Chuzie's monster transformation

[Crawdad]

I will be making my annual voyage to Tampa at end this month. Will u be in town?

[chuzie]

So I have been pretty busy the past 30 days flying missions and working on the Bronco. I am fortunate enough to have Chuck's garage at my disposal.

The big project was to fix hastily installed EZ Wiring harness from a few years ago. We pretty much threw it in there in a day to prepare for an event so none of the wires were terminated properly and many were the wrong length. Tons of wire was spooled up and zip tied under the dash and under the hood. Over the past few years I have continued to add various system which meant additional wires and connections. Needless to say, I had what many consider a severe RAT'S NEST issue.

After my dual battery install earlier in the summer, I finally felt pleased with my systems and decided it was time to erridicate the rats by starting from scratch and rewiring EVERYTHING!

This is merely a taste of what I faced once I cut the zip ties and stared the project earlier in the month. Under the hood looked no better.

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On top of the massive re-wiring project, I decided to go ahead and begin my Explorer EFI swap. This swap replaced the existing Mustang EFI for a more modern OBD-II system. I feel the dwindling supply of Mustang parts combined with the attraction of Bluetooth analysis was enough to take the plunge. Unfortunately, I am selling my Baumann transmission controller to help fund the project so I will lose the fine tuning capabilities for the 4R70W.

I had switches and indicator lights from one side of the dash to the other and wanted a way to combine everything into a central location. I redesigned my center gauge console to make it wider to accommodate additional switches and indicators. The stock brake warning light had to go in order to make room. Integrating controls and indicators for my on board air, fans, batteries, rock lights and winch was challenging as there is a ton of wiring in my overly complex system. It took an entire day to wire the back of the gauge panel.

This is an earlier picture. I have since added 2 relays and more wires. It is conveniently terminated with two 16-pin plugs I found in the engine bay of a Continental. This will allow me to easily remove the gauge console from the dash for maintenance or future additions.

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I like how it turned out!

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As I said, the systems I have integrated on the gauge console are somewhat more complex that the average setup.

FANS:

I have two electric fans; one on the front of the radiator and another on the transmission cooler under the passenger floorboard. I created three modes on the DPDT toggle switch for my fan system.

AUTO: In AUTO mode, both the engine fan and the transmission fan are operated by their independent temperature switches.

OFF: Broncomatt suggested I have a way to force my fans OFF in the event of a water crossing or electrical issue. When OFF mode is selected, the RED LED light to the left of the WATER temperature gauge illuminates to warn me of my selection.

ON: I can force both of the fans ON in the event I feel it necessary to preemptively curb rising temperatures prior to actuation from the temperature switch or if a temperature switch fails. The ORANGE LED to the left of the WATER gauge illuminates when this mode is selected.

DUAL BATTERIES:

I feel dual batteries are a must with my Bronco. I like the redundancy and security they provide. This system also has three modes on a DPDT toggle.

AUTO: In AUTO mode, both my batteries are linked via two 200amp continuous duty solenoids when the ignition is in START or RUN and allows both batteries to be maintained by the alternator.

TIE: This mode will force a connection between the batteries when the ignition is OFF or when the PRIMARY battery is dead. This allows a simple way for me to jumpstart from the AUX battery. The RED LED to the left of the VOLTS gauge illuminates when this mode is selected to warn me of my selection as it can potentially drain both batteries if left on.

ISOLATE: This mode will force the AUX battery to disconnect from the PRIMARY battery and alternator. This is a great way to prevent draining the PRIMARY battery when winching if the engine is dead or when experiencing an electrical issue. The ORANGE LED to the left of the VOLTS gauge illuminates when this mode is selected to warn me the AUX battery is not being charged by the alternator.

On-board Air:

This system has three mode all on a DPDT toggle switch.

AUTO: This mode engages the engine mounted compressor via a pressure switch. It will turn the compressor on at 90psi and off at 120psi. Additionally, I have the EEC wired into the mode so the engine IDLE RPM automatically boosts from 850 to 1100RPM to aid in faster filling of the tank. The ORANGE LED on the bottom left of the panel illuminates when the tank is below 90psi until it reaches 120psi. It will illuminate regardless of switch position.

OFF: Duh! This prevents the compressor from engaging but I will still have the low pressure indication from the ORANGE LED.

BOOST: This mode boosts my IDLE RPM from 850 to 1,100 but does not engage the compressor. This may be helpful for additional cooling from the mechanical engine fan or when additional alternator charging is desired.

ROCK LIGHTS:

I used a DPDT swtich but a SPST could have been used. It turns the rock lights ON/OFF and is powered from the battery instead of the ignition.

WINCH:

The black rocker switch in the middle is my winch control. UP is OUT and DOWN is IN. Simple.

The left most RED LED is my CEL (check engine light).

