First Time Bronco Owner - 1969 Bronco

[pgilbeau]

Thanks, think I have it figured out. Parts are on the way and will just have the A/C Bracket and stuff as extras. Not sure what I want to do for a fan yet, on my Ranger I didn't like dealing with the fan clutch so I went electric, may do the same here. Got to start working on this instead of shopping.

[pgilbeau]

If all goes well I will have my donor truck for full widths this weekend, looks like I am going to change things up and get rid of the PO front suspension set up. Going to get back to figuring out how to go full width and keep the coil overs.

[Jesus_man]

I don't know why you couldn't do that. Just a matter of adding the proper bracketry to the full width axles.

[pgilbeau]

I don't know why you couldn't do that. Just a matter of adding the proper bracketry to the full width axles.

I know it is just a matter of brackets, just worried the coil overs may be too short based on the way the PO had them mounted.

[Digger]

If you have 5"-6" of uptravel from static ride height, you will be fine.

What is the total travel of your coilovers?

[Justin]

You're welcome to swing by and take a look at my setup. I'm running about 6" of uptravel and have the track bar rubbing the oil pan at full compression.

[pgilbeau]

I will probably have to take you up on that sooner or later.

[pgilbeau]

Made some small progress this past weekend. The old steering box is out and I got most of the old bracket cut out. Mocked up the new box with the new bracket and stock pitman arm, the drag link angle is looking better now. Need to finish cleaning up the inner part of the frame, get a new drag link, and a new lower steering column. I think the lower steering column may be part of the problem I had, there is only about 1/3 of the splines on the coupler.

[pgilbeau]

Got my drag link cut and sleeved since I plan on doing an axle swap down the road. Been doing some small things while I was waiting on the drag link and I should have everything to get the front end back together at this point.

[pgilbeau]

Made some progress today and the steering is back together, was actually able to pull out of the garage and drive around. Got everything back together and the new drag link angle is looking much better with the 4x4x2 box and stock pitman arm.

[Jesus_man]

Those angles look great!! Time to get it all dirty!

[Gunnibronco]

Nice improvement! Glad you are sorting through the PO problems.

[pgilbeau]

Those angles look great!! Time to get it all dirty!

Thats the plan, just got a couple small things to do first.

Nice improvement! Glad you are sorting through the PO problems.

Looked at the original pic this morning and it is a huge change. The more I work on the Bronco the more I look at what the PO did and ask myself "what where they thinking?"

[pgilbeau]

Made some small progress today and got the wipers working. For some reason the PO had them set up so one went the right way and the other went up, much better now. Now to move onto my next project, hydroboost. After finally driving the Bronco some and not liking the brakes I decided to skip the vacuum boost and go straight to hydroboost. Got the Wild Horses kit so I could get it done quick instead of piecing stuff together.

[Rox Crusher]

You'll love hydro boost brakes !

[pgilbeau]

Started the hydroboost conversion today and have run into an issue already. I need to figure out what to do with the wires that run to the proportioning valve, I am replacing the existing one with one from Wild Horses. The Wild Horses valve is a one wire set up vs the stock 2 wire. Do I just splice the one into the two pink wires or ? I already know I have some work to do since I found a lovely melted mess under the electrical tape.

[Viperwolf1]

Yes, just splice them all together.

[pgilbeau]

Yes, just splice them all together.

Thanks, I figured that would be the way to go.

Ended up not getting much done, repaired the melted wires, pulled all the old brake lines, proportioning valve, and master cylinder. Also found the remnants of the clutch pedal in the dash, looks like the prior owner just cut it off when they converted to auto.

[pgilbeau]

Looks like today is 4 months since I have posted anything to my build thread, full time college has been killing me. Got a ton of projects I intend to get going, need to work off the mountain of parts that have accumulated in my garage and get back on the road. Going to try and keep track of it all here in the thread. Here is the list:

1. Change P/S pump to dual return - DONE
2. Finish hydroboost - DONE
3. Install steering column, lower shaft, steering wheel, etc. - DONE
4. Install new seats and seat belts - DONE
5. Install winch - DONE
6. Cut old rear bumper off and install new - DONE
7. Axle swap to full widths (Farming out the axle build to speed things up and make sure the gears, etc. get set up right.) - DONE
8. Install new wheels/tires - DONE

The list is long but I intend to be done with these parts prior to December. Just ordered a ton of parts today: lockers, gears, axle shafts, ball joints, rebuild kits, bearing, and anything else needed to complete rebuilding/re-gearing the axles.

[pgilbeau]

Still not making as much progress as I would like, got the axles taken to be rebuilt and pulled my new wheels out from where they have been buried. Hopefully this weekend I get some time to work on getting the Bronco back together.

[pgilbeau]

Made some progress toward getting back on the road over the last couple days. I got my new disk/disk proportioning valve put in, enlarged the hole in the firewall for hydroboost, and removed my single return canned ham. Started to install my dual return pump and had to cut the bracket because its a Lincoln pump and clocked different from the GM version. I think I am going to look for a GM pump with dual return instead of the Lincoln because I want to change to the Explorer belt set up down the road and the Wild Horses brackets I have mount to the back of the pump. The Lincoln pump isn't set up to mount from the back. I am wondering about a couple things, first is all the fuel lines and electrical. I think it is going to have to run under the hydroboost and over the steering column. Not sure if that will be ok. Also wondering if I enlarged the hole in the firewall enough.

Prop valve








From under the dash

[pgilbeau]

Got an awesome text today, wheels and tires are ready to go. After letting the wheels sit in my shed the last 3 years finally going to put them to use.

[Eck]

Those look sharp!

[Jesus_man]

That will look the part for sure!!

[cravenbronco]

Nice

[pgilbeau]

Thanks guys! Got them picked up and put on.

[Rox Crusher]

Looking great !

[pgilbeau]

Todays progress: picked up my new family cage. First and last purchase at the Bronco Hut!

[cravenbronco]

Why is that ? Lol

[Gunnibronco]

Why is that ? Lol

Because, Bronco Hut.