*Update* I drove the bronco to my monthly chapter meet at a members garage. He is the one who knows the necessary modifications needed to get the Hydroboost mounted and working. TGM performed really well on the freeway. Kept a good steady speed and was staying on the road pretty well. I did have an issue with bump steer. I put a Saginaw pump in a long time ago and it made the steering too easy. My neighbor said he might have a double stabilizer for my truck. If so, I may buy it.

I arrived to his place and shortly after, got to work. There were 2 other trucks, one getting a full brake job the, other a trans fluid flush. Mine was getting a hydroboost. I pulled the old MC and booster, then after my friend modified the first one, he started working on mine. Since it was a GM booster, the plate was slightly bigger so he had to drill out new mounting holes. The F350 master cylinder fit perfect. We put new Flare Nuts on the brake lines and made sure those fit, then installed the booster and master to the firewall. It all for pretty well. Then we ran into a bigger issue.

The booster came from a 90s Suburban so the power steering lines weren't ment to work with a Ford. Luckily my Saginaw pump was also a GM product so the line going and coming from that fit fine. The line going to the steering box however, that doesn't fit. We tried to use the old fitting on the new line but the metal line was just a bit too big. Then we tried to find an adapter that would fit and couldn't get one. My friend had some old steering pumps and we took a brass fitting off that. He reemed one side, then cut threads into it and used a mini lathe on the other side, then cut threads into that. To my understanding, it was cut just a bit too small and in the end resulted in a leak. By that time it was almost 11pm so we removed the line and I got a ride home. Now I have to find a shop that deals in hydraulic lines to put a custom fitting on. Pictures in a bit.


EDIT: here are the pictures I grabbed between breaks.


The original Jade Green is visible!


The brake lines getting their new flare nut fittings.


And the new booster paired up with the newly painted F350 Master Cylinder.


I should have gotten more but it didn't seem important. Oh well.

Once this section of the brakes are done and working, I'd like to replace the calipers and anything that happens to be leaking. That should square up the brakes.
Next I need valve cover gaskets, that should be an easy simple fix. I'd like to pull my valve covers and clean them, then paint them. I'm thinking they would look much better in black vs blue. Somewhere either before or after the VC gaskets, I'd like to give the same treatment as I did to my F150. Throw some Seafoam in the oil and run it around a bit, then change it, and do the same for about 100 miles or so. Then change it again. That should clean up the majority of gunk within the engine.

 

Glad to see you got that thing back on the road!

as far as the oil thing, try the seafoam and change it with the cheapest 15w40 you can find at Walmart. That should help with the oil pressure a bit on these engines. I believe it's $10 a gallon for the cheapest 15W40. It's pretty good oil and a good viscosity for these older engines lol.

 

I'll keep that in mind. The seafoam worked well with my F150. It had sat for a year with old oil in it. After a few changes it was cleaned up. The bronco will be a bit worse bit I'm sure I can't make it much worse. For the oil pressure, part of it is my sending unit. They are known for giving false readings. If it were true, I'd have 0 pressure when its warm. Plus the rear main is hosed so I'm sure that doesn't help. I've debated on how I want to handle it, to change it in the truck would require a lot of dicking around, and pulling the motor would make me want to just rebuild/replace it since its out. I'll leave that for another day. One small project at a time.

If John(Oddford) is willing to contact his friend, I may also be able to get a new front bumper that's a bit nicer. I'll also deal with that after the brakes are finished.

 

Nice to see you back working on TGM. I am a little jealous that TGM is in driving condition... I have faith that I will eventually get there.

 

I think you'll get there. It takes time. To say TGM is in driving condition is up for debate. Before this recent work, the brakes were unsafe, the electrical system probably still has many bugs and the truck as never felt very solid. Everything almost feels loose. Although, it is 30+ years old so I can't really complain BUT I know this thing wouldn't pass a state inspection for sure. Thankfully we don't have them and emissions end at 25 years from the current year.

 

Been a little bit since I've updated, I got some things done to TGM that needed to be done for a while.
When I had the truck out for the brake work, we discovered the bolt holding the slide pin under the caliper was broken and still in the hole. We tried to use an EZ-out bit for it but that wasn't working. We didn't want to beak that off so we planned on drilling it out and tapping new threads. All the bits we were using were getting dull and not cutting well enough to push through the bolt.

When I had gotten it home I planned on buying my very own corded drill and a nice bit set. I did just that. Then I figured I needed new calipers since mine were pretty rusty and not working like they should. I bought new calipers. I went ahead and continued spending money and bought 4 Monroe Gas Magnum shocks to replace my worn Rancho RS5000 shocks. I have some 8mm MSD plug wires to go in, and some Copper Motorcraft plugs. I've also got a cap and rotor to do a full tune up.

Last time I updated I mention valve covers, I have not gotten around to that, I forgot.

I replaced my shocks first and boy what a difference. There was an issue with one shock, it was the wrong length. So, I had to return it and get the correct one ordered. That was going to take about 3 hours so I figured I'd get the brake work done. I really wasn't looking forward to it but I'm glad I did it. I got the new calipers in, replaced the rubber line on the driver side since mine was pretty old and cracked. Once all was said and done, I got the calipers bled and working. That was done.



Here is the old and new shocks. The yellow is the Monroe shock and the one that didn't fit.



Once that stuff was done, I had to clean up and hit the sack. I had been up for a long time for work and this.

Here is the pile of parts I had.



