New guy old builder album

[broncobra22]

Broncobra

I love the broncobra, you are quite the fabricator. I also love your mustang, that is one of my dream cars.

Thanks I just love what I do and have been blessed to be able to do a lot of it over the last 50 years...I still have a lot to learn and hopefully still have some more projects in me! About the Mustang, I bought the first 2+2 that I ever saw it was a new 1965 and it was the same Mustang red as the one in my post although it was an A code and couldn't get out of it's own way. A Shelby solid lifter cam, hi po heads, Shelby hi rise with Holley 785 cfm dual inlet dual pumper , Hedman headers, top loader 4-speed and narrowed 9 inch with 4.11 & detroit locks solved the problem, so your not alone a lot of us dream about the Mustang! Never lose your dreams...lol

 

[broncobra22]

That did it! I'm moving to OK. I can't take no more.
When I was a kid I watched as some original Wildcatters, neck down 30-06 shells and then insert some 257 Roberts bullets. Then build a Mauser action around it with set triggers. Seemed that Remington took interest in what these guys were doing. Not only these guys but others also. Then Remington started producing this Caliber that I still shoot to this day.
Never did have the .223 but did have a .222 and even the 222 Remington Mag. chambered in a Sako. Wish I never sold them.

Your quote made a chill run up my spine! I spent a lot of time in the shop where that cartridge which would come to be a factory load by Winchester and others the 25-06! They were even better known for their work developing the cartridge and rifle that would become the famous Rem 7mm mag. The Mashburn Arms shop in Oklahoma city was my mecca as a teen and young adult. They built my first "real" varmit rifle a sweet 220 Swift on a Win pre 64action, Douglas bull barrel full float and a 20 power Unertl scope made in Philadelphia. Great little dog gun Prarie dog). Then they made me a 25-06 on a Mauser action with medium barrel and a lyman set up as the Great Warren Page had described for long range Chuck shooting back east...I must have read that artical a hundred times before I could come up with the money to plop down in front of old man Mashburn to start the build of my ultimate big dog rifle (coyote) if you could shoot a lick that firearm would bring um down. Warren Page was I'm sure you remember the dean of shooting editors at Sports Afield and along with Jack O'conner two of the most influential writers in shooting history. Mr. Page made Mashburn arms a household word among real riflemen and all us wanna bees! The little centerfires that they developed (especially the Mashburn 218 Bee, which was a fire formed case like the 22 H Hornet, just fire a reg 218 bee in the Mashburn bee chamber and it formed the perfect case for reloading the Mashburn Bee no die required) were small works of art based on small actions like the highwall designs and the lovely small Win action. Thanks for bringing up these memories...hadn't thought about those great days and even more wonderful people in many years. That shop influenced me into becoming a machinist and fabricator!

 

[janderson4010]

That did it! I'm moving to OK. I can't take no more.
When I was a kid I watched as some original Wildcatters, neck down 30-06 shells and then insert some 257 Roberts bullets. Then build a Mauser action around it with set triggers. Seemed that Remington took interest in what these guys were doing. Not only these guys but others also. Then Remington started producing this Caliber that I still shoot to this day.
Never did have the .223 but did have a .222 and even the 222 Remington Mag. chambered in a Sako. Wish I never sold them.

haha guns and 4x4's, you guys would fit right in in Idaho as well, as long as you like mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato casserole, french fried potatoes... jeez im tired of potatoes

 

[broncobra22]

Broncobra

Small town country life is mostly great and yes we are grateful for those wonderful spuds we all have grown too accustomed to...I like mine baked and setting next to a large & aged Black Angus rib eye or porterhouse steak grilled medium rare. We are fond of our trucks and guns...not always in that order, and our women pretend that they have gotten use to our strange (to them) preferences, but really don't appreciate 2 & 3 day treks to gun and car shows. They always seem to find a way to opt out on auctions unless furniture and home decor are involved. We are all just really trying to get along as best we can and have a lot of fun along the way! lol Rick C.

p.s. Does anyone know or care what this is?

