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Angelo's 78 bronco trail truck

ANGELO

Red Numb Skull
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
453
Messages
668
Loc
BRADENTON FL
Almost the first ford build thread.. I will post more recent pictures, but for now heres the first post on my fsb build thread.
https://www.fullsizebronco.com/threa...-truck.465233/

in September 2016 i sold my 95 bronco and bought a 92 f250 with the idi diesel. now the 250 is a 4x4 but with its wheel base and weight not really the best for trails plus i didnt want to beat my daily and work truck off road. so i have been watching craigslist for a cheap 78-79 to use as a backup truck and a trail truck. since i want it for trails i wasnt to concerned about rust i just wanted the rest of the truck to be fairly solid and the floors solid enough to be fixable so i dont get water coming in. about a month ago i saw a really rusty beat 78 for sale on facebook i really liked the patina and the name on the door so i figured if its cheap enough it would be worth looking at. when i messaged him he said he had a drivable 78 also and he would sell both for 3,000. couple weeks later when i got back to florida i rented a u haul and drove to the other coast to look at them. i was going to drive the blue one back and trailer the parts truck, but the blue one wasnt ready for a 3 hour drive with like 50 miles between gas station and like 100 between parts stores. so i had to make 2 trips about 600 miles total.




eLrBEuJ.jpg


my friends have named its grits because of the front license plate




20170610_221412.jpg


and then the parts truck "old number 7"




so the blue truck hasnt been registered since 2006. the last owner was a old lady who probably never used it. the guy i bought it from has multiple 79-79 broncos and just used it around the yard and occasional mud run. it starts really fast, faster than my 95 did. the only leaks are the rear axle and rear break lines. the motor has 0 leaks and looks like it was rebuilt at somepoint since it was fresh paint. i have not been able to go faster than idle though because it starves for fuel. the guy told me the carb on it is junk and gave me a holley to replace it which i am doing now. but i think the fuel pump is bad to becuase it cant fill the clear filter before the carb. so im replacing that tomorrow. right now its running on a boat tank in the cab because the fuel lines for the original are rusted, thats how the po has ran it since he bought it. i dropped the tank today and it had about 5 gallons of atleast 10 year old brown gas. the tanks going to need a good cleaning but its savable i think.

right now i plan on getting it running and some what reliable. than im going to fix the rust in the important spots and stop the rest from getting worse. from there lift, sliders, cage and bumpers. im decent at welding but im going to have to get a bigger welder so i can do the thicker steel



































only rust on the entire floor




and some of old number 7













there is signatures all over the dash and headliner




angelo190471's Library | Photobucket

heres all the pictures. these are more for me, i wanted to be able to see how much has changed
 
IMG_20200103_113521 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




IMG_20200103_122217 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




friends truck had major clutch issues, we ended up driving my truck back and trailering his.

IMG_20200103_143810 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




MVIMG_20200103_143851 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Some fairly current pictures. i recently bought 2016 superduty axles and a jed doubler kit that will be going in soon. i plan on 3 linking the front and leafs in the rear. eventually i want to 4 link with coils in the rear
 
Alright so Im just going to copy paste the good stuff from my fsb build to the current stuff.

first event i brought it to. about a month after buying it.
Over all they had very bad planning and very unorganized. The main roads were a mud bog, they were as bad as the mud hole. It was pretty good mud but i wasnt happy about having to pull loaded trailer through mud to get to where i was parking. They only had one out of 9 ticket lines half usable. I still didn't make it and had to be pulled by a tractor. I made it like half way and decided to unload the bronco to pull me through.




Ticket line 20170811_192237 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Here a main road 20170812_081538 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




And me stuck on the main road

20170812_081544 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




The guy who pulled me out

20170812_084411 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Tried to go a little to deep and hydro locked it. Took about a hour to find someone to pull me back to the trailer once i got it out of the water. Pulled the plugs replaced the oil, had a minor fire in the engine bay and it runs just fine.

20170812_103042 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20170812_104904 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

While working on it




20170812_074310 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

This was just getting in. I was worse by the time i left.

I replaced the factory fuse box with 2 blue seas boxes. One for switched and one for constant power. Blue seas is a marine box so its waterproof.




20170903_150329 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20170903_150359 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Started to work on the e fan. Decided to mount the flex a lite controller in the cab

little rust repair
Was bored today and decided to fix the little floor rust i have. Im bedlining the inside so it didnt have to be perfect




20170917_114510 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20170917_144803 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20170917_164148 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Wrong shade of blue. The cap looked dark enough but i guess not
 
.
20170921_154502 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20170921_154727 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Definitely room for improvement




Did the rear first, turns out i bought 2 fromt brake hoses. Bronco air claims you can install their shackle flip with the gas tanks in place. I doubt it. I didnt have a gas tank and i dont see that happening with the tank in place. I did have to drill one hole in the frame because the bolt was going to hit a body mount.




