Double up

I dropped the front and rear differentials off at the shop for steam cleaning, overhauling, gear change, and a limited slip Detroit Truetrac for the rear.  Also picked up a pair of 31 spline rear axles.

The Bronco will have double shocks at all four corners - so I cut out the front shock towers and rear shock mounts with a sawzall, cutoff wheel, and a fair bit of grinding to remove all traces.  The new mounts will ultimately get welded on, but I chose these because they also can be bolted.

The rear ones have (3) 1/2 inch bolts that go all the way through the frame - Murphy had his way with me.  I measured carefully where to place these mounts, (they are forward facing rather than the stock rear facing) and marked the 3 holes.  Of course one of the hole is right on top of a tab bend in the frame and it would be a bitch to drill - ok, so only 2 bolts and heavy welding.

Start drilling the first hole and get through one side of the frame rail, smaller bits of course.  Working up to bigger drillbits until one of them is long enough to get through both sides of the frame rail and wouldn't you know it, there is an existing 1/4" threaded hole for the exhaust hanger and I am just slightly off of it.  After contemplation, I continued with my offset hole figuring that by the time I get to a full 1/2" hole it will completely obliterate the existing hole - and yes it worked.  I then drilled out the exhaust hanger to also be 1/2" and it is almost like I planned it.

Got both sides done.

A little more body

It is under way!!

Back from the sand blaster and with a fresh coat of primer.  Did the walk through with the bodyshop of what holes get filled, dents pulled, pieces replaced....  It looks great with just a coat of primer.

And the frame is now completely stripped and ready to go to the blaster shop as well.  Drop off the front/rear differential later this week for overhauls and that leaves the Bronco spread out all over town.  And a mostly empty garage.

I will be getting to know the UPS man personally in coming weeks as I expect the parts train to be arriving soon.

Enough with the body

Onwards - I now have the frame to disassemble and prep for paint.  The more I look at it, the more confusing it becomes.  Like any large project, learning to ignore the overwhelming job in front of you and concentrate on the small bits is the hard part.

For now - I am concentrating on removing everything from the frame.  I started with the drive shafts, front and rear.  then the transfer case, then the transmission, then the engine, then the rear axle, then the front axle.  This was my plan of attack.

Since I don't do this for a living - and I don't have a mechanic living next door anymore, I found myself having to research everything.  Like, how to remove a drive shaft?  Ever done it?  The manuals and instructions that I do find make assumptions that I know the names of all the parts and where there are.  "undo the stress bolt and tap the retainer key"... what!? So this makes it ever so much enjoyable as I get stumped with every piece.

I am ever thankfull that I have a hoist, an impact wrench and a BFH.  These are the answer to most things.  When trying to get the front spindles off of the Dana 44 front end - and heat and hammer weren't getting me anywhere, hit it harder.

42 years of rust is a bitch.  Plus, all those hunks of metal that make the Bronco go are damn heavy.  No plastic anywhere.

I am at the end of the deconstruction with the front-end being the final piece to remove.

and Bonus - I sold the 289 on craigslist - one less thing cluttering up the garage.

Wax on, Wax off

I am an expert at Karate  - I know because I have finished 1.5 months of scraping undercoating.  I will need to consult with Mr Miyagi to find out what I can do now.

If asked for the low point of this project, this would be it.  It is a messy, dull, repetitive task that simply needs doing - and I am done.  Yeah!.  

I am told this will make the media blasting task much more efficient with less damage.  I can accept that, it would take some real power to blast through the undercoating just to get to the paint, and that could easily damage the metal.  The body is truly off to the bodyshop on Monday.