Copper Top

[Crawdad]

I forgot his name, maybe it was Pat on Classic Bronco. He did a small write up doing a bolt on windshield with pics. He's the one building that bad azz yellow bronco.

[broncomatt]

Coming along great! Your welcome down here to "warm up" any time! Not only do we have those wet and muddy swamps, we also have long windy forest roads and deep sandy streatches too! Just to rub it in I will say that later this week its supposed to be near 80'! Time to the doors and top off!

[broncosbybart]

Thanks guys. Especially you Matt. I hope that 80 degrees is accompanied by rain

It was actually pretty nice out yesterday. Mid 50's. Perfect weather for working outside. I can recall several days lately with a high of 40. Not quite so fun.

I did put a bolt on windshield frame (removable) on the racer. This truck will have windshield wipers and all that. I don't plan on taking the windshield frame off ever, but do plan to bolt it on using a stainless hinge. That way it won't need to be painted and have the paint chip off over time.

WHOA- it let me upload the pics. Here are some pics of the windshield frame removal. The pic of the twisted up metal is the old windshild frame after removal. Using the prybar bends it all up. No worries, it is scrap. The one picture has a 'spy shot' of the new tire/wheel combo. 315 BFG KM 2's on 16" DC 1's. Found them used of course. They are still about new but I did have to buy an adapter. Aparently the 97 and newer F150 pattern is now metric.

[broncosbybart]

I seriously want someone to come over here with a big soda blasting unit right about now. Sanding/cleaning/metal prepping is really getting old.

I took a respite from all that for now. The engine has 150psi of compression on all cylinders but did have a healthy layer of crud on it and did smoke/tick a little. So, I figured that it would be best to replace it. I'm going with a stock type 302 build. Nothing crazy or stupid. While it is apart, the trans will be rebuilt and the t-case gone through as well.

The more I get into, the larger the parts list is getting. It is pretty intimidating at this point!!! Chuck, you figure out a way to print money down there yet? I figure that it would take a little doing, but we could go in on a joint venture. it would help me out a lot

Ok, a few pics. Nothing exciting. The old motor and trans out. My back is still killing me from the work day last weekend. Makes for fun times slinging that stuff out/around.

[broncosbybart]

No going back now. Fired up the grinder/cutting wheel. Bigger shocks=better, right?

I cut out the wheel opening on the right side and saved the metal as a template to mark the left side, so that the holes are identical. Might as well do something that makes sense in the midst of what makes no sense...

After that, I used some 1/4" thick angle iron to start fabbing up some rear shock towers. The shock mounts are forward facing, toward the front of the fenderwell. The truck already had the stock type mounts placed there by someone else, but I needed more distance for the shocks I have. So, they got cut out and these are being fabbed in place.

Pics finally attached.

[broncosbybart]

The truck was equipped with a full spool in the rear. Excellent choice for off road, but since this will be pulling double duty, I opted for an ARB in it's place. 31 spline, 4.56 gears, new install kit, and the like. Not cheap, but very nice.

Install was pretty straightforward. Pretty much the same as any 9" install. The main difference is the drilling/tapping/installing of the air line. When it was all done, I pressure tested it for leaks before installing into the axle housing. I made a tester using a pressure gauge and air line to add 100 psi into the unit and cap it off and let it set while monitoring any pressure loss. ARB warns about it being easy to cut the o rings on the sealing washer while assembling the unit. Never had that problem yet, but I like to check final assembly just to make sure everything is kosher.

Edit: just saw the pics again. Friggin mellow yellow can. I'm becoming addicted to it...

[broncosbybart]

I've gotten a few things done lately, but not much with the rental house being damaged and all.

Tore into the C-4. First automatic that I've ever tried to rebuild. I think the computer screen shot here says it all...

[broncosbybart]

Well, here goes. It came apart just fine, but then again, what doesn't? Upon taking it apart, I noticed that the bands had some wear, input shaft endplay was about at the maximum, some of the seals were brittle, but all the clutches looked decent. Overall, it was in decent shape but I wanted to go through it with a trans that I knew worked. We will see if it works when I'm done 'fixing' it.

[Crawdad]

I'm gonna bring up a third member and a c4 and spend an entire day with you! I'm good and sanding rusty pipe and cleaning a shop!

[broncosbybart]

So, I've been a little slack on the updates. Trans is done! It is fitted with all new bushings, frictions/steels, torque converter, etc. I did the DIY shift kit stuff and added a BTE alloy ddep sump pan.

The transfer case is stuffed with terra low 3:1 gears, AA heavy duty output shaft/yoke, bearings/seals, and topped off with a WH inspection plate cover.