Answer is on my album page ..."Donor"

 

[rookieshooter]

Wit the sighting holes Id say something our first prez might have used to do a little surveying? Or "Stonewall" Jackson used for helping with the trajectory of cannon fire? Used on the Mayflower?
Sure has a lot of up angle. Leaning towards Trejectory or Navigation.

Tell my you don't wear either of those hats?

 

[broncobra22]

Wit the sighting holes Id say something our first prez might have used to do a little surveying? Or "Stonewall" Jackson used for helping with the trajectory of cannon fire? Used on the Mayflower?
Sure has a lot of up angle. Leaning towards Trejectory or Navigation.

Tell my you don't wear either of those hats?

I hadn't noticed the background before your post and don't think I'm going to fess up to wearing flames and such, but then there's that hard evidence in the background...da Nile is such a big river & it's hard to swim upstream...think you got me Rookieshooter!

Your correct, it is a surveyors sun compass made by Gurley that I refurbished/rebuilt from two different instruments that were missing about half their parts, for a client who collects old rarities. It took most of three months to machine new parts and hand fit the two back into one that actually works accurately. Fortunately the more than twenty parts that were missing were reseachable from original factory plans and spec sheets. It is quite valuable and only two others of this type are known to exist, one of which is on display in the Smithsonian. It is the crown jewel in his extensive collection.

 

[broncobra22]

Broncobra & law

Compliance with local and state/fed vehicle safety standards is a nightmare for those who would enjoy using their offroad vehicles on the streets and highways, not to mention the parks people, game wardens and fire marshalls,DOT,EPA and you name it. I read a lot of law prior to starting my build and asked questions of law enforcement officers about what is legal equipment and what is not. Having been stopped by several different officers about what they "feel" is the law does not give me a great deal of confidence in ever being able to comply with their "courtesy/safety" stops. Tire coverage issues has cost me about $500. to date for 4 sets of flares. I started with flex flares and they didn't "feel" the coverage was adequate, so I trashed those and went to "Bushwacker cutouts" stopped again the officer didn't " feel" they covered adequately, but neither could site the law. Stopped on a separate occassion in broad daylight for having "5 illegal spotlights" My KC's are totally isolated from my headlight switch and require 3 switches to be thrown (one of which is mounted in the engine compartment) before they will function (still wrote me a warning). Stopped another time for inadequate tail lights (stock lens) so I went to the ultra brite euro lens assembly= more$$$. I run stock bulbs and lenses in my '87 B2 and never been stopped (of course it doesn't appear to be highly modified).
The officer also stated that he "felt" the 5 point harness was not safe and that I would need to put a stock belt in place to comply.
Have others had similar encounters with law enforcement while driving your altered rigs?

I have not been stopped for speed or other moving violations just equipment and I'm not being hasseled by one officer or department it's been city, state and county.

I have installed dual cats and a stainless system that is not loud and so far this has not been an issue (they did look under her to verify), but I went overboard in all the areas that were pointed out to me and still no tickets or fines, but just hasseled & hustled!!!

 

[janderson4010]

thats rough man, laws like that for the safety of the public are just meant to give some lawyer a fat paycheck while he sits around all day writing laws for things that he has no real world understanding of. Idaho is pretty lax about stuff like that, my buddy who i also work for in his offroad shop has a bobbed and dovetailed chevy pickup on 42 pitbull rockers, and when he runs it on the road he has some mud flaps that he can put on, only one cop has ever gotten bent out of shape, he was a state trooper, usually people are like dang thats a cool 4x4 man! i guess we are kinda lucky here

 

[lounge lizard]

God!

I love this thread!

too many times in some of my other rides that I have built, owned or rode in with others.

most times they just want to look, and then make suggestions to help avoid tickets.

I'm shocked you didn't go Bushwhacker cut outs with the rubber fender extenders. that was the first thing that came to mind as I read that part of the thread.


love the door idea, very clean and easy to go back to full doors if needed.

and the tire mount!
Dam! you got me thinking! now can I make that work from my roof rack? HHMMM it's too late to go sit in the garage and ponder.

but I'll be thinking on it while I sleep tonight!

