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Tony Raine's 84 Bronco II

the prev. owner of the brown one lost interest half-way through swapping the A4LD for a TK5. I sold the TK5 and swapped in an FM 146 from the gray one.

now I'm just wading through the wiring to try and get it to crank. I'm not in any kind of rush, since it serves as good dry storage for all the extra parts i'm accumulating.

i do want to finish getting the gray one stripped and scrapped soon. reason being, my significant other doesn't want any more rigs in the back yard, and something else has caught my eye.............

Something Else ???????
 



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Something Else ???????


yup, and thats all i'm saying right now :D

Got the Body lift installed today

Before:
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After:
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Hopefully that will help with clearances for the V8 swap.

Also wrestled the hoist into my shed, and hung the V8 from it.
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Since this will be just a “test fit,” I am not installing the clutch and flywheel.

My last final exam is Friday, so there won’t be any updates until sometime after that.
 












Got the V8 out of the shed today. Just came inside for a short break and figured I’d post up the pics of my progress so far

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Woo!! lol. You done with college now??? I hope to see some more updates lol.

yup, i now have my BS in Technology/CADD. my wife is due in sept with our first child (boy), and i am job hunting, so there is still plenty to occupy my time, :D

my goal is to have the b2 at least moving under its own power by the time my boy is born.
 






yup, i now have my BS in Technology/CADD. my wife is due in sept with our first child (boy), and i am job hunting, so there is still plenty to occupy my time, :D

my goal is to have the b2 at least moving under its own power by the time my boy is born.

Thats great congrats! I am also going to school to get my engineering/CAD degree
 






i want my bonco 2 to look like urs
 






i want my bonco 2 to look like urs

in pieces and a bunch of different colors? :D


Grrr, looks like i am going to have to pull at least the transfer case off.

I can balance the whole assembly if the rear chains are on bellhousing bolts, but they hit the firewall before the engine is all the way in.

the assembly wont balance if the rear chains are on the rear exhaust manifold bolts, but it looks like it will clear the firewall.......
 






took the transfer case off, and pushed the motor in (well, actually i pushed the rig around the motor)

got the engine leveled out a lot more than the pics show, but it was getting too dark for my cell phone camera to take pics.

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I think i've read somewhere that you have to trim off most of the threads on the engine mount so that it will sit low enough to mark the hole in the correct place. then you just have to buy new mounts for the "real" mounting. thoughts?

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so, the engine is sitting pretty high right now, and the bellhousing clears the trans tunnel. that 1" body lift helped out a bunch. even so, I plan on taking the cutting tools to the firewall/trans tunnel. I want to make it easy to service, before i have to service it, if that makes any sense, haha.

also looks like the rough country drop bracket is going to interfere with the fox oil pan somewhat. thats another reason for cutting the tunnel, so i can get the engine as far back as possible.
 






Finally got the motor most of the way in after several trying several setups
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But it turns out the RC lift bracket is right in the way of the oil pan. So I pulled it all back out
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I decided that rather than trimming down the bracket and possibly compromising its strength, I’d just swap this in instead from my latest parts donor
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After I got off work, I started pulling the 44 out. It’s in the 90’s with high humidity, so progress will be slow

Had to turn the parts rig around to pull the axle out (otherwise I would have pulled it straight into a maze of Bronco II parts, haha). Got tired of rolling it by hand, so I enlisted some help
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Makeshift steering composed of TTB 44 tie rods (with washers tack-welded to them instead of castle nuts) and a fan belt to hold it up and semi-straight.
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Something tells me this lower coil bucket is not stock. Cool with me
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Poor little guy
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Can you name these springs?
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And the 44, ready to go
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Alright, time to go back out and pull that Dana 35………
 






….and I’m back. Got every bolt of the lift loose, ready to remove. The only thing stopping me is the tie rod end that attaches to the pitman arm. Don’t have a pickle fork, and I don’t want to damage it (gotta sell it to make more money for parts). If I can’t get it tonight, I may be able to borrow one tomorrow.

So here’s my ugly mug:
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Then I scooted down and sat on the radius arm crossmember. Dang it’s easy to get to the bolts that way. I think if I ever put on another TTB lift, I’m going to go ahead and pull the motor.
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Almost laid down and took a nap, haha
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Well, it’s the end of the day, and I didn’t get the tie rod end off. I did lift it up, put some jackstands under it, and took the radius arm crossmember off
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Tony don't use a pickle fork. Puts too much stress on the socket.

The method I use that works the best is 2 BFH's. Smack both sides of the pitman arm where the stud comes through. try to time it so they both hit at the same time. Couple hits with the nut loose and it'll pop right off.
 






Tony don't use a pickle fork. Puts too much stress on the socket.

The method I use that works the best is 2 BFH's. Smack both sides of the pitman arm where the stud comes through. try to time it so they both hit at the same time. Couple hits with the nut loose and it'll pop right off.

thanks! just tried it, and it worked :thumbsup:

gonna wait a little while before I go back out there, its 98F and humidity is around 50%.

dang i want a shop. half-tempted to get creative with a tarp and some ropes....
 






Got the Dana 35 out
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Started rolling the 44 in place
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That tie rod was flopping all over the place, so I fixed it. I’ll fine tune it with the adjusters so I will have an accurate measurement for the real steering.
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Last pic of the day
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Enjoy my little caged lowrider in the background, haha
 






Got the axle a little closer to being installed

First I put the axle close to the stock wheelbase. Found an existing hole on the driver’s side (but not a matching one on the passenger side) that almost centered the axle over the coil bucket.

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Here are some pics of the 78-79 radius arms with TTB 35 bushings in TTB 44 radius arm mounts
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Small gap (temporary)
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This pic shows how much the radius arm sticks out from under the frame
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I plan to move the front axle forward 1” from stock, unless anyone has been successful with more, while still using the stock steering box (I have a drop pitman arm too).

Any tips for measuring to make sure everything is straight before I drill, is much appreciated. I have set the body level, and working from there.

Decision time: Do I

1. Modify body mount so I can move the radius arm mount forward
Or
2. Get the 10” radius arm extensions from Stone Crusher when I get my steering. (this will also get my radius arm mount away from that goofy fold on the lower part of the passenger side frame rail on 84’s)
 






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mines comin along waitin for my rims 2 get here
 



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Slowly chipping away at this. Very slowly. My radius arm extensions will be here tomorrow (no one at home to sign for them today). Then I will start the tedious task of making sure everything is lined up before I start drilling.

Debating how I am going to make a lower coil mount 3” inward, and 1” back from stock. The mystery coils I have fit pretty well in the stock upper mount, so I think I will leave that alone
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Took the radius arms off and ground off the homemade coil bracket that was on there.
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Now I need to make something else to go in its place…..
 






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