www.ColoradoClassicBroncos.com

Nice dude, how far are you setting back? I was gonna set mine in stock position, but today I saw a really bad arse Comanche pickup and I'm re-entertaining the thought of stretching mine but doing it with a halfcab so it'll be a single cab pickup, I was thinking like 3-5"s setback, have you measured how far you can go w/ out mutilating the firewall?

That is a very cool set up. Your truck is going to be one very unique beast when she's done. I'm looking forward to seeing this.

Colorado75bronc wrote:Nice dude, how far are you setting back? I was gonna set mine in stock position, but today I saw a really bad arse Comanche pickup and I'm re-entertaining the thought of stretching mine but doing it with a halfcab so it'll be a single cab pickup, I was thinking like 3-5"s setback, have you measured how far you can go w/ out mutilating the firewall?

I've yet to make my final decisions on the extension or setback, I plan on assembling the trans through xfer cases and doing some driveline measurements, once that's done I'm going to set the engine in and check firewall clearances. When both of those are done I'm going to cut the frame and put my extensions in, then I'll mod the body to fit.

Subscribed:)

What ZF is that? BB Ford? Does the ZF bolt right to the 4BT? Or does it need an adapter? Why didn't you use a Mopar trans?

Gunnibronco wrote:What ZF is that? BB Ford? Does the ZF bolt right to the 4BT? Or does it need an adapter? Why didn't you use a Mopar trans?

I currently have the S5-42 trans, but I'm looking for the later model S5-47 for the higher torque rating. Both are bolted to the 351Ws that came in F-250 / 350 mid to late 90's trucks, the higher torque trans came in the 95 and up trucks. I'm using a factory cummins SBF adapter set that was installed in the bread trucks. To use a BB ford trans you'd have to get a custom adapter made by some machine shops, those run 1K plus. The only "Mopar" setup I'd want is the G56 6 speed Mercedes transmission that is in some of the 3500 Dodge trucks, I'm keeping my eye open for a junk yard jewel, if I find one I'd change my entire drivetrain for it.

Thanks, you hadn't mentioned an adapter, so I was wondering. That is sweet they came with the Ford adapter. So the bread truck was probably running a Ford automatic? or 4 speed manual?

Good luck finding the S5-47 or the right Dodge one. It would have been easier to find the BB ZF5, I found those everywhere, much cheaper than the SB ZF5. Plus more of them were probably the S5-47.

That Mercedes 6 speed is a manual? Does it bolt directly to the 4BT?

Gunnibronco wrote:
That Mercedes 6 speed is a manual? Does it bolt directly to the 4BT?

Yep, it's a manual, a sweet one as well, nice low granny and a .7'ish overdrive. It uses the 1st gen 6bt dodge trans adapter to bolt to the 4bt.

Got a little done today, mostly prep work. Cleaned up the xfer cases and gave them a coat of paint. Can you guess what is missing in the 1st picture, and no it isn't the drivetrain.

motor mounts

landshark wrote:motor mounts

Ditto!

I want to know more about your 6spd Mercedes tranny! I missed that somewhere along the way.

I think I saw one on Craigslist, last night. Its just $3500, come on, step up!

I don't own the 6 spd yet. That G56 has been on CL for about a month, he started over 4k, lets see if he gets down to my price range.

You could probably buy a super wrecked truck for that, part it out, keep the trans, and come out cheaper than that price. Or probably not. I dunno. I'm just in a posting mood.

Oh I've thought about it, I cruise CL looking for those wrecks all the time.

Heck if you did that I'd say you could do a common rail 5.9 or 6.7 cummins from the wrecked truck, you could get away with it with as much as you're stretching the bronco

Colorado75bronc wrote:Heck if you did that I'd say you could do a common rail 5.9 or 6.7 cummins from the wrecked truck, you could get away with it with as much as you're stretching the bronco

Too many cylinders, lol

Bit more done today, finished stripping the frame down, and pulled the old bell housing off the motor. Also mocked up the trans & xfer cases with the adapter bolted in. And besides needing to clean up the trans it looked good & just slightly intimidating. It's hard to see in this picture but the adapter lets me clock the 205 up or down by 4 degree increments, right now it at 12 degrees up which is essentially a "flat" setup. When I get it in the frame I'll take a better pic to show this, really happy with the machine work.

Looks awesome, just curious do you have anything against the nv4500? It's super stout, and there is a good fix for the fifth gear retention problem which only can be a problem if you lug it towing in overdrive which shouldn't be done with any overdrive manual trans. Also curious what 203 range box are you using? Dodge or ford married?

kinder wrote:

Colorado75bronc wrote:Heck if you did that I'd say you could do a common rail 5.9 or 6.7 cummins from the wrecked truck, you could get away with it with as much as you're stretching the bronco

Too many cylinders, lol

Oh, I'm sure you could find someone to take it off your hands.

