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DD/Beater Build! (96)

63K views 247 replies 46 participants last post by  simrokkzz 
#1 ·
Oh no what have I done?!!!

Found this 96 XL on CL earlier in the week







Front bench! Its comfy


The worst of the rust


The reason it was on CL: PO pulled heads thinking it needed a head gasket and found a cracked block instead:banghead




That was the end game, after that it just sat in his yard.
So this morning me & a buddy took the whopping 20 minute trip to pick it up :toothless









Plans:

Its a MAF truck with no motor. So im currently hunting for one. Its looking like im going to drop a 351 in, as they seems to be a ton cheaper in these parts than 302s for some reason. I did find another EFI 460 for sale :toothless but I want to keep this one a mild truck that both of us can drive. Currently researching what it takes to make a 351 run off a 302 MAF system.

So yeah it needs a motor. Windshield is cracked and needs replaced. We blew a rear brake line loading it up so it needs one of those too. Rear tires are pretty clean 31s, front are mix matched and shot. So it needs two tires as well. But did you see that tailgate?! :eek: Mint :smokin:

So yeah, needless to say I had to snag it up. Especially when it was only $400 :eek: :rockon:rockon

Short term is to simply get this thing running, and drive the hell out of it. Maybe if I decide its a keeper, ill go 3/4 ton with it :toothless
 
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#2 ·
Nice purchase! Only downside to the 96 is being OBDII. That may make it more difficult than a 95 MAF 351.
 
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#3 ·
Maybe? Im not so sure. All the sensors on the 302/351 are in the same place. After reading up on it last night, im pretty sure I can drop a 351 in, hook up the 302 wiring harness to it, and itll run :smokin: Looks like all the emissions stuff is there too, either under the hood or inside the bronco which should make it easier. Honestly thinking the only thing ill have to do is exhaust, but time will tell.

This was not planned at all; I just happened to pop onto CL cuz we were looking for D44/8.8 stuff for a buddies XJ, and I stumbled across this truck. So im in no rush to get it on the road; ill hunt around for a cheap running motor, throw a bunch of gaskets at it and whenever I get it running is fine with me.
 
#4 ·
Good deal. I keep joking with the wife that I need a winter Bronco too. That looks about perfect for daily driver and winter
 
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#5 ·
Parts truck!


In the hunt for a 351, I neded up buying a whole truck :rofl:


Enter this rotted out 88 F250:
351/C6/1356. 4.10s with a L/S rear :twotu:


She barely fit on the trailer. We ended up sawzalling off the bumper to make room for the ramps :toothless


I found this thing and was originally only going to buy the motor until the owner told me for another $200 I could have to whole truck. 3/4 tons with 4.10s? Sign me up :toothless


So I set up an elaborate shceme that required me driving 150 miles yesterday:duh
After I left work I went home, grabbed the trailer and picked up this truck. Then from there shot over to Collis Truck Parts to pick up this:

(3/4 ton 10 bolt for 8-lug conversion)



Brought both home, unloaded and then immediately left again, to swap the 235/85/16s on steel wheels for these:


305/70/16 on factory AL wheels :smokin:


So the plan is to pull the 351 out and get it on an engine stand. Winch truck back up on trailer and then pull rears. Put bronco in driveway, swap to 8-lug, and then dispose of 5-lug parts & F250 (its a rotted out plow truck). (Anyone want a C6??) Then I can begin going over the 351 and getting it ready to drop into the bronco.

Now that I have the 305s im considering ordering the 1.5-2" coils bronco graveyard sells, and rummaging through my spring pile to find a way to lift the rear to match. We'll see...
 
#8 ·
Parts truck! swap to 8-lug,
I hope there is a better way to swap to TTB 8 lug vs that abortion we did last time on Kieth's bronc :popc1: (or is it solid axle, which would have made it a smokin deal then)
 
#7 ·
Yeah im pretty excited. I spent every day on CL trying to source a motor, and when I got there to check it out, found out he was gonna part the whole truck. So I ended up going back a week later to get it. During that time I had stumbled across the 305s, and set something up to swap the tires when I brought the F250 home. The front axle was coincidence; I couldn't find the parts in the local yards, so I called a junkyard that specializes in trucks, which just so happened to be 20 minutes from the F250, and they just so happened to have one. All in all a crazy coincidence, that led to a very long day :rofl: Hopefully this thing goes together without too much trouble.
 
#10 ·
Hey, 305s are mild :rofl:

Yeah no SAS on this one, Im purposely trying to keep it small so its easier for Dawn to drive. Im gonna use that chevy axle to make the TTB 8 lug, and then just swap the 10.25 in. Gonna reuse the D50 TTB third plus center shafts for the bronco and pretty much junk the rest. Maybe sell the C6/1356, and the D50 spindle/hubs. The rest of the truck is junk.

If all goes well, ill start pulling the drivetrain out of the donor truck Tuesday or Wednesday. I need to do some cleanup in the garage first.


Conveniently I sold ~$600 in Suzuki parts in the last two weeks, which has funded most of this project thus far.
 
#13 ·
But did you see that tailgate?! :eek: Mint :smokin: So yeah said:
Ive seen people comment about the tail gates out there never gave it much thought until I read this, I was just at the you pull it and save yard yesterday I bet there were at least five in that kind of shape or better. what do you guys pay for a tail gate in that kind of shape?
 