I've got the tune up stuff still. I've also got the small bushings for my rear window regulator so I can repair that. I've also got these.






They are brand new 78/9 lenses that have been customized with LEDs. They weren't cheap but well made. I can't wait to install them. My current lenses are trashed. The plastic is brittle. So I figured if I'm going to buy new, I'll upgrade. Those will get installed soon.

I still have a few things planned, an oil change and the valve cover work. But for now, I'm happy with the work I've done.

 

Dylan, did you use stock replacement calipers or the upgraded Thunderbird calipers?
Where did you get the Led rear lights? I have been looking at ways to add Led's to the factory lights but if I could buy them done I probably would just to save the aggravation. If you are interested here is the thread I found on adding Led's to the factory side marker lights.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...er-lights.html

 

Hey, I didn't do the upgrade, there was too much work for too little gain right now. I figured I'd start with just calipers and the line, then I can upgrade another time. There was more involved than I wanted to do.

As for the LEDs, basically what it looks like he pulled the case apart and glued in an LED strip. I am an admin on a Facebook group for broncos and when I had raised the question, someone turned me to an FSB thread about it. A guy who makes custom tail lights. He finally made some for 78/9. They aren't terribly cheap through. He charged about $215 for them when he gets the money he buys the parts and makes it work.

With the marker lights wouldn't you just need the bulb?

I've got some LED bulbs for the front turn signals as well, it should look better when I'm done.

EDIT: I checked out that thread, it definitely looks like a project to add to the list!

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=270170&page=5#/forumsite/20982/topics/270170?page=9

Here is the thread for the lights

 

Boy I've gotten worse at updates... well, since the last post, I haven't finished the LED stuff yet. What I did do was get my H4 headlights installed. It was easy enough, and I found out my passenger side plug needs to be replaced. As far as lighting, they certainly are brighter than sealed Halogens. I am happy with the results for sure.








Next was an oil change. Its been over a year since the last one with a long period where it was just sitting. It was definitely time. This was all from my rear main.



It was the darkest I've seen it in a long time. I went ahead and seafoamed it before the change, then added more after. One more oil change and it should be somewhat clean.

Next, about a month ago I scheduled time at a local off-road shop to do some work. Since I've owned it, I needed new gears. 2.73s in the rear was killing me and the 3.55s up front made 4wd unusable. So, its now in the shop getting 4.11 Yukon gears in the front and rear, 31 spline shafts in the rear, and Tru Trac limited slip equipment in both axles. All of this cost damn near as much as a used car from a lot but that's the cost of professional work. Not to mention, the owner of the shop and his top tech are going to do the work, and the guy who rang me up and helped price it all out said he will try to get front u joints thrown in and studs thrown in for free. I feel very good about it all. It'll be done in roughly a week I hope. I can't wait!!

After that I plan to pull the valve covers and replace the gaskets and possible the covers themselves. After that, the only thing I've planned is crawling around under it cleaning and checking some bolts and stuff.

 

It's been a while since I've been on this forum but it's good to see your still working away with your bronco!

I have to be honest... my bronco hasn't gotten too much attention lately due to my new addition that people here may be mad at me about (91 camaro.)

I did let my brother borrow my truck over summer when I was fixing his isuzu hombre (don't ever own a 4 cylinder hombre or s-10, they are disgusting to work on), and apparently a u-joint or something went out on my bronco which broke the double cardan joint on my driveshaft though! I had to put it in 4x4 to get it home and then ended up replacing some drive-line stuff. I have a feeling something still isn't right though because I can hear a clunking occasionally when I take off but all the joints seem solid. It's kinda been doing it for a while, I was thinking it may be clutch related but that doesn't really make sense when I think about it. Hopefully it's not my axle.

I do plan on swapping my axles to dana 60s though so I can put a 7.3 in my truck! I just have to wait to get my camaro up and running a little smoother and also finally get out of college (for real next semester now) (and then serve my remaining 2 years in the AF.)

THEN I think I can start my diesel swap. So that's why the work has been a little dormant on my truck... I have to wait to get the diesel stuff together!

 

Congrats on the new addition. Who cares if its a camaro.

Check up on your pinion for the rear axle, it might have gotten damaged when the u joint went.

I got an update from the shop only 2 days after leaving it. They had the from D44 mostly apart and found some pitting on the stub shafts. I decided to wait till I've got a bit more saved up to get that done. He said the seal may get ruined if I go offroading. We will see. They also said they were going to go ahead and replace the u joints in the axles, they were looking poorly I guess. So far so good. Monday I'll probably pay a visit, they said I am welcome to stop by any time. I'll be able to see how the progress is coming along. I'm super excited.

 

TGM is back! 6 days in the shop, total regear, new axles, 4.11s with Tru Tracs, seals, bearings, and so on. It sure was expensive but I was prepared for that. And I'll have this truck for a long time so it'll pay back what I owed when the time comes. There is a difference in how it takes off and after the 500 mile break in period, I can push it a little farther. There is still a concerning vibration at what I believe is 30 or so mph. Ill have to start going through the drivetrain and check stuff. But overall, I'm pretty darn happy!

 

Very nice, do you mind me asking what the cost was for the gear replacement? I'm in the same boat with 3.55 gears and needing to go up yo 4.11

 

Looks nice man, how much of an RPM difference did it make?

 

Dylan, glad you could save up and get that taken care of before winter hits you. Now you can still have 2 wheel drive fun in the snow and just shift in to 4 wheel drive to get out if you manage to get TGM stuck!