20170923_181256 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20170925_180440 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20170925_181433 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

[/QUOTE]

Finally got the metal for my radius arm mounts. Almost done with the brackets

20171107_183358 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20171108_183559 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20171108_183653 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




First time welding this thick with a mig. I usually use a stick welder at work. But i feel this should hold fine. Just need to work on my consistency. I have a 110v matco wwlder it's made by Lincoln.




20171108_183638 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20171203_172055 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20171203_155526 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20171203_155535 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Needs blocks in the rear, shocks, shock towers, front break hose and extended driveshafts

Just shocks, drive shafts and tires left. I bought ruff stuff shock hoops and cut one to size then relized it wont work because i want fender headers... went to the junkyard and got f250 shock mounts but they are to short and dont bolt on so i cut the mount off the originals and welded them to the 250 ones.




20171231_132438 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Left is my modified ones




20171231_132450 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20171231_132446 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20171216_152619 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20171216_135740 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20171216_135723 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr







20171216_134335 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20171216_134556 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr
 
.
All thats left is driveshafts. I finished extended the rear shock mounts.

20180107_132915 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180107_140941 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180107_144312 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180107_144255 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20180203_115214 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180203_165237 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




And cross member and driveshafts finished. Next is a snorkle

video 20180224_145039 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180224_112636 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Shows how steep the hill in the video is




20180224_150338 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180224_150201 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180224_150800 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180224_111643 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180224_114821 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180224_115644 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Video 20180224_133154 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr
 
20180317_184306 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180317_184315 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Did a saginaw swap. Got it from jbg. Dont recommend. Had to grind the bracket and the hose didnt fot right. Should have got a wild horse one.




Converted my ac condenser to a trans cooler and installed a powersteering cooler







20180317_184327 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180317_184338 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Redneck yacht club!!

20180324_114335 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180324_131002 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180324_115132 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180324_132655 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Someone brought a snowmobile




20180324_133315 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180325_101310 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180325_103757 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180325_103828 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Front deiveshaft no where near hitting




20180325_104152 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180325_104341 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Caught a cat fish

20180325_110052 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180325_135749 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180325_135321 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr






.
 
Recently moved so i had to move #7

20180607_183545 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180530_153206 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Grits just barely fits in the new barn.

20180706_143041 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Needed to use some of my vacation time so i took half the week off. Decided to make the snorkel. I originally was going to make a full length snorkle but i wanted to keep the pipe and pre filter lower than the roof and not stuck out the side. So because of that its not going to be easy to secure the pipe. It would be to far away from anything i could weld to. So i think im going to go for a short snorkle. I think im going to cut it 1" shorter.




20180706_143034 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Prefer function over form, but what do you guys think? But either way the holes cut theres no turning back. So its either that height or little shorter

[/QUOTE]

20180707_150956 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20180707_150946 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




No where near dont but i got it welded and started grinding. I cut it a inch shorter. I think im going to get a section of 3" exhaust pipe with the wider end that i can slide over the end of this with a clamp. Ill leave that section on the cab and when i go somewhere i know is going to be deep i can extend my snorkle to full length







20180721_103353 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Driving the truck this weekend. The snorkel looks good in the cab

[/QUOTE]

20181021_135952 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Having a hard time posting pictures. I bought dual windstar fans to replace the single i had. Fits the radiator better and so far works better. But i also cleaned the mud from the fins...
 
I wanted to go over the slider but it wouldn't fit. Should have build the legs a little higher so i could get tge exhaust higher then the frame. Its about a inch lower right now

[/QUOTE]

20181114_185507 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20181114_185414 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Going offroad tgis weekend. Had to get a cb. I got a cobra 29nw ltd classic. I had the normal one in my last truck. The nightwatch is definitely worth the little extra. Decided to mount on the ceiling angled towards me that way it cant get wet. On top of the dash was my 2nd choice but i didnt like how it was in the windshield. I still need to run the wires but my coax is to short to run neatly

Ocala national forest




20181117_065147 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181117_103708 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181117_110651 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181117_115415 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Casey was the first to get stuck. But we quickly got stuck in alot worse spot.




20181117_125243 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




I made it through fine. James tried to avoid the deep water by going on tge side of the ruts but that didnt work out and he got stuck. I backed in to pull him out and i got stuck.

20181117_125827 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




We were stuck there for a couple hours. All our straps put together was to short to get to solid ground. Casey eventually drove me to my f250 about a hour away at walmart. The 250 was able to winch both out. But that winch really needs a rebuild.




20181117_155440 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181117_161602 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr







20181117_161623 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181118_080945 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Camping at hopkins prairie

20181118_115140 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20181118_125001 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181118_132908 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




I think its time for rust repair when the drip rails holds on to trees




20181118_133029 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181118_132915 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181118_133407 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181118_134606 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181118_152447 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Ended up on like the worst trail it was very tight and it had bumps that would pull my steering wheel back and fourth.




