www.ColoradoClassicBroncos.com

76fordbronco wrote:Picked my new (to me) 1974 Bronco Explorer Edition

Congrats on the 2nd rig. It is a good base for building the trail rig you have been wanting to do. I suppose you are now one of the lucky bastards that get to have two threads in the My Rig section.

PS..............I am really so amazed at just how clean and rust free your 76 is.

I'm excited about the new project but don't want to divert my focus on the 76' with Moab coming up.

When I bought the 76' 11 years ago I was upset with buyers remorse (I thought I paid too much for it) now I look and see how fortunate I was! I guess I need to find a new screen name. ;-)

Replaced the starter with one of the new hi-torque starters from Summit. Works great and I believe I finally got the thing shimed correctly so I don't have the nasty girrrrrrrr when the gear doesn't engage correctly! Pretty happy with it so far.

Finished my hand throttle.

Finished the aux tank vent & 5/8" breather line modfication.

Added a 5/16" barb to the main tank fill neck.

Cut out more front hood support brace & cut back the hood skin to the hood bubble dimesions. The front hood support brace was clearencing itself & the York OBA pump for the last few years. Will add some 1/4" round to rebrace things.

Measured a little more more for my new shocks.

My garage is still so damn cold. My air saw froze up every couple minutes. I'm starting to get feeling back in my hands now. It's harder to type with numb fingers, than use hand tools.

Gunnibronco wrote:Finished my hand throttle.

Pics?

Here you go. Very basic.

Cheap mountain bike gear shifter on the shifter:




Then you have to get creative.

I had my hand throttle when I had a carb, but just got around to hooking it up on my EFI.

I am using the Explorer throttle cable with a hybrid/homemade throttle cable bracket. So I drilled a hole in the bracket and routed the shifter cable through it with a cable adjuster to take up any slack.



Added a mounting point to my throttle linkage plate and a cable stop.



Hard to explain, but really just Rube Goldberg engineering. Took about 8' of shifter cable & housing, gear shifter, cable stop, cable mount & a bunch of zip ties.

76fordbronco wrote:Installed the CCB script window decals today.



Soon, Very Soon;
Rebuild the C4 and Dana 20 I bought from Dalli
Buy a new EB to install the aforementioned C4 and Dana 20.
Wheel the s_ _t out of said new EB.

If soon very soon is 3 years I feel bad for your wife.

I got off work early today (4:30!) and came home to find an empty house so I jumped right into it.

Pulled off the old school Duff traction bars that were mounted on Stroppe'd. Then removed 20 year old Rancho shocks and replaced them with 2 year old adjustable Rancho shocks. Thanks Justin.

Pulled Stroppe'd off to the side off the drive and went to Terrible One. Took three cranks but once I remembered the choke it fired right up and purred like a kitten. And that is after having not started it in nearly 6 weeks.

Pulled Terrible One into the drive and proceeded to put it on four jack stands, removed all four wheels, and then stripped off the front clip. Tomorrow I will begin the process of removing kick panels and doors posts before patching inner fenders and other small spots. I'll order kicks and posts Monday and hopefully have them patched back in next weekend.

With only 1300 miles left until Stroppe'd hits 100k, I have to move fast to ensure I have a Bronco to drive during the down time.

Snap-on Did you lose that magnet you bought last week already.

Kevin - No, I had to cut it so it could fit into the frame where I let a piece of my body lift fall through into the frame of my Bronco.

Snap on- That will be 20 dollars......

Well at least the lift is done and will remember that section of frame above the front of rear spring forever.....

Located and welded on the lower shock mounts. Painted the rear axle. Will post pics tomorrow when the light is better. Hammerite is making my house smell.

Went to Wild Horses 4x4 while on a visit to my family in the California bay area. First time visiting the shop. Very busy place on a Monday with all you people breaking stuff over the weekend.

picked up a couple little things but really went to just check it out and be inspired.

Bought steel. Did this to my driveway with the plasma cutter. Wife likely won't be happy. Still worth it.

That'll buff out right?!?

