And yet another project begins - 1969 Ford Bronco V8

[Arne]

All four body mount bushings on the passenger side have been replaced, and minor rust repair is under way prior to laying down the new floor pans.

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[Arne]

Passenger floor is all done, save the seam sealer which will be done after the driver's side is finished so I can do it all at once. Very solid feeling, should be good for many more decades.

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[Arne]

And now the driver's side is complete as well. This side needed a repair panel for the firewall too. Now working on replacing the rusty cowl assembly so I can weld on the new windshield frame. New doors arrived today, which (I hope) will be the last of the major sheet metal.

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[Arne]

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this.

After the floors were finished, I moved on to the inner and outer cowls, and finally the new windshield frame. Also hung the new door on the driver's side. Starting to look a bit more like a Bronco, not a Land Rover Lightweight.

[72targa]

Amazing work! Love the tires/wheels!!

[Arne]

More progress. Rebuilt and installed both the gas pedal and the main pedal box. The throttle and clutch both work great. Also fitted the left fender. Fit up really nicely, great door gaps all around.

I also picked up a lightly used power brake conversion, a pair of stock exhaust manifolds, and a dual exhaust kit.

And that's when I got derailed by one thing leading to another.

I started looking at installing the brake booster rather than hooking up the seized original master. Setting it in place for mock up made it obvious that if I mounted the brake parts now, I'd just need to pull it back off to get the mis-matched header off the driver's side.

So I decided to at least swap the left side header for the cast manifold, and move then back to the brakes so that I can move the Bronco, as I'll need to turn it around to have room to fit the right fender and door.

Got the header out and the manifold on, so I went back to the brakes. Quickly found that pretty much every flare nut fitting I touched is seized, and I'll need to cut them to remove. This is not a horrible deal, as I planned to replace all the hard lines later anyway, but I wasn't planning to do it now, but later when I do the front disc conversion. Oh well, ordered the lines and center hoses today.

While I wait for the new brake lines, I went back to the exhaust replacement. Got both cast manifolds on, the old exhaust removed, and have begun mocking up the new duals. So glad to have the old stuff off. Really poorly jury-rigged set up, and way wrong choices. Who would have decided that headers into a full 3" pair of duals was a good idea for a stock 302 2BBL? And who tries to cram dual 3" piping under an early Bronco anyway? Major mess, but now gone. The new exhaust system is looking quite nice so far, especially in comparison.

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[Arne]

No picture today, not much has changed visually. I made a parts run to the coast last week. Picked up a bunch of parts for both sooner and later in the project. Notably a nice pair of bucket seats to be re-foamed and recovered later, a pair of taller front springs, and an adjustable track bar. I installed one of the taller front springs as a test, they appear to be around 2½" to 3" lift, and look like they will be a better match with the (apparently) 3" or so rear springs. Should sit much closer to level when they are both installed.


After the brake hard lines and hoses arrived, I returned to working on the brakes. The booster and master are now in place, and the prop valve, hard lines and center hoses also. New rear brakes are going on this weekend—drums, shoes, cylinders, springs and adjusters. Once these are done I'll bleed the system and turn it around so I can do the other front spring and then fit the second door and fender. So far, so good.

[rac390]

The Bronco project is looking good. Any updates?

[Arne]

A friend I talked with at PCA Cars & Coffee this morning reminded me that I have neglected to post any updates on the project lately. So I'll provide an exec summary to catch you all up.

The brakes and suspension are mostly set now. It still has drums up front, the swap to discs is still a ways off. The suspension is also largely complete.

The big change is the wiring, I have assembled and built a completely new wiring harness for it. That work is also mostly complete, all done except wipers and heater, neither of which are installed yet. The fuel system is complete now as well, the second new tank, new fuel lines and tank selector valve are in, connected and working. I also rebuilt and installed a slightly newer factory 2-bbl carb with electric choke for simpler starting.

I'm planning to strip the engine for oil leak remediation next.

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[Arne]

Spent the past couple of days stripping the engine. Dropped the pan, pulled the water pump and timing cover, and started assessing it all.

First thing I found is that the engine is not a 302. Crank casting ID is 1M, which is the 289 crank. Frankly, that's not a big deal in my opinion, not much difference between a bone-stock 289 and similar 302. About the only difference this will make is that I won't drill the new fenders and install new 302 badges.

Water pump was installed by someone who was... shall we say, generous with RTV. Yuck. And everything is seriously grimy, much cleaning will be required.

Found a couple of issues, none major since I found them now. Distributor shaft has more play than I like, the balancer has a noticeable groove worn where the seal rides, and the timing chain is about as loose and sloppy as I've ever seen.

I'm putting together a big parts order now. Included will be timing chain and both sprockets, water pump, Speedi-sleeve for the balancer, complete DuraSpark package, and all the normal stuff—many gaskets, t-stat and housing, plugs, molded hoses, gauge senders, heater core and valve, etc.

Lots of cleaning and painting will start tomorrow. Parts probably won't all be here for a week or so.