Wow, busy to say the least. Did you loosen up the trans crossmember and wiggle it back a little?

Actually yes we did, gained a bit but not nearly enough. As you can see in those horrid photo's, the core support is about 1.5" forward of where it should be. means it is going bye-bye and a custom tube frame front end is going to be fabricated... (I might be visiting with CrawlerCreations to take a bunch of photos of his - not that we could ever hope to make Drew's half a nice but at least it will give us some ideas.

Progress yesterday. Lowered the engine mounts a bit more and now I am much happier with how it sits. Slope is much more reasonable and clearance is far better as well. Might only need the 1" body lift. Also removed the clutch fan, scored two electrics from the pull n pay. Clearances look far better all around. So final welded the mounts and started fabrication on the cross member

Researching the flexplate now. Looks like we need the same size and tooth count just no weight

Anyone able to confirm or contradict this before I call the parts store and order one up?

Cross member mocked up, tacked into its final home then..sputter,spit, sputter... Out of gas. I ordered the new flexplate, it should be in tomorrow and I will order a bunch of square steel tube to make the front end and core support with.

Kinder is right, that engine is in and out of the chassis at least a half dozen times... But with just a touch of luck, next time will be the last!

That is one sexy cross member!

Much progress today:

4.9 is in, bolted up to the trans and ready for wiring
4x4x2 box is in as well.
Drew also made a trans cooler mount and attached a small electric fan to it. Came out quite sweet.

Tomorrow, finish up the steering once we source a drag link, on goes the body lift and hopefully we can get started on the whole front end tube frame. We are going with 1x1 square tube much like kinder, who happened to come by and lend a hand as did TFB and Puffy- awesome to have all the help guys! thanks

Today we put in the body lift and started to get the rear springs replaced. Honestly today we were not as productive as we should have been, but tomorrow is a new day.

#1 Goal for tomorrow is to finish up the body lift and rear springs
#2 repair the leaking auto trans pan and mount all the accessories to the engine
#3 start in on the tubed front end including the radiator support
#4 if there is time, get started on the wiring.

Wish us luck

Pics are of yesterday's status when we got started this morning

Spent most of the day in the garage by myself as Drew had some homework and a certain young lady friend who was feeling a bit in need of attention. This was fine, actually I got quite a lot done. I started by cleaning up and putting tools away - they were scattered all over the garage. Then with the help of Daniel I was able to finish bolting up the body lift and then I went after the new 3 1/2 inch rear springs we had given to Drew last Christmas.

After cutting nearly every single bolt (2 times as none of them would pull out of the shackles) even the U-Bolts. And putting in all new grade-8 stuff, well his rig sits nearly dead level side to side and a slight rake nose low. But the good news - the engine and all accessories will fit under the cowl hood - SWEET!

Drew returned from doing homework with his girlfriend and we mocked up the front fenders, grill and hood, then we turned our attention to the tube frame and radiator. We are going to spend some time after work in the Pull and pay yard and search for a wide (up to 36" wide) and short (no more than 17" tall) radiator that we can use, with the amount of space on either side of the engine, we can then run dual electric fans that should be plenty of cooling. With half an ounce of good luck and a decent productive evening, we should have the accessories on tonight and maybe even the tube frame done. Then tomorrow it is time for the intimidating part....

Wiring

Time to send up the Viper Signal

And any of those who want to come help - please, please do!!!

Just to make things a bit easier - I am going to search for some full color wiring diagrams for the engine and the truck today and have then printed up by the folks who do our blue prints, this should help...

Not a lot of new pics today - sorry guys. Here are a few from earlier in the weekend.

Check out how much room is in there - and this is the crowded side!

The empty side (not for long, this is where the trans cooler and battery are going to live, as well as the exhaust)

Pre body lift, might make for a tight exhaust space - not so post BL....

Not sure if I posted these: The 4X4X2 box install. Serious plating, and trussing here - mostly due to the track bar bracket that tore off leaving a gaping hole in the frame. The old steering box had done its share of damage too. But with the new cross member and 2 layers of 1/4" steel plating as well as inner and outer gussets that should not be a problem any longer.

Wiring, retch gag yuck, I'm getting better at it, every time Phil helps me out I pay attention like a starving college kid.

