'Buddy'

[BroncoRaider]

Thanks to everyone that helped unload the cage on Monday and helped drop it in today. Fit is good, it will require some trimming on the front support gussets to allow the media console/wiper cover to go back on. This is the first time the top has been off since my grandpa bought it in the early ‘80s.

[Strike2]

Hey Tim,
The cage looks great! glad to see you got it installed with minor issues.

[landshark]

Looks great dude!

[Digger]

That's exciting!

I love these trucks, but they're a lot stiffer and safer with a cage.

[BroncoRaider]

Thanks guys. I’m excited to have the cage in. I’m going to have someone add front seat mounts to the cage in a few weeks.

[BroncoRaider]

Nothing as exciting as some of the other builds happening, but I changed to the old style turn signals.

[mickphatmac]

Very Cool... Just as they were intended!

[Jesus_man]

That looks great and I remember hearing of folks doing this, but what is required? That looks sooo much cleaner!

[BroncoRaider]

You can buy the complete replacements, you have to trim a little bit off one side of each of the rear brackets on the grille and enlarge one of the holes a bit. Not a difficult project at all.

[D&D72]

That does look good! I bought new rubber spacers for my originals 2 years ago and they already look like crap.

[BroncoRaider]

Thanks to Steve and his welding skills, I now have a spare tire carrier. It’s a Protofab swing arm and some 2x4 steel as a backing support.

[phyler]

Thanks to Steve and his welding skills, I now have a spare tire carrier. It’s a Protofab swing arm and some 2x4 steel as a backing support.

Sweet take on the "stealth" bumper!


Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[BroncoRaider]

Cage additions are almost finished. Seat mounts and seat bet tabs are on. Should be back at home in the next few days. More pics to come.

[BroncoRaider]

Stole an evening of D&D72’s time (thanks John) on Monday and brought the bronco back home. Added a crossbar on the cargo floor by the tailgate, runners next to the wheel wells, seat mounting platform, & tied it all into the body mounts.

Mustang seats and Humvee seat belts are finally in!

[dbasile]

Looking sharp! Like the seat combo, what year did the fronts come out of?

[mickphatmac]

Dang that turned out Perfect!!!

[BroncoRaider]

They came out of a 2012 mustang.

[Rox Crusher]

Buddy is now ready for some rock hopping !

[BroncoRaider]

Buddy is now ready for some rock hopping !

Except it was leaking coolant when I pulled it off the trailer on Monday. Haven’t had a chance to dig around and find the source...

[D&D72]

Looks great! Glad to see you added the extra supports.

[BroncoRaider]

Most of you know I’ve been having transmission issues. Phil and Jeremy came by a few weeks ago to take a look and here’s what we think happened. After the rebuild, I had too much fluid in the C4, so it was burping out the vent. When I drained some off, the aftermarket dipstick did not have the fill line in the correct spot, so I ran it low and burned up a clutch band. Since it needs to be pulled to fix it, I’m going to swap in a 4R70W. Today I pulled off the shift linkage, driveshaft, exhaust, and cooler lines in preparation for the swap. I’ll post a date within the next 2 weeks for the swap if anyone is wanting to get out of the house.

[Jesus_man]

It's always a good rule to upgrade when parts break. Hope this works out well fer ya!

[BroncoRaider]

John and Garry came over today and we pulled the C4 out. After Garry bolted up the new flexplate, we tried to bolt up the 4r70w. Had some issues with the torque converter binding, eventually pulled the new flexplate off, and realized that the bolt circle is incorrect. Ugh. So now the search begins for the correct flexplate. Hopefully the install goes smooth once we get that sorted out.

Side note, when we raised the driver’s side front wheel to slide the 4r70w back under the truck. My passenger side leaf spring went from mostly flat to inverted. Guess I need to get those swapped out so my suspension stops frowning at me...

[ZOSO]

why not use the c4 one? it worked for me.

[BroncoRaider]

I have the odd C4 flexplate that has a smaller bolt circle diameter.

[ZOSO]

I have the odd C4 flexplate that has a smaller bolt circle diameter.

That's explains it.

[BroncoRaider]

Welp, the transmission is in. Garry made sure I didn’t butcher the wiring, Rox and Trailpsycho helped with the heavy lifting. Thanks guys. I still need to get cooler lines built, put the tcase, exhaust, and driveshafts back in.

[Strike2]

Congratulations on getting the transmission in, looks great!

[D&D72]

Sweet! going to have to do that upgrade as well someday...

[BroncoRaider]

Swapped out the spud shaft today for the 4r70w. New gaskets and some right stuff got it sealed back up and it’s ready to install. Might need to borrow Strike2’s new trans case jack accessory.