Retrieved my stolen B2!

[Brownie Mobile]

Note: this is a long thread probably boring mostly just a story questions at the end. About a year ago i let my "friend" borrow my B2 while i was working in North Dakota. I heard rumors he sold it yada yada cant get any answers out of him. Was just back on home time for a while and knew where my truck was. Went and acquired it. Couple days later this guy comes to my parents house where i parked it and wakes my family up asking who stole his truck. I didnt get to talk to him then but a couple days later he came by and offered me a few hundred bucks i let him take his battery and ushered him out the door. Heres what i found out happened to it. The rear drive shaft was broken trying to haul a full size truck out of a mud pit therefore was driven in fwd for a while. My sound system was stripped. The carpet was stripped. The torsion bars were in the back along with the bottom half of the rear seats. The ignition was broken and is now a screwdriver ignition. Also the passenger side window was broken with a huge dent to accompany it in the door. The radiator got some holes in it and was replaced(4.0 radiator though). Carb was rebuilt. Some various wiring things apparently caught fire in the engine compartment.... i also managed to find some pictures on facebook of my b2 with water past the doors. This thing has been through the ringer this past year 2 different apparently abusive "owners". My first thought was **** this guy and his few hundred dollars ill take it and scrap it for 200 and be happier. Then i realized i cant get rid of it this was my first vehicle it was good to me through high school and i had a lot of fond memories in this vehicle. My idea is to make this into a wheeler/daily driver. im going to save up some money working in ND and come back home to go to to school. This threads more for the story but i also want to ask some questions. I want to restore this thing to the condition it was before which means carpet trustworthy 4 seats dependable. what do you guys think this will cost for 1. Realiability and daily drivability factor just get it to the level necessary for a daily driver. and 2. cool and daily driver small lift tires garage paintjob. hope you enjoyed the story and can help me fix this thing to where i had it before.

 

[Brownie Mobile]

Heres the pictures i dug up.

 

[exbass94]

So you let your friend borrow the truck and he sold it while you were away to some other guy? And you found out where this other guy was and you "stole" it from him? Did you ever sign the title over to your friend? How did he sell it to the other guy without a a title?
Also:

The torsion bars were in the back along with the bottom half of the rear seats.

Bronco IIs don't have torsion bars.

 

[RangerSVT]

Glad you got it back. First thing I would have done is report it stolen. Whatever property that was missing and/or damaged would have been covered (judge would require restitution), not to mention jail time for theft, selling stolen property, and a host of other charges...
If you're planning to keep it, and since it has sentimental value, I'd fix it just enough to DD it, then start ordering new replacement parts (mainly interior pieces including seats)...

SVT

 

[black_demon69]

i hope your friend is no longer your friend....

definitely get it re keyed and fix to dd condition

 

[ab_slack]

Looks like a BII I've seen sitting in a field near a pond not moving for years off the north side of Rt 290 in Texas.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

So you let your friend borrow the truck and he sold it while you were away to some other guy? And you found out where this other guy was and you "stole" it from him? Did you ever sign the title over to your friend? How did he sell it to the other guy without a a title?
Also:
Bronco IIs don't have torsion bars.

That is a very good question, how was he able to get tags for it?

The list of people who have driven my Ranger in the past 14.5 years is pretty small, it has a similar history to me that your BII does. I got it my sophomore year.

In fact when I first recorded it with my Gopro last year it was freaky to see it move. It has always been stationary when I have seen it from the outside before, strange to see it moving.

In the puddle pics it looks pretty straight/solid, best of luck getting it restored.

 

[--weezl--]

Glad you got it back. First thing I would have done is report it stolen. Whatever property that was missing and/or damaged would have been covered (judge would require restitution), not to mention jail time for theft, selling stolen property, and a host of other charges...
If you're planning to keep it, and since it has sentimental value, I'd fix it just enough to DD it, then start ordering new replacement parts (mainly interior pieces including seats)...

SVT

^^this! you know who took it and who had it, definitely go through legal channels, they probably won't get jail time, but you would likely get restitution

 

[Brownie Mobile]

So you let your friend borrow the truck and he sold it while you were away to some other guy? And you found out where this other guy was and you "stole" it from him? Did you ever sign the title over to your friend? How did he sell it to the other guy without a a title?
Also:
Bronco IIs don't have torsion bars.

