Those random brackets look like they may either have been for extra shocks or a traction bar of sorts. Any usual wear spots or extra things on teh axle?

Good to hear you got those joints replaced, is that a new shaft or did you clean and paint the old one? Either way it looks awesome.

 

I didn't see any marks on the axle but i haven't really looked. If i can remember i will take a look but the only problem is if it was for something like that, it would be going around the drive line. This is above the middle or so of the line. As for the line it's self no i didn't paint it nor did i get a new one. I don't know if these are original or what the deal is but their in ok shape, there is some scratches and stuff but nothing bad. If i had more experience and all the right tools i might have painted them but it wouldn't be black. It would have to be green of course I also wanted to paint the tranny pan and the cross member but that would have taken too long and my step dad would have not liked it. But in due time my friends, I really don't want to ever have to take this stuff down again but it seems my t-case may be messed up. When i have the shifter pulled all the way back which according to this:

Is 4hi, it doesn't lock the front input shaft. I can still spin it and the rear doesn't move. I don't think this is supposed to happen but i don't know these 4wd contraptions yet so i may be wrong. Though, next time i have to do anything like this i will go deeper and do the front drive line too and i want to paint them green too.

Anywho so i got the t-case on and the rear driveline up, it was a pain in the booty
But enough jibber jabber.
In this picture i went and tilted my tranny and pushed the floor jack under it and pulled it onto there, then lifted it enough to pick it up an inch or so and move it to the floor jack.

This is after the tranny went up and i just got the t-case on, fully bolted and held up via floor jack till i made sure it was secured.


Here is my front driveline, it is in need of new u joint but i figure i don't really put stress on them so i don't need to do them yet.

And the drivers side.

Tomorrow when i get off work i am going to work on the neutral safety switch and then have my neighbor do the shift linkage if he can... By that point i will be ready for fluids and possible starting.

 

Well i got TGM done today, my neighbor was kind enough to come over and do my shift linkage and neutral safety switch and get it all working, then i did the few odds and ends and put some fluid into it. Got it running and then me and my step dad took it out and threw some freeway driving at it. It did well and seems to be shifting fine and goes through the shifter selections fine. Hits a little hard going to drive and the take off from stop is a little weird but it might just need to wear in and get used to it's new life.

 

congratz man, you really make me want to dump some cash into my 78

 

Well as an update my truck seems to be working fairly well, for some reason when i go from a stop to driving it almost feels like i have the brake on. I checked and it was off. But i figured it just needs to work it's self in. Here is a picture of it from this morning:

Everything seems to work well so far save for it breaking down on the freeway however it turns out just to be one of the coil wires that we ended up knocking loose when working on it and didn't even think about it. Hopefully things will work themselves in and be in good shape.

It is a fun project and i am learning a lot but it is expensive and i think in my case i am going to be taking a break from doing anything real big for a while. Relax gain some money back and do small things. Though i can get my windshield replaced for about $300 from SafeLite and i might be able to get my 2 front windows and my rear window tinted for under 300.

 

Forgot to update here... Put a sub and amp in the bronco, now i can have some nice bass with my music. It only cost me the price of the fuse block from walmart. The price of the sub and amp (from a friend) doesn't count cause i have had them for a while. I also took a few new pictures
This is the sub, 2 10" AudioPipe subs in a 75+ lbs box.

Some sort of 4 channel Mosfet amp.


And after my work day, i decided to have some fun, this is the deepest puddle i could find. It is almost up to the middle of my tire.

Gotta do some posing hehe the little dirt bank i found was the only thing i could really get the truck onto, the rest was train tracks.

And this one is my favorite and is my new avi

Not much flex but enough to make me happy.

 

Looks nice, bet that sound system sounds loads better then the stock speakers.

Any plans for TGM this weekend Gruesome?

 

Thanks, the sound system is better with the sub but my speakers are weak and starting to buzz and crackle a bit. I forsee new ones eventually. As for the weekend today, i am in the process of selling my 88 ranger for 1400-1200 and i am going to a friends house so no work. Tomorrow however i plan to dig into the tailgate and see why my latches aren't working. If i can fix that then i can rid of these damn ugly latches on the outside of the truck, but my mother told me it is supposed to rain and there is a chance of snow tomorrow so i don't know yet how much i will do. If it does rain i might look into backing TGM down and getting the tailgate under the roof eve in the garage so i can work in the dry. Other than that i felt i needed a bit of a break from the heavy work since the tranny got rebuilt. There is still a lot to be done in terms of the carb and engine work then tie rod ends and ball joints + brakes... Boy oh boy.

