[Gunfixr]

Update on the Bronco. Been real busy this year with life. Felt good to work on the Bronco. Two kids graduated high school, oldest turned 21, I turned 50, wife turned 50, daughter now away at college, son going to community college.....Wow I need a beer!

New radiator vs old radiator (on the right).
View attachment 251232

View attachment 251233
ain't she pretty? New one is Brass and copper not aluminum. It is 20% larger than old. Replaced hoses, stat, fan shroud, cap and water neck as well.

Nice, didn't know you could still get brass and copper radiators.
Ahhh, i remember 50....
Just wait, you'll blink and the kids will be married, with kids of their own...

 

[Burntoutaccountant]

😑

waited two months for this. Screw fedex.

 

[BikerPepe`]

dammit!

 

[Burntoutaccountant]

dammit!

That started my morning off great

 

[BikerPepe`]

I feel ya man. Spent my morning rebuilding the elec. water heater.
not the same but still... bad start. 🍻

 

[El Kabong]

😑 View attachment 251247 waited two months for this. Screw fedex.
View attachment 251246

Fed Ex. When it positively has to be there with a hole in it by morning.

 

[Sozzy1269]

Drove it to the gym. Saw a couple high school age kids checking it out at a light. They were impressed when I revved it up to take off. Sounds good. 350ish miles on the new motor/ trans. Then I can change my oil.

 

[cwegga]

Just did a bit of fiddling on small stuff today after work. When I put my heim joint clutch actuator rod in, I replaced the duct tape covering the through floor hole with the correct rubber boot for a second time. With the heim joint ends, it ended up popping the boot out of the floor and still having a big hole I could see through. Today I pulled the bottom end off the z-bar unscrewed the heim and flipped the boot. We'll see if it works pointing up. After adjusting my timing to be right last week, my high idle when the choke is on has been too high. I fiddled with it and turned the screw that I guessed adjusted that out a bit. The engine was still warm so it's not a final adjustment, but I got it down from around something way to high, to around 1,300 rpm. I'll see how it works for the next few mornings, since it's cooled down a bit and is into the high 40s now for our lows. The real test of course will be how it works when it's -20 out, but that won't come until January probably.

 

[Sozzy1269]

Just did a bit of fiddling on small stuff today after work. When I put my heim joint clutch actuator rod in, I replaced the duct tape covering the through floor hole with the correct rubber boot for a second time. With the heim joint ends, it ended up popping the boot out of the floor and still having a big hole I could see through. Today I pulled the bottom end off the z-bar unscrewed the heim and flipped the boot. We'll see if it works pointing up. After adjusting my timing to be right last week, my high idle when the choke is on has been too high. I fiddled with it and turned the screw that I guessed adjusted that out a bit. The engine was still warm so it's not a final adjustment, but I got it down from around something way to high, to around 1,300 rpm. I'll see how it works for the next few mornings, since it's cooled down a bit and is into the high 40s now for our lows. The real test of course will be how it works when it's -20 out, but that won't come until January probably.

You hope the -20 doesn't come until January... Do you have a block heater or heat riser to the carb?

 

[cwegga]

Just did a bit of fiddling on small stuff today after work. When I put my heim joint clutch actuator rod in, I replaced the duct tape covering the through floor hole with the correct rubber boot for a second time. With the heim joint ends, it ended up popping the boot out of the floor and still having a big hole I could see through. Today I pulled the bottom end off the z-bar unscrewed the heim and flipped the boot. We'll see if it works pointing up. After adjusting my timing to be right last week, my high idle when the choke is on has been too high. I fiddled with it and turned the screw that I guessed adjusted that out a bit. The engine was still warm so it's not a final adjustment, but I got it down from around something way to high, to around 1,300 rpm. I'll see how it works for the next few mornings, since it's cooled down a bit and is into the high 40s now for our lows. The real test of course will be how it works when it's -20 out, but that won't come until January probably.

You hope the -20 doesn't come until January... Do you have a block heater or heat riser to the carb?

This engine has a heater in the coolant hose. My last engine had a block heater that worked well. I park in a garage over night so that's nice, but it's not heated so I still use the heater. The real cold starts are after a day at work sitting in the parking lot. I'll see how the different heater works once things get colder.

 

[Gunfixr]

Driving the '93 more, since hotter than the hinges of hell has stopped. O'reilly has put a store in one of the small towns, just opened. So, after work, i went there and did a walk through, to see what they had. I'd been in one years ago, but was after something, didn't check out the store. Guy hanging out, i think his girl working behind the counter. He seriously tried to buy my '93, said name my price. Once i mentioned the '89, yeah, knew it, had seen it, i pretty much have the only fsbs seen around, wanted it also. Tried the i don't need 2 of them thing.
Said sorry, might be for sale one day, but today is not that day, lol.....

 

[BikerPepe`]

Couldn't log in yesterday. Not sure if site wide or just my newer VPN setup triggered a banned IP group. Oh well. Back working today, obviously.

Yesterday I re-worked the borgeson steering shaft and finally got it installed. I did use the sandblaster but completely disassembled the shaft, so no u-joints were in the blast cab.
Seems to be working well but man... what a pain in the ass. If it were on the bench, it would have taken minutes but reaching down inside the engine compartment to do it all was a challenge.
Hope it all goes well when I finally get the steering wheel installed and try it out. 🤞

Went out today and swapped in the warrantied blinker harness piece ("SHEE-MAR, SHM SM61F"). This time the replacement worked fine on the tilt but the "up" or "right side" blinker arm wouldn't catch enough to stay on. I considered ripping it all out again but instead, thought I'd risk the warranty (because really, what's the point after 2 fails in a row) and pulled out my scalpel. Thank god I've got one, because there's not enough width available to use a blade knife against the steering shaft. I was able to cut the catch edge on the blinker arm enough that it finally was able to catch and hold the blinker in the on position, as it should. Whew. By that time, it's 90 deg. in the shop again... so I got out.

