I probably should have made a "build thread" but I've got such an extremely slow pace...

Anyways, I have been working on my truck on a regular basis and have some updates to share:

New 39 gallon fuel tank & sender & rear bumper (LMC), new stainless fuel and brake lines (Inline Tube), new 6" skyjacker lift kit (finally installed the last bits of it this weekend). I cleaned and inspected the oem wiring which seemed to be in good shape, so I wrapped with 3M friction tape, then covered it with some plastic loom. I was able to reuse all of the original tubing and electrical fasteners. I had two clips with broken ***** so I just used some stainless steel screws and washer to attach to the frame.

As far as the tank goes, no complaints so far - installation was straight forward but the sender had to be modified (extended) and the documentation was not that great. It also needed to be bent and adjusted to pick up all the fuel. Not really a big deal but you need to pay attention to that otherwise it will not pickup about 4 inches or more of fuel in your tank. The sender was cheap looking (as expected for its price) and I tested the OHM range with my multimeter and got like 8.8 to 77 which I think will work okay. I did not test with the factory gauge. To extend the pickup, I read that a "proper join" requires the right kind of silver solder and a nice torch. I had neither so I opted for the epoxy option and used JB Weld to join the copper extension to the stainless tubing. I probably could have used tube fittings but this is what I did. Yes, the JB weld will hold up in gasoline. I bought an cheap 2 1/2" cargo strap from Harbor Freight and cut it up so I could use that as some protection around the tanks straps. The original looked like it just had it on the bottom straps but I epoxyed some strips on all of them.

The rear bumper was one of the first things I ordered after getting my truck and I got it from LMC. It has been sitting boxed in my garage for about a year and half and so I was excited to finally bolt it on. I was disappointed that it was already rusting on the back side and when I looked at it closer the welding was minimal to be nice about it. It's a very light duty bumper and does not have the outward supports that my original unit had. The supplied mounting plates did not come with instructions and as you might expect, the first way I put it on was wrong. Also the holes were a bit too tight to fit the factory hardware so that had to be opened up a little. I didn't have drill bit large enough so I used a dremmel tool. The supplied fasteners were NO GRADE which means to be slightly better than bailing wire so, I will change those out on my next trip to the hardware store. I also got the license plate lighting kit for the holes in the bumper. Those seem to fit and look okay but the wiring just looks cheap. (well truth is it is cheap haha). The nylon or plastic inserts that fit into square holes in the bumper were you mount the license plate are too big and too hard to go into the hole. I might try heating them up with a lighter to see if I can get them to go in. I really like the look of the chrome bumper and for under $200 I guess I should not expect too much. Maybe at some point, I will make my own or save up for a Heavy Duty Iron Horse or similar.

I ordered the complete fuel and brake line kit from InLine tube in stainless. It was not cheap but seems to be of top quality and arrived at my house undamaged in a few days. They seem to have the correct programs to reproduce the factory bends. I would have like to have done this myself bending my own lines and making my own connections but I don't have the proper tooling or benders so that option would have cost me more. I don't particularly care for the factory routing and with my 4WD a few of the pieces that fit under the transmission cross member were a pain to get in. I had to bend them and then re straighten which is hard to do and keep them perfect. The time to do this stuff is when the bed and the cab are off but since I am doing my restoration in my driveway, that's not an option.

Once I get the truck running down the road (registered, insured and mechanical bugs worked out), I will remove the bed so I can get it blasted, replace some rusted panels and then coated.

I'm almost done working on the underside. I need to mount the proportioning valve (need some longer bolts or that would have been done today), bleed the brakes, prime the fuel line, overhaul and paint the rear brakes (a disc conversion is so....tempting) but this truck needs to roll!

Anyways, I am rambling so here's some photos of my recent work:


















The following picture shows my 'custom' bracket (fancy piece of angle iron) I made to hold the e-brake lines. After installing the 6" Skyjacker kit, the lines were too tight to go back into the original holes. I also moved the e-brake cable frame mounting point rearward one position to get some needed slack. I just enlarged the original hole so the fitting would clear and plugged it into the back hole of the cross member.





I almost thought the spacers weren't long enough but they went into place after using a floor jack to help push it up into place. I touched up the paint using some factory color code matching paint. It could use a wet sand, second coat and clear coat but surprisingly matches the 36 year old paint fairly well and looks way better than the scratches and rust it had.




I think my receiver hitch weighs more than the LMC bumper




Shiney bumper looks better than the old painted one but is definitely light weight!

I need to finish the body work on my tailgate, then add some more shiny trim bit around the tail lights.

 

Real nice truck and progress KIKUP .. Do you have any side shots showing the 6" lift ? and what tire size ?

 

Looks great! I think we are on similar paths with our trucks! A couple of questions:
1. Is your tansfer case painted in Glyptol red?
2. Are you running an electric fuel pump?
3. What hitch are you using? Someone here recommended a Curt Class IV, I just haven't gotten around to buying one yet.

 

Trucks looking sharp!!

 

nice kickup

 

Thanks Buddy!


As requested here's a side shot. Currently has 35X12.50 BFGs

 

Thank you
1) Red Paint is from Tractor Supply - Magic I think is the name
2) Running stock Mechanical fuel pump
3) To be honest this was on the truck when I got it. No label but looks pretty heavy duty.


Thanks guys!

 

Kikkup
Do you have a photo of how you routed the fuel/brake lines up near the proportioning valve? I have the Inline kit and cannot figure out how to run the front fuel line.

Thanks
Frank

 

Very nice truck. Looks like you're doing it right. I just bought brake lines for my 76 Highboy from inline tube but don't have the hold down clips on the frame rails. Do you have any idea where I could get them Thanks Bruce (dipstick429)

 

Bronco Graveyard has those clips now. I think they are $30 for the kit. Was going to order a kit myself this week.

Frank

 

that thing looks killer, frame looks great but, why didnt you paint the bottom side of the box and cab before you put them back on.? Now if you do your gonna have over spray on everything.

 

Very nicely done... Tackling the fuel and brake lines are on my agenda soon.
Sweet truck

 

These are the clips I was mentioning. Not sure if they are 100% correct for our trucks, but they look damn close


Brake/Fuel Line Frame Clips-Broncograveyard.com

 

Nice Job!