WHYDTYTT: What Have You Done To Your Truck Today?

[ratdude747]

Did some PDR (paintless dent repair) on my bed side last night.

I didn't get a "before" picture, but I do have this one from when I first bought it last summer:

It's not super clear, but the side trim is hanging off because it's dented so bad. It's an eyesore, so I decided to grab a hammer and tap at the crease.

Took a few good hits in the right spot, but she popped out like a coke can. One small area was still dented, but a few more hits took care of that.

After such, I was able to clip the trim back on. Final result:

Still rusty as sin... needs cleaned up, POR15'd, and skim coat of bondo before I dare paint it. Not that the truck is a show piece. She's got more dents, but none of the others are causing trim issues.

I won't win a contest... but I'm satisfied, for now.

[grumpin]

Did some PDR (paintless dent repair) on my bed side last night.

I didn't get a "before" picture, but I do have this one from when I first bought it last summer:

It's not super clear, but the side trim is hanging off because it's dented so bad. It's an eyesore, so I decided to grab a hammer and tap at the crease.

Took a few good hits in the right spot, but she popped out like a coke can. One small area was still dented, but a few more hits took care of that.

After such, I was able to clip the trim back on. Final result:

Still rusty as sin... needs cleaned up, POR15'd, and skim coat of bondo before I dare paint it. Not that the truck is a show piece. She's got more dents, but none of the others are causing trim issues.

I won't win a contest... but I'm satisfied, for now.

Good job! That worked out nice.

[Nothing Special]

.... Next part of the project is to convert from the aftermarket vacuum assist to hydroboost. My vacuum booster quit working last summer (manual brakes will lock all four tires though), and I can't get parts for it (no idea what the booster is from). So I'm going to put together a hydroboost system with a boost unit from a Ford SuperDuty and a master cylinder from a Dodge D-150. It'll take some fabricating to get everything to go together, but once it's together any service parts will be available at any Napa or whatever (as long as I remember what vehicle to say it's for!)

.... I'm on a Bronco-specific bulletin board that has quite a bit of traffic. Looking through their recommendations two hydroboost applications come up most often: Astro mini vans and SuperDuty diesels. I decided on the SuperDuty not because it's a Ford, but because they are newer and there are tons of them around. So finding parts for them in 20 years should be easier than finding parts for an early '90s Astro....

OK, so that was the plan. But plans can change. Or in this case, minds can change. I decided to go with a Chevy Astro booster and master cylinder. Or actually it ended up being a '95 GMC Safari with AWD and front disk / rear drum brakes. I decided that have something more the size and weight of the Bronco was a better choice than the newer parts out of a 1 ton truck. And having the boost unit and master from the same vehicle seemed like it would simplify things too.

The booster and master came in the mail yesterday, so today I pulled the old booster and master cylinder out and stuck the new one more-or-less in place to see what I was up against. I'm up against a lot if I try to put it in like I show here! The boost unit has 4 studs that don't look like they'll play well with the firewall, the accumulator on the boost unit wants to be right where the throttle linkage is, and the master cylinder hits the oil fill cap. You can see all of that in the pictures below.

After doing that and washing up I thought about putting the new booster and master on the angled bracket that I had with the vacuum system. That will take care of all of those problems. It will put the master pretty close to the inner fender, but I think it'll clear. So I'll check that out more completely another day.

One other potential interference is the reservoirs on top of the master might hit the hood. Eyeballing it I think it'll clear, but if not I think I can use a different reservoir on this master that will sit lower.

Anyway, here is the aftermarket vacuum system that came out, on the angled bracket that I might reuse.

Here is the new hydroboost and master after unboxing.

And here a few showing how it doesn't want to just go in quietly.

More to come (eventually)...

[Gary Lewis]

.... Next part of the project is to convert from the aftermarket vacuum assist to hydroboost. My vacuum booster quit working last summer (manual brakes will lock all four tires though), and I can't get parts for it (no idea what the booster is from). So I'm going to put together a hydroboost system with a boost unit from a Ford SuperDuty and a master cylinder from a Dodge D-150. It'll take some fabricating to get everything to go together, but once it's together any service parts will be available at any Napa or whatever (as long as I remember what vehicle to say it's for!)

.... I'm on a Bronco-specific bulletin board that has quite a bit of traffic. Looking through their recommendations two hydroboost applications come up most often: Astro mini vans and SuperDuty diesels. I decided on the SuperDuty not because it's a Ford, but because they are newer and there are tons of them around. So finding parts for them in 20 years should be easier than finding parts for an early '90s Astro....

OK, so that was the plan. But plans can change. Or in this case, minds can change. I decided to go with a Chevy Astro booster and master cylinder. Or actually it ended up being a '95 GMC Safari with AWD and front disk / rear drum brakes. I decided that have something more the size and weight of the Bronco was a better choice than the newer parts out of a 1 ton truck. And having the boost unit and master from the same vehicle seemed like it would simplify things too.

The booster and master came in the mail yesterday, so today I pulled the old booster and master cylinder out and stuck the new one more-or-less in place to see what I was up against. I'm up against a lot if I try to put it in like I show here! The boost unit has 4 studs that don't look like they'll play well with the firewall, the accumulator on the boost unit wants to be right where the throttle linkage is, and the master cylinder hits the oil fill cap. You can see all of that in the pictures below.

After doing that and washing up I thought about putting the new booster and master on the angled bracket that I had with the vacuum system. That will take care of all of those problems. It will put the master pretty close to the inner fender, but I think it'll clear. So I'll check that out more completely another day.

