Right On. I know that. Just hate having to drive the Ranger with no interior and the front end rattling like an ex wife. The plan was to get the Ranger done BEFORE I tore The Bronk down. But we all know how plans are don't we?

Now I am trying to work on and drive both. Which ever one is the most road-able when I need to make a run to town. And that about 3 times a week. The Bronk has spoiled me. It rides so much better and rattles so much less than the Ranger. And I forget to transfer all my s--t from the Bronk so I get to town without the handicap placard and post office keys and like that. I an lucky if I remember my teeth, hearing aid cane and boot gun. The last being the most important one.

 

Hahaha dang. Yeah the engine forum is probably like the stereo audio section i posted a question about the size of my speaker in the dash and it took around a week or so to get an answer. And it happened right after i got an answer from CarToys.

As for the tarp i pretty much think i figured out a way to get it to work for now. I just have to leave the tailgate down. Then i pulled the front part higher up the roof so it can't fold back. Lately i have been driving my moms van since she has been really sick so the bronco hasn't moved since about sunday. This way the tarp should be pulled tight enough to let the water just run off. we will see though. The tarp is long enough to cover the whole tailgate while it is down so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

I got a new question for anyone following this thread. So in the column of a 78 i think there is supposed to be a spring that keeps the shifter handle pulled towards the dash. Mine doesn't have that, mine flops all over, i was wondering if anyone has fixed this and knows if it is an easy job. I am getting a bit tired of it flopping around but i don't know of a way to take the metal cover off the column. I tried googling this stuff but it yielded nothing of use.

And also, does anyone know an easy way to test the stock temp gauge to see if it works? both my stock one and my aftermarket one don't work anymore so i would like to see if i can get the stock one working then replace the aftermarket one with a tach.

 

So i got some work done today. I recently blew out the 78 bronco single dash speaker i have in mine and since it was an odd size i couldn't find one. So i bought 2 6.5" speakers by the company Scosche, they are the Walmart cheapies, and only threw me 34$ for a pair. Then i spent some time fitting them into the door and doing all the wiring, it worked out well and now i got 4 speakers and 2 subs.

They are the scosche HD speakers

Not super fancy but good nuff for a 4 wheeling truck

They actually fit pretty much perfect in the door.

This is my shoddy soldering job, the first time i ever tried soldering wires. I think it worked out pretty well. though afterwards i found the OEM slid connectors down in the bottom of my door so i didn't have to solder the passenger side.

And after all is said and done, it looks pretty good, not real noticeable except the vibrant blue wire going from a hole in the door to the body...


Over all i am pretty happy with it, it was a sort of pain in the butt to do but i enjoyed it.

 

Good job. Now come up here and put my timing gears and water pump in. OH !! and detail the engine while in there. And the grill and core support as they will be out anyway.

My door speakers are good so ya just need to wire them in is all.

 

O.o yeah i can't do any of that. The wiring comes easily and for the most part i can hide it well. This stuff was easy, i did have to drill some holes though so that the wires would go from the door to the body. It was pretty cut and dry but i fear the wires won't last long cause i don't have rubber grommets in the holes...

 

it's funny...the trucks were made with or without speaker wire holes in the door and frame...mine is the same thing..it was a radio delete truck.... if you give a extra inch of slack the wire should last between the door and the door frame..just make sure they are not hitting the door hinges......
on another note..i picked up a set of hooker headers from summit for the bronco for a cheap price..they were demo's....they fit OK...except because i installed a deep oil pan ..the collector hits the pan..when running this could over heat the oil...there is no room for any heat material to wrap the pan or the collector...now i got to find a set of shorty headers or go to the factory exhaust manifolds.....can't switch oil pans..
this is the problem working with 30 year plus vehicles..but the challenge is fun...
may have to sell the headers

 

Great job on the speakers, I dont have any in my 68 and it gets lame after a few minutes with nothing but the roar of twin Magnaflows.

Also, to test your temp gauge: ground the wire against the block for a second (not too long) and check to see if your gauge moved. If not, then the gauge is bad, if it moved then I'd suspect the sender in the engine is bad. Also make sure your motor is grounded to the frame/body.

The temp gauge in my 68 is also bad so instead of hacking up the new factory dash I just installed I got a radiator cap with a built in tmep gauge, works like a champ, except you can only see it when you're stopped with the hood up.

 

Well bob hit me up if you decide to sell them. Have you thought about having the portion of the headers where the tubes all meet at the collector and have that bent? I dont know how easy that would be to bend that small ammount of pipe but you migh be able to.

Yeah i also got slack in the wire and it isnt close to any hinge hardware. I was originally going to look at pulling out the little door switch for the dome light as mine are both stuck fully compressed but i couldnt loosen the nut with pliers so i just said forget it. I noticed it would have been pointless cause i couldnt get to the back of it from inside the truck.

My truck had the hole where the po put an aftermarket stereo in but did a terrible job i ended up getting the new un scratched dash panel and that gave me a fresh slate to work with.

As for the temp gauge i know i should still have a few body/frame grounds. With the wire is it the one that goes from the temp gauge to the block? I would post a picture but i am doing this from my phone but i have what looks like a single wire that is surrounded in some sort of spring like metal. I have to pull the inst panel again to see where the stock gauge wires are.

 

The temp sensor should have one wire coming off of it going to the gauge. The senor grounds through the block IIRC. So touching the wire to the block for a sec will complete the circuit and move the gauge. The gauge works off of resistance so don't hold the wire to the block too long or it may cause issues.

 

Gruesome...i am going to sell them..so you know I had to do a little adjusting on the passenger tube...because they hit the frame..won't cause any restriction...there are no collectors since they were a demo set..I paid 100.00 for them..if you want them there yours..plus shipping..
bob

 

that's why I run mechanical gauges where ever possible..no wires except for the light
your temp gauge should have 3 wires
1. to the sender
2 to ground
3 to ignition hot

when i wire my vehicles..i install a ground plug to attach extra ground wire to..also do this for a extra battery hot and for a ignition hot...there available from painless or american wire..you ca get these from auto zone with fuses for the hot and with screws for the ground

the light should have it's own wire

 

Hey bob how much to buy without shipping? 100? Would you happen to have pictures?

This is the wire thing i ment Brett

Is that what i pull then ground it? That is for the aftermarket gauge, from what i know there isn't any other wires coming from that gauge. Once i get some time after my trip to NC i will pull the cluster and look at the back of the stock gauge.

 

The aftermarket gauge does have a spot for a light that i put in but i think the bulb burned out. the stock gauge has a printed circuit board that powers the lights and those all have to be worked on. I would look into it but i don't know how to d/c the speedo cable from the back nor do i know if it will have any small parts to lose when i do disconnect it.

 

here are the pictures..on the passenger side I had to flatten the back tube where it was hitting the passenger floor board.. 100.00 is fine..let me know