Yeah, figured that out after the first one. Most ball joints I have dealt with didn't have removable boots. Second boot (that I stole from the ball joint for the right side) split when I was trying to seat it on the ball joint body after I finally got it seated.

I currently have the ball joints for the right side chilling in the freezer to see if that will help give me just enough leeway to not have to fight for 4 hours on the other side.

As for the spindle, I did try the file trick but the threads are in a wave pattern. I'm not going to force the wheel nut through threads like that and bugger the nut up as well. Sucks that replacement spindles are so costly.

 

Went to the junkyard yesterday in search of a 90s 5-bolt spindle. Unfortunately no 5-bolt spindles were found, however with it being an $80 all you can fit in a wheelbarrow day, a few things made their way into the cart. I did get a set of 6-bolt 4x4 spindles with hubs and auto lockers, a full set of front 4x4 drive shafts, an expedition aluminum rear diff cover, an E-150 Saginaw power steering bracket, cruise control steering wheel and actuator, 5.8L SD E40d ECU (from the E150 van), a full set of 19lb injectors for spares, a good 15' or more each of red and black 4 AWG stranded copper cable someone had added to their truck for something, and a handful of fuses. Not too bad of a haul.

In lieu of finding the spindle in the yard, I have ordered a replacement from Jeffs Bronco graveyard in the mean time. I also added a set of front braided brake lines and spindle nuts.

Lastly, the prothane dust boots showed up, so I should be able to trim them to height for the assembled knuckle and get that bolted back in soon.

 

Been a while, so lots to update.


Got the replacement spindle and braided brake lines from Jeffs Bronco Graveyard






I used an impact socket and slipped the taller poly boots on to cut them down to size for the ball joints. Worked out rather well I'd say







Got both spindles ready for install and worked on getting the left side bolted in. Also got the axle and brake rotor installed and added some generic diff oil for now to keep things lubed up.










Cleaned up and painted the upper intake manifold. Not perfect, but not bad either. Got the desired color contrast for the raised letters.









Got the brake calipers attached with the stainless lines. Sadly there isn't much clearance between the bleeder and the hard hose on the lines. I had to tweak them a bit to do some bleeding later on.










Next was replacing all the forward brake hoses to go with the new master cylinder. Gotta love copper brake line, so easy to bend and flare!







Got both wheels on the ground along with connecting up the new steering linkages.







It was about this time I realized I forgot to install a seal on the right side...Had to tear the right side down to install it. At least this time it went faster than the first time!







All this for one seal...







Lastly I worked on cleaning the transport paint off the shorty headers. Took a bit before I realized old brake fluid does wonders for peeling paint! just about ready for ceramic header paint and baking in the oven to cure.

 

Looking good.
Like the look of the rotors.

 

I have the same rotors, only to find out the crack with the way I drive, 2wd.
They have benefits and drawbacks, just like any performance part.

 

Got a bit done over the last month.

Painted and baked the headers. You know your wife likes you when she lets you bake car parts in the home oven!






Made some brackets instead of paying 50-60 for an EFI intake manifold lift plate. Got the clutch and flywheel installed and with some help from a lucky redhead , got really lucky on installing the engine in the truck. The clutch splined onto the trans first shot without undue yanking, wiggling, cursing or hammering. Only hiccup was getting the motor mounts to line up with the frame. I had to loosen the trans mounting bolts and slide the engine forward an inch or so to get the motor mount studs to slot into the frame standoffs. After that it was good to go.

I'm hoping that as I add the rest of the components that the front will settle down as there's still a bit of positive camber from the F250 springs. Upper adjustable bushings are currently set to 0, so I should have at least 1.5* I can pull the camber in with on each side.

 

How's the house smelling? I did brake calipers once, stunk bad for a week or two.

 

The VHT Ceramic paint wasn't bad. 3 cycles of 30 minutes at 350-400* and 30 minutes of cool down. Odor wasn't pervasive and was fully gone within a day or so.

 

Took advantage of the 70* weather today to get more done buttoning up the motor. got lucky and found the 90* fitting for the motorcraft PCV valve on an old valve otherwise that would have prevented bolting down the upper manifold. Getting closer each time! I will have to swap back to the stock front coil springs however. With the CC844, I am no where close to being able to align the truck even with adjustable bushings. I wager this is due to the 630lb/in spring rate vs the 360lb/in of the stock or CC820/822/824 springs. Anyone want some CC844 springs?

 

Man thats a lot you got done

 

Thanks! Its definitely been a project getting this done.

 

Hey! Brand new to this forum and your post is what brought me here.

Curious what pistons you used. They look like the H336CP pistons that I just ordered and I am considering the Speedmaster PCE274.1015 like you have as well. Speedmaster seems to have a "terrible" rep so curious about the quality.

Did you have your rotating assembly balanced? Or was the piston/rod assembly close enough to the originals to use as is?

Nice build and truck by the way!

Mike.

 

Mike - Thanks! It has sure been a process.

The pistons were speed pro from a summit rebuild kit in stock bore, you may be right on the part number. My block was fortunately in good enough shape to only need a hone and not an overbore. I went with the speedmaster rods as it was cheaper than getting the stock rods resized after APR rod bolts and having to mess with the press-fit pins. The Speedmaster rods are full floating pins and easy to install.

I weighed the completed piston assemblies and matched them as close as possible too each other (not to the originals, I didn't get a weight of the old stock pistons/rods). I don't have the weights handy right now, but they were all + or - a few grams. Since they were close enough to even weights, I did not have the assembly balanced as it was fairly close weight wise and this is a lower revving torque build. If I was going with a higher RPM build I may have had it balanced.

 

You have done a lot of work, it all looks real good.
Subcribed.

 

Thanks! it hasn't been a small project for sure


Made the most of a near 60* mid January day, swapped back to the original front springs which definitely got the tires closer to vertical. This also let me finally torque the axle pivot bolts and radius bolts after the poly bushing install. Also installed the starter and the last 4 trans mount bolts while I was under there.





Also got the EGR and tube off the previous manifold by heating the heck out of it and using concussive force to knock it loose. Only to find out that the tube is from a 5.0 and is too short... time to order a tube from rock auto i guess.








Spent some time adding the air dams and getting the bumper bolted back up in the aim to reduce weather intrusion until the truck is complete. it really is starting to look like a truck again!





Pulled the Starter battery wires and negative cables to rebuild the hardness with better and bigger wire. Also test fit the 3" aluminum radiator but couldn't find my lower isolator rubbers. LMC lists what looks like the right ones but says they are for a 250. Hopefully they work otherwise its off to the junkyard it is...