Ms Piggy- Cummins 4BT Bronco with a slight weight issue!

[broncosbybart]

Hope to never have to unbolt the front clip, but I thought it would really help out if I ever had to do some major surgery down the road.

Back off with the body. Clay came by and we got the string, tape measures, and levels out and got the axles squared up and all that good stuff. Thanks Clay!

Then I got started with the rear traction bar. After looking at both sides I decided to put it on the driver side to keep enough room on the other side for a muffler and exhaust. The center section on the 14 bolt is right in the way of the one axle mount for the traction bar. Had to get creative with it.

First thing I did was weld the axle tubes to the center section. There is a lot of conflicting info out there on what the center section is cast from. I can tell that this one is some form of cast steel. I had to drill the bulk head fitting in the housing for the ARB. When I did, the material did not chip but it drilled like a piece of steel usually does. That said, I had a job keeping the welds from cracking around the axle tubes.

My first attempt was without any kind of preheat and using standard 70 series wire in the MIG welder. I ran a couple small beads and they cracked right away. Second attempt was to preheat a little with the MAP torch and run a few small beads. They cracked too.

I ordered some 308L stainless wire. There are a couple options for wire but this was the most affordable. When it got here, I loaded it up and got to welding. First though, I used a propane heater to heat the housing up to 200 degrees and then went to it. I welded small sections at a time, on opposite sides of the housing and alternated sides to keep the thing from warping. After each weld, I used a sharp pointed slag hammer to 'peen' the welds to help keep them from cracking. It took a little while to get it all done but it came out pretty good.

Next, I fabbed up a 'truss' using C channel. I will be mounting my center brake flex line to it, so I drilled a hole in it and welded a nut to the back side for a retainer bolt.

Then, came fitting the whole mess up, making some extra gussets, and finally a removable brace to the rear diff cover.

Used a few pieces of C-channel for a truss mount and to make some 'flats' for the bump stops to hit on. Figured it would add some strength to the housing.

The inner plate for the traction bar is welded directly to the center section but is heavily braced to the other plate, which is welded to the axle tube as well as to the truss. Fingers crossed that none of it goes anywhere. It should take a lot of force to break it free.


Whew- that was a lot of work!

 

[broncosbybart]

Next up was the housing rebuild and ARB install.

Cleaning up the inside of the housing was NO FUN! Weather has sucked and motivation has been low. Got out the scrub brushes, the solvent, and the gloves.

After an afternoon of that, it was on to the work bench. I did it in stages, a few hours each night and got it done.

The 14 bolt is very much like a 9" and is very easy to work on. I did add a solid shim pack in place of the preload crush washer and did use a new u bolt style yoke in place of the stock metal strap style drive shaft yoke.

One hiccup was the ARB itself. The holes for the ring gear were too small and had to be reamed out some for the bolts. Nothing is ever straightforward...

It is all set up, gears are good, and axle shafts are in. I had to use 1/2" allen head bolts on the flanges as the hex bolts were too big to allow the wheel to fit over them. Even with the allen head bolts, I had to grind the head diameters down a bit for the wheel to fit over them.

 

[big a]

This thing is really coming along!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Andy

 

[broncosbybart]

Slowly...

Worked on getting the rear axle back under it.

Put some new poly bushings in the leaf springs, cut down the extra length on the new center bolts and Barnes HD U-bolts, and got it back under the frame. After that, I put the body back down on it to get ready for some more body work. Taped off the excess body fat that needs to get trimmed off to match the remainder.

 

[broncosbybart]

Got all the areas I wanted to cut marked with masking tape to make guide lines to follow and got out the cutting discs.

While I was there, I closed up the antenna hole and the marker light holes in the fenders. She's a 67 and wouldn't have come with the marker lights. These fenders were from a later model. The fenders that came off were ok, but these were much better.

I used magnets on the back of the fender to hold the patch panels in place and tacked them in place. Magnets do mess with the welding process, so they were removed for finish welding once the panels were tacked in place.

Then came the upper quarter panel guards. They needed to be cut to length and I am planning to install them by bolting them to the quarters and have started locating the holes for the soft top along the bed rails.


Started on another project too, got the WH warflares fit up and installed. Those flares don't come with any dimples as a guide for drilling. I ended up using masking tape as a guide and marking off 3" spacing for the screws, which turned out pretty good. They were all longer than what I ended up cutting the body at. Nothing the angle grinder couldn't fix. The residue that came from cutting them looked exactly like spider webs.

She's starting to look like a Bronco (for the time being)!

 

[big a]

Man, you're moving right along! I bet it's nice to see the mock up stage taking shape! I really like the bobbed look too!

I'm so ready to get back to work on mine! I've learned a ton from your build! I'm still collecting parts for mine while it awaits! I've also got a collection of items to get my shop up and running: service entrance wire, 16 shop lights, industrial fans, an elec panel, etc!

Thx for continuing to update this thread!

-Andy

 

[broncosbybart]

Good to hear on your shop- I'm sure working in it will be well worth the wait!

Got some rock skis started! Plans are to make them removable from the frame so that I can still take the body on and off using the lift if I should so desire if/when it is all built and going.

