side fender skirt by any chance? Or better yet, if you have the Grant wheel off, does your turn signal switch have 2 of the spring loaded brass horn contacts? Or just 1?
I'm guessing 2, since you do have the column mounted switch, but in the early days there were more choices in turn signal switches than there are now, so not sure if there was ever one with both the integrated 4-way hazard switch AND the single contact, but it's possible.

If you have the single contact, you can use the earlier wheels. If you have to dual contacts, you'll either need the later model wheel, or manage to find one of the rare interim wheels.
Or you could modify an early one to work, but I'm not sure how, of if that can be done.

Good luck.

Paul

Thanks for the replys. Every little bit helps!I've run the vacuum lines for what needed to be hooked up and capped the rest. A po removed all of it but the vacuum advance. I put the vacuum gauge to her and got a little over 20!

The wiring is all hacked up right now which is why I'm having to get a new harness. Its a pure mess. It does in fact have the horn relay on the passenger fender(or at least what I believe it to be). But the horn is wired from a button, straight to the battery. I havn't been able to take the wheel of because I only have a 2 bolt puller and it needs the 3 bolt....... I have a high suspicion that its not the original column but I havn't learned enough to tell if it could be.

I'll probably get a puller on monday to shed some light. I'll need it later anyway.

 

[Nathan43]

Thanks for the replys. Every little bit helps!I've run the vacuum lines for what needed to be hooked up and capped the rest. A po removed all of it but the vacuum advance. I put the vacuum gauge to her and got a little over 20!

The wiring is all hacked up right now which is why I'm having to get a new harness. Its a pure mess. It does in fact have the horn relay on the passenger fender(or at least what I believe it to be). But the horn is wired from a button, straight to the battery. I havn't been able to take the wheel of because I only have a 2 bolt puller and it needs the 3 bolt....... I have a high suspicion that its not the original column but I havn't learned enough to tell if it could be.

I'll probably get a puller on monday to shed some light. I'll need it later anyway.

I managed to get the wheel off! Notice both hazards.

 

[DirtDonk]

I wonder if both work on those trucks? I would assume so, since having a switch marked but non-functional would be counter-productive and probably lead to lawsuits even back then.

Paul

 

[Nathan43]

I wonder if both work on those trucks? I would assume so, since having a switch marked but non-functional would be counter-productive and probably lead to lawsuits even back then.

Paul

I have no idea. Sadly neither works right now.%)

 

[Nathan43]

Looky what showed up on the front porch today. Any job worth doing is worth doing right. ;D

 

[Nathan43]

I'm almost finished getting the harness ready. Just gotta order my sending unit pigtails, alternator,voltage regulator, and some more wire loom. The painless powerbraid is really nice. Every splice that was needed,has been properly "linesmans" spliced, soldered, and heatshrinked.

In september I'll be going all in on the frame and drivetrain because it might have to become a daily driver for a while. The frame will be stripped and painted but the body will be left as is. I have a couple of questions though.

1. In the painless manual it shows an external capacitor at the voltage regultor. I've personally never seen one. Will it come with a new vr or do I have to buy it seperatly?

2. What brands of paint have you used for the frame and engine. I was gonna try to find something that can be brushed on. Everything will be stripped to bare metal and cleaned. Any recommendations?

3. What is the best way to clean stripped metal so that the paint will stick best?
Just a broke 19 year old country boy trying to get by, but doing it right. So can't afford a paint gun or compressor right now. Thanks ahead.

 

[DirtDonk]

That's a good lookin' wrap job you got there Nathan.

Those capacitors were on most years of EB originally. Both on the voltage regulator and the ignition coil. They were radio noise suppressors, and while beneficial, are not required for all the components to function.
If you look in the shop manual wiring diagrams, you'll likely see them listed there too.

They're "capacitors" or "chokes" or "condensers" or probably other names too, but their function is the same. Just the name changes depending on in what capacity they're used I suppose?

I see you've also wired in the ballast-resistor in the ignition circuit. What ignition are you going to be running?
Reason I ask is that some aftermarket setups don't require the resistor. Others do.
Either way though, wherever you mount it you might want to consider a plate of some kind behind it, OR perhaps making a bracket or stand-off that keeps it away from paint.
They build up a lot of heat by their very design, and even though surrounded by a ceramic block will heat up on the back side that's open. If yours is closed off, then it's probably not an issue. But if you can see the metal coils on the back, any painted surface you mount it to will suffer.
And it ain't no fun scrambling around to look for that source of smoke coming out of your newly wired Bronco!;D

Paul

 

[Nathan43]

That's a good lookin' wrap job you got there Nathan.

Those capacitors were on most years of EB originally. Both on the voltage regulator and the ignition coil. They were radio noise suppressors, and while beneficial, are not required for all the components to function.
If you look in the shop manual wiring diagrams, you'll likely see them listed there too.

They're "capacitors" or "chokes" or "condensers" or probably other names too, but their function is the same. Just the name changes depending on in what capacity they're used I suppose?

I see you've also wired in the ballast-resistor in the ignition circuit. What ignition are you going to be running?
Reason I ask is that some aftermarket setups don't require the resistor. Others do.
Either way though, wherever you mount it you might want to consider a plate of some kind behind it, OR perhaps making a bracket or stand-off that keeps it away from paint.
They build up a lot of heat by their very design, and even though surrounded by a ceramic block will heat up on the back side that's open. If yours is closed off, then it's probably not an issue. But if you can see the metal coils on the back, any painted surface you mount it to will suffer.
And it ain't no fun scrambling around to look for that source of smoke coming out of your newly wired Bronco!;D

Paul

I'm probably going to stick with the Duraspark II (it has the blue plastic on the module) that a previous owner put on it. As far as the ballast resistor, I thought it was dependent on what coil you were using.

I'll be making a special bracket to mount the resistor to the intake manifold that should prevent any burning of paint or anything.

 

[sprdv1]

Looky what showed up on the front porch today. Any job worth doing is worth doing right. ;D

Love new goodies.. Nice bud

 

[DirtDonk]

...As far as the ballast resistor, I thought it was dependent on what coil you were using.

Yes, but it's not just the coil you take into account. It's more of an "and/or/either" kind of thing. Typical for a Bronco, don't you think?;D

If the coil you're using requires the lowered voltage, then yes you leave the resistor. But the Blue Duraspark itself wants to see 12v to it's supply wire(s) under normal use. So don't wire it through the same circuit.

Paul

 

[Nathan43]

Yes, but it's not just the coil you take into account. It's more of an "and/or/either" kind of thing. Typical for a Bronco, don't you think?;D

If the coil you're using requires the lowered voltage, then yes you leave the resistor. But the Blue Duraspark itself wants to see 12v to it's supply wire(s) under normal use. So don't wire it through the same circuit.

Paul

Very typical. For such a simple truck they can be pretty complicated if you have a mess to start with. Thanks for the help!

 

[Nathan43]

Had about 6 free hrs to work on er today, and all day tomorrow. Really had some fun and got quite a bit done. Going to the steel yard tomorrow, so I can make braces and a frame for the hardtop.

My kbs for the frame should be in before the weekend. Also have around $1600 worth of parts from jeffs, duffs, and wild horses coming by next week. The plans are to paint and reseal the frame,axles, engine, trans etc. and get er ready for the road. I've got to drive the old girl for a little while, so the body will have to wait a good while.

There will be a good few updates on this in the next few weeks, so stay tuned if you wanna.