Jim's 1982 300 Six Bronco Original Restoration

Glad to hear it worked out well for you!  

Congrat's!

Now I suggest something like POR-15 to seal any holes you missed as well as the rust itself.  I used it on Big Blue and discovered I'd missed some really small pin holes, but the POR found them and sealed them.

Sub'd

Does anyone know the diameter and pitch of the bolts that hold the power steering return/cooler line to the frame? I seem to have painted the holes they're supposed to go in.

This piece is what I'm talking about

5/16-18 with a1/2" wrench head. but the bolts ford installed had thread cutter ends so they would eliminate a step on the assembly line. use one of those and it should follow right in.

I'm gonna put the new fuel tank in soon and I don't wanna remove it again to put in the return line when I get my Holley Sniper, and I bet I can come up with something better than their instructions, which include using a Vapor Guard rubber fuel line submerged in the tank.

They use an Earl's fitting similar to what I'm thinking here except I can get a 316 stainless fitting from McMaster for $34, some 3/8 tube out of the scrap bin at work, and have something that should last indefinitely. The ID of this fitting necks down to .28" and I'm not sure if that will pose a problem. The manual calls for a 3/8 fuel and return line, but the ID of fuel fittings of course will be smaller than that.

mat in tn wrote

5/16-18 with a1/2" wrench head. but the bolts ford installed had thread cutter ends so they would eliminate a step on the assembly line. use one of those and it should follow right in.

Thanks!

I just got done painting the whole undercarriage and I'm piecing things back together under there. Right now I'm running the new brake lines. I have the proportioning valve sitting on my work bench and it has me wondering if I should replace it or not. I'm able to clean up the outside, but the ports for the brake lines are a bit rusty.

Those things are pretty robust, so I doubt you'll have any problem with it.  That is one of the few things I didn't replace on Dad's truck.

Thank you Gary. Do you know if the stock brake system can take DOT 5?

Also just an update and thinking about how I'm going to proceed now that the undercarriage is fully painted.

I'm still working on getting my body mounts perfect, I replaced the metal sleeves and stuck with poly mounts. Since I couldn't find the sleeves for every position I've been using the position #4/5 sleeves and modifying lengths accordingly. Like I mentioned in a previous reply, the Prothane poly bushings aren't correct right out of the box. I was able to salvage the position #2 upper sleeves and paint them.

I was able to salvage all my exhaust heat shields and I'm in the middle of battling the crappy sandblaster at work to remove the galvanized finish. I painted one with POR-15 silver high heat and I was not impressed even after I baked it in the oven. I thought it was going to go level out like regular POR-15 so I used a brush and it left streaks. I'm in between trying a different finish, using a Preval sprayer to apply it, or just saying "screw it" and brushing the rest. Once these go in, they're too difficult to remove again if I change my mind.

Thinking about putting the drivetrain back in before the engine. When I pulled the SROD it was a royal pain, and the engine really got in the way because the crossmember does not give you much wiggle room. And speaking of crossmember, I'm not sure if the T19 uses the same crossmember as the SROD. I also don't know where to get rubber bushings for it.

I don't know if DOT5 will work in the brake system.  I always use DOT3.

On the heat shields I think I'd just paint them with a brush, but give them a 2nd coat.

As for the crossmember, our page at Documentation/Suspension & Steering/Crossmembers seems to say that all 1980/84 4wd trucks used the same one, regardless of transmission.  I wasn't aware of that, but that's what it looks like to me.

On the heat shields you know they make a galvanized finish in a spray can.
Check with your welding supply store or body supply store as it would be used after welding galvanized metal. It is a dull silver when on the part.

Because mine is a driver I just cleaned them the best I could, they did not look all that bad to start.
I did have to cut 1 to fit as they came from a long bed style side and I was using them on my flare side that has the ribbed floor from the style side so all the mounting holes were there.

Besides if anyone gets under my truck and has something to say after I kick them I will hand them the tools to fix it
Dave ----

FuzzFace2 wrote

On the heat shields you know they make a galvanized finish in a spray can.
Check with your welding supply store or body supply store as it would be used after welding galvanized metal. It is a dull silver when on the part.

