Gary Lewis

Yep, and a lathe.

Bring it down! I have LOTS of R8 tooling.

Thanks, Bill.

Thanks, Chad.

And here they are. Got the truck put completely back together. Here is the front and back of the 4x4 controller motor and power distribution stuff. I will be using more ports on that, as I get the motor converted to EFI. Built a bracket to mount it up under the dash, here are some shots of it in place. Bundled all the wires up as neat as I could, and put the dash back together. It's pretty much the way it came out, except for the 4x4 switch now occupying some of the cubby. Finally, the transmission controller was mounted into that little area on the left of the glovebox. And I forgot until now, I was able to use those 2 speedo cables I had, putting a VSS in between them under the brake booster - shout out to Gary who sent me one! The other end of the cable, that had that big 7/8" screw on thing, was handled with a $15 ebay GM to Ford converter. Not sure yet if the gears I have will read accurately, I think they are 7/17 and should be in the ballpark. Once I rebuild the 9 inch and install different gears and a helical worm gear diff, that will about wrap up this phase of the project. Next up is the motor. The general plan is this. - Starting with the '95 351W hydraulic roller block - 408 stroker kit - Aluminum heads - Mild cam - Edelbrock Pro Flow 4 EFI system - '95 serpentine belt drive and accessories But I shouldn't have to have the truck down very long for that, since I'm starting with another engine. More on that when the project starts. Well done! That looks great! I assume the Pro Flow has a computer, so where is it going to be mounted? I ask because I'm looking for the best spot for my EEC V controller to go, but think it'll go roughly where your 4x4 controller went, which is where Ford put it for several years.

Bill - Take a look and see if you approve: Documentation/Engine/Compression Ratio Calculator. I added the # of cylinders input and changed the calculation to use that. And I added a cubic inch result in addition to the cubic centimeter result. Thoughts? Changes?

Cool!

Chad - I wasn't aware of the tailhousing differences, nor that there is a S5-47M. Torque King says they came on the 1999-2001 SuperDuty trucks with gas engines, so are they stronger than the S5-47? Anyway, good info. Thanks for sharing it.

Yes, WOW! Cool! That's a very nice machine.

Yes, I recommend driving it around the block, and pumping the clutch pedal. Pretty soon I think you'll be able to shift. I didn't bother to bleed after that. Once it was shifting I was happy.

Can you drive the truck? In Big Blue's case I had to drive it and bounce it around to get the air out. At first I couldn't get the clutch to disengage so I started in 2nd gear and drove a bit, which got enough pedal to shift gears. Then it got better and better as I drove and shifted.

I thought that might be the case, which is why I mentioned Heinz. Looked like his truck, and the timing was perfect. You are now on the map. But I've not been to Naumburg. Nuremberg, as well as Oberurzel, and Frankfurt. But not your town. I have a friend moving to Amsterdam in the near future, and I plan to get some of our stickers to him in the hope that he'll pass them on to those of you on the Continent. I'll let you know when the time comes.

Thomas - Welcome! Glad you joined! This is particularly good as Heinz, from Oberursel, recently sold his truck, so while he is still a member and plans to get another one, we need more from Germany. Where's home? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you with a city - no real addresses as we don't want surprise visitors. That's a beautiful truck. Hope you'll start a thread in the main section to tell us all about it.

Yes, it fits 80/82 F-U100/350 integral A/C or Hi-Low vent. IOW, it does not fit 1983 or later, or even 1980/82 heater-only or dealer-installed A/C.

I wondered if you'd spot that. At first I thought it was a tach, but then realized it isn't. Anyway, you are right!

Nice, but VERY expensive! Says it is a 400, but I don't think those were put in the Bronco, just the 351M. But I could be wrong. Truck is too nice to take off road. But would sure turn heads at the mall.

Yes, it is kind of pricey, but that's his asking price. Not sure what you mean by "mix matched", but what I saw looks like dealer-installed A/C instrument bezel but w/o the rest of the system, like a compressor, etc. And an E-Series horn pad that doesn't match the bezels. What did I miss?

Oh no, not taken that way, and a nod to all the info here. I like my truck, but when I learned that the F350’s had a straight axle and rode better, I thought cool! Just assumed that was all years for some reason. I think most people think that all of the F350's had straight axles. I did until not too long ago. And I don't know that the 1986 F350 rides dramatically better than a similar 1986 F250, like Big Blue did after his transformation. I just don't know how much of the difference is the straight axle or the 6" longer SuperDuty springs, or the reversed-shackle kit. But the combo went from bone-jarring to comfortable, and 2" of articulation to 8".