 

[broncobra22]

Broncobra's tantrum

thats rough man, laws like that for the safety of the public are just meant to give some lawyer a fat paycheck while he sits around all day writing laws for things that he has no real world understanding of. Idaho is pretty lax about stuff like that, my buddy who i also work for in his offroad shop has a bobbed and dovetailed chevy pickup on 42 pitbull rockers, and when he runs it on the road he has some mud flaps that he can put on, only one cop has ever gotten bent out of shape, he was a state trooper, usually people are like dang thats a cool 4x4 man! i guess we are kinda lucky here

I was venting & really apologize for coming off like a spoiled child. First off, I beleive you are right Janderson about many of our laws, but I don't think Oklahoma's are much different than the rest of our states. Second, we have so many traffic & safety laws that not only the public is unaware of, law enforcement can't keep up with them either. Third I'm an adult & will have to adjust to & obey as best I understand both the law and how it is administered. So, while I'm on public roads I will have my off road lighting completely covered as well as Off. My tires are well inside the protective flares & I'll not change them again, but I will build easily removable mud flaps for highway use. I will continue to use my five point belts as they are demonstrably safer than the inertia belts and it is my safety I'm concerned with. All other safety equipment will be functional and of at least OEM quality or better

 

[broncobra22]

Broncobra

God!

I love this thread!

too many times in some of my other rides that I have built, owned or rode in with others.

most times they just want to look, and then make suggestions to help avoid tickets.

I'm shocked you didn't go Bushwhacker cut outs with the rubber fender extenders. that was the first thing that came to mind as I read that part of the thread.


love the door idea, very clean and easy to go back to full doors if needed.

and the tire mount!
Dam! you got me thinking! now can I make that work from my roof rack? HHMMM it's too late to go sit in the garage and ponder.

but I'll be thinking on it while I sleep tonight!

Lounge lizard, thanks for your kind comments and I like very much Your Idea for a roof rack mount! Given a purpose built rack, not just a tack on factory redo, it should work...I also like to ponder the possibilities while sitting in the shop & many ideas are given form while we sleep...recently I've been sleeping too much and actually forming too little! Thanks again and best in all you do.

 

[broncobra22]

Broncobra- Trades

I traded a '92 F-150 for a '92 Explorer that I used to own, tranny is bad & it has been badly vandalized. The 4.0 engine is in good shape & it has a good drive train. I have wanted to build a carburated 4.0 for awhile and this seems like a good engine to start with. I want to mate it to a 5 speed box and drop it in an '84 or '85 B2 (yet to be acquired) & make a daily driver out of her.

This is all secondary to my needs for the extra drive train. My roadster build has a Dana 35 and an 8.8 in it already with 3.73 gears and lock rites in front & back with 31 spline Moser axles. The rear is drum brakes that I would like to upgrade to disk. Now the '92 8.8" won't help me with the disk brake requirement and I haven't looked into the possibility of finding Explorer disk's from a newer year Ex. and fitting them to the earlier rear end and forum member help would be appreciated in this area. The reason I don't just wait till I find a newer rear with disks is that I have looked for quite some time and haven't found one that was even in the realm of reason price wise and I would like to start the build before I require full time nursing care lol Obama care!

I want to run the drive train in the Broncobra build until I either blow it or finish the new drive train. The 3.73 ratio with 33" BFG's translates to 3.08 or less in the real world and while that's interesting on the road it sucks in the dirt! Even with the very light weight that the Broncobra carries & the large power she produces it is still very noticably undergeared and with my 35" swampers...well let's just say that dog don't hunt! Once I finish the Dana35 and 8.8 buildup I'll pull the current setup and use it in the 4.0L B2 daily driver build.