Because mine is a driver I just cleaned them the best I could, they did not look all that bad to start.
I did have to cut 1 to fit as they came from a long bed style side and I was using them on my flare side that has the ribbed floor from the style side so all the mounting holes were there.

Besides if anyone gets under my truck and has something to say after I kick them I will hand them the tools to fix it
Dave ----

When I sandblasted mine, a quick pass revealed a nice coat underneath but I kept going to bare metal... I'm a menace to myself.

I've used cold galv spray in the past and it doesn't finish very smooth, I was hoping to go with something that will last longer and is easier to clean. Before I just ended up buying a new fuel tank I painted my old one with it and I figured it wasn't for looks.

Gary Lewis wrote

As for the crossmember, our page at Documentation/Suspension & Steering

I did look at that, I guess I'm just paranoid that my truck has weird stuff going on because of the SROD. When I laid out both transmissions side by side the T19 totally dwarfed it in chunkiness. I suppose I'll go forth with the paint and bolt up the transmission.

I have not done my due diligence to update this thread with pictures. Trying to get the undercarriage finished off, and in the meantime of waiting for paint to dry and taking a break from sandblasting, getting things pulled off the firewall. I am diverting more of my overtime money to my upcoming wedding instead of the truck, so I must resort to doing only cheap stuff until that's over with. I should have enough to keep myself occupied.

Back in November (I think) I painted the transmission. Doing the Uncle Tony's Garage method of painting cast iron: Degrease, burn off residual oil with a torch, brush on rusty metal primer, and I deviated by using rattlecans for the paint. All the cast iron on the powertrain is gonna be this color.




Anyway, frame and the bottom of the body is completely painted.


Put the steering box back in early just in case I need to push the truck around



Brake lines are 90% finished. I have one more to do that goes between the proportioning valve and the master cylinder. When I have it all back together I'll do a pressure test to make sure my flares seal good. I saw online that some people use tire shine as a temporary finish on cast iron, which I'm going to try out on the cast iron brake parts that aren't rusted to heck.


Speaking of cast iron, I never had a chance to paint the third member on the rear axle so I yanked it out preparing to do black with the POR-15 and my woman suggested gray instead.


Weight reduction. This is just a small portion of what I've dug out of my fresh air intake. I filled an entire bucket before this, so about 7 gallons of dirt, leaves, and remnants of squirrel stashes. Other than the stuff that's stuck in the boxed-in portions of the lower body (that will hopefully fall out as I drive around), this is the last holdout of any major amounts of debris.


In the process of getting the aforementioned heat shields refurbished and installed so I can paint the floorboard. I need to get on sandblasting and painting my transmission crossmember and mounting parts so I can de-clutter some of the spaces where I got parts laying about. Just realized I have some spare rubber body mount bushings, I'll have to see if those can be adapted for the transmission.

not to just change the subject, but what is the color of the truck in the background? I am wanting to do some work with I call "apple green''. every company has a different name for it. if that is the original color from 82 I would love to know the color code. it looks to be the exact color I'm looking for.

Good job! That tranny looks nice!

Edit: oh, and I like your future brides recommendation on the rear axle!

mat in tn wrote

not to just change the subject, but what is the color of the truck in the background? I am wanting to do some work with I call "apple green''. every company has a different name for it. if that is the original color from 82 I would love to know the color code. it looks to be the exact color I'm looking for.

It's either 73 or 7B, I will have to check when I get home.

grumpin wrote

Good job! That tranny looks nice!

Edit: oh, and I like your future brides recommendation on the rear axle!

She has impeccable taste. Her dream car is a BMW 2002tii (which I will probably buy for her eventually) and she can't wait until the Bronco is finished. When we were first dating I brought her to the Rolex Motorsport Reunion at Laguna Seca and she had a blast. That's when I knew she was a keeper.

Wow!  Wonderful work!  

tcbaklash wrote

grumpin wrote

Good job! That tranny looks nice!

Edit: oh, and I like your future brides recommendation on the rear axle!

She has impeccable taste. Her dream car is a BMW 2002tii (which I will probably buy for her eventually) and she can't wait until the Bronco is finished. When we were first dating I brought her to the Rolex Motorsport Reunion at Laguna Seca and she had a blast. That's when I knew she was a keeper.

That’s great! Nice BMW. My son has a 540i. He’s going to sell it.