bats 88 Bronco II Build Up aka Project Second Chance

[bats]

So a few weeks later and more money than I care to admit.... I'm locked again!! It's so nice to chirp my tires when going around corners again! Heehee

So what was wrong with the original locker? At some point some one installed a limited slip carrier instead of an open. The axle was tagged as an open and acted accordingly. When I bought the locker originally, I bought one for an OPEN rear. All the guts had slid to the passenger side and instead of locking it just ground that half down and chattered like a mfcker. Couldn't salvage it. Soo new locker.

Went with the newer version of the lockrite. It's a little noisier than the previous one but does the job damn well.

Tested it on some local 'trails' over the long weekend. I love it!

The only other major issue was a front end hop/wiggle at high speeds. Felt like it was going to shake itself apart. Checked the usual stuff: ball joints, tie rods, steering. All right. My shocks, however, were worn to ****.

AdvanceAuto happened to have one in stock. Ordered the other online. Installed and the ride is much better.

My only complaint about the truck so far is lack of AC. Jeezus it's been a humid summer here.

 

[bats]

Time for a snorkel

Today I decided to go for a ride out to Smith Point. May as well get in my beach time while I still can. Took a ride out to the inlet which is about 3 miles.

Took a few poser shots. Didn't want to upset the fishermen too much.

On the way in, I passed the water trap that nearly killed the Red Explorer.

Me, being the intelligent young man that I am, figured I could finally make it. Long story short, I was wrong. Went over the top of the hill, splash down and BOOM stuck and truck dies.

Popped the hood and scrambled out onto the bumper. Everything soaked. I let it sit for a few minutes to let the heat dry it out. Started right up. Sputtered, surged but it ran. Was able to drive it the few miles back to the parking area without it dying on me completely.

Popped the hood again and opened the air box:

Soaked! Luckily it looks like the air filter absorbed all the water. Intake tube seemed dry otherwise. Replaced once I got home and cleaned the MAF. All better!

While airing up today, I noticed slice marks on my tires. All four corners were bottoming out and the fenders were slicing so looks like I get to spend some quality time with Mr. Sawzall.

 

[bats]

I parked the Bronco last weekend after getting stuck. Replaced the air filter and it seemed to run good enough. Spent some time working on it this weekend doing some other stuff. Noticed it was cranking and running really ****ty. From what I could tell, an insignificant amount of water might have been sucked through the filter. It ran well as soon as I took the old soggy one out and I haven't thrown a rod so I doubt that's the issue.

Oil is fine. Pulled plugs and cranked a few times just in case. Air intake clean and dry. After a long afternoon of getting no where, I called in my dad for help. He noticed some arcing on the negative battery terminal. As soon as he wiggled the wires it was like a new truck.

What I think happened is that a)I didn't tighten the clamp down tight enough when I added another ground and b) the salt water caused some corrosion. Wire brushed and tightened the connections and I'm good again.

Knock on wood, this is the biggest electrical gremlin I've encountered since the swap.

 

[rookieshooter]

Glad you found it. I would definitely check all grounding strap connections also. Like from engine block to firewall. Even better, I'd put new ones on and make sure there are clean connections to bare metal.

 

[bats]

Jeezus. It's been almost 3 weeks since I parked the Bronco. The goal was to do a PVC snorkel with a cut air box. Didn't happen due to how I shoved all the wiring harnesses under the hood. It was too crowded to do the go out through the fender method so I settled on the cowl.

For a 'weekend project' this snorkel build ate up a **** tone of time and money. Multiple trips to the hardware store and Pep Boys (diry word, I know). The plumbing went through many iterations. I tried to do a hybrid PVC/ DIY CAI from pep boys build but the pipes were two diffent sizes. My guess is one uses inner diameter and the other uses outer diameter for measurements.

In the end I opted to use all off the shelf Spectre components. They fit together very nicely and form a tight seal. Instead of using a regular cone filter, I used an inline cone which is the big silver tube in the upper left. I was disappointed to find out that the tubes are actually just silver plastic. The inline filter is actually metal though and worth the $$ I feel.

For now I just terminated the intake in the cowl with a rubber elbow. Put some mesh on it to prevent sucking in leaves. Eventually will extend it to the roof. Sorry for the long rant, this project sucked a lot out of me.

 

[bats]

I love how easy it is to pull codes on first gens.

