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Still in the test fitting phase of this project. Repaired all of the cab mounts and transfer case mounts as well as put the first coat of chassis black on everything. Also started installing the Rough Country 4" lift kit. Their holes do not line up well with existing holes and these have to be slightly enlarged in order to accept the new hardware. The instructions are also terrible, but I guess I should have expected both issues given the price of the kit. It seems like it would be a pain in the *** if you were trying to just install the lift kit on a bronco or truck without having already disassembled.
Hoping to have the rest of everything test fit, scuffed and final coated with chassis black in the next week or so and have a rolling chassis back by March.
new drop radius arm brackets all of the Rough Country holes are off by about 1/8"...
Wow, very impressive work restoring that frame. As for the holes being off, not really surprised I hate to say. Quality of parts today are terrible in my opinion!
Finally got touch up painting done and started final re-assembly of the frame components.
On another note, found a guy on FB who does 351W work. Wants $1,600 to clean, bore, deck and all new parts assembled on the block. Reuse existing crank and rods. Curious if this seems reasonable? The heads will be an additional charge, and I may end up going to a roller cam. Already have the aluminum intake and just looking to get closer to 250-300hp when all is said and done.
Underestimated how many rivets I drilled out and waiting on a few more bolts. Got the front axle pivot bushings installed In the meantime and getting the sandblast cabinet setup so I can blast some smaller parts.
Hoping to try and tackle the axle and driveshaft rebuilds (bearings, seals, gaskets, ball joints, u-joints) over the course of the next few weeks and then get this thing rolled back under the body in the next month or two.
I ordered the body mount sleeve kit from Amazon and it does not fit the black Energy Suspension poly bushings so I will return and get the stock set ordered from LMC.
Well after 40+ years, I went ahead and pulled the rear axles and differential. This will let me clean up the rest of the surfaces missed during sandblasting also.
Axles seem fine, one of the bearings is definitely shot, so glad I decided to tackle this.
The ring gear has some corrosion, but I don't really see any metal shavings or damage, just curious why both the ring gear and the upper inside of the axle housing look corroded. Any thoughts?
Also, I can't remember if this has 3.00 gears or the 3.50. I spun the driveshaft and counted an even 3 rotations, but could have sworn this had 3.50 gears on it. Still debating if I'm going to keep the same ratio as this will be mainly a road cruiser and likely won't see speeds in excess of 70mph ever with 33" tires.
Let me know if anyone has any thoughts or advice. Thanks!
I like this gearing calculator for figuring these things out. It has a ton of options for picking the transmission, and tire size and gives you RPM and speeds. For 33s and low speeds like that I'd say at least 3.50s and maybe 4.10s depending on the amount of higher speed stuff. I think the 3.00 gear will be bad unless you are trying to get high speed cruising on the freeway.
Another calculator I like is Grimmjeeper. It has a wide selection of pre programmed transmissions (including Ford), tx cases, etc. you can play with many different scenarios, or set up two side by side.
The ring gear has some corrosion, but I don't really see any metal shavings or damage, just curious why both the ring gear and the upper inside of the axle housing look corroded. Any thoughts?
Also, I can't remember if this has 3.00 gears or the 3.50. I spun the driveshaft and counted an even 3 rotations, but could have sworn this had 3.50 gears on it. Still debating if I'm going to keep the same ratio as this will be mainly a road cruiser and likely won't see speeds in excess of 70mph ever with 33" tires.
Moisture inside the housing and it sat for a while. I assume the corrosion on the ring gear was above the gear oil.
You looked around the whole outside of the ring gear? There should be more numbers stamped in there that will tell you the ratio.
That depends on how you are going to use the truck. I went from 3.55 to 4.10 gears with the stock ~29” tires. It is fine around town but screams (3K rpm) on the highway and that is in overdrive. I am going back to 3.55 when it warms up.
While the differentials are getting rebuilt, I went ahead and made a 5hr round trip to pickup these seats that are in great condition minus a cigarette burn and a couple areas where the piping is showing. Cost me $800, but these were proving tough to find in this condition and color anywhere around me. The seller also has all the blue trim I am looking for, but hasn't pulled it from his bronco yet. I also am toying with the idea of buying a donor bronco from out west instead of doing the body repairs to mine. In talks with a couple people and can get a good body for about $4K all in delivered. Would then put the current body on the other frame and sell it. Wish I would have been more patient and just bought a western bronco from the start.
Based on the pictures below where the seals and bearings will sit in the rear axle housing, should I be concerned about the rough looking condition of the housing? I am working to clean up the rust on each end and get painted before it gets reassembled. Also, can the studs be reused in the differential housing if I hammer them out so it would be much easier to clean the rust instead of working around all of these. Thanks.
Don't take my advice as gospel but based on my experience rebuilding the 9" rear in my '84 F150 I'd just clean the race area of the housing real good and get it smooth again. As for the studs I wouldn't trust anything that's press fit to reuse. Just my thoughts. I very much enjoy following the progress on this build, thanks for keeping this thread updated.
