IDIBronco Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 That is something to be proud of! I've pulled and swapped enough transmissions and transfer cases on my lift to understand the effort involved. It isn't easy, but is FAR easier than on your back, as Jim suggested. You are really going to like having a manual. I'm just not at all fond of the C6, and any manual is better. I know I had mentioned taking a few days off, but you find free time and the thought of getting it closer to finished is just too tempting... I hooked up the new clutch hydraulic line to the new clutch master and used slave cylinder. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out a way to bleed it alone, but I figured it out. Just as the pedal was starting to feel good the seals blew in the used master. I decided to go ahead and drive 3 towns over to the closest parts store that had a new one on the shelf. I got the slave, brake fluid, and the new gear oil I needed to do a fluid change in the transmission. I figured out a pretty nice (in my opinion) way to remove the retainer on the hydraulic line under the truck. I removed the punch portion of an automatic center punch and dug through my drops of welding rods and found one about the right length and diameter. I only had to polish the end up a bit with the belt sander. Just swapped them out and it is an instant easy small roll pin remover. Just a few clicks and the roll pin came out. I got the idea on the way to get the new clutch slave. I got the u joint changed on the front drive shaft that was bad. The driveshaft is installed. I am hoping to install the rear driveshaft after I finish this water break. I am planning to give it a good once over tomorrow for checking everything out and fix the reverse switch wiring (I just found a broken wire). Then hopefully a shake down trip around the country block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDIBronco Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 I know I had mentioned taking a few days off, but you find free time and the thought of getting it closer to finished is just too tempting... I hooked up the new clutch hydraulic line to the new clutch master and used slave cylinder. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out a way to bleed it alone, but I figured it out. Just as the pedal was starting to feel good the seals blew in the used master. I decided to go ahead and drive 3 towns over to the closest parts store that had a new one on the shelf. I got the slave, brake fluid, and the new gear oil I needed to do a fluid change in the transmission. I figured out a pretty nice (in my opinion) way to remove the retainer on the hydraulic line under the truck. I removed the punch portion of an automatic center punch and dug through my drops of welding rods and found one about the right length and diameter. I only had to polish the end up a bit with the belt sander. Just swapped them out and it is an instant easy small roll pin remover. Just a few clicks and the roll pin came out. I got the idea on the way to get the new clutch slave. I got the u joint changed on the front drive shaft that was bad. The driveshaft is installed. I am hoping to install the rear driveshaft after I finish this water break. I am planning to give it a good once over tomorrow for checking everything out and fix the reverse switch wiring (I just found a broken wire). Then hopefully a shake down trip around the country block. Well, I got the driveshafts installed and was able to take it for a few laps around the property. WOW. The little driving shook the bubbles out of the clutch hydraulics fully. The brakes are something pretty amazing compared to the stock stuff. The old master/booster were clearly not a good match for the f250 style front and rear brakes. The bronco has never tried to stop with this much enthusiasm before. It locks all 4 wheels up dramatically if you so choose. I think it is going to take a bit of personal adjustment of pedal use. My wife commented I must have been pretty pleased when I walked in the house this time. Aparently I had some kind of a big smile... Once I get the wreck of a tool mess in the cab cleaned up I will try to get some pictures. A very pleased person indeed. Happy 4th of July to all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Well, I got the driveshafts installed and was able to take it for a few laps around the property. WOW. The little driving shook the bubbles out of the clutch hydraulics fully. The brakes are something pretty amazing compared to the stock stuff. The old master/booster were clearly not a good match for the f250 style front and rear brakes. The bronco has never tried to stop with this much enthusiasm before. It locks all 4 wheels up dramatically if you so choose. I think it is going to take a bit of personal adjustment of pedal use. My wife commented I must have been pretty pleased when I walked in the house this time. Aparently I had some kind of a big smile... Once I get the wreck of a tool mess in the cab cleaned up I will try to get some pictures. A very pleased person indeed. Happy 4th of July to all! Great idea on using the punch! Congrats! Glad you got to drive it. Happy 4th to you as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Well, I got the driveshafts installed