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BlazenXLT - '94 build

11K views 52 replies 11 participants last post by  blazenXLT 
#1 ·
Ok, so here we go! This thread is a long time coming but I’m excited to get it going. Much of what will be listed here has been a goal since I joined this forum (can’t believe it was 2004…). I’ll be using this space to document progress both for myself and others. There are tons of amazing threads that have served as inspiration and guidance, so a big thanks to those that have cleared the path.

Quick intro
So I’m lucky enough to have a bronco that has been in my family since it was new. I was with my dad in 1994 when we picked it up from the dealer (it replaced a blue ’88 with a 302), so I know its history 100%. I learned to drive in it (along with a manual civic), drove it in high school, took it to college, and used it as my DD for a few years after college. Since 2008 or so, it’s been driven less and less. As it stands today, it only has 131,100 miles and is driven maybe a few hundred miles each year.

Due to general age, and I think in some ways due to lack of use, its condition has become a little rough.
Again, I’m lucky as this truck has spent a significant portion of its life parked in a garage, which I’m sure is the reason that the rust is not terribly bad. It does have some of the typically bad spots (quarter panel, lower tailgate), but it appears fixable without having to do major surgery, although I could be wrong there. The under carriage and frame are pretty rough looking as well, but I’m hopeful that it’s mostly just surface rust and can be cleaned and coated.

Goal
I of course reserve the right to change my mind as I go along (I’m sure I will), but I think I’ve settled on at least a general goal for where I’m trying to go with this project. In my mind I picture a bit of an OEM+ build. In other words keeping it stock in many forms, but improve areas that are known weak points, or areas where I want different performance/looks. I won’t be doing any serious trails with this vehicle and anticipate it being driven for occasional weekend use around town and for camping trips. I’d love to have the interior look as it did when it was brand new, all the way down to the tape deck. For the most part this seems achievable as carpets are available and seats can be reupholstered. I do worry about finding fresh dash parts that aren’t replicas, but that’s an issue for another day.

For the “+” part, I do want to keep a lift kit on it (full suspension, 4 inches) and 33’s for tires. I like this look and it still fits nicely in my garage. I’m also planning to go with aftermarket bumpers front and rear. I’m not decided on driveline related questions. As I mentioned, I don’t plan to doing any heavy wheeling or towing, so the stock engine and driveline seem to work fine for that purpose, although I would like everything refreshed.
I’d like to do as much of the work on my own as possible, but I imagine I’ll be outsourcing a few tasks. I have no body work experience and that’s something I’d like to look as perfect as possible, so I think that’s probably worth the money. I’m totally comfortable working on suspension, brakes, and most engine items, so I look forward to digging into that. Most of my experience has been with my track car, which in some ways is easier to work on since it’s close to the ground. For the Bronco, I’m going to need to invest in some new tools as well. For starters I know I’ll need a bigger jack (do they even make jacks that can get to the frame and lift?), big stands, and more non-metric tools. I have a link to my other cars journal in my sig if anyone is interested.

I’m sure this will be a looong term project, but I’ll try to keep a record of everything I do here.

Cheers :beer
 
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#35 ·
Thanks for the link to your thread, the pics are helpful. I'm using a Derale mount also, but mine has the ports on top and doesn't have the extra spot for the temp sender. I should still be able to make it work. What type of temps do you see?
 
#36 ·
Now that the track season is winding down, I'm less distracted by the M3, so time to get back to the Bronco. The goal was to finish up the new trans cooler lines, but that lead me to the front of the truck where I'd been putting off dealing with the core support. In the end, I don't see any reason to finish and mount the new cooler, only to have to break it all back down again. So, core support, here we go!
I think I have the pretty typically rot, at least in the mid-atlantic and rust belt.



So today I removed the battery, front bumper, grill, battery tray, drained the cooling system and took out to upper and lower radiator hoses. Since I'm taking it all apart I'm going to swap most of the cooling system at the same time. To be continued...

Earlier this week I took care of the drivers side window, which hasn't worked in many years. I'd already ordered a new regulator and motor, it was just a matter of getting the old stuff out. Turns out that's a real pain. Of course the regulator is held in with rivets... Like many other write ups and videos of this process, I ended up cutting out some unnecessary metal. This is before things were cleaned up, but you get the point



And here's the old stuff next to the new motor



I put the new regulator in with screws, rivets seemed not worth the effort. The window works great now :beer
 
#42 ·
Did some more cleaning today and started to put in the new headlights. Other then the core support, all the other metal looks ok, so I washed, dried, and installed new speed clips. It was nice to get 25 years of dirt off the headlight support, lots of areas you could never get to with it installed. I hadn't planned on new lenses, but it's just so easy with everything out so I pulled the trigger.



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#43 ·
More progress! Just about all the parts are in, so next steps will be clean up the engine compartment, refinish some metal parts (brackets, battery tray) in chassis saver, then put it all back together.



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#44 ·
Got the water pump off today (and thermostat housing), it was really gross. I'll need to spend some time cleaning before putting the new one in.
I also attempted to pull the coolant plug from the engine block and it promptly rounded itself. It's a 1/4 inch pipe plug style, so I have no idea how to get it out. Any thoughts?



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#45 ·
Updates!
Working on my saginaw swap. It's surprising to see how small the OE pump is, it's no wonder they struggle with bigger tires.


Took a load to the metal recycling center


Happy to see that my core support mounts are solid.


Getting the old mounts off was a B!TCH. Took a big recip and a crowbar.


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#47 · (Edited)
Got in a bit more work recently. Finally got the engine coolant plug out, what a pain...
Other then that delay things are going back together pretty easily. New core mounts are in along with the new support. All hardware is being replaced at the same time. Finally starting to look like a truck again!



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#48 ·
Not much action here for a bit, but I have a bunch of parts with my local sand blaster, should have them back tomorrow ready for coating. Nothing fancy, just a brush on product. It's mostly random brackets, the mount for the airbox and the battery tray. Other than surface rust and junk they're in good shape.

I picked up a nicer heater for the garage too, so it should be easier to get out there and work more often.
 
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#49 ·
Progress on parts! Here's the steps from straight off the truck, to after sand blasting, to rust protected and painted.


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#50 ·
Looks good. Didn't see your post about the block drain plug until now - I had the same issue. Used an extractor bit from the Irwin set I bought. One in this kit:


It fit perfect in the drain plug without any drilling. A little heat and it came right out.
 
#51 ·
I used a very similar kit, but I basically had to drill all the way through the plug to get it out. I later tried the extractor on a smaller bolt I broke on the core support and it promptly snapped... Guess some of those bad Amazon reviews were right. Oh well, it served its purpose.

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#52 ·
Intake tray is back in and a/c parts are being test fitted. Need to figure out the large hose though, new part doesn't seem to match.


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#53 ·
Lots has happened since the last update. I figured out the A/C line and it fit just fine. The rest of the parts were mounted and it was pretty simple after doing some test fitting. Then I finished running the transmission cooler lines. I decided to take the "cold" line down the driver's side of the truck to avoid all the exhaust on the other side. It now runs down the wheel well, follows the fuels lines, then runs over the transmission.

I'm not happy with how the headlights fit, bit for now I'm leaving them. We're moving soon, so the bronco will spend a few months in storage, details can wait until the new home is done (and my new garage).

I did the normal fluid fill procedures and minus a bad starter solenoid, she fired right up. I've let the engine run for a bit in the garage while I double checked everything and looked for leaks, but all seems ok. Put in a quick neighborhood drive and it all seems good. I still need to do a longer drive to get the trans fully warm. Still nice to have a running truck again!


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