It's starting to get cold out here on Long Island and the ******* is having trouble getting started in the morning. Turns over and starts on the first crank but sputters, shudders and dies unless I give it gas. This goes on for the first 10 or so minutes. I can't go make a cup of coffee while it warms up since it almost guaranteed will stall if left unattended. Major pain in the arse when you're already late for work for the 4th time this week....

But I digress. Used the paper clip method to pull codes. D/S running rich and one or two MAF codes. Cleaned the MAF and no change. Unplug the MAF while running, idle evens out and runs more normal. Looks like that's the first thing I'm replacing.

Second thing is new wires again. When I pulled the plugs following my swim, I mangled two of the wires and had to use the originals. Guess what side they're on. Yep, drivers side. Thank god I saved the old spares to get me running.

 

[bats]

This weekend past I finally got to do some real offroading! The drive out to PA wasn't terrible. Truck drives nice and tracks pretty straight. Plenty of merging power too! The problem is road and engine noise. I screwed some luan to the roof to eliminate the oil canning but it's still a noisy ride.

Truck ran good most of the time. Before I pulled the engine it was having problems idling in the cold. It would idle and then die unless you hit the gas. Happens mostly when in park and only occasional loss of power when driving like a bad 02 sensor. I'll work on this in the coming weeks.

On the trails, it kicked ass! Spent most of the time in 2 wheel drive! Climbed over and through everything...except one hill. In which I had a complete oh **** moment and almost rolled it! Lost momentum going up and when I tried backing down my tire caught a rut and I slid sideways. Was on two wheels for a bit but caught myself and made it down alright. Roll cage is definitely on the to do list which is ever growing. And now for some pics:

Looking down where I almost rolled:

 

[bats]

Another little treat for you all. The first 50 miles of my return trip I took it easy and listened for any new noises, rattles, behaviors etc. Once it was in the clear, I had some fun:

Click me!

Spedo is a little off but GPS read 91. Not bad. Heeheehee.

Prior to this trip I cut and rolled my front fenders. Made slices and then hammered the edges over. I still rub so actual cutting and fender flares are coming. This was probably the last wheeling trip for the year. When I go next time I'm towing the rig, even though it's streetable.

 

[bats]

Now that I had my fun, it's time to take care of some stuff I've been putting off. Over the past year of abuse the bondo job I did when I got the truck started to crumble. It was one of my better jobs and if not for bashing the rockers into stumps and rocks it would probably have held for another while.

I once again stripped the entire interior in order to ***** the rust problem. Bronco II's are almost as bad as 70's Datsuns when it comes to rust. Both rocker panels behind the seats have decayed to a state where I can put my fist into the cabin from the outside. This also explains my road noise since I sealed up the front pretty well.

Enter Herculiner.

Two heavy coats and only used about half the can. I didn't get any one my hootus but I got it everywhere else. Pure acetone is the answer.

Went through a quart of Rustoleum touching up rust elsewhere. If I had the means I'd like to take the body off and do some patchwork and undercoating. The frame is still good though. Hopefully I bought some more time.

 

[bats]

I've got a solid....axle for you.

If you recall a few posts back I picked up an EB Dana 44 (more specifically a 71-2 Bronco with 3.54's and a Tracklock.) I've been tossing around the the S word for a while. Couldn't make up my mind to do cut and turn or solid. I almost sold the axle (sorry feared100!) but came to my senses.

In short, we are go for an SAS!

Here's the plan
EB Dana 44 with Chevy disc brake swap
EB 3.5 Lift Coils
4.56's, probably skip the locker
GM TRE's

Considerations:
I still plan to daily drive the truck so I want it to maintain streetability. For long hauls like PA or Raush I would probably trailer it. Moderate lift is fine with me.

Axle will have a going through and get all new seals, bearings, ball joints, TRE's, brakes.

Since the biggest thing holding this project up is time, I plan to use James Duff stuff to make the swap go faster. Believe me, if I had the time to do a 3 link setup with coil overs I would but alas, I do not.

Timeline:
I don't see the actual swap happening until next summer. The winter limits how much time I can work outside and I'm also working on some home renovations. It's safe to say it will happen sometime after Carlisle 2014 which I hope to drive the ******* to.

 

[bats]

I love the smell of 30 year old gear oil in the morning! Completely tore down the axle save for the seals in the pumpkin. Barely any gear oil in it and there was definitely moisture in there. Rust on everything but it's serviceable. The ****ty Rustolem paint job some one did on the axle is bubbling and pealing. I'm thinking it need a good sand blasting.