and was able to take it for a few laps around the property. WOW. The little driving shook the bubbles out of the clutch hydraulics fully. The brakes are something pretty amazing compared to the stock stuff. The old master/booster were clearly not a good match for the f250 style front and rear brakes. The bronco has never tried to stop with this much enthusiasm before. It locks all 4 wheels up dramatically if you so choose. I think it is going to take a bit of personal adjustment of pedal use. My wife commented I must have been pretty pleased when I walked in the house this time. Aparently I had some kind of a big smile... Once I get the wreck of a tool mess in the cab cleaned up I will try to get some pictures. A very pleased person indeed. Happy 4th of July to all! Yes, I like the punch idea. But I'm even more thrilled that the brakes work that well. I'm REALLY looking forward to trying mine. Anyway, congrat's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Well, I got the driveshafts installed and was able to take it for a few laps around the property. WOW. The little driving shook the bubbles out of the clutch hydraulics fully. The brakes are something pretty amazing compared to the stock stuff. The old master/booster were clearly not a good match for the f250 style front and rear brakes. The bronco has never tried to stop with this much enthusiasm before. It locks all 4 wheels up dramatically if you so choose. I think it is going to take a bit of personal adjustment of pedal use. My wife commented I must have been pretty pleased when I walked in the house this time. Aparently I had some kind of a big smile... Once I get the wreck of a tool mess in the cab cleaned up I will try to get some pictures. A very pleased person indeed. Happy 4th of July to all! Congrats on the progress and first lap around the yard. After living with inadequate vacuum brakes the hydroboost system sure does put a goofy grin on your face. I knew it was a good upgrade but feeling that much braking power in your own truck is extremely satisfying. I’m glad you have lift off with the manual conversion, that’s an accomplishment and upgrade in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 I know I had mentioned taking a few days off, but you find free time and the thought of getting it closer to finished is just too tempting... I hooked up the new clutch hydraulic line to the new clutch master and used slave cylinder. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out a way to bleed it alone, but I figured it out. Just as the pedal was starting to feel good the seals blew in the used master. I decided to go ahead and drive 3 towns over to the closest parts store that had a new one on the shelf. I got the slave, brake fluid, and the new gear oil I needed to do a fluid change in the transmission. I figured out a pretty nice (in my opinion) way to remove the retainer on the hydraulic line under the truck. I removed the punch portion of an automatic center punch and dug through my drops of welding rods and found one about the right length and diameter. I only had to polish the end up a bit with the belt sander. Just swapped them out and it is an instant easy small roll pin remover. Just a few clicks and the roll pin came out. I got the idea on the way to get the new clutch slave. I got the u joint changed on the front drive shaft that was bad. The driveshaft is installed. I am hoping to install the rear driveshaft after I finish this water break. I am planning to give it a good once over tomorrow for checking everything out and fix the reverse switch wiring (I just found a broken wire). Then hopefully a shake down trip around the country block. That is a neat idea! I don't own one of those automatic glass breaker thingies, but I'm going to pick one up the next visit to Horrid Fate. Congratulations on being driving again! That's got to be a great feeling 😊 Glad your wife is so understanding about the mistress. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDIBronco Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Great idea on using the punch! Congrats! Glad you got to drive it. Happy 4th to you as well! Yes, that center punch idea I am going to remember. I could see that a person could make up several different punches to fit various roll pin sizes. I have driven a hydroboost 1988 F-Superduty previously, but it was a work truck with a heavy bed and tools pretty well always. If I were to venture a guess I would say it was probably 7500 lbs plus empty. Last time I rolled the bronco across the scale it weighed 5900 lbs with the few hundred pounds of tools and parts I had in it. I imagine with the heavy bumpers and winch the bronco might get close to 5400 lbs. In addition the bronco only has 4 wheels and tires and the F-Superduty has 6, if you consider the inertia in a spinning wheel and tire, I bet an extra pair of them add quite a lot of energy the brakes have to dissipate. I already can tell it is going to be completely different to drive (more enjoyable). I did go ahead and use the close ratio idi transmission (high miler) that I had here. I decided that I would keep the wide ratio transmission in case I find enough money sometime to get one of those overdrives. The driveshaft was 29 inches roughly. Probably is enough room to live