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Build Thread - 69 Bronco

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bulletpruf

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Back home for Thanksgiving. Need to move the Bronco to a new storage unit (my 12' x 45' is full with '71 Javelin road race project and '66 Fairlane GT convt) so I can bring the Alfa Romeo home, finish a few details, and then sell it.
 
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bored350

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I've been quietly following your thread but need to take a moment to thank you. Most people don't realize it, but little nuggets of information are invaluable to others and in this case, I'd never heard of cast blast until now. This is exactly something I've been looking for in the past and will use in the future. Thanks for sharing and keep plugging away.
 
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bulletpruf

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bored350 said:
I've been quietly following your thread but need to take a moment to thank you. Most people don't realize it, but little nuggets of information are invaluable to others and in this case, I'd never heard of cast blast until now. This is exactly something I've been looking for in the past and will use in the future. Thanks for sharing and keep plugging away.
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Thanks for the comment and input. Glad to hear that my post was helpful.

As for Cast Blast, I get tired of painting everything semi-gloss black, so for parts that often were unpainted from the factory, I like to use Cast Blast. For a lighter color, try Alum Blast.
 
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bulletpruf

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bulletpruf said:
Back home for Thanksgiving. Need to move the Bronco to a new storage unit (my 12' x 45' is full with '71 Javelin road race project and '66 Fairlane GT convt) so I can bring the Alfa Romeo home, finish a few details, and then sell it.
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I ended up renting a 12' x 20' storage unit and schlepped a bunch of Bronco parts to it, but the Bronco remains in the garage for now. I'm supposed to pick up the Alfa over Christmas, but I'll be home for a week, so plan to do some wrenching on the Bronco while I'm there. Need to replace brake master cylinder, H block, flexible lines, and complete hard lines (I think Inline Tube has a kit). Also need to install new bushings on shift linkage and re-install clutch linkage (removed for header install).
 
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Ole Slewfoot

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I started my driving career in a yellow '72 302 3 speed.
It was the Explorer edition, and I remember the stock seats were really deluxe compared to what our CJ5 had going on.

Something ive done to fix spring holes before I'd fold up a bit of copper pipe 4 layers thick and mash it flat. clamp that to the inside of the hangar and weld up the hole with the MIG...won't stick to the copper. Drill a new hole and nobody will be the wiser.
 
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bulletpruf

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Ole Slewfoot said:
I started my driving career in a yellow '72 302 3 speed.
It was the Explorer edition, and I remember the stock seats were really deluxe compared to what our CJ5 had going on.

Something ive done to fix spring holes before I'd fold up a bit of copper pipe 4 layers thick and mash it flat. clamp that to the inside of the hangar and weld up the hole with the MIG...won't stick to the copper. Drill a new hole and nobody will be the wiser.
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This truck was actually Springtime Yellow when new. 302, 3 on the tree.

I have some of the copper backing plates with handles, but mashed up copper pipe would work well for those areas that need a particular size/shape. Thanks
 
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bulletpruf

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TimeWarpF100 said:
How long before you go back to Texas permanently? Is that when you retire?
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Randy - It will be early August. That's when I retire from the Army.

The Long-Haired General has informed me that I'm expected to start on my second career once I'm officially a civilian. Maybe I can afford the Rainbow Ranger after I start my job as assistant cashier at Taco Bell?
 
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bulletpruf

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Bronco was moved to my 20' x 50' shop a few months ago.

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It's next in line after I make some more progress on Project Brownie, my 1991 F350 crew cab diesel dually.

Frankly, I need to start working on it because I've been collecting parts for years and I need to get some of this stuff installed so I can clear up some shop and shelf space. First two shelf units are almost all parts for the Bronco. I also have a Dana 44 and a spare 302 on the floor of the shop that I need to rebuild and install.

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PhantomEB

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BRONCOTIME is one of my favorite ways to kill time. i not sure if I asked, what’s your intentions with this one….. cruiser? mild wheeler? How big a tire?

20 years of owning mine, no way I can sell or go smaller tire than 40s, I wish I kept her with 35s.
 
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bulletpruf

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PhantomEB said:
BRONCOTIME is one of my favorite ways to kill time. i not sure if I asked, what’s your intentions with this one….. cruiser? mild wheeler? How big a tire?

20 years of owning mine, no way I can sell or go smaller tire than 40s, I wish I kept her with 35s.
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Will start off as a mild wheeler and we'll see where it goes from there.

I'm not going to put puppy squasher tires on it. At least not yet. Will probably start off with 32x11.50x15.

Now that the drivetrain is out, I need to get started on cleaning and rebuilding stuff.

Not sure if I'll tackle the Dana 20 transfer case first, or the 3 speed toploader trans.

Will probably be the Dana 20, since think this it a bit simpler. The oil that I drained out of it was nice and glittery, so I may end up rebuilding one of the spares that I have on the shelf instead of this one.