One other potential interference is the reservoirs on top of the master might hit the hood. Eyeballing it I think it'll clear, but if not I think I can use a different reservoir on this master that will sit lower.

Anyway, here is the aftermarket vacuum system that came out, on the angled bracket that I might reuse.

Here is the new hydroboost and master after unboxing.

And here a few showing how it doesn't want to just go in quietly.

More to come (eventually)...

Bob - It does look like you'll need the angled bracket. (I had no idea the EB's were that tight under the hood!) But what, if anything, does that do to the linkage to the brake pedal? And do you need to relo the pin in the pedal?

[Nothing Special]

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n53806/DSC_0325.jpg

Bob - It does look like you'll need the angled bracket. (I had no idea the EB's were that tight under the hood!) But what, if anything, does that do to the linkage to the brake pedal? And do you need to relo the pin in the pedal?

Yeah, Early Broncos don't have much room, either under the hood or between the frame rails. It's actually pretty surprising how poorly they seem to use space, because on the outside they are really pretty big!

If you look inside that bracket you'll see a "post" coming down through the middle of it, with a bolt head on the top of the bracket directly above the "post". The post is actually a bellcrank. A rod from the pedal connects to one arm on the bellcrank to turn it, and a rod from another arm goes to the booster. So the bellcrank more-or-less puts a bend in the brake rod. It ends up with the rod(s) moving in slightly different directions than normal, but it works.

As far as moving the pin in the pedal, I'm not planning on it. One advantage of reusing the angled bracket is that the linkage from the pedal will be unchanged from what I had. All of the same parts in the same locations. As long as I have clearance at the inner fender and the hood, the only mechanical issues will be attaching the booster to the bracket and making a link so the bellcrank can push the booster. Then plumbing of course.

There will be the question of whether I get the right amount of pedal travel with this setup. But it can't be much worse than what I had with the vacuum assist. So I'm going to throw it together first and see what I end up with. If the travel is too bad I may end up moving the pin, or changing the bellcrank arm lengths or something. But I'm going in assuming it'll be good enough as-is.

 

[Gary Lewis]

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n53806/DSC_0325.jpg

Bob - It does look like you'll need the angled bracket. (I had no idea the EB's were that tight under the hood!) But what, if anything, does that do to the linkage to the brake pedal? And do you need to relo the pin in the pedal?

Yeah, Early Broncos don't have much room, either under the hood or between the frame rails. It's actually pretty surprising how poorly they seem to use space, because on the outside they are really pretty big!

If you look inside that bracket you'll see a "post" coming down through the middle of it, with a bolt head on the top of the bracket directly above the "post". The post is actually a bellcrank. A rod from the pedal connects to one arm on the bellcrank to turn it, and a rod from another arm goes to the booster. So the bellcrank more-or-less puts a bend in the brake rod. It ends up with the rod(s) moving in slightly different directions than normal, but it works.

As far as moving the pin in the pedal, I'm not planning on it. One advantage of reusing the angled bracket is that the linkage from the pedal will be unchanged from what I had. All of the same parts in the same locations. As long as I have clearance at the inner fender and the hood, the only mechanical issues will be attaching the booster to the bracket and making a link so the bellcrank can push the booster. Then plumbing of course.

There will be the question of whether I get the right amount of pedal travel with this setup. But it can't be much worse than what I had with the vacuum assist. So I'm going to throw it together first and see what I end up with. If the travel is too bad I may end up moving the pin, or changing the bellcrank arm lengths or something. But I'm going in assuming it'll be good enough as-is.

The bell crank makes sense. And it gives you a place to change the travel/mechanical advantage w/o moving the pin on the pedal.

But the plan to put it together first and see how it works is a good one.

[ETM]

Did some PDR (paintless dent repair) on my bed side last night.

I won't win a contest... but I'm satisfied, for now.

Nice looks good, Did that ca couple a weeks ago as my door was pushed in from an deer, looks good now but the rust is really getting to me, hope to paint it this summer when I get the time. My Fender still messed my just get another one and call it a day.

[salans7]

Did some PDR (paintless dent repair) on my bed side last night.

I won't win a contest... but I'm satisfied, for now.

Nice looks good, Did that ca couple a weeks ago as my door was pushed in from an deer, looks good now but the rust is really getting to me, hope to paint it this summer when I get the time. My Fender still messed my just get another one and call it a day.

Swapped the emblems on my radio bezel this afternoon. I'll restore the script at a later date. I've pretty much decided at this point to go with the Ranger XLT trim since I have some sort of preference towards the higher trim trucks.

Also ordered my front U-bolt plate kit from Ruffstuff so I will finally be able to move the truck around.

[Gary Lewis]

Swapped the emblems on my radio bezel this afternoon. I'll restore the script at a later date. I've pretty much decided at this point to go with the Ranger XLT trim since I have some sort of preference towards the higher trim trucks.

Also ordered my front U-bolt plate kit from Ruffstuff so I will finally be able to move the truck around.

Looking good, Shaun. Thought you'd settle on Ranger XLT.

[salans7]

Looking good, Shaun. Thought you'd settle on Ranger XLT.

It was an easy choice, my truck has B-Pillar moldings and a headliner, Ranger trim trucks do not. Also, the blue XLT emblems are gonna look just right against the white paint. Blue is one of my favorite colors, so it only makes sense.