86 B2 Swapeverydamthing!

[deathbypsi]

So I been out of the 4x4 scene for the last 6 years while I been doing race car stuff and I mentioned in a local off road Facebook group I was thinking about lookin for a cheap beater off road toy to play around with this winter. In a matter of a few minutes I was bombarded with guys offering me all kinds of turds for sale. One in particular stuck out though...
A guy said his uncle had a 86 Bronco2 that had been sitting untouched for 10-12 years and it was real nice when it was parked all those years ago. Well I got his number and found out the truck was parked over a decade ago with only 49k on it and he wanted it gone asap. The only kicker was he lived on an island in Lake Erie {Put in Bay} so nobody wanted to deal with getting it off the island and paying the ferry prices. Well a deal was struck once I got the price from the ferry company which was $128 round trip and we settled on $150 for the truck!

My buddy and I hooked up the trailer and drove the 1.5 hour drive to the ferry and brought it home. It was a mess but in better shape than he described. My buddy decided we needed to name it ......Its a weird,quirky lookin little truck.....we found it on an island......and it was a 3 hour drive {tour} ......so the name Gilligan seemed fitting lol.





The body is completely rust free and even the under side looks great. Only issues are the bottom edges of the doors have some rust and a small rust hole right in the middle of the drivers floor from water getting inside from a broke wing window.

Its all complete under the hood and even started for a second on starter fluid.

I hosed it off as soon as I got home.

 

[deathbypsi]

So the reason for the strange title for this thread .........

I'm going nuts on this thing. Once I got it home and found out how clean it I decided it needed a better life than just some disposable beater. I loved my last B2 and I want to build a way nicer version of my last one. My plan is to literally swap ever dam part on this thing for something better.

I'm gutting the whole truck. 2.9 and a4ld going to scrap and in its place I have a 85 Mustang GT 5.0 I'm converting to EFI with all Explorer parts along with the shorter front accessory drive.


I have a c4 I'm converting to 4wd using all Early Bronco parts and a D20


I'm also going to SAS it using a set of EB 9" rear and d44 with 4.10 gears. I already put in a $1000 order to James DUff for the v8 and SAS parts. Going with 3.5" EB coils and Skyjacker Soft ride leafs in back. Ill be using Duffs long arms as well.




I'm ripping all the carpet out and will bedliner the interior but I'm keeping the porno Red. I got some Mustang buckets and I will build and 4pt roll bar inside.


I'm going to remove the rear glass and make all snap in/removable soft covers,tube bumpers and my buddy and I are going to paint it this new Ford gray


Hoping to have it up and going before winter is over!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

A great base to build from.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I thought you would go the old Ford red and white two tone for Gilligan..

I love "Leadfoot", I wish they were not so stingy about using it and other non metallic colors.

Looks like a fun build

 

[deathbypsi]

I still have my Truggy thats in my avatar which is red/white so I dont really want another red vechile....lol I also have a Red f150,red Turbocoupe,red Cougar so Im at my limit with RED!

This new B2 is very close to my last 90 B2 so I kinda feel like Im picking up where I left off with my old one.

 

[deathbypsi]

Well looks like everything is a go starting on the day after xmas!

Not sure I can fit anymore parts in the garage for this thing. I now have all of the James Duff long arm SAS parts here, ordered a full set of gauges from Speedhut, ProComp 15x10 wheels and 33" KM2 tires,all the motor parts for a rebuild, efi harness, rebuild kit for the c4, deep pan and a million other things....






I also came up with another idea I hope some will get but I'm sure will be lost to many. Since I'm using mostly Early Bronco drivetrain with the EB d44,EB 9",D20 and the EB conversion parts on the c4 I decided to go with that theme. I picked up some 75 Bronco headlights and buckets I'm going to adapt to fit......



And I'm going to have a buddy make me up some decals that are of the Ford FX4 design but with a tip of the hat to its origins.

 

[1qaz]

Nice find! Great price! Looking forward to watching this progress.

 

[bronco2fan]

Subscribed, Go for it. Can't wait to see more pics.

 

[Curious Hound]

This is gonna be fun.

Eric B

 

[Jim Oaks]

Sweet! Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[mavereq]

Love the name. No bullshit, I’ve been wanting that color on my ranger.

 

[mavereq]

Update your thread!

 

[deathbypsi]

Ok, I got the motor pretty much wrapped up now. Went thru the heads yesterday and now the longblock is finished. Just a stock rebuild with fresh bearings,rings, Melling HV oil pump, ARP shaft,double roller chain set,stock cam and stock E7 heads.




I had this done by lunch time today then for the first time pushed the bronco inside.

 

[deathbypsi]

So after lunch today a buddy and his kid stopped over and from 2pm till 7pm we went from a complete untouched truck to a gutted interior,pulled off running boards,removed the hood,bumper,exhaust,skidplate and motor. Every nut,bolt and screw fought us and i broke 3 T50 bits just trying to remove the back seats.

Cleaned up one side of panels of all the cat fur and God knows what else.


And the rust hole in the floor pan was a little worse than I thought but still no biggy.


Tomorrow the trans and case will be out and Ill start stripping out the engine compartment and drop out all the front end crap.

 

[mavereq]

What size tire are you going to run?