I've been looking at the high 4.0 ratios to the low 5.0, ratios as a starting point keeping in mind that I want to be able to carry some real speed (80 to 100+ over smoother terrain and yet have the low end guts to fight deep sand and significant hills and gulleys. Now this is where it gets tricky at least for me. I also feel that I will need 16" to 18" real travel in the rear and 14"?? in the front. TTB stays, nothing against the SAS but I want the TTB in this build. I am planning on building a good high quality shock frame in the bed & mounting 2" at least shocks. I would like advice on the rear spring /shock setup. Keeping in mind that this is a desert truck & not a crawler. Do I go 4 link & coil overs or go specialty leafpack configuration. Guys if you are following this thread you should already have come to the conclusion that I have spent a great deal of time and $$ on the Bronc and I am serious and not trying to waste your time on some juvenile pipe dream. This build will happen...it is happening, but it's decision time & I'm asking for input. I also am not the kind of guy that puts others down for any reason, I really want and need input that I can really chew on as I am also looking at all the info I can dig up on the net.

As for the Explorer drive train let me know if youv'e had good or bad luck with specific manufactuers of axles, gears or lockers...either product quality or service difficulties. Long post ...sorry. Rick C.

 

[broncobra22]

Broncobra carbed 4.0

I spent about 6 hours researching 4 liter performance upgrades ...not much available and decided that smart money stays away from carbs on this engine, entails distributor at $500., carb about $350., manifold at $600. etc. I'll stay with the injector and put a few $$ in cam & headers and won't limit my search to just 1984 & 1985 B2's for the rebuild. lol

 

[janderson4010]

yeah i looked at building some power in the 4.0 for quite some time as well, but then i decided mine runs really smooth and in a crawler i probably don't need gobs of power, honestley it throws that bII around pretty darn good as is. comp cams makes 2 different kinds of cam for it, one is more aggressive than the other, i believe you need to run shorter possibly custom length pushrods for that. Im trying to think of some of the other stuff that guys are doing with the 4.0, lots of info on this site for that kind of thing though. either way you slice it the 4.0 is pretty awesome in the BII, I drove mine with just a front driveshaft for a few days and it pulled really well. try and find a newer BII for the swap so it already has the gas tank and fuel pumps in place, otherwise your sourcing that stuff and its just an added expense. I have some good resources on my bookmarks that i used for general stuff like wiring and some of the parts you swap in. let me know if i can be of any assistance im not saying im an expert but i have gained some experience for sure

 

[broncobra22]

yeah i looked at building some power in the 4.0 for quite some time as well, but then i decided mine runs really smooth and in a crawler i probably don't need gobs of power, honestley it throws that bII around pretty darn good as is. comp cams makes 2 different kinds of cam for it, one is more aggressive than the other, i believe you need to run shorter possibly custom length pushrods for that. Im trying to think of some of the other stuff that guys are doing with the 4.0, lots of info on this site for that kind of thing though. either way you slice it the 4.0 is pretty awesome in the BII, I drove mine with just a front driveshaft for a few days and it pulled really well. try and find a newer BII for the swap so it already has the gas tank and fuel pumps in place, otherwise your sourcing that stuff and its just an added expense. I have some good resources on my bookmarks that i used for general stuff like wiring and some of the parts you swap in. let me know if i can be of any assistance im not saying im an expert but i have gained some experience for sure

Thanks I should be picking up the Exploder today or Sat. and will get right on the dismantle, which will be mostly a torch job since the body will be off to the crusher, I'll be careful with the harnesses and dash though...tranny is junk so I might stick with Auto, but leaning to the 5 speed. 8.8 and 35 rebuild are first on the agenda, I want them ready when I dive into my Broncobra suspension up grade this Fall. Thanks for your offer of help as the 4 liter install is only something I've read about and never done, but still think it is a very sensible upgrade for the B2. I'm already sorry I sold my '87 xlt B2 a few weeks back as it was 100% rust free and absolutely solid and has the Mazda 5 speed (od), but since it is just next door I might be able to trade around and get her back. Hope your build continues to go well...I'm keeping tabs on your progress & know it's going to be awesome. Rick C.