Both of us had to do a oil change. They were idling on the water for a couple hours. When we pulled the dip stick it was milky. But i didnt wipe it. When i drained it iy wasnt milky but definitely was dark. So i think it was maybe condensation from the hot pan sitting in the water.

The windstar fans kept it cool off road. I was happy with how well they worked.

I have videos to. But i still need to post them to flicker

Posting this many pictures from my phone sucks btw
 
Built some sliders today

20181104_182552 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181104_165742 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181104_165737 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

20181104_165748 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Is having the plate on the back of the frame really necessary? It has 4 bolts per leg i was thinking just washers should be fine. I was going to have the plate but the metal shop didnt cut them.

20181106_163931 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Exhaust almost done. I just need to put that aluminum plate around the hole.

20181106_163945 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




16" glass pack. Still little to loud but its better than open fender headers.

20181106_163950 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20181106_164007 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr
 
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20190115_171545 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




all 8 tires just barely fit.




20190115_191426_001 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




we couldnt get the old tires dismounted. they tire machine couldnt do it. this actually didnt work either and thats a big skidsteer with the tracks off the ground. we ended up having to push the forks together and stab the bead as close to the wheel and we could. it still was lifting the tracks..

pretty sure those tires have been on since the 90s




before

20190116_162924 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr .




20190116_162929 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190116_164724 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190116_164728 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




once we put air in them i was able to see some dry rot in the tread. but its not to bad.

decided to balance these with air soft beads. im impressed, they ride really smooth and not as loud as i expected.

definitely worth 550. wide tires look so much better

Redneck Yacht Club spring break 2019




20190324_123738 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190323_180934 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




i definitely didnt have the tallest truck out there




20190324_092215 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




almost all those flags are trump flags

20190323_194423 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




and their main stage to

20190323_220737 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190323_202002 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190324_102420 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190323_154145 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




there was some real nasty mud. i just dont have enough wheel speed with 3 55s




20190323_160036 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




the efi didnt like the water




20190323_125743 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190323_184213 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190323_184800 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




click for the video




20190323_123903 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr







video




20190323_191245 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr
 
did some rust repair last week

20190704_113155 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190704_133234 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190704_113057 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




20190704_113101 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




guess i didnt take a before picture for that one




not perfect, the metal did warp a little from grinding, but i dont really care as long as its not a hole.

Havnt really done much to the bronco recently. I just finished strengthening, redecking and painting my flatbed.




I made a console out of 2 ammo cans. i still have to make some cup holders. but other then that its the perfect height for a arm rest locks and is waterproof.




MVIMG_20190929_161753 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




IMG_20190929_161744 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




I replaced my steering wheel with the sport wheel i found on ebay. it wasnt from a truck though so it has no horn button. its a couple inches bigger then the wheel i had before




IMG_20190929_161739 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




so i put the horn button on the floor

IMG_20190929_161736 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




I also found the 4 tone horns from a Cadillac in the junk yard to replace the factory horns that didnt work




MVIMG_20190929_161657 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




my battery died on me. so im setting it up for 2 group 24 battery.i replaced all the battery cables i think it was 2 gauge? tinned marine cables with a blue seas battery switch. also had to replace the alternator.




IMG_20190929_161652 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




IMG_20190929_161708 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




both grounds go to the block, the passanger side has a jumper from block to the frame




IMG_20190929_161722 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

still need to replace that battery. that ones dead, just there for to make the cables.




IMG_20190929_164013 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

drove the truck 400 miles on the highway few weeks ago. it made it there and back no problem, started to get warm going 70 so i just kept it to 60. But the glasspacks sucked, so finally decided to upgrade my mufflers. I went with flotech warlocks so I can still have a straight pipe when I want it but quiet otherwise. the straight pipe sounds way better then the glasspacks, the muffled side is to quiet but i can deal with it.

I do need to figure out my holley fuel pump esspecially now that the trucks quiet, its pretty loud and annoying. If I replace the fuel regulator with one with a return will that quiet down the pump? or do i just need to replace with a different brand.

IMG_20191210_173019 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




I want to start building my half doors. Not sure how I want to do it




either cut below the trim like this

IMG_20191210_172929 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

(small tires were for the trip, i didnt want to wear out my irocs)










or go just above the trim like this.

Either way I will leave the window frame. I kinda think above the trim isnt taking enough out. but i think leaving the trim intact would look better






Alright thats up to current skipping about half the posts.
 
