Hi all. Long time ford fan first time bronco owner.

Kind of a long story but I love to barter & trade. Sometimes I win sometimes I lose & sometimes I break even.

I think this is an even situation.

I had a very old yamaha blaster quad that was all suped up for racing. Wheelie ridin, jumpin. But no title & I'm fat & old so since fat guys can't jump & bumble's bounce I traded it for a 91 bronco.

The bronc is very rusty & a rod (is) was knocking. I found a junk yard 5.0 w/ 92k miles today for $275.

The truck has been beat some but despite the volumes of mud caked in the undercarriage I did the trade.

Runs & drives. Tranny is good. Shifts right & the overdrive button still works. 4x4 shifts in & out very smooth with the push button. Power windows go down & back up again. The back window needs help from a hand though.
Heck - even the cruise control works.

I expect it back from my mechanic on Saturday with the new engine installed.

Low mileage truck so I'm told 124k miles. I think the kid blew it up while mudding from the looks of it.

No cracks in the glass.

The problems found so far are this.
1. Engine - will be replaced for abt. $600 when all is said & done.
2. AC don't work (not a problem I'm going to worry about)
3. Rust - 1 body mount is gone. The rest look really solid. Tail gate is rotten & the sides move a bit with the gate down.
4. Drivers seat is jacked up with redneck repairs to the arm rest.
5. Radio don't work. Probably does but there are no speakers
6. The ugly blue color of the interior - yuck!

Anyway I will have about $1k th $1.2k in the truck total considering the stuff I traded & the cash to fix.

I never expected an old mud truck to be a concourse show truck but I think I will have a fun winter ride for very little money!

 

 

Now go out and drive it like you stole it

 

Ha. I think that's what the last guy did!

I'm more in the camp of drive it like I have to pay someone to fix it.

 

Not a bad deal if you ask me. Looks good.

Jim

 

If you buy a Bronco, you buy a Project.

Welcome, the 1991 is close to the best year Bronco ever built 1990.

Fuel pump going out might be the first big problem, there's only one, but its in the tank.
Make sure the mechanic goes thru the distributor, as in rebuild it completely.

Then there's the steering column has to be taken apart to fix the starting actuator, that's buried deep in the steering column,
The rear window can be fix easily enough with a new part from Ford, it's the gear in the motor, it even comes with new load of grease.
My 1990 had a bent skid plate that I took off and had straightened at the machine shop where they had a big press flattened it out nice.
Keep a look at the transmission fluid level, it should be between the holes when cold and on the hatch when hot, if it's over filled it will leak.
My 1990 5.0 just loves the straight 30w oil, it's cut down on burning a quart every 1500 miles to every 3000 miles.
The seats needed to be rebolted to the floor boards to keep them from making people seasick with the rocking back and forth

I just took a 3 day trip from Butte, MT to Las Vegas, 1500 miles towing a 5,000 lb boat, no issues. So I'd say it's running good for a 25 year old.
It does look like heck tho, front windows busted, passenger side has been smashed and repaired, poorly,

So yeah, it's a project.

 

Previous owner told me of all the work he had done recently.

This included a rebuilt front end with allignment. New battery in November.

The truck went totally dead & he started replacing parts till he found the fuel pump relay. So despite being beat pretty good he did do some work to it.

I can't wait to get it back on saturday.

 

Update....

The shade tree mechanic decided it was too cold outside to finish the truck.

His wife told me he had a stroke! Ha ha that's a new one on me! He's like 25 years old.

I had to chuckle.

I found a real repair shop with a real garage & a real lift & a real mechanic. He said he could do the swap for $175 because he just opened his doors & needed to keep his guys busy for the next couple days.

I had a tow truck move the bronco & engine to the new shop.

I was there when it arrived. The "new" $300 junkyard engine was NASTY greasy. I couldn't see all that junk when it was in the truck @ the yard.

They are going to de - grease the engine & replace the seals in the pan, valve covers & exhaust.

I sure hope he does a good job. I can't put any more money into this truck

 

Sounds like a good deal for the price. Hope everything goes well.

Jim

 

Me too. I know a lot of work has been previously done....coil...fuel pump relay...ecm...front end rebuild with ball joints & allignment.

If I can just get a little use out of this beast it will be worth the trouble.

I hate driving my mustang in the salt.

 

I dropped by the shop this afternoon to drop off a new set of motor mounts. They had the old eng. Out & the oil pan off the new junk yard eng.

You could clearly see the new eng had been professionally rebuilt!!

The valve cover & oil pan gaskets had failed & the engine was soaked in oil. So the rebuild wasn't yesterday but rebuilt at sometime means the engine likely has tons of life left.

They said they expected to fire the eng tomorrow night & I could pick it up on saturday.

Fingers crossed. I'm gettin excited

 

That is good news.

Jim

 

I got the beast back from the shop yesterday! Wooo Hoooo

Still a couple small things to sort out.

1. - Thanks to everyone's help on here I figured out the voltage regulator on the back of the alt was damaged. I will pick that up this evening & get it fixed.

2. The goofball I hired to do this swap (I say that tonge in cheek since I dont have the skills) broke the tang on the radiator where the overflow tube connects.

I'm not wasting any more money on this truck than I have to - so I need to find some good redneck fixes for this.

After that the engine swap is complete & crazy successful!!

I may pick up the rear window regulator at the same time as the voltage regulator.

 

Fixed the voltage reg.

 

replaced the rear window motor too - works good now - but found out the wireing is a total hack job.