Colorado75bronc wrote:Heck if you did that I'd say you could do a common rail 5.9 or 6.7 cummins from the wrecked truck, you could get away with it with as much as you're stretching the bronco

A 5.9 wouldn't be bad as they are also simple. But later diesels are just super complicated. It would be awesome to have a 6.7 in a bronco (better stretch it unless you want the rear to pass you up all the time), but I would have to leave that to all the experts and pay dearly for their time.

But if I were going to go to all that trouble, I would think there would be better diesel options out there, like the 3.5l inline 6 in our X5. More than enough power for a bronco. My guess is you'd have to run the same auto tranny as well. The V6 in thr touareg/cayenne, that new jeep Grand Cherokee motor (blasphemy!) and whatever Mercedes has in theirs...

The beauty of the 4BT is it's simplicity while yielding awesome fuel mileage and power for a small little 4cyl at the sacrifice of some noise.

Oh - Kinder keeps promising he has solved that noise issue - his wont be noisy....

Colorado75bronc wrote:Looks awesome, just curious do you have anything against the nv4500? It's super stout, and there is a good fix for the fifth gear retention problem which only can be a problem if you lug it towing in overdrive which shouldn't be done with any overdrive manual trans. Also curious what 203 range box are you using? Dodge or ford married?

Nothing against the NV, besides the need to fix it, I was just trying to stay on the Ford side of things. The 203 / 205 are both the Ford versions and both were the married style. Strength is good since all their stuff is 31 spline and Ford uses the round 6 bolt flange making it bolt together super easy.

hockeydad4-22 wrote:Oh - Kinder keeps promising he has solved that noise issue - his wont be noisy....

Being able to lie to myself lets me move forward with the build, and helps in other areas as well...

kinder wrote:

hockeydad4-22 wrote:Oh - Kinder keeps promising he has solved that noise issue - his wont be noisy....

Being able to lie to myself lets me move forward with the build, and helps in other areas as well...

Yeah - I have been hesitant to mention to you that spray foam only does so much....

hockeydad4-22 wrote:

kinder wrote:

hockeydad4-22 wrote:Oh - Kinder keeps promising he has solved that noise issue - his wont be noisy....

Being able to lie to myself lets me move forward with the build, and helps in other areas as well...

Yeah - I have been hesitant to mention to you that spray foam only does so much....

It will do the trick, if it is properly applied to the ear canals. (Kids dont try this at home)


Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

Woohoo! Got the engine, transmission and doubler mocked into the frame, glad to have it in so I can start making engine mounts and deciding where to clearance the frame at.

I'm going to use the bread trucks original engine mounts and crossmember as sources for making new engine mounts, I can use the driver side as is, but will have to flip the passenger side and change the angle since the chassis of the bread truck was a chevy and they mount those engines with a tilt. The cross member, as seen below, has been completely rearranged to suit my needs. I've been collecting ideas and images from everyone who has gone before me and I think I have a good plan to make it fit nicely.

My clearance areas will be the original front crossmember for sure, likely followed by the section that will hit the starter and maybe a small section to make the 205 fit a bit better. I won't do any cutting until I check distance to firewall and offset the motor slightly passenger side to get everything lined up. I can change the starter to a powerstroke starter and I won't have to clearance that area, but I'll have to have a centering ring machined for it. I'll be reading some more on this and making a decision.

I lost 3" of suspension lift when it set the entire thing in, that was from a bare frame so who knows what the actual losses will be, but I run linear coils and none are touching each other. I have a set of old school thick coils that I've been saving in case I drop further.

A rough measurement of the front driveshaft show it will be over 35" and I can match the rear to the same length if I stretch the frame 18" but it looks like I'm heading towards 21-23" total right now. I need to do a bit more measuring on my camper to get the final number.

The oil pan mod will be coming soon, I've seen some good and some bad, the coolest is JB Fab's Heavy Horse pan, but I don't have those skills. I'll likely section the pan, flip that inside out and add a section to the passenger side to retain the volume.

I plan to have the frame done, motor mounts done and cross members made by the end of this week. Any bets if I make it?

Coming along nicely-- it's gotta be fun being able to access everything and do it the way YOU want to do it.

Picked up a proper winch for the Bronco today, plan is to rebuild it & add a synthetic winch line. Now I need to build a winch bumper.

The venerable 8274. Good score!