Nice Bronco good to see these build threads not sure if I'd cut your doors I guess depends on there condition maybe find some better replacement doors or donor doors to cut up
 
Nice Bronco good to see these build threads not sure if I'd cut your doors I guess depends on there condition maybe find some better replacement doors or donor doors to cut up

I have a few door sets. the bottom is rusted on these and the driver side needs new gears for the window. when i cut them i want to do something similar to what jeeps have, the soft window that has a zipper.
 
cool build on that bronco. What coil pads are you using on the front axle? Are those homegrown or aftermarket?
 
RYC!

PXL_20201107_162211281 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




PXL_20201107_174027587 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




PXL_20201107_174037463 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




Video

PXL_20201107_174432034 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




I didnt really take that many pictures this year.

I did managed to kill the old modified.

video

PXL_20201109_161915629 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




it still runs but who knows for how long. I did the rod bearings a year ago. So its 460 time!

PXL_20201116_225257201 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




PXL_20201116_225249922 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr

Anyone know what headers these are? they are stainless and i cant use them, so id like to sell them. Same with the motor plate. is it worth anything?


can anyone id these heads? i cant find a casting number

received_796209524555600 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




PXL_20201116_200718951 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr




The guy built this motor for a mud truck, but he died before he could install it. His friends were selling off everything in his shop. picked it up for 2500

I took the truck off insurance. Its getting 2016 super duty axles. going to truss and 3 link the front. Probably just the leafs in the rear for now. A doubler, and I guess now a motor. so its going to be a while.




FB_IMG_1605623715961 by Angelo Mehtala, on Flickr
 
Nice score on the 460. Given the block is a D9 (1970s) the heads are likely similar vintage, maybe a D3 casting given the pedestal rockers. Headers may be L&L, get pick of right side.
 
Some of the later castings like from industrial and efi motors have the casting # listed in weird spots like seen here in a set of heads i got off a 460 industrial with smaller exhaust valves.

Not in the usual places where its cast flat between exhaust ports. These are probably e7 or e6 heads? use a mirror and poke around see if you can find anything
IMG_4385.jpg
 
Any late EFI head intake port configuration won't work with carburetor intake manifolds, so you likely have carb heads which are what you want anyhow. Early D0 had stud rockers.
 
I would guess it is a stock smog era engine with an aftermarket intake and valve covers. At min, pull front cover and see if it has a 'straight up' timing set. Don't recognize the headers. Oil pan is off a van.

What is your goal with the 460? Install and run? disassemble and inspect? Rebuild to xxx hp?
 
I would guess it is a stock smog era engine with an aftermarket intake and valve covers. At min, pull front cover and see if it has a 'straight up' timing set. Don't recognize the headers. Oil pan is off a van.

What is your goal with the 460? Install and run? disassemble and inspect? Rebuild to xxx hp?

I'm going to do all the seals since I don't know what he used. I'll check out the bearings and see how they look.
I'm not trying to make a ton of power. But I want to do a basic build. Like a good cam if it doesn't have one, decent heads, straight up timing, better pistons if they are needed to make some power, ect. I want it to run regular gas, and drive normally.

Will that pan be good for the bronco?
When I order parts what do I order say it's out of?
 
Suggest going over to 460ford to dig around. What is your budget?

"In general", for a truck motor...
You can likely get to 300 hp with factory pistons and heads. If you want to go past that you need decent sealing of rings/valves and raise compression ratio to match more cam. Either new pistons or smaller chamber heads.
To get past 350 hp the heads need exhaust side porting.

Easy to get $7-8k into a mild build.

If everything looks OK suggest basics & getting it put into your Bronco, and deal with all the other swap issues. Save up funds and go back and build the motor once you know what you want.

Not sure about pan fitment. Other choice is late model 4x4 truck (80-90s)
Engine parts, assume 70 truck. pick one, most things it won't matter. 88 up is EFI but still some parts are same (gaskets and such).
 
Suggest going over to 460ford to dig around. What is your budget?

"In general", for a truck motor...
You can likely get to 300 hp with factory pistons and heads. If you want to go past that you need decent sealing of rings/valves and raise compression ratio to match more cam. Either new pistons or smaller chamber heads.
To get past 350 hp the heads need exhaust side porting.

Easy to get $7-8k into a mild build.

If everything looks OK suggest basics & getting it put into your Bronco, and deal with all the other swap issues. Save up funds and go back and build the motor once you know what you want.

Not sure about pan fitment. Other choice is late model 4x4 truck (80-90s)
Engine parts, assume 70 truck. pick one, most things it won't matter. 88 up is EFI but still some parts are same (gaskets and such).

Yeah I definitely need to do more research.
I can't quite spend 7-8 since I still need to swap it into the truck. Need to get headers and accessories.
Would the water pump also be 70s truck? I'd like to be able to use a fitted hose
 
I thought I was subscribed to your thread. I guess it was in FSB. Don't go there much anymore. Good to see you here and it was fun going through your thread. I'm watching now.
 
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