bats 88 Bronco II Build Up aka Project Second Chance

[410Fortune]

The firewall is way different for a gen ii
The cutouts for the hvac box and steering column / wiring changed a great deal

The gen ii dash does not fit the same, meaning your bii came with the early 83-88 style dash and the 89-94 style dash, but never with the 95+’style so it’s not a bolt in deal

The 5.0
Computer is obd2 so you will want to add a obd2 port to your dash or engine bay for talking to a scanner

I am still rocking my 1988 dash with the 97 5.0 and computer. The stock tachometer was near impossible to get working with the 5.0 and the speedometer no longer has a cable with the 302
You can use the guts of a early 90s mustang or f150 tach inside your stock
Cluster and get the tach reading properly
Your speedometer is cable
Driven, with the right transfer case vss setup you can keep the cable and sensor.


So all of my gauges are aftermarket even fuel
I Am using a floor shifter from a 96 mustang in my bii, made custom center console to hold it

I have also done it like you are, we took a 83 ranger and converted it to 4.0 using the dash and wiring from a 92, then later we went 5.0
The 92 dash works well with the 5.0, the stock speedo and tachometer can be made to work but there was still lots of customizing to do. It modified the 92 steering column to hold a 97 style column shifter and od button on that truck
Still Managed to stuff ac, cruise control, two batteries all under the 83 hood.

Basically you will remove the 4.0 drivetrain harness and ignition wiring. Keep the 4.0 power distribution box and dash

The 5.0
Starting and charging wiring is far superior
It the early bii stuff,
Wire routing got shorter and more direct with less connections over the years. So rip all that old 80s 2.9
Wiring out and only
Keep the good parts of the 4.0
Which is the nice 93/94 style power dist box

My bii is 1988 dash 93 power distribtion box and 97 5.0
PCM and harness laid on top. I am using a 90 bronco ii fuel sending unit in tank with a
Walbro pump. I put a second filter on the frame rail
Where the factory 1988 high pressure fuel pump used to be and I am using the stock 1988 Evap line and fuel return line from the tank. I added a fuel tank pressure sensor. I am using 93 4.0
Canister purge valve with the 97 5.0 pcm the canister vent solenoid is wired in but open to atmosphere (no codes)
If I was to do it again I would ditch the fuel return line and run the 98-01 style returnless injectors and fuel rail, modify the 90 bii pumping regulator from a gen ii

Where the dash and body mate to the old 4.0, at the big white plug (firewall) is where most of your wired for the 5.0
D train can be found. Others like ac stuff and alternator charging and starting harness will get chopped up so the obd1 dash works the obd2 pcm and drivetrain.

The 5.0 obd2 wiring has been hacked now lots of info out there on what stays and what goes. I have converted trucks from 83 all the way to 07 to 5.0 now.

The 5.0 drivetrain from the explorer is very “stand alone”
Meaning it could easily be run on an engine stand with the right wires hooked up. Once you remove all the “fluff”
Wiring from the engine bay and dash you are left with a computer that runs and engine and a trans and only a few wires needed from ignition fuel emissions and dash to make it happy.
It is mOre compact then the 4.0
Systems that you are removing
And once it’s under your hood you will find it’s easier to work on too! Hahaha
That cologne v6 stuff is hard access, the 5.0
Makes more sense

I did my bii in 2005… almost 20 years of v8 driving, best upgrade possible!!

 

[bats]

I was looking at mods to do while I have everything apart and decided to do the round headlight mod. I used the parts from this writeup on the Bronco II Corall which is basically the same as doing a headlight upgrade on a newer Jeep.

Little bit of cutting and banging later I got both headlights mounted. In the guide the headlight retaining rings didn't sit flush against the firewall and mounting was a bit awkward so I broke out the grinder and now they both sit flush. I bought some black anodized hardware to secure it. Some day I'll make a shroud.

The grill isn't quite lined up here but they do look really good and use the same connector as the factory square lights.

I was browsing the forum this morning and came across this build thread about swapping a TDI engine into a first gen sport which is an interesting prospect. I could keep the trans/tcase combo and get the reliability of diesel along with the fun choochoo noises. As cool as a V8 would be... this would add yet another layer to the wtfness of the truck...

 

[Fix4Dirt]

this would add yet another layer to the wtfness of the truck...

that's always the best part though! the more it shouldn't be the better!

 

[RangerX]

Round headlight mod is such an excellent mod!

 

[410Fortune]

I would so do the tdi swap, perfect for a bii and turbo diesel pffffft well you all know I love my 302… but I am a huge fan of turbo diesel rigs

You will likely have to shave some off the bottom rail of your grill to get it to clear the round eyes

I used vw bug buckets and trim rings from like a 69 beetle because my neighbor is a huge vw dude and he had some: they fit the bii without and trimming, what I did was actually weld the round rings to the stock metal rectangle
Bits so no mods to the core support.

