MY build thread...'88 Bronco II Desert Rat Patrol Edition: 1/26/24 update!

[RobbieD]

Thanks to @Uncle Gump, AOR is now going to be offering a matching rear bumper to match their front, which is AWESOME. Super high quality construction, art quality like welds and ridiculously affordable (gee, where they'd get their company name from...?) pricing.

I vote that AOR officially names it the "Gumper Bumper".

Jim also mentioned the Satin Nutmeg Rustoleum as his paint of choice...so now it's mine too!

I'm sorry, but "Satin Nutmeg" sounds like the name of a horrible disease that you get from being not careful enough. But it is a nice color, though.


Seriously, great work, and this truck is really coming along. I have enjoyed following your build, along with the pics and commentary.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I actually told AOR they could use the picture of the G-Unit on their website.

 

[Peter Griffin]

I might do a separate/detailed tutorial on @Jim Oaks's round headlight retro install on the BII, but following his build thread and after asking a couple of questions which he promptly responded to, I got that done this weekend, in addition to getting the front AOR Pre-Runner bumper mocked up. I did wire in the daytime running lights, which was optional, and I'm extremely happy with the results:

^ Lights off...

^Parking/running lights...

^Low-beams.

^High beams.

Besides the obvious difference in appearance, the performance of the new lights completely destroys the stock/rectangular headlights. I need to wait for the new wheels/tires/alignment before I adjust them but I currently have them dialed so they're dead horizontal/vertical. There's a lot of adjustment in the 3 adjustment screws so I'll have the ability to tweak them up/down and in/out.

With my AOR rear bumper on the way thanks to AOR (duh?!) and @Uncle Gump I was excited to get the front one on, or at least mocked up. I recycled the carriage bolts from the stock bumper and had a couple of spares lying around for the third hole/mounting slot. I'm gonna end up getting all new hardware at some point, this will do until the get it Raptor lined with the rest of the exterior:

While I don't have an issue with the gap/space that's around the round headlight in a rectangular hole, my wife had an excellent idea that I'm going to likely try to really clean up with look/headlight surround.

We're gonna take either some thin plastic or maybe even rubber, cut out a hole in it to exactly match the headlight/bezel and glue it to the back of the grill. That way none of the hardware will be visible and it would look clean...

Rear bumper should be here this week and I'll get that on soonest, in the interim I'm gonna get the dash wrapped up and start painting ALL of the interior trim pieces so everything with be fresh and go nicely with the brand new carpet and headliner. Temps have been 100+ and the A/C has been cranking out in the mid-40s, once it's all Rapor lined and sound insulated, along with black out tint, it's gonna be VERY comfy. Stereo system is simple but will crank and has updated (especially compared to 1988!) features with Bluetooth for phone calls and streaming music, a nice solid phone mount and I'll have GPS/Nav handled!

 

[Uncle Gump]

Nice... I do like the headlamp conversion. Still think I'm gonna rock the original headlamps... but upgrade to some Hella D.O.T. lamps.

I dug out some welding equipment and fixin to hook my front bumper up with some light tabs and see about tabs and brackets for a skid plate.

We do have a supporting vendor here Ram Mounts. They have some nice cell phone/navigation mounts I want to have another look at. I'm gonna have another look there before I buy.

 

[Peter Griffin]

Woo hoo! @Uncle Gump and his G-Unit BII are officially famous! AOR has pictures up on the new rear bumper for the BII which he was critical in getting put into production, which in turn got me the second one they've ever made!

Elite Rear Bumper-Ford Bronco 2 (84-90) - Affordable Offroad

Master Fabricator Dan ”Tubby” Billig gives you his Elite Ford “Shoebox” Bronco Rear Bumper 1966-1977. Free Fedex shipping to lower 48 states.

affordableoffroad.com

Now all I gotta figure out is how/where I'm gonna mount my license plate!

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'm not sure my involvement was "critical".

I just ordered an XJ bumper and asked them to leave the mounts off. I offered to help them with whatever they needed if interested in making brackets for the Bronco II. Sent a few pictures with measurements... and a sketch of the bracket and where I wanted it welded. They did all the hard work.

I am glad to see they now offer it... they needed a Bronco II rear bumper offering.

I will most likely mount the license plate on the tire carrier when I build it. For now I'm working on a plate mount that slides into the 2 inch receiver. I have to run a front plate here in Illinois... will likely do the same for the front plate.

 

[Peter Griffin]

@Uncle Gump I'm thinking a tire carrier mounted plate would work best, just need to figure one out that won't make getting to the spare unnecessarily dramatic/involved...

 

[Peter Griffin]

Started working on the interior. I was going to start by reinstalling my freshly painted dashboard bits but MAN am I glad I didn't!

