Tony Raine's Bronco II

[Tony Raine]

Looking good! Are you going to have to trim your firewall seam?

Thanks!

not sure yet. gonna have to get an "engine leveler" in order to drop everything in. re-adjusting chains turned out to be a real hassle, especially since i have to move the vehicle, not the hoist (since i'm on dirt)

 

[Robert_1967]

That engine is looking good, you should paint the transmission silver or black then paint the transfer case silver or black, but not both the same color, or if you want to be patriotic, paint the transfercase Red, and the Transmission White



I was wondering how you was going to move the engine hoist in that dirt.


Robert

 

[Tony Raine]

going with john deere green for the bellhousing and trans (because this trans will make my b2 a "little tractor" )

not sure about the AA adapter and transfer case.............

 

[Tony Raine]

Grrr, looks like i am going to have to pull at least the transfer case off.

I can balance the whole assembly if the rear chains are on bellhousing bolts, but they hit the firewall before the engine is all the way in.

the assembly wont balance if the rear chains are on the rear exhaust manifold bolts, but it looks like it will clear the firewall.......

 

[ChrisR1S]

Yeah i made the mistake of putting mine in in 2 pieces; trans&t-case and then engine. It woulda been so much quicker in the long run if i would have just put the trans in first, dropped the engine in, THEN t-case. It was a learning experience though. So i guess im just trying to say, while it may not seem like the ideal thing right now; putting it in piece by piece may be easier and quicker for you. I wish i wouldhave.

 

[4x4b2]

dude just lettin ya know thaat the pic when yoru truck is flexin in the ditch is my background

 

[Tony Raine]

thank you "4x4b2," i feel honored to have my rig saved on another persons computer, especially a desktop background. that was a fun day, can't wait to do that kind of stuff again....



took the transfer case off, and pushed the motor in (well, actually i pushed the rig around the motor)

got the engine leveled out a lot more than the pics show, but it was getting too dark for my cell phone camera to take pics.

I think i've read somewhere that you have to trim off most of the threads on the engine mount so that it will sit low enough to mark the hole in the correct place. then you just have to buy new mounts for the "real" mounting. thoughts?

so, the engine is sitting pretty high right now, and the bellhousing clears the trans tunnel. that 1" body lift helped out a bunch. even so, I plan on taking the cutting tools to the firewall/trans tunnel. I want to make it easy to service, before i have to service it, if that makes any sense, haha.

also looks like the rough country drop bracket is going to interfere with the fox oil pan somewhat. thats another reason for cutting the tunnel, so i can get the engine as far back as possible.

 

[Tony Raine]

Finally got the motor most of the way in after several trying several setups

But it turns out the RC lift bracket is right in the way of the oil pan. So I pulled it all back out

I decided that rather than trimming down the bracket and possibly compromising its strength, I’d just swap this in instead from my latest parts donor

 

[dangerranger83]

Now your talking my language, SAS!!!!!!!

 

[Tony Raine]

After I got off work, I started pulling the 44 out. It’s in the 90’s with high humidity, so progress will be slow

Had to turn the parts rig around to pull the axle out (otherwise I would have pulled it straight into a maze of Bronco II parts, haha). Got tired of rolling it by hand, so I enlisted some help

Makeshift steering composed of TTB 44 tie rods (with washers tack-welded to them instead of castle nuts) and a fan belt to hold it up and semi-straight.

Something tells me this lower coil bucket is not stock. Cool with me

Poor little guy

Can you name these springs?

And the 44, ready to go

Alright, time to go back out and pull that Dana 35………

 

[4x4b2]

was your parts rig with the 44 ever a wheeler, or just a project that never got done?

 

[Tony Raine]

was your parts rig with the 44 ever a wheeler, or just a project that never got done?

not sure if it was ever completed. Used to belong to a guy with the username "biohazard" before Jason ("Punisher") got it.

I randomly found a pic of what it used to look like while surfing the web:

Got every bolt of the lift loose, ready to remove. The only thing stopping me is the tie rod end that attaches to the pitman arm. Don’t have a pickle fork, and I don’t want to damage it (gotta sell it to make more money for parts). If I can’t get it tonight, I may be able to borrow one tomorrow.

So here’s my ugly mug:

Then I scooted down and sat on the radius arm crossmember. Dang it’s easy to get to the bolts that way. I think if I ever put on another TTB lift, I’m going to go ahead and pull the motor.

Almost laid down and took a nap, haha

 

[Tony Raine]

Well, it’s the end of the day, and I didn’t get the tie rod end off. I did lift it up, put some jackstands under it, and took the radius arm crossmember off

 

[multiranger]

Lookin Good bud! keep it up!

 

[Tony Raine]

Thanks!



Got the Dana 35 out

Started rolling the 44 in place

That tie rod was flopping all over the place, so I fixed it. I’ll fine tune it with the adjusters so I will have an accurate measurement for the real steering.

Last pic of the day

Enjoy my little caged lowrider in the background, haha