Building up my 89 Bronco II. Need advice

I want to use it mainly as an offroad, powerful machine (the way Ford should have made it stock)

I have a 302 with GT40p heads that I plan to port and through in an aggressive cam with no cat 2.5" exhaust. I need to know what trans to look for. What salvage yard find is a very good choice of strong realiable transmissions for 4wd trucks? I plan on finding an auto tcase also.

Another thing. Im doing this as a complete junk yard build. I would like to keep the stock front and rear differentials. What is the best way to strengthen these? Should I find some f150 axles for them with higher gears?

Well I can tell you that the dana 28 and the ford 7.5 will not hold up to a V8 for very long . What you need to find is a 97 or newer explorer . The front axle is a dana 35 and the rear a 31 spline ford 8.8 just like the F150 but 2 inches wider than the stock bronco 2 axle . I say 97 and up because they are disk brake rears so you get the benefit of that as well . I would go with a manual T case the stock borg warner 1345 I think it is plenty strong . Advance adapters makes a kit to adapt an AOD or the C6 to the 1345 both trannies will hold that motor . You can modify a full size bronco rear drive shaft to mate the T case to the rear . The GT40P heads I think were the ones that were used on the explorer with the 5.0 if thats the case the motor has a few neat pieces like the cast aluminum oil pan onre thing you need to think about is that those heads are special in the angle and the bolt pattern I believe for the exhaust so you need the explorer headers as well . If you use regular 351 or 302 heads James duff makes a very nice set of headers for that conversion . If your keeping the EFI make sure its a mass air before you get carried away with your cam selection and even if it is EFI make sure you check the piston to valve clearance I know the ** 302,s had factory forged pistons that were FLAT no valve reliefs so have to be careful of the total valve lift . Thats all I can think of should be easy to find explorer axles with 3:73 gears which with the weight of the vehicle Id say youd be fine with 33,s mine was plenty and I wouldnt have hesitated to put 35,s on it but I sqeezed a 351 W into mine . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I found a 289 for $100.00 but I have upper and lower intakes(convert to fuel injected) From a 302 (5.0l mustang). Will the 302 intakes bolt up to the 289?

Yes same block but computer will not be quite right if you use speed density EEC /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Ok, Ive made up my mind about the $100.00 289 and I am going to get it for sure. Anyone know the specs on the 80's model f-150 289's?

I have some mustang friends and have free access to tons of 302 parts. I am making it fuel injected, porting the heads, getting bigger injectors, and a mild cam. What should I look for in a cam?

Also, this is somewhat of a budget build. Im looking to run no bigger then 33's on it. Could the stock 89 BII rear handle 33's? Could I get away with just a solid axle swap rather then both axles? If not, what is the easiest bolt on for strengthening the rear axle? I think my year had Fords 8.8"rear.

289 cid in 1980 don't think so check engine ser #

best bet

1980 did not make 289s last year was 1969 -70 i think

Andre is right no 289 in that late of a yr . A 302 will look just like a 289 only way to tell is measure the stroke really cause you can put a 302 crank rods and pistons in a 289 block and you have a 302 . Non of the bronco 2,s had an 8.8 rear except possibly the very last ones with the 4.0 because ford knew that rear couldnt handle a higher powered V6 let alone a V8 . You can try it but it will break I can almost 100% guarentee that . Before you get carried away buying parts I would spend some time on fordfeuelinjection.com and read alot youll see what you getting into with the EFI the wrong cam choice will make you unhappy putting too big of injectors in it will make you unhappy the stock ones will support I think it was 300 horse and your rear end isnt good for much over 150 horse LOL /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Ok, so I will for sure have to get atleast an 8.8 rear. What about the front? What should I look for? A friend of mine owns a auto repair shop and has 5 different front ends from old jeeps and broncos. If I get a front end from a Jeep, will the gear ratios match up perfect with the 8.8 gears? Only reason I ask is because Jeep, chrysler, chevy and so on... have different ratios compared to Ford. (example: 4.10's rather then 4.11's)

