How to strip a Bronco II

[Tony Raine]

Sometimes one has to be sacrificed for the good of the rest. The victim, an '87 (i think) Bronco II with manual trans, transfer case, and hubs. Sat in a field for years with a busted back glass. Not even going to try to start the motor, not worth my time.

But I will have fun tearing it into lots of smaller pieces. Some parts will be sold (keep an eye on my for sale thread), Some will be donated to the other BII's in my yard, and I'll stash my favorite parts for spares. the rest will either be trashed, or taken to a recycling center in exchange for enough cash for a 6 pack of decent beer.

This will be a lengthy process, I'll update as i go........

in the beginning

bump it into place, somewhat hidden from view of wife and other family that think i'm bat-$%!T crazy...

Go crazy with wire cutters

start to pull motor/trans/t-case as a unit

lift doesn't go high enough, so core support has to come out.

so i start taking the 1000 bolts and screws out of the fenders

dont forget that one

now its time to remove spot welds. this handy-dandy spot weld drill bit was about $4 at harbor freight. awesome little tool, i give it

you can see where i have drilled a few out. before you monkey-see, monkey-do, take a hammer and punch and make a little dent to keep the bit straight.

if you don't you may slip and shred all the little teeth off the bit

dont worry yet, you can flip it over for another chance. if you are smarter than me, you will pick up 2, so that you can screw up 3 times instead of once.


and thats all for today. stay tuned...........

 

[SchmigShady]

i think it would have been easier to take off the front tires and lower the front axels till they hit the ground that should have gave you enough room to get it out. or if it was me i would have just gotten the torch out lol.

 

[Tony Raine]

thought about it, but I'm going to use the inner fenders on my 84 anyways (mine are rusty and bent)

 

[Boggin]

wow. the things i would do for a manual trans/tcase b2, haha
have fun

 

[scott5640]

can i haz one rim?

 

[Tony Raine]

wow. the things i would do for a manual trans/tcase b2, haha
have fun

this one was FREE

can i haz one rim?

depends on which one. the 2 on the drivers side are 2 of 4 rollers i keep just for moving rigs around, so they aren't for sale. the others are fair game though (i have 2 more of the passenger-front style)

about to go back out, just took the core support off.......

 

[scott5640]

second pic down, back right...thats the one i want

 

[Tony Raine]

second pic down, back right...thats the one i want

sorry, thats one of my 4 good rollers. didn't notice that i had one pic with that one still on (switched it back over to my 84)

Today's progress

I was impressed, very impressed

This is a factory core support bolt, pretty sure its never been removed before. I took it off with just a socket and ratchet. no penetrating oil (even though i had it waiting), no grunting, no cursing. it just came right off.

Sorry, I'm just a yankee thats amazed by southern rigs :laugh:

core support off

87 and 84, respectively

ready to pull body out from under motor

and we're clear

maneuvered trailer into position (beats the heck out of wrenching on the ground)

then i loaded up the hoist to move the trailer around front tomorrow so i can unload the 2.8 (wrapped in black plastic), into a buddy's truck.

after that, i started boxing up my TK4 to ship to a guy who is currently serving our country, but needs a transmission when he gets back. I like to wrap well, haha

one of my favorite tools

you can see where that went, and i finally found a use for those stupid belts that come with some jeans/shorts

as a grand finale, i swapped my TK4 bellhousing and shifter over to a TK5 that a local buddy is buying. no pics of that, it was dark and my phone has no flash. plus i was really ready to be done for the night.

Just when i thought i was done, i noticed my floodlight on the back of my shed was shining down. and it has water in it. and its boiling. crap. tomorrow's project has presented itself, haha.

 

[Tony Raine]

Today's progress

Separated transmission from junk engine. My trailer doubles as a handy workbench

Got tired of the brown b2 (from here on out referred to as "The Turd") having tires that would only hold air for 12 hours. so i started swapping around. also took off The Turd's front bumper (it was half-torn off anyways), and bolted on my towbar.

starting to run out of tires that hold air. pulled this gem out of my "tire pile", but something tells me it wont hold air, haha

since i got The Turd hooked to a towbar instead of a chain, tomorrow i will move it around next to the others. i like to try and keep a neat workspace. well, as neat as 3 B2's in various states of disrepair can be, haha.

 

[kris97ranger]

im confused... i thought u said it was sitting cause of broken rear glass but all the glass looks fine
________
Web Shows

 

[Tony Raine]

im confused... i thought u said it was sitting cause of broken rear glass but all the glass looks fine

i'm actually not sure what decided the final fate of the gray BII. if you look in the first couple pics of this thread, you can see that its driver's side back glass is gone. that side is up next to my fence, so very few pics are taken from that angle. also, the roof has rust holes almost big enough to put my fist through (the only rust, oddly enough).

i know it spent time in a junkyard, because some parts are marked, and others have been half-taken off (like someone gave up and got their part from another rig)

also found a HUGE crack across the steering box, and the front brake pads have almost no wear (gonna stash those)

oh well, i'm having fun. its like big-kid legos

 

[Tony Raine]

Spent most of today doing yard work, and getting a little creative with draining some water that collects at the back of the property.

but i did move The Turd over next to my BII, and moved my BII back a little bit.

Also took some cheap spray paint and attacked the front frame rails. looks better than rust and only cost $1

its a little too glossy for my taste, so i'll buy some satin black for a second coat. i took the pic after the paint dried, and after i mowed, so its a little dusty in the pic

 

[Tony Raine]

well, crap. the "sight plug" on my compressor exploded off and shot oil all over my shed (and me).

the threads are still in there, just the front blew off. i suppose thats my punishment for inheriting an off-brand compressor that hadn't had its oil changed in about 10 years, and not changing the oil. then running it for a few more years.

i'm hoping i can find a bolt to fit that hole, otherwise i don't know what the heck i'm going to do.

on the plus side, my toolboxes now have a nice glossy sheen to them, haha.

 

[ChrisR1S]

If i didn't know any better i'd swear you're having too much fun

haha looking good man

 

[Robert_1967]

dang it, if you lived closer to east tenn, I would talk you out of the back hatch, I would love to have it for my 89 BII, then I could open the window.


Robert