guys i need some serious help here!...a few months back i found the bronco of my dreams its an 86 with the 300 6cyl and an np 435. not only did it have the engine and tranny combo i wanted but it has factory a/c and cruise control which is extremely rare on a 6 cyl bronco.....heres the bad news,i take it to the body shop to have the frame looked at because the bumpers didnt line up properly and i find thats its been wrecked some time in its past and the frame is cracked and bent...boy was i disappointed! well this afternoon i was driving around and i find a bronco for sale at someones house that was super clean so i stopped and inquired about it...its a 1 owner with 80,000 original miles 1986 model like mine but with a 351 and a c6 it has been adult owned its whole life and hasnt has a dumb redneck kid molesting it...they tell me the 351 is no good...it started knocking so they parked it,i checked the oil and it has metallic flakes in it..i can get it for $500 because of the bad engine...i really would like to buy it and convert it to the 300 6cyl and np435 out of my bronco since this is the engine /tranny combo ive always wanted in a bronco....they are both 86 broncos so how hard should this swap be since ill have everything i need? please note that i DO NOT want to go back to a 351, i love the 300 and thats what id like to have in there

 

With both trucks being the same model year, the swap should be as simple as taking everything from the engine bay of yours with the bad frame and dumping it into the one that had the 351 in it. Motor mounts and transmission cross-members will need to be swapped along with some of the electronics. However, unless you are dealing with a fuel-injected 300, things should be pretty straight forward.

Keeping your manual 435 will require a little more work but still nothing impossible since you basically have everything you will need to make the conversion. You will need to swap brake and clutch pedal assemblies. You won't need the shift linkage for the automatic in the steering column so you might want to swap that too. yYou will need to either swap transmission inspection covers (in the tunnel between the front seats) to accommodate the 435's shifter or poke a hole in the appropriate location for it in the truck that had the automatic. I'm not sure about the older models but the newer units have an inspection cover that allows access to the top side of any transmission that will simply unbolt. This cover is either a solid piece or it has the appropriate hole(s) in it for shift lever(s) depending upon whether you have a manual transmission and/or a manual-shift transfer case. Again, I don't know if the older models are set up this way but its worth a look before you go cutting up the floor.

Keep and swap your driveshafts as well because the C6 is longer than the 435.

 

How hard is it to install the clutch pedals?

 

Its not too hard. I did it in my 68 Mustang and the hardest part was laying on my back trying to get the dang pivot pin back in the top

Sometimes the entire brake and clutch pedal assembly (with bracket) will come out easily, some vehicles that bracket is welded in so you have to pull the pedal and pin. Once you unhook the clutch cable and master cylinder rod, then you just need to unhook the brake switch and then it should be pretty straightforward form there (just have to look up under dash to see how to remove pedals.

 

how do you hook the hydraulic clutch system up?

 

Awesome choice on the engine/trans combo. And nice find with the AC/cruise too! The 300 with an NP435 is just awesome.

Have you seen the writeup that I did?

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ic-clutch.html

The pedals aren't really that difficult. The big thing to note is to NOT pull the arm off the end of the rod. It's discontinued and is a one time thing. Once you pull it off, you have to have a new one, and it won't work without it.

The best way I found to remove it is to loosen the entire pedal bracket assembly, and then slide the pedal rod out with the arm still attached. Once everything is loose, it comes out quite easily. I don't know if that's in my writeup because I went back and fixed it at a later date. But, if you have questions, let me know.


As for the hydraulic setup, the hard part is knowing where to mount it. Fortunately, if I remember right, you could see where the master cylinder went on the firewall in those years. On mine, I was going from an older mechanical clutch to a hydraulic, so I had to create a stencil to put mine in the right spot. If the body is already marked, you have it quite easy. Just get a drill bit that has a circular saw on it to go through the firewall.

From there, bolting up the hydraulics is EASY. You just slide the master cylinder through the firewall, tighten down the nuts, hook the rod to the clutch arm on the pedals, and then run the hose down to the transmission.

Best of luck! And post pics.

 

Ok the rod your talking about has me concerned....is there any way you could post a picture of some sort?

 

This is the arm on the end of the pedal rod. DON'T remove it unless you want to spend $50 for a new one (if you can find it). Just remove the whole rod with the arm still attached. You can do this by unbolting the entire pedal bracket assembly. Don't necessarily have to remove the whole assembly, but it has to be loose to get the rod out with the arm still attached.

 

Is there any way I can visit with you on the phone sometime about this? I really want to have my ducks in a row before I dive into this

 

I'll PM you my number. It's definitely a project that you want to have some foresight on.