This park in northern Minnesota is in a part of the state called the Iron Range, and it has that name for a reason. There's been a lot of iron ore mined there. So our red mud is wet iron dust. In other words, rust. And I do have both a front locker and a winch now! Lesley gets a little spooked at times. Go back and look at the 2006 trip to the Iron Range and hear her response when her 10 year old son started driving up the bank! Dad (in the passenger's seat) was a little calmer. I just grabbed the wheel and spun it out of his hands! But she comes with me and mostly lets me play (although it's always a bit of work to get her into the right frame of mind at the start of each trip!). Another way I know I've got a keeper! And I also liked Mike's commentary on his younger brother's driving (although Dan was a LOT better here at age 19 than he had been 9 years earlier!). I know I've watched this video several times since 2015, but neither Lesley or I remembered that line when I heard it while editing that video! Actually I don't think a front locker would've made much of a difference on a lot of that. For instance, at 5:40 when Dan is rocking the Bronco I'd stuck the rear diff on a rock so both rear tires were just kissing the ground. A front locker would've helped a little there, but not hitting the diff on a rock would've helped a lot more! Wait until I get the 2017 trip to the Black Hills loaded. You'll really see a commercial for a front locker there! I didn't hear a "you did it again" at 8:30 in part 4, or see anything I took a second try at. Am I missing something? As to driving the Bronco anywhere, yes the drivers and vehicle are getting better and we can do a lot. But as amazed as you might be at what we do, I'm amazed at what others do that I can't touch. And there are people who would look at what you do with Big Blue and say the same thing. That's the beauty (and the dangerous lure!) of 'wheeling. You can have fun at whatever level you're at, and there's always another challenge to try (or try to avoid!). You have a KEEPER! The fact that she goes at all is amazing, but to have fun and even suggest the harder way is wonderful. On the red mud, I didn't realize there were other parts of the country that have it. But down around OKC the dirt is RED. And there's one pond near the turnpike that looks just like the mud you were running through. I'll have to go back and find "You did it again." I know it is in there, but I must have gotten the wrong time. I open two tabs and work on my response in one and watch the video in the other. Hmmm, in the shop I could watch on one monitor and respond on the other. Or do both on the big monitor, side by side. As for others doing even more difficult things, I'm sure that's true. But what you and your family have done with the Jeep, and moreso the Bronco, is amazing to me. The Bronco seems to be just the right size to take all four of you, and the dog, and yet get through some really tight places. And the ground clearance and articulation are excellent. But the biggest change, as you've said, was to change the crawl ratio. All together it just works. But a winch and front locker would still help. And I'm sure there are people who are amazed and what Big Blue has done. It isn't in the same league as your Bronco, but still can go a lot of places. However it was built for a different purpose, like the trails in Colorado and, hopefully, overlanding on the north rim of the Grand Canyon where the fire roads aren't that hard but you have to bring your living accommodations with you. My son gets here in two days and it'll be his first chance to see BB in his current guise. I know he's interested, but I just need him to get the time off so we can do it.

Are those leaf or coil-sprung TTB’s? Surely coil as I can’t imagine how a leaf spring would work well on a TTB.

My SiL drove Big Blue the other day and he was very pleasantly surprised by the ride. And my brother raves about the difference the D60 RSK made. I'm sold, no more TTB and leaf springs for me. However, the later solid axles and coil springs are probably even better!

The crawl ratio makes all the difference in the world! The Jeep was bouncing from one rock to the next while the Bronco was easing up and down the rocks like the little engine that could. I'm sold!

Man, in the first video it is wild how RED the mud is. Like being in western Okiehoma. And yes, I can tell how steep it is from the tires. STEEP! "Wrong gear." You need a front locker! Or a winch! But, you made it. "Ok. Glad I'm off that trail." Part 2 starts out looking at BIG rocks. And "Its narrow in here" was very true! But that Bronco just motored on through, around the corners and over the rocks, slowly but very surely. I think I'd have taken the road 'cause Big Blue would not have fit through or over any of that. Part 3 is ditto, save for the "OH!" at 3:00. And yes, the camera got that. But the Bronco didn't seem to care - right on over. And Kirby seemed cool with everything - except when she saw "her person". As for challenging, man some of those places looked impossible, and you went right on through, slowly. "Nice bouquet of oopsy daisies." Part 4 starts with what looks really hard, both steep and rocky, and gets harder! At 5:20 and after looks to be a commercial for why the OX locker was needed. At 8:10 there are some wild angles. At 8:30ish "You did it again." But what? Anyway, over it you went on the next try. Well done! All in all, I am blown away with how you can get that Bronco seemingly anywhere. It goes so much better than the Jeep there is no comparison. Oh wait! There IS a comparison. Let me go watch it.

You may find you need just a bit of gasket sealer to hold the gasket in place while you install it. Not to seal it.

Well, funny that you mention the Warn tag. I'm meeting John/Machspeed at a chrome shop on Friday, and amoung other things I'm going to ask the owner what he would charge to re-chrome that bumper. (I doubt I'll have it done, but I do want to ask.) And just today I was thinking that if I do have him do that I'll need to contact Warn to see if I can get another tag. I'm not sure that covering up the tag is enough of a reason to put the thing up on top of the bumper. But the main question is which position offers the best view of the ground ahead and the trailer hitch. And I'll bet that it is the one on top of the bumper as it will be higher and potentially shoot over the "thimble" that's hard up against the fairlead. We shall see.