86 B2 Swapeverydamthing!

excellent work. total classic build like jim did. not sure if i asked already...are you thinking of running some war flares or is it going to be a cross that bridge if we get there kind of thing?



i changed some fuel parameters and might take a run down there for range testing and to get some pics and details of curts 4.2 swap in his ranger...any chance of a meet and greet to see the critter...???


patching up my b2 so i can rework the rangers flooring(its why i wanted to buy yours) but still playing with the 6.2's fueling till i can get the ranger off the road.

Looks good. The 44 looks like it belongs under there. Not sure if you posted this already, but where did you get the axles? I feel like these should be getting pretty hard to locate.

bobbywalter said:

..are you thinking of running some war flares or is it going to be a cross that bridge if we get there kind of thing?

...any chance of a meet and greet to see the critter...???

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I really don't want to run any flares on it but if I'm forced to my Johny Law then Ill address that then.
And yeah Id be be happy to show it off to ya if you felt the drive down was worth it.

Jim Oaks said:

Looks good. The 44 looks like it belongs under there. Not sure if you posted this already, but where did you get the axles? I feel like these should be getting pretty hard to locate.

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I thought that was the case also, and it very well could be, but I completely lucked out when I ran into just the right people at the right time with this build. Through a Jeep buddy of mine I discovered that in the neighborhood directly across the street from my house{walking distance} was a guy whos side job is buying,selling, restoring,parting out all things Bronco. How it is I went 20+ years never meeting or even knowing about this guy blows my mind. When we met he turns out to be one of the nicest and coolest guys Ive met in recent years and was totally into helping me with parts I needed. In his shop are racks of EB d44s,9" axles,d20 cases and anything else you could imagine. I bought an EB d44 about 10 years ago for a swap I never did and I paid more for that axle than my new friend charged me for both axles and the d20!

deathbypsi said:

I discovered that in the neighborhood directly across the street from my house{walking distance} was a guy whos side job is buying,selling, restoring,parting out all things Bronco. How it is I went 20+ years never meeting or even knowing about this guy blows my mind.

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Wow, that's crazy. Just goes to show you that you never know what's in a guys garage. When fall came and the trees were bare, I notice that a guy living behind where I am has a big yard full of old Chevy Corvairs, and Corvair vans.

Any future plans to upgrade to discs and 297x joints / shafts?

Im going to at least try the drum brakes for some daily driving and a few off road trips then make my decision if it needs a disc upgrade.

Im also looking at Yukon and Nitro front shaft kits now. My other friend is a dealer for both and I can get either set pre-assembled with good joints for about $400. I just need to make 110% sure there is no difference if they going in a disc or drum axle before I pull the trigger.

IMO; 10" drums will have as much if not more stopping power. Disc is better at getting rid of heat, unless you are road racing you really don't need disc.

actually...drums have more stopping power.


problem is heat and application of power. control is just not comparable to disks. then there is weight.


my old cuda had drums in the front....and that first stop in the morning was a brake check from hell...front disks ended that. the bronco under the right moisture conditions is the same way....fawker would bounce your head off the roll bar if you forgot about it



on my bronco 2 i have drums front and rear, even with 38 inch tires it stops just fine as long as its dry out. no problem letting the kids use it. but they are reminded about dragging brakes through water and they better get the adjuster spoon and jack out if the pedal gets slack.









curt probably lives across the field behind you... he has a 4.2 setup with some custom twists. so far all of the naturally perceived drawbacks of such a idea have proven true so its a bit of a bummer.

once i get setup with him i will let ya know. i have most of the stuff ripped out of my truck preparing to re work some stuff and need to add some weight. i just put low pop injectors in it a few weeks ago and still need to dial in timing and feed psi. a run down there will give me the perfect miles for a measured test.

Hit me up anytime but I work night shift mon-fri and Im usually in the garage from Sat morn till monday afternoon

Been a crazy week or so. I lost last weekend to working on the house when my water main broke right at my basement wall on thursday. We were without water for fri-sun and my basement flooded. Had to rip out landscaping,bushes and dig out the ground in front of my house. By sunday evening main was fixed and yard kinda back together. Spent rest of this week just cleaning basement and throwing out tables,book shelves,entertainment center,etc....and lots of mopping.


Anyway I did get a little done late sunday nite and the couple days before last weekend. I got my Tom Woods rear shaft in and very pleased with that.


I couldnt get truck to start yet because the ecm is dropping its 12v signal during cranking. I went over my wiring and I couldnt find a single wire anywhere in the chassis harness that still had 12v while cranking. So I decided to start checking wiring in the steering column and when I pulled the shroud off the whole ignition switch fell off with plug still on. Hoping this is my issue.


I swapped in a different column I had but havent had a chance to retest yet.

Just playing around talking with buddies we came up with a photoshop pic of what I think might be the new idea for the final paint job. I have enough red paint left over from my Tbird that we could make this happen for pennys.


So this brings me to a big dilemma.

My front drive shaft is a stock 75 Bronco double cardon front shaft but its almost in a bind just sitting still at ride height. There is no way it will work once that front end starts flexing. Now I already have a Aussie Locker to put in it but I was either going to buy some chromoly shafts for it or try to trade off a set of full width RCV shafts I have in my 83 Ranger truggy for some EB d44 length RCV shafts. No luck with that so far. So now Im looking at the possibility of maybe cutting the knuckles off this EB axle to change the pinion angle and the caster to make it work.

But I still have my truggy out back with the full width d44 high pinion with the same gearing as the EB axle and it has the RCV shafts. It has all new disc brakes, ball joints {EB axle still on drums} and I dont think I will be using it now since I really would rather put tons under that truck. So now Im thinking is it worth cutting down the passenger side housing the 6" to make that one fit under the B2 and then just see if I can cut and respline the one RCV shaft to make it all work. Then Ill have disc brakes,best shafts and hoefully the high pinion will fix my front shaft angle issue.......

Well I spent all day Sunday in the shop and its now ALIVE! Nothing like that feeling when a new motor fires up for the first time. Turns out all my wiring I did was good and correct but the broken ignition switch was the problem. Plugged all the wiring in on the column and it fired right up first crank. After a big sigh of relief I moved on to other stuff.

I got the pinion angle set and welded up the perches, welded on some shock tabs and mounted up the Duff shocks finally.



So I just need to bend up a brake line across the housing and the rear is finished.

Then just to check off an easy one off my list I welded up some tabs on the rear Duff bumper and mounted up the LED backup lights I had.

First drive in the books!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGWGPYdA_oY

Got the brakes all bled and it seems the booster must be bad cuz Im getting no power assist so I added that to my list. Got motor all warmed up and fluids checked. Trans took almost 12qts with my deep PA aluminum pan and huge cooler. Thats the thirstiest c4 I ever had! Set the motor to 12* timing and it fires right up and just purs.

Truck is now loaded up and ready to take to exhaust shop in the morn!

Looking good!

Got the exhaust done over the weekend and it turned out perfect! Truck is as quiet as a brand new truck. We did a 2.5" Y-pipe with V-bands at all 3 ends, used a 2.5" Dynomax muffler with a fender exit tailpipe.






Then when I got home we flexed it out on the trailer for the first time so I could check fender clearance,shock lengths and brake lines. So far everything clears,fits and no rubs.



Then I sealed up the floor, put on the t-case shifter boot and built a little square tube stand wrapped in aluminum to mount the trans shifter to. Im real happy how it turned out. Its positioned perfect to be strapped in seat and works with the center console.




So I just went and got plates and insurance on it so I can start street testing it and go to my buddies alignment shop to get front end dialed in.