1974 bronco

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BLADE262US

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 I haven't been around for awhile but I just got a project I thought Id share on here . I just bought a 1974 bronco ranger its very complete and very solid actually uncut . I am building a 351w stroked to 427 with a motorsport z351 aluminum block ( pretty cool when you can pick the entire block up and carry it around by yourself ) mated to a 4R70W trans with what will end up a NP205 unless I can figure out a way too fit the B+W 1356 in there , and an 8.8 with the 44 up front . I have the bronco graveyard 5.5 lift rear springs and the duff long travel front arms and the busted knuckle garage shock hoops . I also have the wild horses buckaroo hood . Im have a set of the 17 inch aluminum slots from BC broncos and plan too run the 325/70/17 nitto terra grapplers . Should be a fun ride with plenty of power . Ill get some pics up soon ,

image_43855f.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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Here's what I'm shooting for it too look like , Already have this paint color .,

772234-2-large.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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Made a lot of progress have the engine complete , transmission is complete , axles are heading for a gear swap hopefully this weekend then I can start assembling , Thinking of buying a tubing bender and doing the cage myself want to make it fit the half cab top then make an add on cage that bolts in for when the bronco top is on . Got the flaming river stainless steel tilt column and the correct steering shaft for the 4x4x2 box . Just need more time .

 
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BLADE262US

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Yeah I'm always super busy at work but trying to make more garage time . I have to narrow a high pinion dana 44 out of a 79 bronco to go in this 74 maybe I can get a bunch of pics and add them here with the process , Ended up having around 13K in the motor this is an expensive toy .

 
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BLADE262US

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Well finally got some time to work on the bronco I want to put pics up but my internet is being stupid and I cant upload it times out so I will go over a few things that I absolutely know to be true from the last weeks experience .

1. Do not weld anything inplace unless your sure beyond doubt that it is staying there .

2. Do not under any circumstances spray another coat of rustoleum over existing coat that has only cured for 24hrs unless a wrinkle finish is what you are going for .

3. when at parts store if you think you only need a foot of hose buy 2 just because it seems to shrink on way home ,

Anyway I put one of the Sherman tank gas tanks in they fit really nice the mounting system is very easy to setup . One bad thing is the fuel feed line , They come with a 1/4" draw tube line that although would work fine for a stock bronco I do not think the motor I have would like that nor the 450 lph fuel pump so I drilled out the welded 9/16 JIC fitting with the 1/4 steel line and welded in a new 3/4 JIC fitting with thin wall stainless 3/8 line that from what I see in charts should flow about 30 to 40 % more than the 1/4 line so that situation is all set now .

 Next  I narrowed a high pinion 44 out of a 1978 bronco that went very well taking 6 inches out of the passenger side . Detroit true track , 5.13 gears and Yukon chrome moly axle shafts . I wanted to set it up with high steer , a lot of reading showed this to be a waste of time but previous experience with a jeep I built setup the same way yielded 0 bump steer so I figured why not . In doing this I used ford 3/4 ton Dana 44 HD knuckles looked good at the time everything bolted on and fit including the 1/2 ton spindle and caliper mounts . It was all good till I went to put the caliper on and realized this was in no way going to work there needs to be around 5/8 clearance in the knuckle for the caliper to fit and to grind on it would make it super weak so not being a cobbler , $600 latter I have a set of aftermarket high steer arms that work with both 1/2 and 3/4 ton brakes accept all ford parts and a new set of Spicer ball joints . Just have to powder coat them and then take everything back apart .

The rear end I am undecided if I want to setup a track bar or not I have all the brackets and tubing to fabricate it just not sure if its needed but it would be easy to add right now vs latter .

I also found that the fox reservoir shocks I have are too short for the front with the hoops I have . I need the 12 inch travel models and I have the 8 3/4 so that's another $500

I welded the bc broncos 4x4x2 mount brace to the frame that turned out good I see some have  made another brace for inside of the frame to there is 0 flex I think I will go ahead and do that too .

I'm going to put the motor and tranny , T case together and set in the frame so I can set the rear axle angle and get everything welded together so the rear axle can stay in , Its an 8.8 out of an explorer , disk brakes , Detroit locker , 5.13 gears and Yukon ultimate 8.8 kit , Should hold together .

Just bought a new tailgate from wild horses its a very nice part made on the original tooling looks just like the factory one crappy welds and all . Ill smooth them out before painting . Its galvanized so should not rot out in my lifetime .  

 Its cool seeing this all come together I have been hording parts for the last couple years now I'm getting a little garage space back . I also bought a JD2 model 4 tubing bender and will be making the cage myself I want to run it down through the dash right tight to the firewall so I have as much room as possible in the half cab .

Ill try to post a couple pics but it may not work ,

 
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BLADE262US

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[/url]">http://http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/blade262us/media/20170219_195514_zpsztaqqqvd.jpg.html'>20170219_195514_zpsztaqqqvd.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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1/2 ton caliper not clearing the 3/4 ton steering knuckle

[/url]">http://http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/blade262us/media/20170207_201623_zpstdds0thw.jpg.html'>20170207_201623_zpstdds0thw.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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[/url]">http://http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/blade262us/media/20170126_180931_zpsyn5vn2ro.jpg.html'>20170126_180931_zpsyn5vn2ro.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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[/url]">http://http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/blade262us/media/20170203_060552_zpsxd53hnqp.jpg.html'>20170203_060552_zpsxd53hnqp.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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Excuse the bench in the background its a catch all . LOL These shocks wont be staying they just aren't long enough so different brackets will be welded back up top .

[/url]">http://20170219_185827_zpswhsiemcr.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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BLADE262US

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U bolts were just some I had laying around for mockup another thing you dont buy until your sure the length ,

[/url]">http://http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/blade262us/media/20170212_161509_zpsqvxkdk56.jpg.html'>20170212_161509_zpsqvxkdk56.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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[/url]">http://http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/blade262us/media/20170212_161501_zpsrodj5kgt.jpg.html'>20170212_161501_zpsrodj5kgt.jpg

 
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BLADE262US

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[/url]">http://http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/blade262us/media/20170218_181737_zpsrkatofjo.jpg.html'>20170218_181737_zpsrkatofjo.jpg

 

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