I used abs plastic to make some plastic rings that go behind the buckets.. those hide all the ugly from putting a round light in a square hole

Well done! Bronco looks proper with roundies

I did mine because it allowed my wife’s FJ and my bronco to both use the same headlights I was thinking I’m just gonna try it… and as soon as the round lights were in there I was like “yep, never going back”

 

[bats]

Went junkyard hunting over the weekend and first gen Ranger/Bronco II parts are getting hard to find. Picked up an AC heater box finally from a 94 Ranger. No dice on anything else. You ever realize how all first gen rangers smell the same inside?

Engine bay is cleaned and rattlecanned satin black Rustoleum. My original sh!tty no prep paint job held up pretty good for all these years.

Started doing some research and now I have some questions, mainly on the wiring side of things.

End goal is two standalone wiring harnesses: one for the engine and one for the lights and electronics. Would like to retain as many factory gauges as I can.

That being said...do I need to retain the Explorer ECU,ignition module for anything or is all the logic handled by the various relays and switches? When I did the 4.0 swap I didn't chop too much out of the harness.

 

[allmyEXes]

These headlamp trim bezels are from a 1978 F-150. They might can be trimmed and reshaped a bit with a heat gun to fit your grill.
1978 F-150 parts

 

[bats]

Neat. I'll keep that in mind.

Disregard my question about the ecu last night. These weeks are wreaking havoc on my brain.

As per 410's advice in one if the many threads he has on the internet, I started at the PDU and started stripping away wires from there in a semi orderly manner. Essentially the engine harness with the big grey and black plugs is gone. The ECU connector is gone. The Haynes manual did a pretty okay job identifying wires but I have a few that I need to research further or look up with a fresh set of eyes.

Right now about half the lights/gauges work and I was enable to engage the starter with the key. Made a heck of a racket when it jumped off the frame. Issue is likely poor grounds because I only did a few for testing.

On the subject of grounds, I wish they were consistent throughout the harness. We have black, grey/rd, black/wht and one or two other fruity combinations.

 

[allmyEXes]

Gray/red is signal return.

 

[bats]

Gray/red is signal return.

Gotcha. All I remember was the last time I trimmed the harness those had to be grounded to make things work.

 

[bats]

Just a little I'm not dead yet post. Was making good progress and then summer kicked into high gear and I really haven't been home much. Spending a little time here and there when I have the energy.

The body harness is 98% complete. All lights, signals, and the starter work off the key. I pulled an AC heater box from the JY at the beginning of the summer but didn't get the harness which appears slightly different from a ranger to early Explorer? I still haven't found any good info on doing AC with a TDI swap. Which brings me to the next thing...

A very shiny and expensive package from TDIConversions arrived at my door step this week. VW TDI ALH 1.9 to Ford 4.0 transmission adapter plate! Billet is so sexy.

So yeah, that's the plan. 1.9 ALH diesel + M5ODR1 transmission +1354 transfer case. I figured out that the rattle wasn't the transmission but the manual t-case I rebuilt. Either I reused a worn out chain or the pump assembly sheared off. (I think that's the technical term.) I might end up going back to my original jury-rigged case because it never made such noises.

While I'm searching for a donor vehicle, there's plenty of body repair to be done. The cowl drains are worse than I thought. Ended up cutting all the slats on the drivers side cowl so I could get my hand down in there to repair what's left. A sane person would probably just start with a cleaner body but we're all a little mad here, aren't we?

Ordered some repro fenders which were surprisingly cheap and primered them. I did a horrible job trimming the old ones so going to start fresh.

I've been reading up on every TDI swap I can find. There's been a few diesel bronco II's with other motors including a newer TDI but not the ALH which is up to 2003 I think. Lots of whatif threads that go nowhere but I don't intend to be one of those...even if this takes a year or more.

 

[timtimtimajim]

Happy to answer any questions about the swap you may have along the way! Everything is still fresh in my mind at this point

 

[bats]

Happy to answer any questions about the swap you may have along the way! Everything is still fresh in my mind at this point

Appreciate ya! Hopefully you wrote a lot of it down because realistically I won't get into engine stuff until the spring.

Were you able to find a way to cram an A/C compressor in there? That's the one thing I really would love to have again. Some people suggested an electric A/C compressor like the EV's do.

 

[timtimtimajim]

I did not. Had already deleted the A/C (broken) years before the swap. Including swapping in a non A/C blower box. Didn’t want to put it back in!

I’ve seen people use the electric A/C compressors before. Have also seen them use the VW A/C compressor and have it fit too. I think the biggest problem will be fitting the A/C blower box. It sits right about the same spot the turbo and coolant flange outputs want to be. Had to modify my non A/C box a bit to have room for the heater hose outputs from the back of the head.

 

[410Fortune]

My bronco ii has a large “notch” in the ac heater box cover to clear the 5.0 exhaust. The notch basically made the ac near useless as not enough air can flow through there now. I could revisit and make it less of a
Notch and get some more airflow…
If you had to clearance the non ac
Box just to fit the engine then chances are good the ac style box would be useless even if you did make it “clear” and ran some sort of compressor