Again... fighting me every step of the way but... NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER! 🖕😝🖕

 

[El Kabong]

🤣

 

[BikerPepe`]

And... got it all wrapped up today. Ashamed to say it but I had to rework centering the new steering wheel 4 flippin' times, because... why the hell not?!? 🤬
Everything works now and looks pretty sharp too. One thing I didn't get re-installed was the plastic column wrap as it goes under the dash. When I installed the column, I set it up 1/2 on the adjustment slots and now it doesn't want to budge enough to move and if I disconnected it to do so... I wouldn't be able to reach the bolts to secure it, once the plastic cover is on. Not great but at least I repainted the tilt-column so it doesn't look horrible. Thinking I might try a metal column/dash cover from an older rig, as it doesn't have to slide up into the collar behind the shifter cover. Problem will be finding one... in blue.

Anyway... I've babbled a lot about this project and been pretty stingy on the pics so here's a few of the borg shaft and the new wheel, installed...

EDIT TO ADD: I was so happy to be finished with the mess these upgrades were for me, I forgot... the steering is INCREDIBLE! Between that and the new brakes, this thing handles better than any other 70's rig I've ever driven. I only made some local test runs but man... so smooth and so easy. I've passed the advice on to others many times over the years but I was finally able to experience it for myself and WOW. Not the cheapest upgrades you could do but the Steering Trinity and the Hydro-Brakes together... just, WOW. If she doesn't like it... then she's nuts and totally spoiled by her newer truck. I might have to make her drive Dad's '78 around the block first, just so she can truly appreciate the difference.

 

[Sozzy1269]

Finally got around to cutting the excess length of the leaf spring center pins. While I had my sawzall ready, I found the rear, upper shackle bolt was too long and had contacted the bracket, so I shortened those too. Then I installed a couple leaf spring clamps to keep them from shifting.

 

[SRWillis]

Again... fighting me every step of the way but... NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER! 🖕😝🖕

You endeavored to persevere, succeeded, and didn't have to declare war! That's a win!
I love that steering wheel BTW.
From my dad's favorite movie in his last years:

 

[TheWolf]

And... got it all wrapped up today. Ashamed to say it but I had to rework centering the new steering wheel 4 flippin' times, because... why the hell not?!? 🤬
Everything works now and looks pretty sharp too. One thing I didn't get re-installed was the plastic column wrap as it goes under the dash. When I installed the column, I set it up 1/2 on the adjustment slots and now it doesn't want to budge enough to move and if I disconnected it to do so... I wouldn't be able to reach the bolts to secure it, once the plastic cover is on. Not great but at least I repainted the tilt-column so it doesn't look horrible. Thinking I might try a metal column/dash cover from an older rig, as it doesn't have to slide up into the collar behind the shifter cover. Problem will be finding one... in blue.

Anyway... I've babbled a lot about this project and been pretty stingy on the pics so here's a few of the borg shaft and the new wheel, installed...

View attachment 251400



View attachment 251402
View attachment 251403

EDIT TO ADD: I was so happy to be finished with the mess these upgrades were for me, I forgot... the steering is INCREDIBLE! Between that and the new brakes, this thing handles better than any other 70's rig I've ever driven. I only made some local test runs but man... so smooth and so easy. I've passed the advice on to others many times over the years but I was finally able to experience it for myself and WOW. Not the cheapest upgrades you could do but the Steering Trinity and the Hydro-Brakes together... just, WOW. If she doesn't like it... then she's nuts and totally spoiled by her newer truck. I might have to make her drive Dad's '78 around the block first, just so she can truly appreciate the difference.

I love my hydro boost, Saginaw pump, Redhead Steering box and Borgeson upgrades, especially the hydro boost. Much improved performance. At first I missed the soft feel of the rag joints but then could appreciate the sensitivity of the Borgeson. It really lets you feel the road and diagnose other potential issues that arise like worn wheel bushings or driveline vibrations where the old rag joints would mask the feel until it was too late. Congrats on the completion. It's always a good feeling when its done.

 

[2ndHelping]

Drove it to work and back Friday. Ran & drove great.

 

[Gunfixr]

You endeavored to persevere, succeeded, and didn't have to declare war! That's a win!
I love that steering wheel BTW.
From my dad's favorite movie in his last years:

That's been one of my favorites for years. I especially like the "missoura boat ride" part. Me and wife did cowboy action shooting for a few years, were members of sass. They send a newsletter every month, like a old newspaper. Anyway, read an article about a chapter somewhere did one. You got in a small boat, with your rifle and a pile of ammo, they rode you down the river, you shot targets on the bank.

Anyway, been driving the '93 lately, gonna take it to work later. Yesterday, went back to the o'reilly to return a part, the girl of the guy trying to buy the '93 was there, clearly happy to see it. He was trying to get it for her.
Once grass cutting season stops, maybe i'll unhook the trailer from the '89, and run it up there, lol......

 

[Bogie]

😑 View attachment 251247 waited two months for this. Screw fedex.
View attachment 251246

Just about every package I get from fedex is beat to shit. I don't have that issue with ups or other delivery companies.