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So for the first time in almost 6 months my Bronco is fully sitting on its own suspension. I'm excited, it's getting so close to being done.
I went with 14" fox coilovers, but I think I could have used 16s. Oh well that's what limit straps are for. Anyway I think it will work great. Leaves room for upgrading later.
Another milestone! She's sitting on her own Tires for the first time in almost 6 months! There was a Bronco get together at our local Cruising Grand car show, so I borrowed a trailer and took her to show off. It was a big hit. Looks like quite a bit of fender trimming will be needed lol.
Thanks! it feels great to have it as a roller again. I love walking out to the shop and just staring at it. Just need brake and fuel plumbing, mount fuel cell, and driveshafts. Oh and fender trimming, lots of it .
Progress has been slow again. I finished plumbing the brake lines, just need to bleed them. I reused my old extended brake hoses, the rear was no problem. The front however wasn't so easy. The vent breather bolt is 7/16-20 thread, but the D60 breather is 1/4 npt. So I had to drill and tap the hole. No big deal except the diff is already built, luckily it was still dry inside, no oil yet. Also added some brake line tabs from Ruff Stuff to make it all look nice.
Still need to mount the fuel cell and plumb the fuel line. Also need to add a filler port to the outside through the upper body panel. I bought a nice recessed fuel filler that will be perfect for this.
On a bad note, I ordered my driveshafts from Tom Woods, however some douche either stole them front my porch or UPS screwed up. Either way it will be at least another week for Tom Woods to replace them for me. They said they will take care of me, so I hope it's true.
Got the fuel cell mounted, unfortunately I can't use the filler neck and hose like I wanted. The cell sits too high and the filler would be almost a straight shot. So instead I think I will make a bracket that sits it above the bedside, right behind the soft top. I hardly ever use the side windows anyway, and if I do I'll just have to unzip it enough to access it.
Good news, is I finally got my driveshafts. A huge thank you to Tom Woods, they took good care of me and as soon as ups accepted the claim I had them within 2 days. Just a bummer it took an extra week. The rear fit perfect, but the front CV head hits my ZF crossmember. I think a 1310 cv would have cleared fine, oh well.
So I built a new crossmember to support the Atlas, using a TMR Customs support ring mount and 1 1/2" square tube and Ruff Stuff tube bushings and tabs. With the Atlas now supported I can now remove and build a new ZF crossmember. Hope to have it done in a day or two. Probably add a skid plate between the two crossmembers.
Alright finally got to finish the ZF crossmember. Took longer than expected as usual. I reused the side plates from the BC crossmember and also the transmission mount. I used a Ruff Stuff tube bushing and some 1 1/2" square tubing. Now there is plenty of clearance for the driveshaft. I also installed the front driveshaft.
Next is to finish the filler neck bracket and hose, fill up the axles and Atlas with oil, bleed the brakes, and so on and so on.....
Today I finished the fuel filler bracket and hose. I used a recessed fuel filler and fabbed a bracket to hold it in place. To get the correct angle to match the tank neck, I sliced the bracket and twisted and bent it into place then welded it back up along with a tab to sit on the top of the bed rail. Works great. The filler neck was 2 1/4" and the tank was only 1 3/4" so I had to use a adapter to make them go together.
Got around to building the shock tower brace for the front finally. I think it came out nice. Also relocated the ARB compressor to the driver's side and plumbed the ARB airline. That will open up the space I need on the passenger wheel well to mount the MAF and intake tubing. Still need to figure out where to mount the ignition coil though.
I gave up on an oil cooler for now, just no room anywhere. When I eventually build a tubed core support I will figure out a way to fit everything better.
Then I mounted the low pressure fuel pump, just need to get some fuel lines made up now.
I mounted the MAF and intake tubing today. I used the spectre flexible tubing because it was easy. Should work just fine. Also mounted the coil, close to where it was before but had to modify the bracket to fit around the new shock tower.
Here's where I mounted the coil. Just simply running out of room. I will definitely have to plan out everything better when I build a tube core support.
I got to drive my baby again! It's been since February, it felt so good to drive her again. The new suspension felt great, it drove down the street straight and smooth. The steering felt good. I need to drive and test it more but so far so good. Also several things to finish up before I call it done. A little more street testing and then I will do some offroad testing. I have a desert trip planned for the middle of October and then Bronco Daze in November.
Today was a good day. I drove my Bronco to work and it went great, cruised at 65mph no problem. On the way home I hit 75mph a few times and she still drove straight as an arrow, very happy about that.
Then later I took it out to a dirt road and tested some of its flex in a ditch. Nothing extreme, still had plenty more to go. I need to do some more fender trimming. I like how flat the body sits while the suspension gets all twisted up.