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AC Duct work question, plus restoration progress update: more rust, leaks, quarter windows, and the dashboard!


benhoger

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I hope the pandemic has been kind to most of you.

Little by little, I've been chipping away at the B2. After many failed attempts, I finally got the rear seats out which was the only thing (minus the dash) keeping me from having a stripped interior. The two bolts with T50 heads right by the wheel well fastening the driver's side rear passenger seat (lots of words) to the body had me stumped for a while. The bolts were seized. While I managed to pb blast and gently caress some of the other bolts out (and break several T50 sockets along the way), these two were in there good. So good, that though i initially got them moving with the breaker bar, the heads stripped. I was finally able to get them out by drilling through with some colbat drill bits.

So now the rear carpet is out too and I've patched some rust holes in the back, but water is still getting in from two places: the mounting holes for the trim piece that covers the liftgate mounting bracket and somewhere between the fuel filler and the brake light assembly--I suspect its leaking through the quarter windows. Now I'm hoping to knock out two birds with one stone. I believe I previously mentioned wanting to replace the window moulding. As far as I know, I'll need to replace the whole window if I want different molding. The molding on my quarter windows is in rough shape and the previous owner had it painted to match the color of the truck. It wasn't done very well. I've found some junkyards in Florida via the web that have some B2's so I'll be needing to make a 3 hour trek to go scavenge. Once I pop out my windows, I think I'll be able to make quick work of the rust/corrosion/holes thats letting water in to the cab and I'll have new windows to mount on the truck. I found this thread that breaks down how to take out the quarter windows. Seems pretty straightforward.

Last, but not least, I've had the dash halfway out for a while, but I have not been able to figure out what was still preventing me from taking it out completely. After weeks of trying on and off, I started poking around today and was able to figure it out! The next thing I need to figure out is how to take out the AC duct work. I want to get rid of the insulation and check for rust. The insulation around the duct work is wet, so I need to investigate. It looks like its two pieces bolted together at the firewall. Whenever I have the better part of a few hours, I'm going to start unbolting and see what happens. If anybody has guidance here or can link a relevant thread, please let me know.

It's been equally frustrating and rewarding to work on this truck. Lots of cussing, even more cussing, a little regret once in a while, and constantly telling myself to never spend money on a rust belt vehicle ever again.

44586

44585
 


JerryC

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I wonder if your seat bolts had the same locking compound as my front seat belt bolts. I didn't know that Ford did that until I got them out. They would get moving but if I stopped they would get tight again. The bolt was getting hot and started to move but when I stopped it cooled and tightened up. I was using my floor jack handle for leverage and it wore me out. The bolts laughed at my air impact which at the time was my older impact that good for maybe 300 ft/lbs. When I was done the HF torx bit was twisted. The thread locker was orange, I think.
 

franklin2

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benhoger

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I wonder if your seat bolts had the same locking compound as my front seat belt bolts. I didn't know that Ford did that until I got them out. They would get moving but if I stopped they would get tight again. The bolt was getting hot and started to move but when I stopped it cooled and tightened up. I was using my floor jack handle for leverage and it wore me out. The bolts laughed at my air impact which at the time was my older impact that good for maybe 300 ft/lbs. When I was done the HF torx bit was twisted. The thread locker was orange, I think.
It was hard to tell considering the bolts that gave me a hard time were rusted and seized. For the driver's side-most bolts for the rear seats, I went in at a bad angle on the top bolt (not the one thats flush to the floor, but the one that is pointed towards the rear). I drilled over the bolt, then under the bolt. When I finally drilled it out, I realized I messed up the backing plate that it threads in to, so I'll need to figure out how to fill that to re-tap it. I'll probably need to find a welder.
 

benhoger

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1989
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Bronco II
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Manual

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