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Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:20 am
by Jesus_man
They can be tough to bleed! I think the thing that worked best for me was to bleed it with a pry-bar thru the inspection door. Perhaps you tried that??
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 12:27 pm
by Eck
Jesus_man wrote:They can be tough to bleed! I think the thing that worked best for me was to bleed it with a pry-bar thru the inspection door. Perhaps you tried that??
Yep- tried that- couldn't get it to budge.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:29 pm
by Rox Crusher
I tripped across the perfect solution
http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... p?t=272359Sorry, couldn't resist

Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 1:20 pm
by EFI Guy
Eck wrote:Well after 2.5 days of work, Phil and I fired it off. It sounds great and I think we were able to find the root of why I was having so many issues with the cam synchronizer gear (will post up about that later).
And then???
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 2:20 pm
by Viperwolf1
EFI Guy wrote:Eck wrote:Well after 2.5 days of work, Phil and I fired it off. It sounds great and I think we were able to find the root of why I was having so many issues with the cam synchronizer gear (will post up about that later).
And then???
Then we couldn't get the clutch bled. Today we did.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 7:41 pm
by Rox Crusher
Viperwolf1 wrote:Then we couldn't get the clutch bled. Today we did.
Ancient Chinese secret ?
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 7:43 pm
by Viperwolf1
I'll let Eck fill you in on this. I will say there was lots of wheel spin happening this afternoon in Wheatridge though.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2016 9:54 am
by Eck
Well... the Ancient Chinese Secret happened to be Chinese after all -- as in, the Chinese made Slave Cylinder that had roughly 1000 miles on it since the ZF install turned out to be bad. Went to NAPA and bought a new one (this one was assembled in Mexico!), and it probably took about 15 minutes to get this one bled. Big THANK YOU to Phil for helping me see this one through!
Took a quick victory lap around the neighborhood but with the snowy road conditions, I couldn't truly put it to the test. I could definitely tell that there was an increase in HP in the one short stretch of dry road I found. Pretty sure I am not going to regret the upgrade to the GT40 heads and roller cam conversion.
Quick recap on the issue that I was having prior to this upgrade: The flat tappet cam had iron gears and the Cam Synchronizer gear that came stock when doing the Explorer EFI is steel. Therefore I would buy the iron distributor gear and swap it onto the Cam Synchronizer shaft. This is a slight press fit and then held in place by ONE roll pin. I probably went through 3-4 Cam synchro gears because the pin would shear off and I would lose all oil pressure.
What we found when tearing the engine down a bit:
1. The Cam retainer plate had a worn groove in it and that probably meant the cam could travel ever so slightly. We first thought that this might have been the culprit of the issue.
2. I inspected the oil pump pickup screen and it was clean. The oil was clean. After getting a majority of the engine assembled on the engine stand, we decided to prime the system with oil. The shaft was stuck and broke my priming tool. We also had a real difficult time installing and then finally removing the Cam Synchronizer assembly. Upon trying to remove the assembly, we broke part of the gear (fortunately we were able to get all of the pieces out with a magnet without having to remove the timing cover). After deciding to get a new oil pump, Phil cracked open the old one to find a small metal shaving inside the pump gears that had somehow worn out on the bottom plate (another Chinese Secret I am sure!). Once we put the new oil pump on and got everything back together, the Cam Synchro assembly slid into place with ease and the oil primed with ease. Long story short-- the oil pump would occasionally work that piece of metal into place enough to seize the pump and that would sheer the roll pin on the synchro gear.
So-- my major issues with the engine were a POS oil pump that had less than 2k miles on it and my major issue with the Hydraulic Clutch was a POS Slave Cylinder that had less than 1k miles on it. Crossing my fingers that the replacement parts hold up a little longer and I can drive my Bronco with some confidence moving forward!
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:04 am
by Jesus_man
I learned the lesson and a cheap chinese slave as well...never again!
Good news that you found the foundational issue with your motor! Here's to thousands of happy miles!

Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2016 6:17 pm
by Justin
Nice! Hopefully you've got it worked out and can go back to enjoying it.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2016 8:48 pm
by phyler
Good stuff! You really had me questioning my future plans. Glad I can learn from others here.
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Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2016 10:11 am
by Digger
It's getting harder and harder to find good parts these days. Quality parts just aren't available from the corner stores anymore as they search for the bottom dollar (aka lowest cost supplier). Previously good names are being run into the ground. We deal with this at my day job all the time. It is a constant fight to up-sell a well made part over a bottom dollar part.
I find myself going out of the way to order mission-critical parts online from reputable sources so I don't get stranded or wind up redoing a labor intensive job.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:11 pm
by crawlercreations
Digger wrote:It's getting harder and harder to find good parts these days. Quality parts just aren't available from the corner stores anymore as they search for the bottom dollar (aka lowest cost supplier). Previously good names are being run into the ground. We deal with this at my day job all the time. It is a constant fight to up-sell a well made part over a bottom dollar part.
I find myself going out of the way to order mission-critical parts online from reputable sources so I don't get stranded or wind up redoing a labor intensive job.
I'm with you. Having just started my own shop I endeavor to order as many NEW parts online as I can. Since I personally schedule each job I usually get to order them and know I've got good parts on hand when the job comes in. I just received a bunch of high quality parts for a Subaru head gasket job I have lined up for the end of January. Doing something this critical it's nice to have good stuff so I won't have to do it again.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 10:40 am
by Eck
So I decided that I needed something in the Bronco that would let me lock stuff up if needed to. It's amazing how I have to plan errands or doing things based on whether I'm comfortable leaving thing in the Bronco for anyone to easily take.
I ordered the Tuffy lock box and decided I also wanted to put it on slides so that when the tailgate is down, it's easy to pull forward and get things out. Everything fit very well with my back seat and this gives me something to be able to even throw some tools, fluids, emergency things in if I needed to.




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Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:41 am
by Jesus_man
Awesome! Are you worried about the sliders being over-loaded? I know there are some beefy ones out there.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 12:17 pm
by Eck
Jesus_man wrote:Awesome! Are you worried about the sliders being over-loaded? I know there are some beefy ones out there.
They are rated for up to 500 lbs. I probably won't pull it out if it's super heavy.
https://www.ovisonline.com/12-Locking-D ... P1617.aspxSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 1:46 pm
by Strike2
Nice work on making it a slider, Looks Great!
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 2:58 pm
by landshark
Great job! want to do something similar before May as well -
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:04 pm
by Jesus_man
I'm interested to see how well it works in an offroad situation. It would be super handy!!
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 1:05 pm
by Friday
nice job on the box! What's the dimension of that Tuffy box?
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 10:29 am
by Eck
Friday wrote:nice job on the box! What's the dimension of that Tuffy box?
Exterior Dimensions: 9 5/8" L x 33 7/8" W x 11 3/8" H
http://www.tuffyproducts.com/p-96-super ... trunk.aspxSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 12:10 pm
by Moab Mike
Looks awesome! You can never have enough lockable storage in a bronco.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 1:11 pm
by Eck
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 2:03 pm
by Kinder
Very nice.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 2:42 pm
by Rox Crusher
That bumper looks great !
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 3:52 pm
by Jesus_man
That is a very nice bumper!
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 7:52 pm
by Strike2
That is a very sweet looking bumper, I really like how the warn winch looks and the lights. Very clean looking

Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 7:57 pm
by ZOSO
Much better looking bumper than what was on it.
Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 7:59 pm
by Eck
ZOSO wrote:Much better looking bumper than what was on it.
Agree. This was the old one (for sale now)!

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Re: 69 Dudes-- Just the beginning
Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:24 am
by landshark
Turned out great! CanΓÇÖt wait to see it in person.