 

[broncobra22]

Explorer donor

Finally towed the Explorer home & was able to verify axle ratios as 4.10 LS which is kinda what I would like to have in my extra daily driver "projected" B2build that I wanted the 4liter for, decisions, decisions. Think I'll save these axles to use it on down the line and just pull the axles out of the Broncobra and rebuild them with 4.88 ratio ring and pinion (stay with the lock rite) and find some rear disks to upgrade cause I won't be satisfied with just the larger Explorer drums anyway. Doesn't look as though there was any water damage to the dash electronics or the computer...fingers crossed.

 

[rookieshooter]

Looks like you got your hands full. I agree about the 8.8 drum axles. That was the first 8.8 that I installed in the B2. Then went with the 8.8 disks.
That's nice that it has the 4.10 ratio, nice find.

 

[janderson4010]

all you should need is the computer, engine harness, and the power distribution box, unless you are swapping the whole dash in there. the way i did it i only had to splice 5-6 wires and it ran, then i hooked up a few other things, but i plan on running mechanical gauges for water temp, oil pressure, volts, and a matching gas gauge. but the wiring it in was really simple, made more simple if your swapping it into a 89 or up BII bk the are already maf trucks.

 

[broncobra22]

all you should need is the computer, engine harness, and the power distribution box, unless you are swapping the whole dash in there. the way i did it i only had to splice 5-6 wires and it ran, then i hooked up a few other things, but i plan on running mechanical gauges for water temp, oil pressure, volts, and a matching gas gauge. but the wiring it in was really simple, made more simple if your swapping it into a 89 or up BII bk the are already maf trucks.

Thanks for your input Janderson I'll be looking for '87 and up and now '89 is on top of my list...the dash of my donor Explorer is totally trashed (didn't know that the vandals had sacked the radio by hammering and chopping method) but the good news is that the computer and power distribution box are intact. Since you have just gone through this swap everything is fresh in your mind and that is good news for me!
I was able to start the engine and she ran on fresh gas with only a small amount of smoke that quickly disappeared, idled fine after initial warmup & seemed to rev up normally. I'll run a compression check when I inspect the plugs, then gauge the vacuum. Coolant and oil appear to be non contaminated and the alternator is putting out amps and volts in range. I'll also check oil pressure today but if it very weak I'd already know it. I'm cautiously optimistic that I have an engine that is pretty sound. The odometer shows 130,000 + miles and since I previously owned this Exploder I feel this is accurate. Even though this is not high mileage the fact that it has not been on the road for over three years will prompt me to rebuild it for my own peace of mind plus I have never rebuilt a Cologne engine of any size let alone the 4.0 liter, this one will be an opportunity for me to exercise my old brain cells (probably be of more benefit than working crossword puzzles) I might even be able to write the expense off as rehab therapy for the elderly!

Funny thing about the 8.8 rear the door tag and the metal axle tag both show 4.10 ratio LS, but when I pulled the rear plate I was shocked to find that it has a lock right locker installed with clip eliminators! Hard for me to tell but it appears that 4.10 is correct (counted teeth as best I could) has 235x15 on it and the spin test count on axle tire combination was as close as I can tell in the ball park also. So I am a happy camper, wouldn't the universe be about perfect if the 35 Dana was set up to match with locker! I'll try to check that this afternoon. Even though I previously owned this vehicle I had never bothered to check even the door tag and as it was in very nice codition at that time, I didn't consider parting her out...just sold her for a driver.

Hope your build is proceeding smoothly and your able to wheel that snow that's already falling up there in the higher elevations. I visited with a young man at Church services yesterday who is running combines on harvest and they have reached Western Montana already and the weather has held pretty good up to this point. I don't envy you your winters though with great beauty often comes headaches! I

 

[janderson4010]

yeah i considered swapping dashes but the prev owners werent kind to it, that whole truck smelled awful and the dash was broken in a few spots, i put the seats out of it in my rig but it took a few days to get the stink out of them, don't even really know how to describe it, just cigarette smoke mixed w BO. but the wiring was really really simple, just had to integrate the ignition switch into the explorer harness, hook up the starter and the fuel pump and it ran. that process took me a week and a lot of curse words but i was figuring it out basically myself and im no wiring guru.