The soot will. I'm less sure about the slag that's melted into the concrete. Might make for some really pretty rust stains after the next rain. Turns out that 44,000 degrees is tough on pavement.

better paint it

Get some cement board/Hardiebacker to put under the plasma or welding work.

Would have if I'd thought of it. By the time the steel was in my driveway it was too late and I was committed. Turns out that a full sheet of 1/4" plate is tough to move by yourself.

Justin wrote:Would have if I'd thought of it. By the time the steel was in my driveway it was too late and I was committed. Turns out that a full sheet of 1/4" plate is tough to move by yourself.

I know the feeling. I just get going on something and won't slow down, to my own detriment. Tomorrow I'll be redoing some work I shouldn't have to, because I got to moving too fast.

Installed the fuel pump and fuel lines. Cut the firewall and mounted the computer.

I've been able to spend a little time most evenings this week and a good day today working on my Bronco.

Here are some pics of my finished/modfied F250 water outlet with the bypass port directly on the intake fitting. I shortened the 5/8" port to the heat & flared it.



Fuel tank vents filler lines & vents:
Main, I shortened both the main filler tube & the 5/8" breather. I drilled, tapped, & soldered a 5/16" barb into the breather line & connected it to the breather, you can see in the back.





Aux tank fillers, shortened the 5/8" breather & ran hose to straighten the run. The replacement plastic tank I bought 15 years ago didn't have the breather & vent barbs in the right place. I used a 5/16" barb tapped high in the tank to run to the breather.

The last couple nights & most of today I spent working on my bumper.

I built a set of frame liners from 2"x4"x1/8". They slid back into the frame about 8.5".

Also got the middle section of the bumper built. I added a receiver hitch to a Smittybuilt bumper years ago, but didn't like the thin wall construction. With my new bumper I was able to pull the winch back a few inches closer to the grill, and place it higher as well. I'll be getting some 2.5" Sch 40 pipe Monday, to match my rear bumper. I'll add the outer frame box wall & 2 pipe sections to each side next week. I'm pretty happy with the way it has turned out so far.

Lookin good on that bumper gunni

Thanks Jeff. I "stole" the idea for the frame inserts from your post a while back.

Gunnibronco wrote:Thanks Jeff. I "stole" the idea for the frame inserts from your post a while back.

I don't recall who I stole it from

I do.

Work all weekend and installed a 3.5 suspension lift on the bronco. Just need to finish the rear shocks because the mounting bolt broke and need to get new ones.



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Jar jar wrote:Work all weekend and installed a 3.5 suspension lift on the bronco. Just need to finish the rear shocks because the mounting bolt broke and need to get new ones.



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Lookin good !

Are you gonna get some bigger wheels / tires ?

took me a few hours but Got the Duff arms mounted, frame plated, Diff cover installed, new steering linkage / TRE's and lots of other stuff :)

Waiting on my new shocks up front as my old ones are too short :(

now onto building a floor covering and get the air system re-installed!





Heres my 7 bay garage where I work on the Bronco - fun times!

Rox Crusher wrote:

Jar jar wrote:Work all weekend and installed a 3.5 suspension lift on the bronco. Just need to finish the rear shocks because the mounting bolt broke and need to get new ones.



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Lookin good !

Are you gonna get some bigger wheels / tires ?

Ya that the next purchase. I hope to get 32x10.5 under it.

Tuesday night I popped up my "new" camper & ran everything through the paces (sorry, forgot to take pics). Heat, electric, etc all worked. Just not sure how the H20 works, but will be talking to the former owner again to get the details worked out. I realized the trailer has a 7 pin harness & trailer brakes, so I'm going to get a brake controller and install it in the Bronco, also need a spare tire for the camper.

I also pulled out my old low pressure fuel pump, ready to install my new Carter pump.

Last night I didn't get anything done, but unpacked these:


Picking up my slider & bumper steel this afternoon. Also getting some 1.75" DOM, hopefully can add a little to my cage before Moab, but that might not happen.

Lots of work planned this weekend.