Sway bars woops no I never signed the title he sold it saying he had the title and would give it to him when he paid the last 200 or something. He was running around until my tabs wore out and as far as I know uninsured. Been tinkering with my b2 today the last day I have to do it and it's not good backfiring out the carb and exhaust and it feels like it has maybe 30 horses no burnout on wet moss in 2h or 2l. And I did try to report it stolen apparently since I leant it to my friend it couldn't actually be stolen. There wasn't much I could do at the time being 1700 miles away and only being able to call the local pd back home. And he is definitely not my friend anymore.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If running the factory dizzy check the rotor screws. On mine one came out all the way and one backed out so going down the highway it jammed into the cap and destroyed itself... during that process of very funky timing it backfired hard enough to swell the muffler.

If both are loose and the thing is flopping around it could be messing with the timing.

Check valve lash too. Timing, fuel filter, compression, plugged cats... something is causing it.

 

[adsm08]

The list of people who have driven my Ranger in the past 14.5 years is pretty small, it has a similar history to me that your BII does. I got it my sophomore year.

I have the same history with my truck too. I can list every person who has driven that truck in the last 25 years.

My dad DD'd it from 88 to 95. My mom drove it from time to time between 88 and 2001. I started driving it in 2003. When we first got it running again my dad's one friend put 5 miles on it to make sure it was actually running right. The girl I was dating from 2004-2006 drove it a few times (times she had it without me can be counted on one hand) after I taught her to drive stick in it. My wife drives it sometimes, not often. And I loaned it to my dad for a week last year while I was working on his Explorer.

i hope your friend is no longer your friend....

I hope your "friend" has a broken face and a "missing" wallet.

 

[AllanD]

Dude, if some "Friend" did that to my truck a very exhaustive search MIGHT turn up his knee caps,
but his testicles would never be located until God asked me for them, IN PERSON.

I wouldn't kill him, but I would make him BEG me to kill him....

Might I suggest you set his face on fire then try to stamp out the flames with an Ice Pick

Or offer to piss on the flames to put them out...

a friend like that you don't need.


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[Brownie Mobile]

If running the factory dizzy check the rotor screws. On mine one came out all the way and one backed out so going down the highway it jammed into the cap and destroyed itself... during that process of very funky timing it backfired hard enough to swell the muffler.

If both are loose and the thing is flopping around it could be messing with the timing.

Check valve lash too. Timing, fuel filter, compression, plugged cats... something is causing it.

i had this problem before not sure if the screw backed out but the dizzy destroyed itself had to replace a rubber piece inside but when that happened it was running fine then suddenly took a crap not to start again. Once i get back first thing im going to do is a full tuneup. i agree its probably the dizzy had similar problems with my f 150 in north dakota. im a little worried this guy eliminating all my vac lines caused some problems as well. i know you can eliminate these things but theres a right way and a wrong way to do pretty much anything. Anyways ill try to tinker with her tomorrow before i leave, when i get back ill make sure to do a build thread not gonna be excting or anythhing replace a quarter panel here new seats and carpet there more for the transformation i think than the story . just remembered this guy said he replaced this dizzy i think i believe him on that one. Im worried the advance or something is worn out? any thoughts also i was thinking ignition coil i know they do some crazy things with your ignition when they go bad and the zip ties look like the ones i put on there. guess ill know when i do a tuneup on her. Thanks guys.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If you don't have all the vacuum stuff you either need to get it back (that will be fun) or do the duraspark swap and either find a different carb or make a metering block for the stock one.

The carbs default setting without computer input is "pig rich" and the lack of vacuum stuff could very well be messing with the advance as well. I still have my stock 2.8 dizzy so I could check but I don't think they have anything vacuum going between them and the engine... so it is up to your confused computer to make those adjustments. Its been a few years since I have even seen the thing though so I don't quite remember.

 

[black_demon69]

Dude, if some "Friend" did that to my truck a very exhaustive search MIGHT turn up his knee caps,
but his testicles would never be located until God asked me for them, IN PERSON.

I wouldn't kill him, but I would make him BEG me to kill him....

Might I suggest you set his face on fire then try to stamp out the flames with an Ice Pick

Or offer to piss on the flames to put them out...

a friend like that you don't need.


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"Ice Pick" uh i would use a Jack Hammer and Napalm to put the flames out