I ordered the more expensive parts (4.56 Ring and pinion and a rebuilt kit) along with some miscellaneous duff stuff. Looks like my family won't be getting Christmas presents this year...

 

[vroomzoomboom]

the truck is considered family, isnt it?

 

[janderson4010]

Dude I haven't checked out your thread in a while, but hell yeah on the Sas.

 

[bats]

The SAS is probably going to be next winters project. I've got too many funds tied up working on my parents house and traveling. Me and my buddy drunkenly decided to do a trip to Europe and I have some R&R in a much warmer climate coming up in a few weeks.

The Silver Bullit Bronco is still rocking though. I took it out to the inlet with my Jeep buddy and once again swamped it and hit a few local 'trails' pretty hard. No major breaks other than a bent muffler and some water damage. It's getting its fair share of abuse.

Time is coming for some maintenance though. Oil change and hub regrease etc. The saltwater from the beach is worse than the road salt which seems absent this year.

 

[janderson4010]

Stuff gets put on hold man, my cage hasn't been worked on in over a year haha

 

[bats]

Sometimes life gets put on hold in order to allow us to pursue other sorts of ventures and interests.

For now, here's some pics til the next big update:

Drowning it again. By the time I got out the driver side lip dipped below the water.

Just a nice day for a cruise.

Closing with a poser shot of the little beast:

 

[janderson4010]

it blows my mind how well these things do with 31's and maybe a rear locker. that 4.0 does add considerable pep to them though.

 

[bats]

Whadya want for free?

Drifting a lifted truck in the snow is immature, dangerous....and fun as hell! I've been having a blast in the snow. The little beast claws its way through every snow drift I've plowed through/over.

My biggest problem is still ground clearance. The only thing that stopped me were some ice chunks that I got high centered on. Hopefully the SAS helps with that. They don't call the TTB a snow plow for nothing...

I did get in a little fender bender with a boulder I was trying to climb. It was so icy I slid down and landed straight on the bumper/fender.

Somewhere after the start or the new year, I inherited a 98' Expedition from a relative who gave it to me for nothing.

The plan is to make this the tow pig so I can properly use the Bronco when I go offroading. Of course, with any free vehicle comes a bunch of problems.

The truck has the 5.4 litre Triton V8 which I'm told is a very tough motor. How tough is it? Apparently good enough to run on 2 out of 6.5 quarts of oil for god knows how long. It also came with some ****ty electrical work and I had to wire a push button starter due to something in the steering column being jacked up. I was pretty pissed after laying in a snow bank for 4 hours yesterday changing the starter only to have it not fix the problem.

I hope to at least get a year out of the truck. At 180,x.. it's been through some ****. Actually, as long as it gets me to Carlisle and back this year, I'll be happy.

Since I have this truck as my new DD (All Expeditions come with this neat feature where you can literally watch the gas gauge go down) the Bronco is once again being parked for some patch work.

 

[janderson4010]

I have a 04 Expy and I love it. It doesn't do to bad on gas , like 16.

 

[bats]

So there's good news and bad news...

The good news is I brought the D44 inside to warm up. Armed with a bottle of Jager, a lot of coffee and 200$ of the finest Chinese made tools Harbor Freight has to offer, I did it. Gear pattern came out pretty good. I guess I don't officially get my 'setup your own gears' merit badge until the 100 mile break in.

Was not as bad as I thought but next time I'm having some one else do it.

Neat little trick I learned for when you forget which bearing cap goes which way. I threw all the nuts and bolts in a box when I tore it down a few months ago. If you look on the caps and look on the housing you should see a corresponding letter. The letters vary from axle to axle but the concept is the same.

I've been kicking around the idea of a body lift for a while. Even went as far as buying a 2" one. Well, I decided to go for it. I have clearance issues at full stuff and I don't want to cut my fenders any more. Pacer flares will eventually cover up the cut and roll I did on the front. The rear tires scrub the tub.

All the bolts came out just fine. And the drivers side is now jacked up and waiting for the replacement body bushings I ordered. So far so good, just take your time.

The bad news is that the rust problem is worse than I thought. All the body mount holes were filled with a sand/rust mixture. On the passenger side I peeled up the Peel n Seal and discovered that water and antifreeze had been pooling in the kick panel area. Looks like I'm doing a heater core and another round of silicone.

For the most part, the body mounts were in OK shape:

Borrowing a welder and will take care of that later in the week. All the mounts are getting a wirewheel and Rustoleum treatment. The body came off so easily that I'm considering removing it completely and giving the frame a good once over.