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I like '80s Fords. I don't know why. I wish I didn't- but I guess everyone has their character flaws. So without further ado, meet my two shitheaps. First up is the newest addition to the garage, my '86 Bronco XLT. Built like a tank and weighing only slightly less than one, it is what I like to call my 'Don't Give a gently caress Truck'. I bought it from an old hippy who himself bought it for the expressed purpose of driving it 1,000 miles across the desert and into Texas. He lives in an early '70s Winnebego outside Waco now, and is pretty AI himself. His other truck is a diesel International Scout that I wish I'd gotten pictures of. Nice dude.  It rattles, squeaks, and ticks. It leaks oil from the valve covers. The radiator is full of stop-leak. It will stall sometimes going into reverse (it is an automatic). Bits of trim randomly fall off. It is at least three different colors, and the lovely champion battery has about had it. All of that said, it's loving awesome.    Even with all its flaws, I can't help but love the big stupid thing. The four wheel drive works perfectly, and while it's a 302 and not a 351, the engine still has plenty of pep. It'll do 75 all day without complaint. Hell, the air conditioner even works. In the short time I've owned it I've beat the utter poo poo out of it and the Ronco has continued on without complaint. What it Needs Mostly minor things related to inspection, which it is due for soon. -It needs a new turn indicator switch, which I've already ordered. -Also a horn switch, as that's broken too. -The brake booster has a vacuum leak. It still stops fine, it just hisses like a semi when it does. -New valve cover gaskets somewhere down the line. Not a priority. -Most of the exterior trim have broken fasteners. It shakes off chrome like a dog shakes off water. Think I'll just strip it all off. -It's an Arizona truck, so most of the bushings are dry rotted. Doubt I'll get around to this anytime soon. Future Plans -Quick and dirty black primer paint job, so it's at least the same color everywhere. -351w swap maybe?? Little brother to the Ronco is my '85 Mustang GT Hatchback that some of you may remember. It is much faster, much louder, and much less reliable.   The Mustang I've had for a couple of years now, and I mostly use it as my toy/strip car. It has a bored-over 302 with aluminum heads, a Ford 'X' cam, a forged bottom end, and a four barrel Holley 4150. It's also in the process of eating its second T5 just since I've owned it. I love it. I really do. But sometimes I want to send the loving thing to the shredder so I never have to look at it again. What it Needs: Hoo boy. -Transmission. The T-5 in it now is on the way out. The synchros in 2nd and 4th are shot and it leaks like a sieve. It needs to come out, but that leaves me with the question of what to replace it with. A stock t-5 is out and even the T-5z would be well out of its torque rating. A T-56 is well outside budget, and the TKO is not far behind it. Right now I'm leaning towards ditching the manual altogether and finding a junkyard C4 to be rebuilt. Full manual valve body and a trans brake? Hell yeah. -New rear end. 1985 was the last year of the god-awful 7.5. Luckily, 8.8s are cheap, plentiful, and a direct bolt-in. Oddly enough, the 7.5 in mine has a LSD, and I'm pretty sure they all had open-diffs from the factory. Who would throw money at a garbage rear end? -Brakes. They work fine, but drat I'm tired of the rear drums. -Electrical. The wiring in this car is a hate crime. It is really that bad. It's slightly less bad than it was, but still awful. It all needs to be ripped out and replaced. -Front suspension work. Back in March I rebuilt the rear suspension, and its the front's turn now. MM control arms and a bumpsteer kit are on the shopping list. I threw some cheapo coil-overs on the front from American Muscle and they work alright, so they'll stay for now. -Paint/body. Paintjob is awful. 10-footer for sure. Poor prep when painting has allowed two rust spots to form in the upper corners of the hatch. How bad at this do you have to be to get something to rust in Texas? Front bumper cover was damaged while flat-towing when the tow vehicle got a little over-eager and took off before I was even in the car. Rear bumper cover is sagging. Passenger fender has broken bolt holes, can maybe be repaired. Trim is warping. Future Plans -The Mustang is going to become a strip-only car so: Cage and safety stuff. Go-fast bits. New motor? Or just lots of nitrous? Comedy option: 8-71 blower. Rear tubs? I need to sit down and mock out a plan. What have I gotten myself into?
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Jul 28, 2014 18:01
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 02:08 |
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Decided to take the Ronco's top off today. Pulled off the inside trim covers and found this. The gently caress? Those tiny little 5/16s bolts and washers are definitely not factory.  Factory bolt-hole misaligned and missing a bolt. You can see where he drilled the new one.  Driver's side pillar missing a bolt completely.   Ended up finding two factory bolts. Quick comparison of what should've been there vs what was actually there.  Finished result. Looking good.   Bonus dog shot.