GJ

 

I need carb work on the coupe too. Least I don't have to climb on anything to get to it, like on TGM. A word of advice tho with the latches, practice closing them with your finger or a screwdriver, unless of course you want to shut the gate and find out the latches don't work....ask me how I know lol

SNOW!!!! I think its supposed to get into the 70's here in a few days

 

Ya i found out the latches didn't work by closing them with my fingers and pulling the handle, it didn't do anything till i reached in an yanked the metal arm going across. If i can get the latches to open and close like normal, i need to adjust the striker so that it hits the latches, the way it isnow they don't hit them so it doesn't close the latches.

 

So i'm going to start doing a little poking around today and figured i might as well try getting my stock temp gauge to work and get rid of the crappy aftermarket one the PO put in. I was wondering if there was a fuse somewhere for it that might cause it to not work, if not it might be a broken wire or something in the cluster. I have to check it out. I am also going to be poking around inside the tailgate to see if there is any obvious issues with the handle mechs, hopefully i will be able to see something really simple to hook back up and be on my way. anyways , i will try getting some pictures of anything intriguing or helpful to other 78 bronco people. Till then, ta ta

GJ

 

For those of you going through the tailgate and replacing stuff, i recommend you look at this guy Steve83's pictures, he explains how to remove stuff and how they work, i learned how the latch system is supposed to work so now i have a general idea of what to look for in mine.

 

So i just got done working on TGM for tonight and i got the latches to work, the left side works pretty much perfectly but the right sides isn't working correctly. I was trying to just look inside to see what wasn't working but i couldn't see the handle mech. So i decided to just disconnect the the armature rods and pull the whole mech out to see, this is what i got.
For some reason the PO cut this big hole on the access panel for the tailgate:

This is the mech i have, it has 4 spots for the rods, one for the window safety arm, it pulls a lever down when the window is all the way down so it can't be opened wiht it up. There is 2 for the left and right latches and 1 for the handle

Something i learned from looking at a website is that the arm for the handle that is higher up gets bent easily when the window isn't down and someone tried to open it. This tab being bent will cause the handle not to sit all the way down, basically meaning you will have to push the handle to seat it. Mine was bent pretty good, so i spent the time to un-bend everything and get it as straight as i could.

After bending everything and getting it mostly straightened, i sprayed some hinge grease on the moving stuff, it moves a little bit better.

It is a bit hard to see but the big plastic thing in the picture, that arm tab was bent so now its fixed.

I don't have much pictures but hey what can you do. I wanted to just replace the whole thing but i don't know where to get one, i tried the local auto parts store but no good, i also looked in JBG and RA and found nothing. So far it is working but the right side latch isn't closing enough to get the tailgate closed right, i might just need to try moving the striker back as far as it will go but i'm not sure. For now it is what it is, i still have the outside latches to make sure it doesn't fall.

I wasn't able to work on the temp gauge thing cause i was getting so pissed at the striker for the tailgate that i figured it would be better to just give it up for tonight and work on it some other time.

GJ

 

Good to hear you pretty much figured out the tailgate issue. Old vehicles are so much fun, part restoration, part fixing what the previous owners $%#@ up.

I am in the process of fixing guage issues on my 68 mustang, they aren't too bad. You can always ground the sending wire to the block real quick to see if the gauge moves, if so then you have a bad sensor. Just one quick test I've been using.

 

Ah nice trick, i might have to try that with my temp gauge. It is un plugged so it could be simple but i never tried to see whats wrong with it. The tailgate issue i am only having one problem and that is the right side latch isn't clicking twice, it only clicks down once. The otherside will click once and the tailgate won't be fully closed then when you push on it, it clicks again latching tighter. The right side doesn't do this. Problem is i can't see enough in there to try watching it move to see what could be holding it up. I thought it was the striker not lining up and i ended up stripping out the top crew head with my drill. I have to leave that one loose cause if i tighten it, then i won't be able to un-tighten it. Once i figured out that it really didn't matter where i put the striker i took a step back and thought about it and figured out it was the latch... But i am happy to have gotten as far as i did, i was a bit worried about not being able to get the push rods back connected or not being able to get the center mech back in correctly... But i went at it and gained some ground.

Anyways What are you upto with the mustang brett?

GJ