1982 Bronco XLT

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well there is a lip on the cable ferrule, that the retainer fork holds in place.
I don't imagine it would be too hard to pry it out, but I don't know what your transfer case looks like either.

[Weberman]

I had the pressure washer out and it was nearby so I hit it around the area and so I can finally see what I'm working with instead of dirt. I sprayed PB on it but will hopefully be the first thing I do tomorrow.

[Weberman]

Also I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure that when I have the air on Vent, it goes somewhere else. I'll get more tomorrow but figured that would be a good thing to look at during the dash swap.

[FuzzFace2]

So you are saying the black part came out of the silver part on the end on the left?
If so thats not good and the cable will need to be replaced.

Also the gear on the end of the inner part should have a clip to hold the gear on the inner cable so if that inner came out with the black part it is really going to need replacing.
Good luck.
Dave ----

[Weberman]

Are there tips to getting the bumper bolts out? I had to grind 2 off of the Bronco and there is another that is just spinning on the parts truck too.

Better news is that the fuel tank is changed out. It was easy once I got underneath. There was a piece that I wasn't sure about but I found it to be something existing on Broncos that I guess isn't on F series and thats why it was included since the kit I bought from the guy was technically for a F series. I havent done a full check, but from the filler neck and the vent hole, it doesn't look too bad I don't think. Though I will say, when one of the straps was removed, it did slowly seep gas and spread out and then finally started dripping so, it was good that it got changed anyways.

[FuzzFace2]

On the bumper bolts I think I had to heat then up red hot for them to come off.
I may have also cut 1 or 2 off.

As for using them to remount the bumpers I did not and added lights to the front bumper


Dave ----

[Weberman]

What did you do to cover the holes up/mount it? Or are earlier bumpers different? Idk if some bolts were already messed with on these trucks or not, but just having the square underneath the head doesn't seem the best to get these out. Idk if the hole in the bumper is too big or if someone replaced it with a smaller one, but they spin.

[grumpin]

My front bumper has one that spins. The bumper guard is a little loose. Going to have to do something about that someday... I hope!

[FuzzFace2]

Weberman wrote

What did you do to cover the holes up/mount it? Or are earlier bumpers different? Idk if some bolts were already messed with on these trucks or not, but just having the square underneath the head doesn't seem the best to get these out. Idk if the hole in the bumper is too big or if someone replaced it with a smaller one, but they spin.

Have welder will travel
Id did what my dad told me they did back in the day to make custom bumpers.
I welded the bolts on the back side and then filled in the holes on the front side and ground the weld flush.
I also then cut the holes for the lights before priming & painting them.

I tried to get them wrapped in chrome but 2 shops said no and the 3rd wanted to do brushed SS as they thought the chrome would get scratched when working the bubbles out.
They did give me a 4th that did full cars but it was a pain to for me to get in touch with him so I went with paint.

I know what I did its not for everyone but it is something any one can do if they wanted to.
For you the only way I see to get the bolts is to cut them off.
Can use a cut off wheel and being careful not to hit the bumper cut the head off as I dont think you can get the tool in the back side.

There is also a tool called a nut splitter. It fits over the nut and has a wedge at the end of a screw and when you tighten the bolt it pushes the wedge into the nut and splits it so you can remove it.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/barn-star-nut-splitter-2-pack-1156486-1358373?cm_mmc=feed-_-GoogleShopping-_-Product-_-1358373&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9_v7zLDx8AIV_h-tBh1SZwCZEAQYASABEgKuWfD_BwE
Dave ----

[Weberman]

Well I woke up decided to weld nuts to the front. So got the top one done. The bottom one didn't want to weld. I didn't have any new nuts to weld one so I found one laying around. So rusty nut and rusty bolt, plus having to go through the decorative cap Ford put on didn't make for the best ground/weld. (I tried vice grips on the threads the day before so the top one was nice and shiny and a new shiny nut.) Ended up getting probably 2 or 3 complete turns out of it before it broke. Gonna get a new nut and try again since I burned though the decorative cap, but with the few turns I got, and then spraying PB on the hot threads so it immediately sucked down in the nut, I'm confident it'll come out.

[FuzzFace2]

Yea them caps need to come off before welding anything to them.
I pulled them off before welding them to the back side.
Should just pry off IIRC

I think if you want new ones a good hardware store should have them.
Dave ----

[Weberman]

Got the front bumper off and cleaned up, rear bumper off and going to clean that up. Should have it all on soon.

[Weberman]

Shouldn't have said that at all. The Bronco's rear bumper took forever to get off,bolts/nuts getting stuck in the socket from getting them off and then a couple rounding off and having to beat a smaller socket on. Then to only get it off to notice that the frame brackets are totally different. The inner bumper looks to be the same, tried taking the brackets off the donor bumper and man they are tight. I broke my breaker bar and my ratchet trying to get them off. Guess I'll figure out something to get those brackets off.
Front looks good at least.

[Gary Lewis]

Bummer!  Sometimes things go south in a hurry, and it looks like you've had your share.  Here's hoping you get it figured out soon.

[Weberman]

The sides that have the bar that are supposed to stay together are fairly short heads so it may just be grinder time..

[grumpin]

Yeah, that’s too bad.

May not be looking into mine real soon now!

[Weberman]

The front wasn't too bad. If I learned anything from this. If you wanna make it easy, get a drill and wire wheel get the rust off the threads and soak it. That was the big thing on the rear bumper bolts. The passenger side was a lot easier since the nuts weren't getting clogged up with rust. Just had a rounded head on that side but a smaller size worked perfectly. The massive heat from the weld on the first front bumper bolts made it just turn free like nothing.

[Weberman]

Backed it up a little for now since it is going to rain til tomorrow, I'll probably grind the bolts off the bracket Thursday.

 One thing I noticed when I started it up.. there was a significant amount of air movement on me.. it was actually blowing through the vents. Usually I try it and it blows out defrost and I turn it back off. But I kept it on this time, I forgot I just turned the fan on low so I couldn't hear it. Would the vacuum from the engine being off and then back on make something go free? Just something for a bit later whenever I swap out the dash.

[Gary Lewis]

It is possible that the vacuum going off and back on freed something up.  But did you do any work under the hood that might have moved a vacuum hose?  I'm wondering if you have a cracked hose that got moved and sealed up enough to put vacuum on the system.  That's because Defrost is the default position w/o vacuum.

[Weberman]

I've opened the hood to show my buddy but otherwise no actual movement. And it did go to defrost after that start up and wouldn't switch.