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Jul 28, 2014 18:52
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Red_October_7000 posted:In my experience too it's very rare to see the tops off the later Broncos. Was it actually intended to be removable by that point in the lineage, as you mention having to take trim off to do it, or was it just a sort of "undocumented feature" by that point? I do understand that they're impossibly heavy and have seen pictures of custom jigs to help taking them off. They're really not that hard to take off. There's a lip on the inside edge of the bed rails that makes it pretty easy to just slide it off the end. I managed to do it by myself with no problems, but sticking it back on is definitely a two person job. I don't know why they decided bolts were the best way to mount it instead of Wrangler-style latches, but hey. Ford. Shifting focus to the Mustang, its had a minor oil leak from the valve covers for a while now (surprise surprise) and I finally got around to digging out my new gasket set and throwing them on. Sorry for the poor quality phone pictures.    Driver's side valve cover off.  Little known fact: small block Fords double as grasshopper burial grounds.  Mmmm, rocker porn. 1.6 is actually the factory ratio on these engines.  Everything looks good. Went around the edge with a brakleen rag and a razor blade, but wasn't really necessary. The surface was pretty clean.  Mmm, carburetor porn. Carb is a 4150 Holley with mechanical secondaries. It flows 750cfm and has no choke.  Gasket out. Looks like the stud stretched out the gasket hole, that's probably where it's leaking from. Rest of it looked fine. Decided to clean the valve covers since I have them off. Before:   After:   Polished valve covers are hard to keep clean.   New gasket in.  Side by side. You can really tell the difference.  Passenger cover off.  Same story with the gasket on this side. I'm guessing someone tried to re-use gaskets not meant to be reusable.  Valve cover cleaned and back on with new gasket. Ugh, that plug wire routing. I don't know what I was thinking. Went back and fixed it after I did this. Here's a quick startup video with added squeaky belts. For all the headaches it gives me, she sure does sound sweet.
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Jul 29, 2014 18:44
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Pricing automatic transmissions. Built C4s with manual valvebodies seem to be the cheapest option (not that that's saying much) but I really would like the overdrive gear the AOD offers, so at least there's an option of driving it on the street. 3 speed + 3.73s sounds like a recipe for 2500 rpm at 55. The overall cost of the swap doesn't seem too bad, both transmissions were offered in Fox bodies at some point (the c4 was offered in early fox bodies... to 82 I think and the AOD was the later option) so it's pretty easy altogether. Anyone have any experience with either transmission? Also, there were some new parts for the 'Stang and an indicator switch for the Ronco waiting for me when I got home yesterday. 
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Jul 30, 2014 16:38
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Spoiler: This has been sitting in my garage for two months now, waiting. It was literally given to me by my crazy boat mechanic friend. Edit- The AOD route is looking better. I was really hoping for a manual shift, but I'd settle for just better shift points. I've never rebuilt a transmission before, much less an automatic, but it looks like I might have to learn to avoid spending a ton. Propaganda Bob fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Jul 30, 2014 |
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Jul 30, 2014 17:53
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So I've spent the last few days working on the Bronco to get it ready for inspection, which it passed! First try no less! It is now registered and tagged, with Texas plates and all. It's gotten a new brake booster and indicator switch (which annoyingly was almost as expensive as a brake booster) and also, oddly enough, the tach has started working again all on its own. Guess I've bought the world's only self-repairing vehicle. I know a few Italians that would be interested in this technology. After that, I hit the pick n pull to check out a few late '80s Broncos they had in their inventory. There's an '89 5.0 4x4 with a 5 speed that I've got my eye on. Manual swap may be in the Bronco's future.  Besides that, I rigged a horn!  And visors!  New back seat!  You're in the wrong truck, buddy. The caddy seat buckle was affixed to the Bronco seat belt with duct tape   License plates! Not vanity plates, actually what they gave me. Fitting.  Self-repair feature excludes exterior trim.
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Aug 9, 2014 01:14
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Jesus christ. Pulled into the driveway last night in the Bronco and turned it off and pulled out the key... and it didn't shut off. Pulled the coil wire off the distributor cap (very carefully with a pair of insulated pliers) to shut the engine off, and did a little bughunting. Tracked the problem to a stuck solenoid which was easily fixed- and then discovered the fuel pump was not shutting off. Turns out, the 12v power wire to the stupid aftermarket sub/amp (which was wired straight into the battery) was coming out of the amp and shorting on it. Constantly. The wire got so hot from always shorting it melted through the insulation where it comes through the firewall and then melted through the electric fuel pump power wire and started shorting on it, kicking it on.  I'm lucky I didn't loving die. Traced it all the way through the cabin and it's covered in melted vinyl carpet. Christ. Lesson for the future: if you buy a car with an aftermarket stereo already installed take a close loving look at it.
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Aug 10, 2014 18:55
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 02:08 |
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Did they? Huh. I knew you could buy the Auburn difs for the 7.5 but it seemed like a waste of money when there are 8.8s for cheap in every junkyard in the country. There's another older video of it running on my youtube. Excuse me being an idiot and filming in portrait.
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Aug 11, 2014 02:18
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