I purchased the rear bracket from l&l that squared everything up for np435,thought about welding it ,,,but they have it worked out ,,,,,Bronco graveyards are L&L

 

Are you saying that L And L's bracket puts the pivot stud in a different location than the factory bracket? What headers are you running?

 

yes ,,,,I would have had to reweld my pivot,, their bracketry has it all figured out .was worth the time effort....Headers are also L&L ,real pleased,,,,,dialed right in

 

That's good news. I was planning on asking Russell at 460 EFI Guys about the the L&L header clearance with his motor mounts. Might as well bring that up also. I've got all the tooling I need to modify either side bracket, but sometimes it's more prudent to just buy the fix. I always say, "There's a long list of things I'm capable of doing. But the list eventually got so long, there's not enough time in the day to do it all."

 

Time in my short life.I always like Mike Oooooooooooooo,,,statement Im in a 5 year resto project ,entering my 7th year

 

So, again, I went with these mounts without realizing they would tilt the engine putting the rear a little lower. The guy at 460efiguys (Russell) said this was done so that you could run a factory serpentine accessory setup on a factory EFI 460. I went with them because they looked very strong compared to the vulcanized rubber mounts and they said if you ever broke one of these that they'd replace them free of charge regardless of their age. They do call them their "Bullet-proof Motor Mounts" after all.


Attachment 279916

Attachment 279917




This is the issue as it showed itself. Everything was not bolted up properly at that point, but you could still tell it had quite an angle to it.






So, what I did was I went to a local JY and I picked up another frame side pivot bracket. I wanted to keep my original bracket intact "just in case" cause you never know. Then I did a very rough measurement while laying under my Bronco and trying to hold all of the linkage where it needed to be with one hand and then holding a tape measure with another hand. Then when my replacement pivot stud arrived, (from broncograveyard) I took everything over to a shop I like to use and just told the guy to weld the new one an inch lower than the factory stud and keep it in the same spot left to right. Just one inch down is all I wanted.


Pre-op.









Post-op.










I don't have any pics of it installed, unfortunately. I'll have to do that sometime! lol. I guess once I got it running and driving I didn't care so much about documenting the clutch linkage. I will say that the guy at this shop that does their fab work is a pretty good welder. I've had him do some other welding work for me.

 

Good thinking on the fix. I like that better than shimming. You say you got the stud from Jeff's? I don't see it listed. Are you talking about the one they sell that they say threads into the block? https://shop.broncograveyard.com/Clu...uctinfo/21219/

Now I'm wondering about other stuff. Since the transmission is tilted forward now, what about pinion angles? Any driveline vibrations?

 

Yeah, that's the one. They have it listed for a 351M, as that's what my Bronco originally had, but neither of the studs thread in like that as they're both part of a bracket and look like the factory just pressed them into the brackets. The only studs I've seen thread like that are the ones on a 300 six or sbf that thread into the block. Ether way, I wanted it welded on, so he chopped off the threads before welding it. I've done a lot of shifting on this thing, with a lot of holding the clutch part way as I like to climb in the rocks, and haven't had any issues, so I figure it's on their good.

I haven't had any issues with anything else. The tranny mounted into the factory mount, same with the t-case. Both of my shafts have double cardans, so that probably helps if there was any change in the angles.

I previously had a problem with my rear-most u-joint exploding a couple times (pretty literal) after only a few miles of use on a joint and while I was trying to figure that out I had the factory wedge under my leaf springs taken out and had new spring perches installed with the proper pinion angle set at that time before they were welded on. It ended up being a very worn out pinion yoke causing my exploding u-joints, but oh well. That was before the 460 install though.

This Bronco honestly has quite a bit of vibration that I'd have no clue if my mounts are causing any of it. There's quite a few mods.

 

I would expect these mounts to transmit more vibration than a factory 460 mount or one of those vulcanized swap mounts. Probably a similar effect like deleting the rag joint in your steering shaft.

 

Yeah, I caught that misinformation on Jeff's site too. That's why I asked. Both pivot studs are on bolt-on brackets, not threaded into the block. So you cut the threaded portion off, and welded it on? There's no reason why I can't just turn out a stud on my lathe, but like I said earlier.....

I wish I wasn't using my truck. It'd be nice to pull that 400 out while I've got a bare 460 block. It'd be too easy to bolt the original heads on, then stab it all between the frame rails, so I could sort out any header, transmission, and linkage problems now, before the block goes to the machine shop.

I don't like driveline vibrations. My truck used to get a slight vibration above 60 mph. I'd change the rear u-joint, and it'd wear out in about six months. When I replaced the old worn out T18 with a beautimous Novak T18, that ended the universal joint wear. Damn that Novak is a sweat shifting transmission!

 

Scrappy was reading over my shoulder. I noticed she shook her head, went "tisk, tisk, tisk", then started digging around in a box of parts. She found this.....

 

I didn't do any of that fabrication part, lol, but yes, the guy at the shop cut off the threads. I told him to do it however he wanted or however he figured it'd hold up best. Dealers choice kind of situation. If he had left the threads on, stuck it through a hole, and then welded it on that way I don't think I would have cared as long as it held up. I can't remember for sure as it's been a long time since I looked at it up close, but I'm thinking the factory stud is just pressed into the bracket and I think it has splines on it like a wheel stud.

The vibrations I get in that Bronco kinda come and go depending on speed and rpm, but it doesn't feel like it's anything major, so I just deal with it. It could be the mounts, the engine is a bit hotter than factory as well. It could be the clutch (l&l swap kit), tranny, t-case, rear end, exhaust harmonics, who knows. I have auto-lockers in the front and rear, so I get all sorts of slop in the drivetrain sometimes depending on what I'm doing, never mind the occasional bang from the ratcheting of the rear locker on a turn than makes me think something just broke. It's just very very noticeable to me in my Bronco as my F100 isn't modded like this thing is and it's pretty smooth.

 

What lockers do you have? I've got Eaton Trutracs in the 9" and Dana 44. I love them. In retrospect, I would not put a helical LSD in the front end again. If hubs are locked, and not in 4wd, the Eaton still puts a lot of stress on the axle u-joints in turns. I've replaced the axle shaft u-joints once already since installing the Eaton. I just had to start being more disciplined about unlocking the hubs when I don't need them locked. An on-demand locker would be a better choice for a front axle.

I just noticed that stud is plated. At first I thought it was stainless. I could just use 308 stainless filler rod to TIG weld it to the mild steel bracket, but Noooooooo! Crap! I gotta get all that junk off before I can TIG weld it. Another note on the long list.

 

Do you have an angled oil filter adapter on that 460? Looks like it. Highboy?

 

Yukon Grizzlies. They're basically identical to a Detroit. Only reason I went with them was the cost at the time I bought them. I agree with having an on-demand locker like an ARB, but those were even more expensive. I had to make concessions.

My only complaint with them has less to do with the brand or quality of the lockers, as they seem to be great, but more to due with having a manual tranny. Because of the play in the teeth of the lockers you have a lot more play throughout the entire driveline, especially when stopping and going. I'm pretty sure that'd be much less of an issue with an automatic as the torque converter would probably absorb a lot of what I feel with my NP435. Can't beat granny gear in 4-low though.