4:10 or 4:11 are the same its a 41 tooth ring gear and a 10 tooth pinion just some manufactures like to round up some dont the true ration is 4:10 which is what it comes out to if you divided the ring gear by the pinion , you cant actually get any ratio to come out to 4.11 so it could have been a marketing thing at some point who knows but fact of the matter is that .01 of a turn is not going to hurt anything . As for the front axle a dana 35 from an explorer will work its still TTB . If your after a straight axle your in for some fabricating . A chevy axle is out of the question because the pig is on the wrong side and only the latter wranglers that had leafs up front will work from a jeep as far as I know , They are on the drivers side like a ford early ones are on chevy side . You can get any ratio for a ford 8.8 and there is no carrier change which means you can use the same diff for 2:75 that you do for 5:13 . Cant do that with a dana , Think the split is between 4:10 and 4:56 for a dana 44 I know it is for a dana 60 . The dana 44 actually has 3 different carriers for different ratios . Best thing you could do before you start this is a bunch of research and make sure you have some funding for the project theres always a snag and it always cost something . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

This is what mine looked like I had alot of fabrication time into this thing . It has 32x14.5x15 mickey thompsons , Auburn limited with 3:73 in the back explorer 8.8 . VERY healthy 351 W with a C6 with advance adapters parts stock 1345 case ( held up very well ) full size bronco rear drive shaft modified to fit , Stock dana 28 front end ( only broke once ) 4 inch suspension 3 inch body . Fun toy it would pick the front tires off the ground

The fabricating part wont be a problem at all. I am very clever minded when it comes to this and I am fairly good with metal working.

Ok, just so I realize every Major piece I will be needing.

1.)The 289/302 will require a body lift for clearence, may not be neccessary but nice to have. It will require new engine mounts and wireing will be the hardest part.

2.)The transmission can be just about any from a vehicle with a small block ford engine but preferrably from a heavier duty truck/SUV.(C6 trans is what I have come up with)

3.)The stock transfer case can be used but I should prepare to get another If I plan on heavy use.

4.)The rear axle should be atleast a 8.8 preferably from a 97+ Ranger or 90's model f-150.

5.)The front solid axle swap should be any solid axle that that has the differentials on the drivers side which will enable it to bolt up to the t-case.

If all these are correct, Should I worry about the axles being longer then the 8.8 rear?

On number 1 the body lift is kinda esential if you dont have it youll never get the valve cover to clear the hear box unless you take it out completely and it does make working on things much nicer . On nuber 2 the adapter from advance adapters replaces the main shaft as well as the tail adapter so yeah any C6 or AOD will work but if you go AOD get the newest model you can get so all the factory updates are there . On number 4 the rear must be from an explorer they all had the 31 spline 8.8 some of the rangers were still useing the 7.5 depeding on the motor the 4.0,s had the 8.8 . On the front youll just have to measure the donors and yeah if its too wide it will look goofy . You could do what I intend to do to mine when I reurect it . I have a 2002 ranger quad cab that Im putting a 351 C into . I cut all the front suspension loose braced it all up and set it up fopr a coil sprung front end . I took a full size 1/2 ton dana 44 from a 78 F 150 and cut the passenger side steering knuckle end off . I then removed the piece of the axle tube that was inside the cast knuckle youll have some time in that . Then I got an axle shaft from jeffs bronco graveyard for an early bronco it was like $140 . Then I cut the axle tube down to the length needed wana say I cut 6 inches out of it . Put the steering knuckle back on it fits tight so dont get it stuck . Realign everything test fit the axle , measure everything again , test fit the axle again , measure everything again and then reweld the knuckle to the tube . Now you have a narrowed dana 44 for the cost of an axle shaft and the chances youll break that under a bronco 2 is very slim . I have the one under the ranger now and the other housing I did is patiently waiting for the B2 to get back in the garage , When I do that one Ill take lots of pics /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Ok, so I will be using a 289/302, a c6 trans, and the stock 89 BII t-case. Would it be a good idea to get the drivetrain done before I even start to worry about the axles or is it a better idea to get axles out of the way first( for clearence reasons...)

If I were doing it the first thing I would do is get it so its a rolling chassis IE axles , body lift , suspension lift , The go for the drive train theres alot of custom fitting for this it doesnt just drop in /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

i think u can use explorer 1991 to 93 front end direct bolt on

rear got to remove leaf spring plate weld it on top

it a good 8.8 diff

fors traction lock come in two difference gear type those year 355 and 410 ratio

none traction lock 8.8 273..308..355 ratio

get explorer donor truck

if i rem it 1 inch wide then bronco 2

correct me if i am wrong