RyanITV's Build Thread - Prepping Drivetrain - 3/15

[RyanITV]

RyanITV's Build Thread - Back On Tires! - 4/12

I decided to start a new thread for the assembly of my 73 Bronco - the old one was a bit long and mostly just me finding more crap I needed to replace.

We stayed up late Friday night to paint the frame - POR15 followed by their chassis black. Here's a shot of it in the booth:

Sunday it was cured enough to come home - it took the GTR's spot in the garage till I can get a rolling chassis so I can move the old frame out. Ignore the mess - it's piled up parts and the old frame - LOL!

My goal was to have the suspension done in a day. Doable - but - turns out that crazy trick mandrel bent frame isn't as perfect as it should have been.

The radius arm brackets are wrong - the opening for the bushings is almost 1/4" too large. I had a local machine shop machine steel spacers today to get it to the proper size:

Got the bushings in only to discover I don't have the required washers or retainers - oops! They'll be here in a couple days.

The rear suspension is a no-go as well. The front leaf spring hangers only have a 9/16" opening. They need to be 5/8" - I've now burned up two bits (even using cutting oil) and am not even halfway done enlarging the openings.

I overnighted in some BEEFY bits to tackle this - the shit at Lowe's and Home Depot is lucky to go through 1 of the 4 holes. So at this point I'm kinda stuck - don't really want to start mounting up drivetrain stuff till it's on its own feet. The goal is still to have a rolling chassis by this weekend, so we'll see!

Body is on track - we're about 2 weeks away from paint. Looks good - the Al's Liner kit turned out great.

DSS says the 347 should ship tomorrow - fingers crossed!

Ryan

 

[DRBRONCO69]

The floor liner looks nice. Looks very uniform in texture.

 

[bronko69er]

Who's frame is that?

 

[RyanITV]

Who's frame is that?

It's the Bronco Graveyard/TDK frame. Calling tomorrow - there's a 5 year warranty against "manufacturing defects". I'd call stuff too big and too small defects...

Ryan

 

[av bronco]

Well it's good that you smoked the bits, that means it isint junk chineese. 1/16 aint bad for aftermarket conserding what spects they have to run off.

 

[mavereq]

that frame looks sharp. did it come with those rear shock mounts? if not, what's the story?

 

[Deano]

It's looking real good so far. Can't wait to see more!

 

[RyanITV]

that frame looks sharp. did it come with those rear shock mounts? if not, what's the story?

They're the wild horses 'shock jock' rear mounts. We added them when the frame arrived.

Ryan

 

[mavereq]

nice, i haven't seen them on a frame with no body on it. i like that design. are those radius arm brackets moved back?

 

[RyanITV]

nice, i haven't seen them on a frame with no body on it. i like that design. are those radius arm brackets moved back?

Good eye! Yes - they're moved back - I'm running 12" extended radius arms.

 

[mavereq]

i wish i had started out with one of those frames. mine is sandblasted now but i still have a lot of work to do on it. i built a set of radius arms and welded on brackets for johnny joints in the hopes they'll flex better than the bushings. i need to update my thread a bit but here's the link:

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156512

 

[mavereq]

and another quick question: which method did you use for applying the por-15?

 

[sprdv1]

Nice Ryan....!

 

[RyanITV]

and another quick question: which method did you use for applying the por-15?

It was sprayed - 2 coats of POR15, let it dry for 5 hours then topcoated with POR15 chassis black.

Ryan

 

[ryoungbronco]

Looks great. I am tearing my truck down again in two weeks to redo the frame. I por-15 and top coat with the chassis black too but it came out streaky from the paint brush. I've used Por before and it leveled itself out. I don't know what happened this time. Did you spray or brush on? If you sprayed what did you do to clean the gun after?

 

[RyanITV]

Looks great. I am tearing my truck down again in two weeks to redo the frame. I por-15 and top coat with the chassis black too but it came out streaky from the paint brush. I've used Por before and it leveled itself out. I don't know what happened this time. Did you spray or brush on? If you sprayed what did you do to clean the gun after?

Sprayed, cleaned with lacquer thinner immediately.

Ryan

 

[Devin]

Looks great. I am tearing my truck down again in two weeks to redo the frame. I por-15 and top coat with the chassis black too but it came out streaky from the paint brush. I've used Por before and it leveled itself out. I don't know what happened this time. Did you spray or brush on? If you sprayed what did you do to clean the gun after?

Almost all of the single-part topcoats from POR are pretty thick and streak if you don't thin them down. I have had good luck with the topcoats if you thin them and also use a foam brush.

 

[RyanITV]

Finished the springs tonight and got the radius arms on. It's cool how so different vendors have unique parts that made my build go together quickly.

Case in point - the lower spring cups. I used the extreme set from Duff combined with the studs offered by BC Broncos - the setup is VERY solid and was easier to line up than the standard bolts.

Didn't put the rear shocks on yet - I still need to drill through the frame to put a few extra bolts on each side for the shock mounts in case the welds break when I'm out playing.

Tommorrow it's time to gets the BC EFI tank mounted, put the rear shock mount bolts in and start running fuel and brake lines while the caliper paint dries. Goal is to have it back on its tires this weekend.

Ryan

 

[73bronco]

You are moving along very quickly on this! It looks really great!! Looks like twins in there, only a sexier version for the one you are working on(not that the old looks bad at all!)!!

 

[RyanITV]

After this weekend, the old frame is going to my warehouse till it finds a new home. I just need it to get measurements when drilling/tapping mounting holes on the new one.

Ryan