New owner...
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From: IOWA
New owner...
Well, I just picked up a fairly rough to decent looking '87 Bronco II with the 2.9L V6 and 5speed tranny with 4x4, 154k mi; $500. Gonna be using it as a daily driver. Have the motor pulled right now, it was bad but a "good" one came with it.
Just wondering about anything to keep an eye with these rigs, the good, the bad and the ugly. I have a '99 F-350 PSD right now I use as a daily driver, just want to try and keep the miles low on that, since it's my pride and joy. But I think I'm gonna enjoy this Bronco.
Thanks alot and I'll probably be frequenting this forum more often.
Just wondering about anything to keep an eye with these rigs, the good, the bad and the ugly. I have a '99 F-350 PSD right now I use as a daily driver, just want to try and keep the miles low on that, since it's my pride and joy. But I think I'm gonna enjoy this Bronco.
Thanks alot and I'll probably be frequenting this forum more often.
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From: Perry,Ga.
Yea while you got the radiator out put one in for a 95 Explorer with ac and and auto trans just cap the cooling lines for the auto trans.2.9 DO NOT LIKE HEAT!!!Make sure you have a good fan clutch and a 195 t stat.I would replaced the valve cover gaskets and the rear mane before you put the new engine in. JMO
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I agree on the cooling system and valve cover gaskets, those are issues common to the b2. I would also replace the TFI unit as long as the engine is out. TFI failures are also common to b2's. Good luck, you'll have fun with it !!
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From: IOWA
Just an update, the motor is almost ready to go back in. So far I've replaced the: rear main, valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, intake plenum gaskets, spark plugs, exhaust manifold gaskets(that was a son-of-a-gun since on one side the manifold bolts were rusted into the manifold, had to drill all of them out), throw-out bearing, swapped clutches from old motor and the usual air, oil and fuel filter. Will get new spark plug wires, distributor and cap, get the radiator cleaned and I'm sure there are a few other things that I'll find as I start getting things hooked back up.
I've talked with a few people about the B2 and I keep hearing that the 2.9L is a good engine, so I'm really looking forward to getting this thing running!
If you have anything else to watch out for, let me know. Thanks a lot guys!
I've talked with a few people about the B2 and I keep hearing that the 2.9L is a good engine, so I'm really looking forward to getting this thing running!
If you have anything else to watch out for, let me know. Thanks a lot guys!
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From: IOWA
Oh yea, I can't believe I forgot the best part... the exhaust was junk, but I'm salvaging the Y-pipe and the cat, still in good shape. The cat was gutted out, somebody was smart 
, so I'm using that as my Y-pipe, to go from the two pipes from the manifolds into one, and then gonna fit in my 3.5" exhaust from my other truck ('99 PSD) to run out the back. I've fitted it up a little bit and the pipe that goes over the rear axle actually fits quite well, and I can "cut and paste" the straight pipe to get back to it. 
, so I'm using that as my Y-pipe, to go from the two pipes from the manifolds into one, and then gonna fit in my 3.5" exhaust from my other truck ('99 PSD) to run out the back. I've fitted it up a little bit and the pipe that goes over the rear axle actually fits quite well, and I can "cut and paste" the straight pipe to get back to it.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: South Jersey
IMO a gutted cat will hurt perfomance, it lets the exhaust gas expand as it enters the open chamber, as it expands it cools, hot gases flow better than cool gases.
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From: IOWA
I'm not too worried about the cat affecting performance, it wasn't all that large, and it if the exhaust has enough time to dwell and cool in the cat, then it's not flowing that hard and performance isn't that big of deal. I would think the 3.5" exhaust would be more of a factor than the cat, but then there's probably so much volume that it won't need a high as velocity as compared to a smaller ~2" pipe. If it doesn't work, I can always pull it out and change it. I just have the parts already and am looking for the cheapest way to get the thing running again.
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From: Bixby, OK
Ken - at first when I heard that from you I didn't believe it about the gasses and stuff, but then I thought about it a little bit and it made a lot of sence so I welded a pipe through it to make it still look legal, and it helped out a lot. So.. farmboy if I were you, I would at least weld a pipe through there to still make it look semi legal, but I would not put in the 3.5" tubing in there. That is way too much space. I maybe could under stand 3.5" tubing on say.. a 428.. but not a 2.9L. IMO this will not only hurt performance but with gas prices the way they are, it will also hurt your MPG's.. why not spend a couple dollars on it and save?