JTothII
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 0
- Location
- New Jersey
- Vehicle Year
- '86
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 4.0
- Transmission
- Automatic
’86 BRONCO II
After trying to save up the money to embark on my quest to rebuild my Bronco II it has occurred to me that it just aint gonna happen. The financial requirements of the wife, the kids and life in general have forced me to put this project on the back burner for 14 years. There is however a silver lining in this dark cloud, I’ve had a long time to develop a plan and revamp it (several times) due to the development of new products and reading other builds by the great folks on this forum. I’ve also been fortunate enough to acquire some of the hard parts necessary to complete this build thanks to wearing out my ’94 explorer. Even though it has 200,000+ miles on it the motor ran like a top and the drive train worked flawlessly including the A4LD transmission. I know what you purists are thinking (junk that automatic). No thanks, this will be my DD and I get tired of shifting. I’m also fortunate to have the 8.8 limited slip out of my 97 explorer that my teen age daughter killed while saving the life of a poor little deer.
Thank God for seat belts and yes there was a passenger. Both girls walked away with minor cuts and bruises. All joking aside the picture is a testament to the safety of these vehicles. I also tend to keep my vehicles for a long time unless something drastic happens (read as wrecked beyond fixable ie: 97 explorer) so the goal here is to build a reliable vehicle that will perform in all weather and road conditions and be able to get me up and down the beach on the annual retreat to the Outer Banks or tow the pop up somewhere for some much needed R&R, along with other mild off roading adventures.
All that being said here we go……
The truck…..1996 Bronco II XL
The donor….1994 Explorer
THE PLAN:
Body off, frame prep and paint.
Prep and paint engine compartment
Complete engine compartment component swap
wire harness swap
New brake lines
New fuel lines engineered for the 4.0 conversion
Suspension:
James Duffs 5.5 inch lift
Rear traction bars
Dual rear shock kit
Axels:
Dana 35 front
8.8 limited slip rear
Still undecided on which gear set will be best for my specific use
4.0 liter swap:
Complete rebuild using Sven Pruett’s book as a guide
New “95tm” heads ported, polished and modified for new springs and valve stem seals
Valves
Compcam 988 springs
Seals
New OEM rocker arms
Pushrods
Compcams 410 cam
Headers
Low restriction exhaust
Hopeful results: bumping the compression and making the motor breath better. I will also be using an electric fan and chip. Goal here is to get as close to 200 hp as I can and keep the reliability.
Transmission:
I’ll be rebuilding the transmission using a very informative build thread from another forum as a guide. This along with cooler should result in a very durable transmission even for an A4ld.
The above mention modifications should net me a mechanically sound platform. I will then tackle both interior and exterior as time and money allow.
After trying to save up the money to embark on my quest to rebuild my Bronco II it has occurred to me that it just aint gonna happen. The financial requirements of the wife, the kids and life in general have forced me to put this project on the back burner for 14 years. There is however a silver lining in this dark cloud, I’ve had a long time to develop a plan and revamp it (several times) due to the development of new products and reading other builds by the great folks on this forum. I’ve also been fortunate enough to acquire some of the hard parts necessary to complete this build thanks to wearing out my ’94 explorer. Even though it has 200,000+ miles on it the motor ran like a top and the drive train worked flawlessly including the A4LD transmission. I know what you purists are thinking (junk that automatic). No thanks, this will be my DD and I get tired of shifting. I’m also fortunate to have the 8.8 limited slip out of my 97 explorer that my teen age daughter killed while saving the life of a poor little deer.
All that being said here we go……
The truck…..1996 Bronco II XL
The donor….1994 Explorer
THE PLAN:
Body off, frame prep and paint.
Prep and paint engine compartment
Complete engine compartment component swap
wire harness swap
New brake lines
New fuel lines engineered for the 4.0 conversion
Suspension:
James Duffs 5.5 inch lift
Rear traction bars
Dual rear shock kit
Axels:
Dana 35 front
8.8 limited slip rear
Still undecided on which gear set will be best for my specific use
4.0 liter swap:
Complete rebuild using Sven Pruett’s book as a guide
New “95tm” heads ported, polished and modified for new springs and valve stem seals
Valves
Compcam 988 springs
Seals
New OEM rocker arms
Pushrods
Compcams 410 cam
Headers
Low restriction exhaust
Hopeful results: bumping the compression and making the motor breath better. I will also be using an electric fan and chip. Goal here is to get as close to 200 hp as I can and keep the reliability.
Transmission:
I’ll be rebuilding the transmission using a very informative build thread from another forum as a guide. This along with cooler should result in a very durable transmission even for an A4ld.
The above mention modifications should net me a mechanically sound platform. I will then tackle both interior and exterior as time and money allow.
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