You're making progress! Seeing all that empty space makes me wonder if this would be a good swap for those building a hardcore trail rig. Seems like you could narrow the front end (or the entire body) pretty radically and still have room for dual batteries and all the other goodies. I wonder how much it impacts the front/rear balance of the truck. Not much, I'm guessing.

Souldnt change the front to back balance much... The two engines (5.0 vrs 4.9 weigh almost identical. 4.9 is much taller. In WIlma when I get back on it, I will move the engine back into the fire wall and down a bit more - 3" back and 2" down.

Then she will fit under the hood better W/O the body lift.

Last night none other than Viperwolf the Wiring Whisperer came by. He spent several hours painstakingly identifying wires, connectors and circuits. He then surgically removed about 2/3 or the harness one wire at a time. In the end - I still have no idea what is what or what connects to what or how - put he does. Therefore, he will return to make said connections when we are ready.

One of the awesome things: Drew will have about 75% of the 95 F150 relay box to run all his accessories through. Off road lights, CB, Stereo etc.... Wont that make things easier down the road?

Tonight, we young bronco Jedi will fabricate our tube frame front end and if there is time, install the fuel pump in the tank (which will be a process in itself)

Pictures:
Just getting started, the truck harness is on the left, all the tape and looms in the scrap pile on the right

The scrap pile filled up nearly 1/2 a tub by the time he was done and I was advised "I wouldn't throw that away just yet" (Trust me, I had no intention of doing so)

And the harness looked like it had made it through the entire season on "The Biggest Loser"

Fender/core support fabrication last night.

Followed Kinders lead and used 1 X 1 X 1/8" wall square tube, started with a 2" X 6" plate bolted to the fire wall and ran the upper fender brace. Then attached another 8" Tube to the front body mount, ran a vertical tube up 11" then an angle over to the horizontal fender brace.

Once I have the radiator in hand (Looking for a 36" wide X 17" tall one now, with that wide radiator, we can then use 2 large electric fans and should be in great shape for cooling this rig.

I know - pictures...




The extra short piece clamped on parallel to the grill is just there for measuring and lay out, once the radiator is in hand we can design and lay out the actual "core support" pieces.




Just for giggles and grins, I put my 6' level across the back of the bronco once all the body mounts were tightened up and new leaf springs installed


How about this? All this work, tweaks, twists and thumps - nearly perfectly level. No Bronco Lean!


Saving best for last: Phil (the Wiring Whisperer) sent me the correct wiring diagrams - so I sent them over to our reprographer (company that makes our blue prints) and had them print me up a set on 24 X 36 paper. Would have been the best $5 I've ever spent... if they had actually charged me anything for them. My old eyes thank them and Phil.

Nice, but I think we need a second opinion on the bronco lean. Anyone else have a 6ft level to confirm? LOL!

I'll be over at the Bronco Corral aka Greg's garage later tonight and I'll bring my digital/laser level to verify!

Oh and I love the poster sized wiring diagram, shotgun called for the next one produced, '73 please.

I have several levels including a rotating laser accurate to 1/64" in 300 feet if you want to check it. But honestly when u consider this rig has need flopped on its side, the 1/8" lean is pretty amazing

Kinder, send me a digital file and I will be happy to get you a diagram printed up

Look what we found at the PNP this morning. Fits and comes with dual electric fans. A very small amount of custom fab on the grill and we have cooling done. Next I am taking on the fuel pump retro fit into the 23 gal tank.

Then fuel lines, radiator hoses, serp belt, and the all important wiring

One step at a time

A few more screws and some sealant and the tank with internal pump is ready to install

Some really good help showed up last night and we were able to check a few things off the list, more that we are still working on of course:

Fuel lines
Intake Gasket
Inertia Switch
Throttle Cable / linkage
Power Steering Lines
Install Drag Link
Wiring
Install Radiator
Radiator lines
Trans Cooler
Trans Cooler lines
Exhaust
Double check all nuts, bolts and connections

Then fluids:
trans
engine oil
power steering
anti freeze
Air Intake

If everything checks out, attach the battery and let her rip!

Most of this stuff we have worked out in our heads, still working on the fuel and PS lines. I am going to stop by Performance Engineering this afternoon and talk with them about the Fuel Lines. I need to dig up the PS stuff to see what I have and need...