The skis and the outriggers going from the frame are 2x4 3/16 wall. The skis will be bolted to the side of the frame using 1/4" steel plate and 1/2" bolts through the frame rails, which will be sleeved.

Got a good start on it all but I need to disassemble the whole thing before I install more sleeves, as some of them are close to interfering with cross members and other such nonsense.

They aren't done yet but at least are tacked and positioned where they should be. More to follow in the next few days.

 

[big a]

That looks great! Can you add a photo or 2 of the underneath where u mounted the sliders to the frame?

Thx,
Andy

 

[broncosbybart]

Sure can.

Man, what a beautiful day! Got some more stuff done. Here are some pics and details on what I did for the rock skis.

There are 2x4 supports on each of the skis that go to the frame. I welded 1/4" plate to cap the ends of those supports. Those plates were first drilled for 1/2" bolts. The bolts go to mounting holes on the frame. There are 8 total bolts holding each ski to the frame rail. A few pieces of angle iron were welded to the frame to provide mounting locations for a few of the bolts as the frame is higher in the rear than the front. Hope all this make sense. The pics should tell the story. I will add some gussets from the 2x4 supports to the 1/4" plate in order to stiffen it all up. I'm not finished welding it all together yet.

After all that, I dropped the body back on and bolted the front clip into place and fit up the front F250 shock mounts. I removed the body and welded them all up.

 

[big a]

Thx alot!!!!! That looks really great!!!!!! You are sure making a lot of progress!!!! I currently have a 3" BL on mine. I was thinking of dropping back down to a 2", but may leave it as is to make more room for stuff like this! One thing I really want to do is mount the winch between the frame rails tucked under the radiator so my bumper can sit back closer to the grill.

 

[broncosbybart]

Thank you!

Jumping around a bit, I cut the 70 grille up a little bit for the 67 turn signal mod. As well, I went for some creativity points on the rear shock mounts. Might have gone a little overboard.

Then, out came the engine, trans, and transfer case. Got the front crossmember and driver side frame rail notched for harmonic balancer and starter clearance. The starter should clear without the notch, but I wanted to be sure.

While there, I welded up the engine mounts too.

 

[big a]

Overboard??? No way!!!!! It's so cool to see something different!!!!! I like the out-of-the-box thinking and design!!!!

You're almost ready to coat the frame! What's your plan, paint or powercoat?

-Andy

 

[broncosbybart]

Getting close to that. Plans will be paint- epoxy primer and then top coat with semi-gloss black.

I got the frame all stripped down and got everything welded up. Motor mounts, shock towers, rock ski mounts, radius arm mounts, and drop bracket for the track bar.

While doing all that stuff I ground the sloppy factory welds down and welded up any poorly welded areas. Lots of grinding and not fun stuff. At least that's all done now. Major work on the chassis is about finished!

 

[big a]

That's looks great! Huge milestone accomplished!!!

Yeah, I was surprised at how horrible looking the factory welds were on mine!

-Andy

 

[broncosbybart]

Some more jumping around. Fit up the electric wiper WS frame, using a new stainless hinge. I drilled the WS frame for 1/4 stainless countersunk Phillips screws and nuts. This way it will be removable if need be. Plans are to polish up the SST hinge and leave it unpainted, so it won't chip like they all do.

While there, I mocked up/temp installed a new antenna to the WS frame. Cleans things up a bit over using the factory antenna.

 

[broncosbybart]

I planned to build it up, drive it and change things as need be, then tear it back down and paint everything. With the onset of the carolina humidity, almost all of the bare metal started to flash rust. I would have a lot of cleaning/sandblasting/prepping before painting if I waited a while to get everything painted. That idea caused me to shudder, so apart she came and cleaned up for paint. The previous page showed the chassis all welded up and bare. Here are some pics of it with a new coat (or two).


The paint used is Southern Polyurethanes epoxy primer (black) and a top coat of their matte (hot rod) black. Stuff is very durable and sprays pretty easily. The matte black is super easy to work with. The epoxy primer takes a little more attention but is a great product. No, I'm not sponsored by them but I'm a fan of the stuff...

Got some stuff bolted back on. Wrenches are turning in the correct direction!

The rear leaf springs were torn back down and each individual leaf was painted. I added the 3rd leaf back in to raise the truck a little. The last 2 small springs are still omitted. It was sitting where I wanted it but would be too low with the bumper, soft top, tools, and all in it.

Rear axle is set in place and everything is tightened down. Rear brake lines are plumbed, and the truss brace and pinion guard are on but not tight. I need to get some new bolts for those. The ones I have aren't as long as I'd prefer. That's it for now. Just lots of sanding, cleaning, prepping and painting- ie the stuff I really hate.

 

[big a]

Wow!!!!! You're moving along!!!!! The chassis looks great!!!!!! What color do you have planned for the body?

-Andy

 

[broncosbybart]

So I really got after it the past few weekends and made it to the Super Cel

 

[snipes243]

must be a different truck

 

[FRANKO289]

So I really got after it the past few weekends and made it to the Super Cel

yeah and I am an idiot for not putting 2+2 together ... just didnt think that was you and your EB at the show ! ... you went from rolling frame to finish bronco w. your built thread !! lol & all in 10 days ? !

next year !!! btw .... incredible fab work !!