87 Bronco II build up begins.

[Joe93]

Well the BII arived yesterday and so it begins. I will be taking pics all along and will have some up later tonight. the first major project will be the 4.0 swap. I will be doing this project one thing at a time unlike the sploder where i had 50 things taken apart. it got a little confusing at times. it will be getting the 91 sploder dash for a couple of reasons. 1st is the BII dash is trashed, 2nd is i spent alot of time to wire a 93 dash to work with a 91 sploder. they are not the same trust me. also it will be getting a 4.0 swap so if anyone has any tips on this lets hear them.

Ok a little about the 87 Bronco II. its an 87 4x4 with the 2.9 5spd trans and manual transfer case. i purchased this for 150 bucks with the original plan to put a clutch in it and resell it. but it needed a little more work then i was told. So i was thinking what the hell do i do with it know. Well its going to be my new trail rig. It came from the great state of alaska. Surprisingly there is verry little rust on this thing. just surface rust, better then the sploder was. now onto the list of mods that it will recieve.

4.0 Swap with Manual trans and Manual T-case-doubler later on
Dana 44 swap- Fullwidth 77 F150(with the weld on mounts and thicker tubes)
Ford 9 inch Swap- Fullwidth 77 F150(non banjo style)
Chop top- With custom soft top made by me-
Roll cage-
37" Mtrs or 38" Tsl's- with beadlocks
Bumpers, Sliders, etc.

 

[MoabB2]

Sounds sweet! Can't wait to see it, post some pics along the way.

 

[FROADER]

Now lets not change our mind in the middle of this one eh?

Can't wait to see pics of the build.

 

[Joe93]

Man its pretty crazy how similar these are to the explorers. My 98 eddie bauer seats on 91 seat tracks bolted right in. Figured i would have to do some kinda modification but i didnt.

 

[Rick]

Good deal! You're back on the right side

 

[Joe93]

Now lets not change our mind in the middle of this one eh?
:

It will be hard but i think i can do it. This one will be finished all the way through.

 

[410Fortune]

You can do it for sure and in the end you will know your BII inside and out.
A BII and a first gen ex are the 90% identical from the firewall forward, and then some..
the reason your 91 tracks worked is because it was a 2 door, 4 door tracks are just slightly longer which require simple L brackets up front (like my truck)

Your BII will have a cousin, Brett's 87 is really close, except A4LD and no doubler, plus your 4.0L came from Brett's other truck, keep it in the family!

 

[Joe93]

Actually the seat tracks off the 91 are from a 4door. It will take me some time to get this all done but i think it will be worth it in the end. Bretts motor was so clean on the inside i was shocked and so was the guy i have checking it out. He didnt believe me whn i told him how many miles were on it. So far he said everything looks pretty good. should have it back in a week or two. ok pics will come shortly need to go home and load them up on the computer. Got alot done today and found a few surprises. stay tuned

 

[Joe93]

ok well here are the pics. the first is the outside not to bad off shape. the second is the rear hatch. Think the spare tire carrier was slammed shut one to many times? oh well i dont need it, its getting a chop top. The other two are some of the inside before i started today.

 

[Bronco II]

Sounds cool! Can't wait to see the pics. Do you have most of the parts needed? I've been planning on a SAS for about 3 years & I hope to have mine done this winter, I'm still gathering parts. I've got my front axle built, working on my rear axle , just bought a C5 with a BW1350 & getting my doubler kit next week. Like I said, can't wait to see some pics! I'll start posting pics once I get mine started.

 

[Joe93]

the first pic is after gutting the inside. Well with rear hatch busted and water was leaking into it. Causing the rear carpert to get moldy and the rear floor pan to rust. thanksully its only surface rust right know. the second pic is a crack i found while cleaning up the floor. Its on both sides of the BII and goes up to the tire tub. looks like a seam that cracked. Doesnt look like it was welded ever. Looked like it was just glued? So i need to fix these. Think i should weld them or what? and the third pics is another crack i found on the drivers side by the door on the floor pan. How should i go about fixing it? weld in a patch?