Last night we did get the fuel tank installed (mostly thanks to Justin) and Phil laid out more wires, made some sweet wire connections but in the end - he took the main harness home with him to work on today. We also have the serp belt on, had to modify the tube frame a bit to allow some clearance for the lower radiator hoses and we installed the overflow bottle.

So folks - If you are jonzeing for some EB wrenching time - feel free to come on over any evening this week. As Justin learned last night, food is provided and most of the time I can even have some beers in the garage fridge. We will be working in the garage daily from 5pm till 10ish. The goal is to fire her up no later than Saturday morning so we can get her to the exhaust shop and Drew can take his date to the Home Coming dance Saturday evening in it.

Phil with Drew and Frankie working diligently


Justin seems a bit confused about that upper radiator hose routing....

Phil the wording wizard came over this evening with a ready to install harness, which he got started installing while I mounted the ECM and modified the bracket to mount the relay box. Might not seem like a lot but a big part of all this is figuring out where and how to mount a lot of this stuff

Since he says having the radiator and fans in place will not be an issue, I think that is what I will do tomorrow as well as a few other brackets and mounts for the harness, starter etc. then Friday I am attacking fuel lines so Saturday I can try to figure out a throttle cable....

Another weekend in the books. Worked alone today as Drew and crew had Homecoming last night, and as you might have guessed, we did not make the stated goal of having his rig ready for the dance. So far this weekend has been about tidying up lose ends.

Mounted the relay box
Mounted the ignition control
Installed the radiator and resivor - this required some re-re-refab of the custom tube core support but it is in and awesome!
Installed the upper on the intake including new gasket
Installed the power steering cooler
Made some of the easy/obvious wire connections
Tried to make the factory F150 air box and cold air intake work.... It is very close
Started to mount the trans cooler but ran out of shielding gas for the welder again...

Next, fenders, grill, lights and turn signals and that should be enough for the weekend.

Tomorrow or Tuesday, if the rains stop, I am off to the PnP again in search of one more fuel line, then I can call the fuel system done. I would love to find some hoses for the power steering too but seriously doubt I am that lucky. Follow that up with one more radiator hose (probably going to search the yard for one of those too cause it is a 1" on top and 3/4" on the bottom) and all that is left is:
Wires......
Throtlle cable
Wiring
Inertia switch
Um..... Wiring
About forty-eleven vacuum lines or capping them off
And another hundred or so little things we have not even thought of yet... But progress is happening!

It's great to set goals, and I am sorry it didn't happen, but I know you're the guy to follow thru. Some guys loose interest after the date has past. That and you have another EB waiting for your attention!

Thanks JD.

Yes, I will stay on it,I have plenty of good reasons to do so.
1- I like doing this stuff
2-it's not like I'm missing anything interesting on TV
3- we are getting pretty close to having it ready to fire
4- My wife wants her space back in the garage pretty bad
5- we are getting rather tired of driving him back and forth to school every day
6-10. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy doing this stuff

Fuel lines......DONE!
Radiator hoses........DONE!
power steering lines..... About 3/4 done
Heater hoses.......1/2 done
Throttle cable..... Thinking real hard about it
Trans cooler...... Working on it
Fenders....... DONE
grill..... READY to install
Head lights..... DONE

Largest component left... Wiring and vacume

And exhaust

I need to pick up some junctions and relays, then have the wiring guru over again to hook it all up, then turn the key and go varoom varoom!!!!!!

We hope

I'm going to fire up the smoker Sunday to celebrate.

Another weekend in the books.

Stil no satisfying roar, but she will turn over. For some reason we are not getting power to the fuel pump. The Mystro went home to sleep on it and will be back on Tuesday, hopefully with a brilliantly simple (and cheap) solution

While phil was expertly making somewhere around 9017 connections with the help of Jeff, the rest of us bolted up things like the drag link, battery tray, PS lines and much much more. And I did succeed in one area, I did smoke two excellent turkeys.

Oh so close, yet just not quite there yet....

In the meantime, we are looking for a few items we have discovered we need;
Lower steering shaft for a 73-76 EB. (Anyone have one lying around they can spare)
Going to need a longer pressure PS hose, the one Kirk brought over fits but is just a wee bit to tight....
Two correct 50 amp relays ( I guess what I thought were relays are actually circuit breakers....)

