www.ColoradoClassicBroncos.com

Thanks for the complements, I'm trying to improve my technique and was REALLY concentrating on making the welds correct. I hope pretty equals strong!

We need to do a welding tech day. That looks great!

Can you guess the change in this setup? And no it's not the addition of gaskets and if you had X-ray eyes you'd see the new intermediate shaft installed, not that either. The only person who can't play is brianut.

Also finished a major step today.... Motor mounts! They need to have the edges smoothed and I'm adding a section that'll wrap over the top of the frame, but the motor is actually mounted.

I'll shoot some close ups tomorrow morning and also try to finish 2 cross members as well.

kinder wrote:Can you guess the change in this setup? And no it's not the addition of gaskets and if you had X-ray eyes you'd see the new intermediate shaft installed, not that either. The only person who can't play is brianut.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1372296851.002642.jpg

Doubler?

crawlercreations wrote:
Doubler?

Nope, more subtle. If you look back to a previous post you'll see a picture that'll help.

Did you find a stronger ZF, its a different ribbing pattern on this trans. Plus its a lot cleaner.

Gunnibronco wrote:Did you find a stronger ZF, its a different ribbing pattern on this trans. Plus its a lot cleaner.

We have a winner, that didn't take long. It's the later model with a higher torque rating, been working on the deal for a couple of months and it finally happened just in time for me to get the drivetrain in.

Nice find. Pretty rare with the small block bell housing. Now you'll have to buy another Bronco to put your extra ZF into.

kinder wrote:

Gunnibronco wrote:Did you find a stronger ZF, its a different ribbing pattern on this trans. Plus its a lot cleaner.

We have a winner, that didn't take long. It's the later model with a higher torque rating, been working on the deal for a couple of months and it finally happened just in time for me to get the drivetrain in.

i was going to say.. seemed allot cleaner :) nice score

Gunnibronco wrote:Nice find. Pretty rare with the small block bell housing. Now you'll have to buy another Bronco to put your extra ZF into.

The extra is gone, part of the deal, but I'm keeping my eyes open in the yards for another one.

Cleanliness does count I guess, it came out of a farm truck and had over 3" of soil caked on it. It didn't have any leaks & I was able to start the truck and run it through the gears before pulling it.

Put in some cross members last night, hate them. Picked up new steel today for round 2.

Good fab day today, yanked the old cross members & put them in the scrap pile. Built two new ones out of 1x3x11ga and they turned out just right.

Trans mount runs high to the top of the frame & reuses the original bronco mounts to clear the front driveshaft & exhaust by going above them.



Transfer mount runs low and clears the front driveshaft & exhaust by going below them.



Here is a shot of them installed.



Also mocked up the intercooler.



And roughed in one set of new body mounts, these sit on the extension area. I still need to move the original set fwd and add another set for when I flip the body section that will contain my quarter doors.



And finally a shot showing what the belly clearance is going to be.

Well done and looks great! So...I would assume you are now the master at making "make shift" jigs!

Super cool!

Matt

Very nice work. What purpose will this rig serve? I'm just wondering if you should try to add bolt-on stiffeners between your two mounts if you are going to crawl this rig??

Matt, if you mean an angle finder, vice & sharpie is a jig then yes I'm getting very good.

JD, I plan on wheeling it just the same as before. Are you saying to brace between the frame rails (as in additional cross members) or between the the new cross members to tie them together?

Tie the new cross members together. That might keep them from collapsing should one get hung up. How far below the frame does the lowest one hang?

I'd be tempted to integrate a skid plate into any bracing to help keep them from getting hung up in the first place.

JD, gotcha, the xfer cross member is the lowest, hangs down 4" below frame. Not bad really, my radius arm brackets hang down 3".

Justin, we are thinking alike, as soon as JD posted I was thinking skid plate. I'll need 2 get creative on the bracing & attachment points. May need 2 wait for phase 2.

Did some clean up work yesterday, finished the motor mounts, trimmed a few pieces that were a little close and notched the frame for the starter. Chris came by last night so we could add some tabs to his core support for a couple of pusher fans and he helped me set the drivetrain in for what should be the last time, I think I've pulled it out and put it in at least a dozen times during this part of the build.

Factory motor mount next to the one I built, the motor was in a Chevy setup so it had the lean, gone now.



Starter notch.





Motor mounts finished.





Xfer case notch.



Time to start running fluid lines & electrical, then the next big step coming up this week is to cut my '68 body in half and get it mounted.

Looks great Kirk !

Ready by the weekend?

At the rate you're going, you'll be ready to wheel tomorrow morning. We'll be at the Dumont Starbuck's at 9, see you there!

Love watching this thread - great pics and tons of details. Keep up the great work!

Huge milestone this afternoon. The Black Smoke Donkey is Rollin' Coal! At least that's what the cool kids say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nfRixAvOvw

Where's the sound?

I can't even get a dash built and he's firing up a diesel Bronco. Damn nice work.

Corey, I've got sound on my end, I can send you a copy if you want.

Dude! That is so cool!