Before Raptor lining the entire interior I wanted to remove the existing/factory "soundproofing" or whatever it is that's only in the front half of the vehicle. After the Raptor liner I'll apply sound mat to the entire interior and while my new carpet already has insulation preinstalled, I bought a bunch to apply to roof and sides before reinstalling the interior panels.

Some of this soundproofing had already flaked off and I started to try to remove it with a nylon bristle brush but that was a bustout. Enter a wire wheel on my angle grinder and it made (1) short work of it and (2) a gigantic mess! Little bits of dry rotted rubber went EVERYWHERE.

Got just under half of it done, need to take the driver's seat out and knock the rest out and then get it all cleaned/prepped for the Raptor liner...

I also took the rear hatch interior trim off and discovered the knob/actuator arm was disconnected and after futzing with it for near a 1/2 hour I stopped so I could get started on the floorpan...

Both the handle and electric lock work; this is just for the knob which is weird because only someone inside could physically pull it up/push it down so I'm not sure why it's even there; I do not have the feature where the rear glass can open/close so I might just disconnect it so it doesn't rattle...

In other "at Ford quality is job one" news I found the lock mounting bracket had two separate sized bolts; an 8mm with a washer and an 11mm without...whatever!

 

[Peter Griffin]

Got the driver's side done, firewall, driveshaft tunnel...

I had to keep cleaning as I went because the dust would re-adhere to the sheet metal. I switched out to a flat rotary steel brush which was more effective. I experimented with both acetone and lacquer thinner to get it as clean as possible and the lacquer thinner worked better. Since I need to Scotch Brite all the interior sheet metal to the Raptor liner to have something to grab onto (in addition to adhesion promoter) I'm sure that'll help clean that residue off too.

Lot of extremely dirty work; I trashed the interior, myself, my garage and my house with all the tiny rubber residue but it was worth it to have a clean slate/foundation on the interior portion of the build.

 

[Peter Griffin]

I have a question about (motor) timing I was hoping to get some assistance on...

It's running pretty fat right now from the smells of it and I don't wanna smoke my brand new catalytic converter or foul the sexy new plugs. With that being said and the fact that I'm at sea level and using standard (89 octane) I wanted people's opinion on advancing the timing to 12 degrees BTDC as I saw recommended here on the Bronco Corral:

Ford 2.9L V-6 Engines (1986-1990) - Bronco Corral

Looking to rebuild a Ford 2.9 V6 or just need to know it's specifications? Here's the specs along with some performance upgrades.

www.broncocorral.com

I know 10 degrees is standard and I'm not sure if bumping it to 12 degrees isn't a bad idea...? NOT looking for more power, just as lean/clean as possible.

Thanks in advance all!

 

[Shran]

Guess you could try it and see what happens. Smell test isn't real accurate, what "smells" rich might be perfect if you use a sniffer to sample exhaust gas... or not, there are a million variables that could affect air/fuel ratio. If there is another issue causing a rich condition, adjusting the timing won't do much.

I don't know why that page suggests running 89 octane. These are not super high compression engines. I run 87 in mine all the time, I even ran 85 when I could get it. It never pings or runs weird. I am at 3200', maybe at sea level things are different for you but I don't feel that high octane fuel is a benefit.

Speaking of catalytic converters keep in mind that you're running 1980's tech here, even if the parts are new. Cats had only existed for about 15 years in 1988 and they weren't even mandatory on everything - modern converters are WAY better at removing odors than the old ones were, even if both were functioning perfectly.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Try Jeff's Bronco Graveyard. Prices are reasonable Ordered a part from them for my Ranger. Shipping was ridiculous but in FL, you pay tax on the whole freight (shipping costs) so make sure you check. Just throwing it out there.

 

[Peter Griffin]

@Shran that article I linked where it's suggested to advance the timing to 12 degrees stated to do so with a 180-degree thermostat and 89 octane. Since it gets CRAZY hot here I'm gonna stick to 10-degrees out of an abundance of caution...

Good news from Discount Tire is that my wait is over and my wheels/tires will be available for pickup tomorrow! Pretty excited about that but the only driving I'll do once I get them is to the alignment shop to get the camber address and a proper alignment.

Making some solid progress here lately, I hope the interior/stereo goes as plan/expected...there's always hiccups but at this stage of the build I think they're less dramatic and more manageable...

 

[Peter Griffin]

Picked up my wheels/tires (set of 5) from Discount Tire today! Alignment is scheduled for next Wednesday and should have my AOR rear bumper delivered on Saturday. Still grinding away (literally!) on the interior...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Nice work so far! I’m gonna have to get after a build thread for my choptop since as of last night it’s once again running and driving. Still got a lot of things to go over and work out (and some video footage got lost), but progress is progress.