So in addition to those items above, we still need to finalize the design and install the throttle cable and once she runs, it's off to the muffler shop

We are this close and the owner is heading to bed disappointed one more night. Tomorrow we have a family dinner so no work but you can count on us hitting it hard Tuesday after school/work.

Thanks again to everyone who came over and helped this weekend, Frankie, Willem, Kirk, Phil, Jeff, even Justin who came over and took away the old engine (guess you can say we are committed now!), hung out for a bit with us and even got to have a taste of the turkey and left some awesome bump stops for a future weekend project. And anyone who wants to come out Tuesday, we will be at it hard again by 5 or so. Shoot me a pm if you need the address.

Pics:

The list - we have discovered that keeping a list going of jobs to be completed and parts needed seems t help keep us on track and minimize the number of trips to the parts store

wiring up the ignition switch, thanks Frankie! I sure don't want to crawl around under the dash like that

Phil and Jeff, making connections

Justin came buy to hang out and take the old engine away, cant say I am really going to miss it much.

Somewhat of a bronco meet in and around our driveway. Viper, Rox, and of course the BSD complete with camper were all there to just make Drew and Frankie jealous of the running rigs with modern drive trains.

Justin brought the next generation of EB guru with him. His favorite toy while he was hanging out? part of Drew's dash. Already a bronco fan!

Tightening all the bolts and connecting wires.... the theme of the day!

I have a few Power steering hoses laying around, what is the fitting size on the PS pump your using? How long does it need to be? Is a 73-76 lower shaft going to have a 3/4 36 spline end on it? Thats what the box input is. I have a 70 something truck shaft in the parts pile that might work but its not a collapsible shaft. I believe the u joint is the correct size but I can confirm it if you are interested.

Lat night Phil came over and cleaned up some of the extra wires, trouble shot the relays and discovered that all the way over on the other side of the engine there was a ground that was not connected - one that I was making up right then.... So he connected it, grounded the ECM and voila - fuel pump works. We checked a few things, attempted to start it and - would not fire... (this is a good thing in the end). Checked and found that while the firing order was correct - we did not have #1 on the #1 post at the cap. But in the process of setting that up we were turning the engine by hand (read - big ass wrench!!!) and heard some interesting grinding up at the flywheel....

We pulled the inspection plate and found that the torque converter was not bolted up to the right holes in the fly wheel.... As it turns out, it is a good thing that we did not get it to fire the first try - with no exhaust it would have been real loud and we might not have heard the racket until major damage was done. Tonight Drew and I will attempt to separate the flywheel and converter, rotate the engine an inch and bolt it all back up in the right place. With a bit of luck - we can do this without having to pull either the engine or trans. Once we get it connected correctly, we can then rotate the engine a few times by hand again to make sure no more bad noises - once all that is complete, we can finally make her roar!!!

(we hope)

Once she fires, tidy up a few more wires - mostly lights and under dash stuff, off to the exhaust shop and turn the young man loose with a new rig!

Jeremy - Thanks, I will be in touch. Perhaps later this week or this weekend I can come up and dig through your stash on the steering shafts. I think I will take the PS hose down and have one made up for us - the one Kinder brought over "fits" but has zero room for movement - as the engine torques it will probably yank it out so a hose just 2 inches longer will solve that issue.

Sorry guys for the lack of posts, its not that I have not been spending time in the garage recently - more that we have not been having much success...

Recently Kinder came over to help me trouble shoot - crank and crank - no fire. Check spark - yup, check injectors - shows we are getting volts there too. spray starting fluid in the intake and varoom!!! but not sustained. Must not be getting fuel then. Crack open a fuel line and take a nice gas shower. Yeah - plenty of pressure there. Still no fire....

Call Viper, he asks about a bunch of bronco guru gibberish that we finally sort through, find a few minor things but still no fire... perplexing to say the least. So I go and buy a fuel pressure gauge, and the adapter to hook it up to a ford fuel rail... crank away - guess what it reads? 0

Yep - 0 - zip zero....

WTF I think the gauge must be bad so I attach it to a tire - reads a perfect 32PSI.

Ideas????

I am at a loss