#15 ·
Good info to know. Im probably going to reuse the 302 intake & fuel rail, and definitely the 302 wiring harness so i should be ok. Have to reuse the 302's manifolds as well due to it having 3 O2 sensors. I need to sort out what to do about adapting the crank sensor to the 351 as well.

Ive got a whole bunch of parts on order (gaskets/seals/bushings/shocks/etc) from Rock Auto, Summit & Bronco Graveyard; hopefully by the time it all arrives ive got the F250 apart.



Ive never seen a clean bronco tailgate in a junkyard, so i dunno. Every one is either rotted out, or badly torn from the tire carrier. But LMC sells new ones for ~$300 :duh
 
#14 ·
So last year I swapped a 351W into my 95 F150 that previously had a 5.0, the two issues that I ran into was with the timing, so you just change spark plug wire configuration...easy enough. But after the swap it wasn't running quite right and I couldn't figure out the issue. After searching online, I found that you need to swap the pins at the ECU for the injectors as these years are Sequential fuel injection motors and must have the right firing order for them, you can also swap the wires at the injectors etc but it was really easy to swap the pins. This fixed the issue and it runs flawless now. Best of luck!
 
#17 ·
85 K20 front axle from the junkyard:


Removed what appeared to be new, yet rusty calipers & rotors


Found brand new bearings, apparently just recently geased


Whole axle stripped


8 lug hub parts salvaged


matching chevy stubs cleaned up


Near as i can tell, this whole axle was rebuilt and then the truck went to the junkyard. Everything looks brand new, even the pads, those aren't rusty and don't even show signs of wear. All the seals and dry rotted though from sitting so i ordered all new hub & spindle seals. New calipers too since theyre $19 each :rofl:


From there i moved on to modding a pair of knuckles off of an older bronco i got from another 'yard.

First ear cut off:


Done


Comparison


And both knuckles done


Ive got like 6 boxes of parts still unopened in the garage, gotta go thru them tomorrow. Im going to bring the knuckles and the caliper brackets in to work to see if i can blast them and get em painted. Hoping next week i can start stripping the parts truck.
 
#18 ·
Caliper brackets, what did they come off of and do they mount inside or out, Just a stupid question is all.

What year bronco are the knuckles
 
#19 ·
The caliper brackets are from the same 85 K20 axle. It slips over the spindle, and is retained by the spindle studs. You reuse the spindles, spindle studs, wheel bearings, hub, rotor, caliper, caliper bracket, & stub shaft from the Chevy axle. Basically everything that attaches to the knuckle.

The 'new' knuckles are from a pre-94ish bronco; can't reuse the 96's knuckles cuz they use 5 spindle studs instead of 6 like all other Dana 44 axles. So doubtful I'll be able to retain the 4WABS system.
 
#21 ·
[OFF TOPIC]
Since youre asking, that must mean its a kingpin axle. Ford calipers look to me to be bigger than the chevy ones. The Chevy kingpin knuckles are the strongest but the tierod will be lower to the ground. The Fords are just find if you gusset the knuckles. Reid Racing's D60 knuckles are based off of the Chevy D60 knuckle. Inner C's are all pretty much the same. I don't know anyone who bothers with the Dodge stuff unless they have a dodge. I couldn't even tell you the last time I saw a Dodge D60.
[/OFF TOPIC]







I have an absolute shitload of parts piled up the garage. Looks like everything as arrived. If the weather holds, I should begin disassembling the parts truck tomorrow :smokin:
 
#23 ·
Yesterday I pulled the drive shafts & tcase, then pulled the front clip, and yanked out the motor/trans




Hoping I can sell the C6/BW1356.


That's enough for one day...



So today I pushed it onto the yard, then winched it up onto the trailer


Stripped the whole front end. Saved the front 3rd for the bronco, planning on selling the hubs/spindles/etc


Then moved on to the rear


10.25 out


then stole the steering wheel, steering box & pitman arm, and off to the scrapyard she goes



All told, pretty productive over the past two days, if I do say so myself :thumbup
 
#25 ·
Yeah it has been a busy week, that's for sure. May have overdone it a bit? Im pretty sure I pulled a muscle in my hand, cant move it too well today :banghead

It looks like a bomb went off in the garage, so the plan for the next day or two is to simply clean up and organize.
 
#27 ·
Staying drum. Why? Cuz theyre massive :toothless No seriously, this rear is damn near identical to the one in my diesel, and the brakes in that truck are awesome. Paired with a one-ton master & booster (both on order), the stock 10.25 brakes work great.

Speaking of which, I brought the rear into the garage to pop a drum off, and check condition of brakes. Needed to see if it had the 2½" or 3" shoes, condition of hardware etc. The drum didn't come off too well, but once it did come off, I was greeted with this:


New brakes! The wheel cylinders look like death from the outside so they'll be getting replaced, but the shoes (3") & all hardware are all damn near new :smokin:



So this is where I left off for the weekend:


10.25 ready to be stripped, and the front 3rd waiting for a chance to be degreased. Hope to start prepping both of these tomorrow morning after work.
 
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