Jim's 1982 300 Six Bronco Original Restoration

Gary Lewis wrote

When does it go on?

Oh man....

Right now the stack of work is: primer and paint engine side > put on exhaust heat shields > paint floorpan > firewall insulation

that looks like a great job. not as flexible might transmit into not as sound deadening also but how would you tell? if this is going over any "kilmat" or like I believe it will be an improvement over stock.

Thanks! And yes even with the Kilmat it will be barely noticeable. I've done it before on my 4Runner. Doors, covered the floor and ceiling completely. I couldn't tell if it made a difference or if it was my imagination.

Gents, I need to find replacement parts for the following:

Front floorboard, cover for body mount access. I've seen similar ones online listed as "drain hole plugs" but it's really just an access cover.



Under the cowl in the fresh are intake, these hole covers. I am missing one (I assume the rodents ATE it) and this one will fall out when I start driving the truck.
 

I also need some sealing material for firewall items. Thick stuff for HVAC and very thin foam strips for metal-on-metal mounting. I don't really know what to use.

are yours gone, or damaged? as far as the cowl plugs, it's possible that it did not actually have the driver side one. I have seen this on many trucks.

The original floor covers were rusted to pieces. I tossed em. As for the cowl plugs... Well, that's encouraging because I couldn't find any online. I'll try cleaning this one up the best I can. The driver side drain didn't seem to have more debris than passenger, but that may have been because the entire cowl was full.

the driver side drain is lower than the passenger side. it is "pitched" to the driver side to give a natural drain as the inlet for the fan draws from the passenger side. if kept clean it works well but as many know it is more like keeping the gutters clean on your house than anything else. and since its so hard to get to it gets overlooked more than not. a good wash with a hose through the grill is usually enough but then you have debris building up in the vertical ducts. not a big problem if it were not for the draft blockers(duck bills). we all should clean these out each time we have the fenders off

So I painted the front floor. I figured I would get the exhaust shields on to coat the rivets but I got sick of staring at the unfinished metal over the past 2 years. I also bolted up the transmission to the crossmember to make myself feel like I'm actually doing something. After speaking with some paint specialists about my engine bay I have elected to wait out the weather, so I'm trying to occupy myself piecing the drivetrain back together. Just need to rebuild the driveshafts and clean up the transfer case.

Slip yokes on the driveshaft are seized so I will try pushing them out with a grease gun, but I didn't have luck doing this on the TTB so I'm not sure how to SAFELY pull them apart if that continues to be the case.

Last weekend I also grabbed a chrome front bumper and foot vents.

I'll post pictures later....

mat in tn wrote

the driver side drain is lower than the passenger side. it is "pitched" to the driver side to give a natural drain as the inlet for the fan draws from the passenger side. if kept clean it works well but as many know it is more like keeping the gutters clean on your house than anything else. and since its so hard to get to it gets overlooked more than not. a good wash with a hose through the grill is usually enough but then you have debris building up in the vertical ducts. not a big problem if it were not for the draft blockers(duck bills). we all should clean these out each time we have the fenders off

I think I will go with the "polka-dot" cowl eventually as I've seen Gary suggest it before.

I understand the urge to DO SOMETHING!  Been there, done that, many times.

Good luck on the slip yokes.  But I'm not sure that grease will pop them loose.  If not, you might pull the u-joint, put chain through the "eyes", a weight on the end of the chain, and see if sliding the weight rapidly to the end of the chain will persuade it to come off.

I actually managed to pull the seized one apart with my hands  Just lodged it in the vise and pulled until it was out.

The double cardan joint was giving me grief so I will have to give it another shot to disassemble it. In my research I found that it was first invented in the 1600s by a gent named Robert Hook.

Glad you are getting things apart.  I remember fighting that on one of my trucks and it was a pain!

