The truck in question is a Springtime Yellow '69 that came out of a barn in Mississippi several years ago. Old hunting truck that was complete and very solid, but beat up from years of running around in the woods. Pretty much all original except for paint. 302, 3 sp, 9", Dana 30, vacuum wipers, etc.

Best guess is that it hasn't run in about 20 years.

First up - getting the 302 running again. I attacked it as if it was stuck -- soaked cylinders in Marvel Mystery Oil and Kroil. Pulled the distributor and pre-oiled the engine. Then turned over with a breaker bar and socket on the balancer bolt.

Cleaned the points and I had spark, hot-wiring the coil from the battery and using a remote starter switch on the starter relay to turn it over.

Someone broke the timing cover right at the fuel pump so you can't mount a mechanical pump to it now. I'll need to replace that, but I do have a spare front cover. Had to use a boat gas tank with the bulb on the line to pump some fuel into the carb. Started up and seems to run fairly well.

After running it, I did a compression test. Good news -- no bad cylinders, and all were within 13 psi or so of each other, or about 10%. Range was 119 psi - 132 psi, IIRC.

FYI - I suspect the broken timing cover is why it was laid up many years ago -- there were two electric fuel pumps mounted on the inner fender but neither was wired or plumbed. I guess replacing the timing cover and reinstalling the mechanical fuel pump was too much trouble?

Fuel system is coming together. I cleaned out the plastic auxiliary tank and replaced the sending unit and filler hose. Blasted and painted the skid plate. Just needs to be plumbed.

Fuel tank selector valve broke when removing it, but I have a new one on the way from Wild Horses.

Rear tank had a hole, so it got replaced with a new one from WH. It'll go in today or tomorrow, along with blasted/painted skid plate and associated tank hardware.

Have a Quadrajet ordered for it, just a good core from eBay. The later model carbs are supposed to be better, so I picked up a 1977 or 1978 Chevrolet model with the side inlet for fuel. I'll rebuild it once it arrives. Plan to put it on a Performer intake, mounted with an adapter.

Big question at this point is whether I rebuild the engine or just swap the timing cover and run it as-is. The problem is that by the time I pull the timing cover off the engine with it in place, I get into the "might as wells" -- I might as well replace the timing chain and gears, and if I'm doing that, I might as well swap the cam, and if I'm swapping the cam and intake/carb, timing chain/gears, all with the engine installed, I might as well pull the damn engine and rebuild it. Figure new pistons & rings, rod and main bearings, oil pump, balancer, cam and lifters ought to do it. I have a ball hone and I plan to do it all in the garage. Heads will get disassembled and cleaned, and maybe some minor bowl work.

 

Cool project! what's the "accessory hole" in the cab for?

 

Thanks. I think what you're looking at is the hole behind the passenger seat, right? If so, it had a homemade 1/2 cab on it (someone took a sawzall to a wagon top) and a jury-rigged bulkhead of some kind.

 

Good news today! Hooked up a mechanical oil pressure gauge and started her up - oil pressure was right at 55 psi cold while idling. I didn't wait until it warmed up; 55 psi was good enough for me. Had it been terrible, I would have yanked the engine for a rebuild.

After oil pressure test, I started disassembly so I could change the busted timing cover. Was fairly easy, but will have to fix some of the hack work done by a PO. Also will have to deal with a long bolt (goes thru water pump and timing cover and threads into the block) that has a broken off head. Will use Kroil and heat; that usually works for me.

I'll pull the balancer tomorrow, get the timing cover off, and then reassemble with the cover I got from another 1969 Bronco 302. Also swapping in a Cloyes double roller timing chain (Ford used nylon cam gears; that's a breakdown waiting to happen) and a FlowKooler aluminum water pump.

I'll take this opportunity to install some new parts - battery tray, radiator hoses, thermostat, and a few used items from my Bronco parts stash - original fan (has a fiberglass one on it now), fan shroud (currently MIA), radiator (one in it now looks pretty rough), fan belt, alternator bracket (one on there is hacked), and correct crank pulley (currently has a 4 row crank pulley; should only have one row).

 

Looks like you are moving right along. The valve stem seals in those are neoprene which cracks and breaks. This will give you a cloud on start up and a cloud on decell when vacuum is high. They can be replaced with the heads on.

Good luck with it!

 

Good point. Thanks

 

Looks like your making good progress! I like the half cab thing. I've seen that done before and they did a really good job.

 

Time for a long overdue update! I got distracted by a few other project - 68 GTO convertible, 66 Fairlane GT convertible, 1960 Cat D7 dozer, and a free Caterpillar 977 track loader. Anyway, a few weeks ago, I FINALLY moved the Bronco to the shop so I can get going on it. Tomorrow I plan to drop the transmission and transfer case out the bottom and then pull the engine out the top.

 

Engine, trans, and transfer case are out. Made a bit of a mess in the shop in the process.

 

Got the spare 302 - the one that I plan to build - partially disassembled yesterday. Bores are 4" (i.e., it hasn't been bored) and looked good with no ridge. FOMOCO timing chain. I did not remove the oil pan.





Anyway, seems like a bit of a hodgepodge - the intake is a D30E, dated 1973, IIRC, so I was expecting D30E heads and block.




The heads are either D50E or D60E. Nothing special and unlikely to have hardened valve seats.




Block is D40E, dated 4H26 (1974 August 26), so it really doesn't match up with the heads or intake.




It's no big deal that nothing matches up, but I'd prefer something that hasn't been messed with.

 

Trans and transfer kit are on the bench and ready to be rebuilt. I'll tackle the transfer case first.

 

Just posted a video - covers first start and drivetrain removal.

 

Video on Dana 20 disassembly is up.

 

Nice video, I appreciate the time and effort you put into it.

 

Thanks.

Working on the reassembly now. Had to source new shift rails; my originals were pretty chewed up.