Finally got back on the bronco today

[Jeff Ogden]

I came up with a solution for the cross member,I am going to have my friends in the machine shop trade to make me a spacer as those cross members are a paint to take off with those 4 bolts on the top of the frame that are not a straight shot at with a socket. Still have to get a drive shaft cut down and the fuel part I broke replaced and the trans is in and completely bolted up and hope to have it back on the ground next week or shortly after.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Got the drive shaft back and have new rear shocks and trans fluid so tomorrow night I will get back on it and hope to have it off the jack stands this weekend.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Dropped the pan on the supposively rebuilt trans and found remains of a bearing retainer and littler roller bearings so the trans is out and down to the trans shop to see if it can be repaired,if its too far gone will have him take the 4x4 trans and the trashed 2wd trans and make me a good one. Since I could not do much to it I installed the dash part to eliminate the hole for the transfer case switch and made the trans mount spacer,going to look for a pair of front tires this weekend.

 

[Seabronc]

How about sharing some pictures of yor progress :-B

 

[Jeff Ogden]

I dont have any interesting pictures right now,pics of what I have been doing would not be that interesting. I will post some pics when I get it off the jack stands.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

I thought I posted some in the beginning but looks like I have not so here are some.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

More

 

[Seabronc]

Keep em comming :-B

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Picked up the re rebuilt trans yesterday and hope to get it back in monday or tuesday,today I went looking for a pair of decent used tires to put on the front but every used tire shop wanted 40 dollars a piece for dry rotted tires with a some tread so I bought new ones.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Trans is in and has been around the block a couple times so it looks like the trans is good so now I am replacing the valve cover gaskets,they are a big pain and is no wonder I like the older vehicles and now wishing I would have found a 87 with a 351 so I would not have to remove so much stuff to replace the gaskets.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Got the valve cover gaskets on and the motor fired up so next thing to do is change the oil,was going to do a saginaw p/s pump swap but the bracket I picked up is for a different style a/c compressor so for now I am just going to replace the leaking p/s cooler with just a regular return line until I get the correct bracket.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Got the p/s line changed and noticed a leaking oil pressure sending unit so it got replaced too,need to get a crankcase filter and a kit to clean the K/N filter. Will pull it out of the garage and take more pics and I hope to next week take it down to get new ball joints installed and the lowered springs installed since I dont have the room in my garage to do it myself.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Here is what it looks like now,pics are a little dark

 

[Seabronc]

Here is what it looks like now,pics are a little dark

Looks good /

 

[Jeff Ogden]

I hope to get it a couple inches lower all the way around and took the buffer to it today.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

The drivers side exhaust manifold is cracked and was looking for some shorty headers but found one in stock that looks like it will work so I will use it to keep costs down,I also need to change the freeze plug that is behind that side pipe so that will be next weeks project.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Got the freeze plug and both exhaust manifolds replaced and it now has a full exhaust,pulled the p/s pump off to find the leak and the leak is at the shaft. Being cheap I figured I would pull the saginaw pump apart and see if I can modify my existing bracket to work but the pulley broke trying to get it off with a correct puller so it will get another Ford pump for now since it will be a couple weeks before I can hit the junkyards and dont want it apart that long,I really want to do the saginaw swap but I picked up the wrong bracket and I need to get it back togather quick so maybe at a later date it will get swapped.

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Bummed a p/s pump off a friend who is tearing apart a 78 fairmont,it should get me by until I find a saginaw with the correct bracket.

 

[Bronc76]

Looking at the pics,the body looks good, is there any bodywork involved?

 

[Jeff Ogden]

Its going to need one hole in the quarter repaired and also the bottom of the tailgate,I will have a pair of lightning front springs coming so it will be drivable in a couple weeks.