My wedding is next month. We didn't get to have the real deal when we were married civilly in 2021. The next time I get to work on the Bronco, I will have a ring on my finger. My final opportunity to work on it was forfeit while I was occupied with jury duty. Life is telling me that this is a bad time to be restoring a truck. But I'm a man, I don't listen to none of that, because I have ADHD and I couldn't listen if I tried. Oh well. I know for a fact I gotta get the big stuff done before we have one of the 4-5 kids we've talked about. But here's where I am at.

This is the last of the painting with POR-15. It'll be time to lay down a buncha sound deadening very soon. I've been thinking about making my own rear interior panels out of plywood in the far future but not sure whether to finish the wood nicely or cover it up with vinyl and padding. The used plastic ones are typically too rich for my blood and the cardboard ones that came with the truck were devoured by wild animals.




The transmission is perched loosely on the crossmember until I get the transfer case cleaned up and driveshafts rebuilt. It was nice getting the transmission off the floor since I'm working with limited space. Speaking of which, the motorcycle that typically occupies my workspace is going bye-bye since I crashed it a couple years ago and haven't had the courage to regain my confidence at riding. So that will be some cash in my pocket good enough for all the engine parts I still need to purchase.


Speaking of driveshafts, the slip yoke that was seized was full of a rust/dirt/grease medley that doesn't taste good when spread on toast. I will think about replacing this one when I have the time to think.


After putting the drivetrain back together, I'll be prepping the outside firewall for paint, painting it with a gun, and then I can start putting some of the interior back together so it's out of my way. Then it's engine time!

Congratulations!  I hope your marriage is as wonderful as mine has been.  

As for the Bronco, I think your paint job looks excellent.  However I don't have much to contribute regarding the interior panels.  I've not done that so don't have a good idea of how to do it.  But I do suggest that you check to see that your sound deadening will adhere to the POR15 as it is very hard and slick when fully cured.

Concerning the motorcycle, I hope that selling it gives you the coin you need to do what you want to do on the Bronco.  And that yoke looks like a good place to start.  I don't think I've seen on that looks that bad on the outside and can only imagine what it looks like on the inside.  

The texture on the outside looks spooky because it's wet with degreaser. But yeah, there were some debris inside. Splines are rusted, I'd imagine they won't glide very well even after cleanup. The plastic coating on the slip shaft splines for both driveshafts is still intact, don't wanna go through the effort of freshening up if using an old slip yoke will scrape it off.

Had my wedding a couple weekends ago, so now I can get back to work.

I'm diving into rebuilding the driveshafts and this is getting real expensive. The plastic coating on the front driveshaft started peeling off when I was removing the old grease. In the end there are few parts I'm reusing so it's got me thinking there must be a better way.

Rear:
1330 u-joint ($20)
1330/1350 u-joint ($25)
Slip shaft ($55)
Weld-on stub shaft ($70)
TOTAL = $170

Front:
1330 u-joint x2 ($40)
1330/1350 u-joint ($25)
Slip shaft ($55)
Weld-on stub shaft ($70)
CV centering yoke ($60)
TOTAL = $250

That's actually less expensive than having new driveshafts made.

Yes and shipping would be negligible, it's just a lot of work and for some reason my neck of the woods is completely devoid of any auto machinists, fabricators, and driveline shops so I have to travel to get them welded and balanced. I could get a set from Denny's Driveshaft for about $600 before shipping and it would be a done deal...

I assumed you were doing the welding yourself and was impressed.  My understanding is that you cut the existing welds, pull the pieces out, grind the welds down, insert the new part, and re-weld.  And if your welds are roughly the same size as the originals then the balance will be close enough.

But I've not done this so cannot say.

That is how I assumed it went. I could also ask a skilled friend to assist me because I can easily do everything else except the balancing, if it truly needs it. I will have to look into it more.

Few days late but want to add if anyone reads this you have to make sure the joints are phased the same.
If you look at a shaft the Ujoints fit the shaft on the same side or in a line from 1 end to the other.
Dave ----