Bought this BII w/ 180k from a friend in July for $500. Paid to get the following: New paint, power steering pump, muffler/rear pipe, alternator, battery, a/c repair, all fluids changed, 225 75 R15 Bridgestone Dueller Revo tires which are the top rated SUV tire. (Saved nearly $100 by using TireRack.com instead of Firestone dealer and they came the next day...had Sears install them.) So far I've done the following myself: fuel filter, starter, repacked front bearings, spark plugs, oil, filters, fuel pressure regulator (hoping to cure difficult starting after it sits for 3 days.) I now have put out over $5000 but it looks and runs good. I've discovered that once one exceeds the resale value, he's married to it. But I'm really enjoying these challenges and have great respect for auto mechanics now. I've been a dentist for 32 years and thought that was challenging but am amazed at this kind of work which I've never done before. Next I hope to replace the shocks and points as I've developed an addiction to all this. Plan to try it on the sand next week at Nags Head, NC. The engine and transmission seem good. Had a main seal leak on the tran which seems to have been cured by Wynn's stop leak.

 

I've never thought of it in those terms but I'd have to agree. After devoting a good 20 to 25 full 10-hour days salvaging the good parts from a ocean-salt rusted '88 parts Bronco-II to restore a virtually rust-free '84 that was abused and neglected with respect to its "mechanicals" by its previous owner(s), I now feel like I'll be keeping this 2.9L EFI V6 powered '84 virtually 'until death do us part'!

There's really only two major items to take care of now. One is the EXTERIOR PAINT. It was an XLT-Eddie Bauer Edition, (according to someone I know who saw it and seemed to know the clues to identify that package). Its interior has been almost completely changed out with the corresponding components from the '88 "XL" with the factory Sport package. The '84 XLT exterior color is a two-tone, black with silver from about the door handles, down. I'm thinking about making it all black, or something very close to that. As another possibility, I wonder if anyone's tried an 'evergreen forest' camouflage paint scheme. Probably too weird an idea.

The other item would be WHEELS & TIRES, since the factory alloy 15x7's are too badly weathered from the Pacific coastal environment and severe neglect. On those rims are now a set of 30x9.50 M+S truck tires. These tires are very heavy, with a Class 'C' load rating, and as a result very difficult to properly balance. Right now they JUST rub the front anti-sway bar during full-lock turns. About a 3/4" positive offset would eliminate that, without changing the wheel size. Still, it's perhaps a bit too much rubber for this size and weight vehicle.

So, I'm seriously considering reducing the amount of rubber weight by increasing the amount (i.e. diameter) of alloy wheel in order to stay close to the desired diameter of the "30's" I now have, by going to 16" or MAYBE even 17" aftermarket wheels. Fender space limits the width when a larger diameters are desired, without modifying body and/or chassis height or flaring the fenders. And tall narrow tires just don't look "right".

But, by going to 16x7's on the front and 16x8's on the rear, while carefully calculating the aspect ratios, (for instance, 225/75's on the front and 245/70's on the rear) and match their diameters as closely as possible, insuring their desired synchronicity between the front and rear axles in 4WD, I'm hoping to get greater stability and "drive-ability" at all legal speeds, on AND off dry paved roads, as well as in adverse weather conditions.

I expect matching pairs of different sizes in multi-duty tires to do ALL that will be quite a challenge and may ultimately force me to go with, at least, the same sized tires (say, 235/70's) all around, if not the wheels (16x8's), too!

If anyone out there in 'cyberland' with experience and/or knowledge on those matters feels like putting in their "5-cents" (you know; inflation), I'm all for it!