Jamest's 74 Bronco buildup

[james t]

Alright, since Brandy now has her Master's and a job, ive started back working on the rig since there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you are behind on the times, let me catch you up to date. The 75 Bronco aka "Green Lantern" is no more. I kept some of it and parted out the rest. Here is the general plan-

1974 Bronco
stock 302
NP435 tranny, 205 case
fullwidth D44 and 9" 4:56's and locker/spool
36" Iroks on diy4x beadlocks
100-104" wheelbase (rear 4" back, front 4-6" forward}
all of my super duper James Duff 3.5" longarm suspension off of my old 75 Bronco
1.5" bodylift (3" pucks chopped in half)

Basically, its going to be long, wide, and low. The 435/205 is in the rig but im not happy with the crossmember i made so it will be re-done soon. The rear is already moved back 4" but it still has the stock rear in it. Right now im working on the front end which is going to be quite a bit of work.

Here is the wheel/tire combo, and DAMM is it heavy. Radial 36" Iroks and diy4x.com beadlocks on junkyard ancient 15x8 white spoke wheels. The locks weld inside the lip so the wheels are now 15x9's. Yes, that is my leg of sexayness

 

[james t]

I now have everything cut off the front end. With a plasma, i coulda done it all in a few hours. With cutoff wheels and a sawzall, it took 2 days. Shock mounts, coil towers, tracbar bracket... all that stuff is gone. Coil towers and tracbar bracket will go forward 4-6", depending on how much room i have left for the steering box. Ill get it all mocked up tommorrow.

You cant tell, but there were about 12 holes in this framerail that i welded up. Everything is smooth now and ready for the coil tower to go back on-

 

[IZwack]

Hello James T

I like your leg .. and your beadlocks

Now I need your street address and the code to the garage door

Sincerely,
Barack Obama

 

[james t]

The coil towers were a b!tch to get off. They are welded around the bottom, and welded at the top on the upper/inside of the frame. Its impossible to get to the top weld with the motor in the rig, so i had to cut through them from the outside.

You can see in this pic, the one on the left is the one i started out on. I had to guess were the weld was. Needless to say, i hacked a bunch of it out. The one on the right was done next, and i had a better idea of were to cut-

 

[james t]

So how do you fix the towers now that they are fubar'd? Well, you weld them up. The problem is, i have a big hole in the driver's side tower. My caliper says the tower is .145 wall, so i grabbed a piece of scrap 3/16" and cut out a rectangle plate. I then clamped the rectangle to my welding table, and bent the ends down with a hammer to match the contour of the tower. Think of it as custom body work on steroids. Trial and error got it dead on perfect.

Here is a pic of the repaired driver's side tower (left) and the welded up passenger side tower (right). Dont make fun of my welding... for whatever reason flux core looks like crap in pics- it looks better in person trust me. :

 

[IZwack]

Well it seems like I'm the only person responding to your thread so it looks like its just you and me tonight babe ..

holy FCAW nice job! i mean cow!! cow!!

 

[james t]

Like i said, the welding really isnt as bad as it looks... i mean its flux core... it just doesnt make a nice pretty row of stacked dimes. This was flux and 3 beers, i can do alot better with MIG and a 12 pack. :


Rainbow heat affected area shows ample penetration-

 

[james t]

Mr. Obama- it will all get ground down smooth tommorrow. Ill also mock up the steering box and the trackbar mount and coil towers. Im using a 79 4x4 F150 box. The steering arm swings forward on this box vs. the rear swinging arm on the stock EB box. The truck box is tons beefier than the EB box and will be really close to the stock crossmember, which will help strengthen the mounting area.

 

[IZwack]

Looks like good welds

 

[james t]

For Jamie's "ghost question" , here is a before pic-

 

[FROADER]

Gonna be seeok beeotch.

 

[410Fortune]

they look so pretty together
Ahhhh nothing like a Bronco and an EX in the same garage

 

[IZwack]

that EB looks great - i like its sad look its so sad, u just want to go up to it and pet it.

 

[expo5.0]

looks great

makes me wonder if i should buy that scout i pass every day on the way to work... i am almost done with my project right? hmmm

it's almost time for me to join ya'll with this lifted thing

 

[IZwack]

it's almost time for me to join ya'll with this lifted thing

slowly the tables are turning.. DON DON DON DONNN

 

[Brian1]

That tire and wheel combo looks pretty good. Looking forward to seeing more progress.

 

[expo5.0]

not like i'm gonna get rid of my truck- who would buy it?

i'm just going to start collecting more 'junk'

another option might be the rolled discovery II for sale right by my work...

 

[section525]

Lookin good, King James. Do you have the BL in already? Looks like you do... but if not I have some pucks I can send you if you don't already have 'em.

 

[rookieshooter]

Whats the plans for the 302? Or have you allready done that end of the build? Going to be bad A$$

 

[EMG7895]

looks great

makes me wonder if i should buy that scout i pass every day on the way to work... i am almost done with my project right? hmmm

it's almost time for me to join ya'll with this lifted thing

Get the scout, I've had a few and they are great trucks until they rust out, easy to work on too.

Are you planning a cage or any tube work for the bronco?