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WoodsTruck

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Started life as a 1971.5, I bought it in 1989. For 18 years it had a hard life with multiple owners all deciding they wanted a different color (7 total that I could count).
I got T-boned going to take a test in college one evening and picked up a '67 for the body ($150 for a mostly complete CA Bronco donor) and rebuilt the body and updated the wiring to match my needs.
Dana 44 - factory limited slip, Ford 9" 31 spline-Yukon air locker, Tom's lift, PS, PB (by me-$35), tilt column, FiTech EFI, headers w/ duals, NP435 rebuilt because I wanted the crawly gear. 3.50 gearing so I only run a 31" tire. My mindset was from growing up in Idaho where wheeling with chains on was not uncommon so clearance was mandatory.
Took the wife to dinner last summer so I snapped a quick pic.
 

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bulletpruf

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WoodsTruck said:
Started life as a 1971.5, I bought it in 1989. For 18 years it had a hard life with multiple owners all deciding they wanted a different color (7 total that I could count).
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Sounds like my old '70 GTO. I guess no one liked the original color of Pepper Green, but that's what I went with when I restored it.

WoodsTruck said:
I got T-boned going to take a test in college one evening and picked up a '67 for the body ($150 for a mostly complete CA Bronco donor) and rebuilt the body and updated the wiring to match my needs.
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That's a damn good price, but I guess you knew that already.

WoodsTruck said:
Dana 44 - factory limited slip, Ford 9" 31 spline-Yukon air locker, Tom's lift, PS, PB (by me-$35), tilt column, FiTech EFI, headers w/ duals, NP435 rebuilt because I wanted the crawly gear.
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I have a Dana 44 for mine (I think these came out for the EB's in 1974?), but it has a Dana 30 up front now. I think I'll keep the Dana 30 for now and then build a beefed up Dana 44.

I'll also start out with the factory manual drums and manual steering; that's all that was available in 1969.

EFI would be mighty fine, too, but I'll start off with a carb.

I also have a rebuilt NP435; that's a great Bronco trans, but I'll start off with a 3 on the tree, the ultimate millennial anti-theft device!

WoodsTruck said:
3.50 gearing so I only run a 31" tire. My mindset was from growing up in Idaho where wheeling with chains on was not uncommon so clearance was mandatory.
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3.50's for mine, too, but I think I'll start with a 32x11.50x15.

WoodsTruck said:
Took the wife to dinner last summer so I snapped a quick pic.
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She's a beauty! Bronco doesn't look too shabby either!
 
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WoodsTruck

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The Dana 44 replaced the Dana 30 in the mid year of 1971. No idea how many 71's came with the D30's but apparently some.
I also have front disc brakes which seems to help a bit.
Automatics became available in '73 and the PS may have been right in that time too. PB I believe was '76 and '77 but is a desired upgrade.
I used a large diameter vacuum booster off a Mustang and built my own mount. Huge improvement over non PB. Haven't tried a hydroboost PB, supposedly they are awesome, but I can't complain on my setup.
The Hellwig front sway bar was required after dropping the dual Rancho shocks up front and replacing with a progressive coil and a single Bilstein.
 
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WoodsTruck

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When I went through my NP435 and the D20, I took them to a buddies shop that has a parts washer for this sort of thing. Set them in the box, latched the door shut and poked the wash button. He was busy building a C4 so I just wandered around his shop for 15 minutes until the parts were clean. It was so nice to work with clean parts and cases. Might be worth a look to see if you could get access to a washer.
 
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bulletpruf

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WoodsTruck said:
When I went through my NP435 and the D20, I took them to a buddies shop that has a parts washer for this sort of thing. Set them in the box, latched the door shut and poked the wash button. He was busy building a C4 so I just wandered around his shop for 15 minutes until the parts were clean. It was so nice to work with clean parts and cases. Might be worth a look to see if you could get access to a washer.
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Well, I have a parts washer, but not the industrial spray wash cabinets like you see in machine shops. I'll certainly spend some time cleaning everything before I reassemble.
 
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jack stand

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bulletpruf said:
Got any pics?

BTW, last of the first gen would have been a '77...

Scott
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It was, I just had forgotten. It's a sore spot in my memory that I let them go. The 77 had un cut fenders! (When I bought it) I'd have to really dig to find any pictures. They'd be film and probably pretty yellow. That was 30 + years ago.
I put a 4 sp with granny 1st and a PTO winch off of the x-fer case in the 67.
Man the stupid **** a kid with a gallon bottle of $4.50 wine could get into with that hanging on the front! 😆
 
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bulletpruf

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jack stand said:
It was, I just had forgotten. It's a sore spot in my memory that I let them go. The 77 had un cut fenders! (When I bought it) I'd have to really dig to find any pictures. They'd be film and probably pretty yellow. That was 30 + years ago.
I put a 4 sp with granny 1st and a PTO winch off of the x-fer case in the 67.
Man the stupid **** a kid with a gallon bottle of $4.50 wine could get into with that hanging on the front! 😆
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Ok, we're probably about the same age. I graduated high school in '86. Back in the 1980's I was driving an '85 CJ7 with Gumbo Mudders or a '79 CJ7 with a 360 and Buckshot Mudders.
 
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bulletpruf

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Finished the transfer case rebuild last night. Took longer than I expected, but that's always the case when I'm filming something. Anyway, it's all back together, and I'm glad I took apart one of my spare Dana 20's; it had some better bits than the original transfer case. Video should be up in a week or two.

I'll tackle the 3 speed manual transmission rebuild next.
 
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