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Blu Rhino (gf named her)


H311RzR

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Project: BluRhino

Well about 2 months ago I picked up this 85 bronco II for $1000. She ran decent and I drove it around for about a week before I decided to start "fixing it until it breaks". So I joined up on the forums and looked around did some research and found how much im going to like this now winter/toy vehicle! So much so that im putting the 03 v6 twin turbo stang project on hold (the stang has been my baby since I bought it in o4). and so it begins:
My plans are extensive: 8.8 exploder rear, d35 front with the d44 knuckle swap Truetrak diffs front and rear. Removable hardtop, full internal rollcage, built 351w, custom dash bumpers roof rack, winch setup front and rear, boxed rear frame, bushwacker fender flares front and rear, 35" tsl boggers. and all the odds and ends that will be required.

This is pretty much how she looked when I bought her though the rear wheels wernt with it.





She was puffin a lil smoke when I started her up and shifted so I started into the engine: some pics suck cause they r from phone







The engine didnt look too terrible, dirty and high mileage, when I removed the heads and started into em I found a surprise...a split valve. So I took em to a machine shop and had the heads cleaned up , magnafluxed and a valve job done, all the valve guides were replaced along with new seals.
shiny new heads:


While I had the engine apart I decided to put a 254s grind comp cams in it, little more power and better sound :icon_hornsup:
Installed a new clutch and flywheel as the old ones were shot..the flywheel was cracked all the way around, surprised it didnt disintegrate with my week of driving! Duraspark swap went smooth, got all the wires wired up and the old harness out. After I screwed around with TDC and figuring out the timing I put her back together, btw I have no timing marks on the crank or pully....fun times..ill figure that out later.

Well I started her up: Heres a link to the video:

:headbang:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2_1ifvtU0w

No timing or tuning set.

Well sounds awesome to me, runs great, i drive it to the end of the road and bring it back....and yeah......the shit hits the fan...she dies :icon_confused:

Yeah well to make the next few weeks short and sweet im now rewiring everything cept the lights! Someone had hacked tha harness and royally screwed it up!




For about a week there were wires all over the garage...it was a nightmare....well now ive made this simple schematic of what it should be....simple enough for me to understand haha:


I got pissed/bored of all the wires one weekend and decided to do something seeming simple the rear lift! I had bought a skyjacker class II 6" lift with replacement rear springs. I jacked her up and started on my ill fated project:





Things were going well I got everything off without breakin anything, and got the springs in position put the front bolt in and then attempted to install the rear bolt when WHT it was too big!




So as you can see by the last pic the top bolt is for the front and the other two were from the rear....I ground one down a lil to see if it was the lip that was catching....yeah nope they were just too big. I went and got 4 new ones and they worked fine. Got the left spring on and ubolt lined up with the bracket on and WTH again...the hole where the alignment pin nut sits in was too small....pretty much I was over it for the night....put everything back on dropped it off the jack stands and said screw it on the suspension...for now! Ill do it when it gets back home.

While it was up I dropped the gas tank to change out the sending unit:


Got some parts in today: Msd 6AL-2 ignition box and the blaster coil, the new 100 amp internal regulated alternator, and a adapter for the speedo for eletrical pulse output. Will instal this weekend and hopefully get it running again. The new guages should be here by monday...cant wait heres what they look like:

Autometer American muscle series guages
 
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xkotyx

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looks nice man!
 

dirtcowboy

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I don't fight wiring anymore. Painless or Russ Francis is the only way to go.
 

H311RzR

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nuclassic

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yeah man, they sell kits
 

jhammel85

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Whew..Yeah..screw the wiring. That looks like a total pain in the ass.

But I love your build so far. The work you are putting into the under appreciated 2.8 is very nice!
 

dirtcowboy

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Painless or Russ Francis?
Either one of those companies make complete wiring harnesses with fuse blocks attached. Each wire from the block has the name of the component they attach to printed on the wire every 6 inches or so. Stupid simple to use and they need to be for me, all electrical stuff is black magic.
 

H311RzR

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Christmas in April Woot!



I decided to get a little bit done tonight So i installed the alternator, picked a place to mount the blaster coil and MSD ignition box. Got it mostly wired up. No pix of the box yet cause its goin in the dash and the dash is currently removed!







The guages are here in town gonna see if i can pick em up from the ups place tomorrow! crossin my fingers, maybe Ill be able to get it back on the road by the end of the weekend if I can aquire the guages! Ill be workin on it all day tomorrow.
 

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sweet.. i like the little "sliders" below the door, i've never seen that before lol.

more pics man! more pics is always the answer! keep it up.

subscribed!
 

NMB2

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lookin good. Pretty sure they meant RON FRANCIS though... not russ.
 

H311RzR

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Yeah UI googled both the names shortly after I asked about em...they look pretty cool and I will prob use them in the future! Now I have to wait another half an hour before the UPS places in town start opening up so I can find out what location my guages are at! Garr the anticipation! Must have my guages....now!!! HAHAHA
 

H311RzR

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Worked on it some this weekend. Got entirely too drunk saturday night so not as much progress as I had hoped!

Wiring cleaned up a little almost ready to reinstall the dash once the gauges get here tomorrow.


Here is a pic of what the msd will look like with the dash reinstalled. Its gonna be in the glove box area easy access and I can watch it when waters in the cab HAHA
 

H311RzR

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Alrighty Woot! The guages came in!!




Well i decided to start workin on gettin em to work in the stock dash, was workin out great when I got bit!

(Be careful when using an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel and no guard!!! HAHAHA)


That was fun now for some pics of the mock up ive got a little more cleaning up to do but I think they will look very nice when all said and done!




Oh and remember when I said I had a cracked valve when I got it well I gots a pic of it too now.


Thats prob all till this weekend and then I get to install all the new sending units finish up the lights wiring and replace a buzzing starter solenoid! Oh plus I have to figure out how to fab up a mount for the new fuel sending unit that came with the gauge kit..yay
 

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i really like the look of those gauges...
 

WesB

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Those guages are awsome. I'll have to keep those in mind when I start building my 35 Chevy Coupe.
On a side note, nice build on the 2.8. I would like to do most of the stuff you've done.
 

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