with 7 inches shorter if I do not fabricate a bigger travel suspension. I have always wanted to build a pillowy long travel suspension in the bronco, but realistically with the heavy motor and bumpers it would be a waste. I am absolutely blessed in the understanding wife department. She puts up with a lot of my working on beater vehicles mostly without grumbling. Very rarely there is mention of me needing to get a "nice" vehicle. Occasionally she gets fed up with the interior apart, rattles of tools if she rides in them, or the relentless hunt for the right parts, but she sticks with me and doesn't complain about it very much. The plan of attack today: Fix wiring harness to transmission. Find the "right" couple bolts for the transmission mount. Tie wiring up. Try to get the carpet, shift plate, and boot installed. Recheck drive shaft bolts, verify no bolts have been missed. Possibly heat and bend transfer case lever so it is closer to floor in 2wd. Let the transmission fluid drain completely out and refill. The only part I think I need to dig up yet for the "conversion" is I need to find a manual transmission instrument cluster blank plate, but that is a no rush issue. There is still a big list to do in the long term, but out of the scope of this thread. Here is hoping everyone did have an enjoyable and safe holiday yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Yes, that center punch idea I am going to remember. I could see that a person could make up several different punches to fit various roll pin sizes. I have driven a hydroboost 1988 F-Superduty previously, but it was a work truck with a heavy bed and tools pretty well always. If I were to venture a guess I would say it was probably 7500 lbs plus empty. Last time I rolled the bronco across the scale it weighed 5900 lbs with the few hundred pounds of tools and parts I had in it. I imagine with the heavy bumpers and winch the bronco might get close to 5400 lbs. In addition the bronco only has 4 wheels and tires and the F-Superduty has 6, if you consider the inertia in a spinning wheel and tire, I bet an extra pair of them add quite a lot of energy the brakes have to dissipate. I already can tell it is going to be completely different to drive (more enjoyable). I did go ahead and use the close ratio idi transmission (high miler) that I had here. I decided that I would keep the wide ratio transmission in case I find enough money sometime to get one of those overdrives. The driveshaft was 29 inches roughly. Probably is enough room to live with 7 inches shorter if I do not fabricate a bigger travel suspension. I have always wanted to build a pillowy long travel suspension in the bronco, but realistically with the heavy motor and bumpers it would be a waste. I am absolutely blessed in the understanding wife department. She puts up with a lot of my working on beater vehicles mostly without grumbling. Very rarely there is mention of me needing to get a "nice" vehicle. Occasionally she gets fed up with the interior apart, rattles of tools if she rides in them, or the relentless hunt for the right parts, but she sticks with me and doesn't complain about it very much. The plan of attack today: Fix wiring harness to transmission. Find the "right" couple bolts for the transmission mount. Tie wiring up. Try to get the carpet, shift plate, and boot installed. Recheck drive shaft bolts, verify no bolts have been missed. Possibly heat and bend transfer case lever so it is closer to floor in 2wd. Let the transmission fluid drain completely out and refill. The only part I think I need to dig up yet for the "conversion" is I need to find a manual transmission instrument cluster blank plate, but that is a no rush issue. There is still a big list to do in the long term, but out of the scope of this thread. Here is hoping everyone did have an enjoyable and safe holiday yesterday Congratulations on the first drive sounds like it turned out a lot better than mine, I lost the brakes & the clutch linkage Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDIBronco Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Congratulations on the first drive sounds like it turned out a lot better than mine, I lost the brakes & the clutch linkage Dave ---- I drove a couple miles on the property, so I was pretty sure I had most everything in good shape. I am fortunate to have about a 10 mile loop I can make out here in the country. Makes a good test run route. Few good hills and starts and stops to check everything. Since I got it driving the major modifications are now going to slow down for a while. I will just finish up the little details and enjoy it for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 I drove a couple miles on the property, so I was pretty sure I had most everything in good shape. I am fortunate to have about a 10 mile loop I can make out here in the country. Makes a good test run route. Few good hills and starts and stops to check everything. Since I got it driving the major modifications are now going to slow down for a while. I will just finish up the little details and enjoy it for a while. You DESERVE to kick back and enjoy it! That's quite a lot you've accomplished so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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