 

[Joe93]

ok this is it for now. The first pic is the 98 eddie seat bolted in and the last pic is with both seat mounted and locating the position of the center console.

 

[Joe93]

Sounds cool! Can't wait to see the pics. Do you have most of the parts needed?

I have the axles and all that stuff. need to gear and lock them and they will be done. I have the motor and trans for it. hell i have two 4.0's and 2 5spd trans for it. I have the dash and other stuff. so pretty much i have enough to keep me bussy for awhile. also i updated the first post.

 

[Bronco II]

the first pic is after gutting the inside. Well with rear hatch busted and water was leaking into it. Causing the rear carpert to get moldy and the rear floor pan to rust. thanksully its only surface rust right know. the second pic is a crack i found while cleaning up the floor. Its on both sides of the BII and goes up to the tire tub. looks like a seam that cracked. Doesnt look like it was welded ever. Looked like it was just glued? So i need to fix these. Think i should weld them or what? and the third pics is another crack i found on the drivers side by the door on the floor pan. How should i go about fixing it? weld in a patch?

My BII cracked in the same spot by the drivers seat, when I got the truck the seat was broken too. I thought it just might have been from a very large diver, but now it looks like it could be a more common problem. I just welded up the cracks, it hasn't cracked any more & its been about 3 to 4 years now. The seams in my tube also separated in the same spot yours did, I always though it was from me smashing the 1/4 panels & everything getting bent up & pushed out of place. I haven't fixed it yet, I plan on using a wire cup wheel on my angle grinder to get the glue or sealant off. Then I'll put some small stitch welds on it in the crack & use some thin 1/8" thick 2" wide strap running the length of the seam stitch weld it on both sides to keep the seam from opening back up.

 

[rookieshooter]

Here is some bad spots I found after removing rear seats. Then welded in patch. Since about all of the bare sheet metal is going to be exposed anyway, I srapped a lot of that seam sealer away from the metal joints to check on rust. Welded if needed. Then I'll put some heavy bedliner on.

 

[Joe93]

Good tips thanks. I plan on getting rid off all the rust and fixing all the cracks and then put on some bedliner to help prevent anymore rust from building one i cut the top off. hope fully i will be starting on the dash swap next week so i'll post some more pics once that gets going. then its on to the 4.0 swap once i get the motor back from my friend.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

subscibing...this should be a pretty badass BII when its done.

 

[Joe93]

subscibing...this should be a pretty badass BII when its done.

I hope it will. Just sucks its gona take awhile till it get there

 

[Joe93]

ok Today I started on the explorer Dash swap. A lot of the dash swap write ups ive read on the net are a little off. At least in my case they were. I read i would have to do alot of work in order to use the bronco heater box with the explorer dash ducts. Well I found out that i could use the explorer inside heater box and the BII engine box together to make evything work. No cutting and such. Bolted right up. Also I read i would have to cut the firewall in order to install the Explorer steering wheel. Well i would rather not cut the firewall so all i did was remove three little screws at the end of it and it fits perfect. I then reinstalled them once i was through the firewall. Also read that the explorer steering wheel would be to long to work with the BII steering link. well its fits perfect. Its been pretty easy so far have about 3.5 hours into it so far. The hardest part of this all i think is going to be making the mounting brackets for the dash to bolt to. Now onto the pics. The first and second pic is getting the BII dash reading for removal and the third is with it out. You can see the BII heater box and clutch pedal unit.

 

[Joe93]

The first pic is of the entire BII heater box with out AC. The second pic is of the explorer heater box with AC. The third pic is with the explorer box that goes inside the cab and the BII box that goes inside the engine compartment. Its a pefrect fit. The last one is with the BII and Explorer box bolted it and ready to go.