1982 Bronco 351 4x4 - Code name Esperanza

[Gary Lewis]

Are the throttle and speed control cables are working?  Or does the throttle cable have a lot of movement before it starts moving the throttle?  And does it get the throttle fully open?

In my experience an aftermarket manifold moves the carb such that the OEM bracket is in the wrong place and you have slack in the throttle cable.  In that case you'll need to fabricate a new bracket, which I've done by sawing the old bracket in two and placing a spacer between the two parts.

But does that bracket also hold the TV cable?  Or is that a completely separate issue?

[Gsmblue]

I have not even tried to adjust the throttle cable. The angle is clearly not correct so no point.

I am going to pull the trigger on the Lokar stuff as it looks like a tidy solution and will put everything in the right place to work properly..

Another delay on getting Espy on the road! I was hoping to have her all set for this weekend...

[Gary Lewis]

Lokar is good stuff, so I think you'll be happy.  And it is best to get it right rather than to hurry and have to redo it later.

[Gsmblue]

I am happy with the TV cable and bracket I got from Lokar. As they have the rest of the set I may as well go for it.

Looking forward to stopping at the speed shop later for a chat. Hopefully they can order the parts for me. There is no way I can get anything delivered until mid next week so I will focus on yard work this weekend. The wife has to work anyway.

[Gsmblue]

Fresh back from the speed shop (I love that term!). The owner Mike was there and I had a good chat with him. He is looking to retire in 2-3 years, I hope the shop keeps going.

He had the throttle cable in stock and has ordered up the cruise control cable for me.  He said he has sold at least 50 of the throttle cables so far this year and this was the last one he had. The wear houses are out of stock to apparently.

Maybe I can get Espy running for this weekend after all!  Not worried about not having cruise for a few days.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Great news!  
I'm glad that Mike could come through for you.

ESPY has her sun dress on for summer.  😉
Hopefully you have nice weather this holiday weekend.

[Gary Lewis]

Excellent!  Maybe you'll be driving Espy tomorrow?

[Gsmblue]

Cheers!

So mixed news to report...

I got the TV cable and throttle cable on.
Got the pressure gauge and line sorted out. I got red on me.

Once Espy was up to temperature and in neutral I slackened the TV line. I could only get the pressure down to 40psi reliably. It would dip to 36 on occasion if I fiddled with the cable. The instructions from Monster Transmissions was to target 35psi as a starting point.

I took her for a test drive and I have to say, this is the best Espy has ever driven.  The shifts are on the firmer side, which I have read is the preference as that means things are not slipping, but they are not rough. She gets into OD and will cruise happily at 60mph (55 on the speedo but I had an app running on my phone, I have bigger tires).

All in all a successful day.  I took some pics but they were awful so will take better ones when it cools down outside.

Now back to body work...

[Gary Lewis]

Wow!  You are way ahead of where I thought you are.  

So glad Espy is shifting well.  In fact, better than ever. Firm shifts are perfect.  

[Gsmblue]

Cheers!

I took puppy for a spin, he loves riding in Espy.

[grumpin]

Nice! Good job! Happy pup and the Softopper looks good rolled up.

[Gsmblue]

Back to bodywork.

Sanded, some sealer went on. Tomorrow will be sand, prime, sand, seal, base, clear… well thats the plan. Only the driver side quarter panels though.

Tempted to leave the trim off and fill the holes for a cleaner look then put a pin stripe on….

[Gary Lewis]

I kind of dig the cleaner look. But that’s just me.

[Gsmblue]

Let me be clear. I am 100% blaming Gary for this! 🤣

8am-4pm. Pulling trim, sanding, treating rust, primer, some filler.

Now letting this set up over night. Tomorrow will be sanding, final glazing putty and hopefully I cam lay primer and paint… if the rain holds off.

[Gsmblue]

I had to leave for a week so the paint it not on yet. Looks like good weather this week so will get it finished up the next few evenings.

I am 2.5 days into sanding/filling and it is pretty smooth.

The 2 part epoxy primer should be a good sealer for all the work.

Some purchases arrived too:

Brake calipers
Brake pads
Brake drums
Front bearings (inner, outer, seals)
Caliper paint (blue)
Super winch locking hubs (not in pic)
New fender badges (full set)

Going to be a busy week!

[Gary Lewis]

That’s going to make a huge difference, Dane!  

[Gsmblue]

decided as I am pulling that front apart to do the following too:

Rotor/hub assembly replace
spindle bearing and seal replace.

I am hoping the spindles are in good shape here. That is where I drew the line on this part of the project. Once I pull things apart I will know if I need spindles too. I sure hope not as that is a lot more money..

[Gary Lewis]

What is your saying?  In for a penny, in for a pound?  Now is the time to do it, but I do hope the spindles are good.

[Gsmblue]

Absolutely.

While I am taking it down that far I want to get all I can sorted out. I don't want to change parts for no good reason, but I feel bearings and bearing seals are worth replacing at this point.

As I am replacing rotors/hubs - pulling the spindle to change the bearing and seal seems like a logical thing to do.

I hope to get to the rear axle this winter as it leaks oil from all the seals. I am thinking of dropping it for a total teardown. I have the space to do it and it seams the tooling requirement is very low, so why not?

[Gsmblue]

Wasn’t happy with some of my rust mitigation. Opened up the wounds a little more.

I will cut out what i can from the outside, clear out what I can from there and use a rust converter. The pics are mid process, i did get back to clean metal on the outer skins.

Ultimately these need to be cut out and replaced, but that is above my skill set for now.

Essentially both front fenders need to be replaced.