To the right of my CEL is the torque converter lock-up indicator. I have a floor mounted foot switch that will force the torque converter to lock. The RED LED is necessary to remind me of this mode as I am forgetful and will stall the engine if I stop with it engaged. Below that is an ORANGE LED that will indicate when overdrive has been disabled but I have chosen not to utilize that function just yet. If I decide to not use the overdrive disable, I may use this light to indicate when my hydraulic line lock in engaged as I frequently forget about it as well.

To the RED LED to the left of the OIL gauge will be my low oil pressure warning light. I have yet to install the pressure switch for that. The ORANGE LED below it will be the oil level low light. Haven't installed that sensor yet either.

So all the wiring took about 120 hours!!! The engine runs great, all my systems are functional and the wiring looks amazing; mostly because you can't see it.

Everything was weatherpacked, soldered, heat shrinked and loomed. I do have a few stragglers at the rear of the frame for rock lighting that I will need to tidy up at some point. You may see a stray grey wire near the firewall in the engine pics. That was the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) splice I made to the EEC to test the cruise control. Fortunately I received the needed terminal pins today in order to integrate that wire into the main harness and it is now invisible.

There are 7 relays on the passenger fender. 4 control the EFI, 2 control my fan system and 1 is for the Hellas.

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[chuzie]

Then next big project is my new front bumper. Chuck and I modified an old Warn winch bumper a few years ago to work with my 8274 winch. Unfortunately, the "wings" were not reinforced and I have a bad habit of hitting trees, rocks and vehicles. My grill and quarter panels have been damaged by the bending of the bumper and we decided it was time to upgrade to something that was indestructible and matched the awesome rear bumper we made a few years ago.

The main plate and channels to the frame are 1/4" and all the reinforcement plating is 3/16". All the plates were cut at a local shop via plans from Classic.

Once Chuck welded the channels to the main plate, we had to stop as I forgot to order the 1"x2" flat 1080 steel to make the recovery tabs. We couldn't go further since the tabs will be welded to the main plate and inside the frame channel mounts.

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Today the 1"x2" steel arrived. Each piece is 6" long and will accommodate a 3/4" shackle with a 7/8" pin. I spent a good bit of time drilling the 1" hole and shaping the steel. Here is a pic of the tabs slaved in. Tomorrow we plan to start welding and hope to finish.

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[chuzie]

I ordered a pinion guard from Rough Stuff but could not get one of the bolts installed correctly due to a design flaw in the guard. They are sending me a newly design guard and it should arrive Saturday.

The driver side windshield brace that links the windshield to the roll bar snapped. This is the third brace I have installed and will soon be looking for an alternative mounting solution.

I found my ram assist hysraulic cylinder was leaking again after it received fresh seals in April. I am concerned it may be permanently damaged so it has been removed until I find the $ for a replacement.

The rim I all but destroyed at Tellico seems to be holding air well after our campsite beatdown so it just needs to be balanced.

I installed the tie rod "cure" from Ruff Stuff on the tie rod end that links the drag link to the tie rod. It works great and has help reduce some of the slop in my steering. I think my track bar bushings are shot (again) and need replacement.

Fuel tank armor is next on the priority list for both mine and Chuck's Bronco. We plan to use 1/4" aluminum sheet.

Crawdad, I am headed home to Tampa on Saturday and just received another offer from Uncle Sam to continue to fill my bank account for another 31 days starting August 18th. It is not in stone yet, so I would say there is a 50% chance of me being in Tampa for your arrival. Holler at me when you get there.

SCBronco, this is for you!!!

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[broncomatt]

Bout time you got the rats nest fixed. Bring it buy when you hit town we can have a few brews and check into all your progress.

[chuzie]

Matt, I will certainly take you up on the offer. Though I am coming home on Saturday, it will be via airplane instead of the Bronco. She is going to stay in Charleston until after NovRun. Chuck said he likes having a yellow yard ornament in his backyard.

[scbronco]

Well played sir. Well played

[chuzie]

Got a lot of the bumper done last night. Ran into a few snags with the bottom plates not fitting correctly. This is what happens when you use unverified plans from an online source.

No big deal though; just had to make some additional cuts to fit them correctly. Got it all welded up and ready for grinding and paint when I return to Charleston on the 18th.

I will say this bumper is pretty sick!!

[snipes243]

Got a lot of the bumper done last night. Ran into a few snags with the bottom plates not fitting correctly. This is what happens when you use unverified plans from an online source.

No big deal though; just had to make some additional cuts to fit them correctly. Got it all welded up and ready for grinding and paint when I return to Charleston on the 18th.

I will say this bumper is pretty sick!!

Pics or it didnt happen.

[Crawdad]

I've got ur email, will let you know when I'm in town. Go make you some cabbage, how else will you be able to improve your bronco!