This was posted on another site, but I decided that it's better to have it here. So I pulled it and have dropped a link to it on the other site.
From the top. I started working on this thing March 7th 2006.
It was a long haul till present but the results were well worth it. Not many dare to take the road I traveled but, that's what makes my build different. Sure I could of scrapped the body and found one of those Texas rust free suckers, but then i wouldn't have under $5000 into this thing.
This is a budget build. Nothing High dollar except for tires. I splerged a bit there. All parts have been bought when good deals were found. Trading parts, buying parts trucks and parting the rest out, etc etc. This will continue as i still have other projects that I want to do.
It's partially built already, and I've put over 13000 miles on it since it was roadworthy. Been out wheeling once so far. Need to get it out more this summer. I'm going to continue editing these posts untill I can't no more. You guys are lucky i feel generous and I'm posting about 4 or 5 a day. :popcorn: From start to current. Going to be a long haul, I've got over 450 of it's transformation.
Sit back and grab the popcorn. I'll be updating these posts daily. Not starting new ones. To keep the clutter down. Questions will be answered through PM's.
This is what I started with. A moderatly good 1987 Bronco II XLT, or so I thought!
Love at first sight!
Picked up an 88 BroncoII for some parts that I would need. A buddy and I stripped the truck down to what you see here over a weekend.
Started to pull BIV apart.
Pulled the cab from the frame.
And started to strip the interior.
Found a good deal on a 1989 B2 for parts. All the windows were busted out of it and All I needed to do was change the clutch and it ran fine. Cut a few things up to get my spare 35's on and played around all winter with it.
Back on BIV. Here are some of the bad rusty spots.
Newish rear corners
Started patching
More patches
Started on the rear hatch area, as it was pretty bad. Cut it all out and replaced it with newer pieces from a cut up parts truck. As was done with a majority of the patches
Now to fill in the gaps.
More bracing similar to factory.............Just better.
Filling the gaps
All primered
Another bad spot. Time to cut again.
Patched up.
Here is what was left of the 89 I used for some parts.
Sealed with Urethane sealant/adhesive. The cracks and the cross tubes were all filled with expanding foam.
Started to undercoat
So now with the body all ready to go
Time to get the bodymounts ready. Fixed the frame side brackets.
Just need to pull the old 2.9L
Got an energy suspension body mount kit. Made my own spacers and added a 1.25" polly spacer for a bodylift. The sleave goes right though the bodylift so it's part of the body mounts.
Newer Frame ready to go under.
Together at last.
4.0L and M5OD bolted together. Ready to go in.
The remains of what I pulled from the original 87 and the 89.
First light of day. Pulled out to install engine and trans.
Just placed the front clip on, to get it off the ground. Still needed to patch the front core mounts on the frame.
Installed the hatch to see how everything lined up. One finger to close the hatch. Can't get much better than that.
Installed the doors.
Rolled it into the other side of the garage to finish up the front end.
Front core on and getting ready to start with the dash swap.
Added a second battery tray.
I picked up a sweet deal on a 90 B2 that had a minty interior. Swappign the dash would make the wireing for the 4.0L easier and this also gave me the oppotunity to upgrade the wireing to a 1990. All the chassis wireing and the interior wireing was replaced with the 90's parts.
Removed the dash, only to see more rust. Time to pull the welder out yet again.
More rust.
Started patching firewall
:welder:
Commence sealing....
Started to undercoat the firewall.
Engine side of firewall
Everything back together.
Dash ready to go in
Heater box and peddle assy from the 89 bolted on along with the sound mat
Made some brackets to mount the dash. I made a template off the windshield from the donar truck and transfered that over to BIV. I marked on the window where the tabs should go, by placing the dash in it's place.
Once decided on the profile I bent up the tabs and welded them to the body. I had to cut the old ones off as they were getting in the way.
With the tabs welded on I placed the dash in again and got it fitting where I was happy with it. Then marked the holes to drill. Pulled the dash again and drilled the holes. Made the holes oversized so that I could use a speed nut.
I then mounted the dash for the last time. unfiortunatly I have no pictures of that.
Started the Hippo Liner on the interior.
More of the floor liner. Once it was dry to the touch I installed the seats.
There is a bunch or wireing that runs down the rocker panels for the rear speakers, interior lights, rear wiper and washer and the defrost. These wires I wanted to keep off the ground and out of the way. So All the interior wireing was run up the A pillars and across the roof/ down B pillar. Keeps everything off the floor. I had all of this done before I started to bed liner the floor. All the wireing was pirated from the 1990 parts B2. Also all the wireing I stripped and re bound to make sure it all worked and was 100%.
Here I started to put the interior back together. I had to modify the Gen 1 doors inorder to get the Gen 2 speaker inplace. Otherwise that was the only modification I had to do.
I lucked out with the 90 as it was a fully loaded truck like the original 87 was. So I was able to keep the power locks and power windows.
Dash back together.
Shifter boots installed.
Center console
Rear seats
Interior done
Now with the interior done and out of the way it was time to get the 4.0L running.
Before everything was finalized, I had all the soft connections done. So naturally I had to fire it up..................Nothing.
Time to recoup and get on with other things before I stall out. Lots to do.
Blocked the frame up this time and pulled out the rear axle.
Removed the stock rear springs and hangars, and test fit the F-150 springs and brackets. The rear shackle mount wouldn't work and besides it was up too high.
With the factory rear B2 bracket and an extended shackle
Time to drill a few more holes in the frame.
Here is the difference in the F150 brackets to the stock Bronco brackets.
F150 Mounted, Bronco I'm holding.
Rear shackle mount. Bronco Mounted, F150 I'm holding.
Here is the rear shackle setup.
Time to start on the front. The front axle was removed when I yanked the rear.
VMS Lift brackets.
After a bit of work they fit perfect so I put a coat of paint on them.
Time for springs.
3.5" Early Bronco coils by Wildhorses, next to a stock BroncoII coil.
Next to a 6" Skyjacker RBV coil.
D35 was going to be used for the added strength and I was also able to find a used Lockrite. The lockrite would not fit into the D35's carrier I had. After determining the locker I had was for an ABS D35 rear from a Jeep It was found that I had to use a D35 Jeep carrier to make it work. Everything fit perfect.
Lower coil buckets were fabricated to mate up to the D35 beam. A 1.5" spacer was used and later would be trimmed down to suit.
Now the goal was to have a 4-5" suspension lift. With the 3.5" EB coils being almost 2" taller than the 6" RBV coils I knew I had to modify the upper coil bucket. F150 coil buckets were found and would make the EB coils fit like a charm. The F150 buckets are 3" taller than the RBV buckets.
OK now lets get going.
Trans X-member installed.
Time to get the beams in and cycle them, and check ride height.
Droop. Rotor is sitting on the ground.
Compression, the lower coil bucket is hitting the bracket.
Coil buckets mocked into place.
Modified Coil bucket to remove shock mount. Longer front shocks were in order and a hoop of sorts will be made.
Cut releaf for steering box bump on Drivers side frame rail.
Coil could be much longer.
Frame just comming off stands. (Ride height) Not looking good. needs to be higher.
Time to take a brake from the front and work on another side project.
Ya I got sidetracked.
Time to get the engine running. Double check all harness connections and found that there was a ground that was missing and was causing me issues.
Plug-----Check
Time to crank it over. WE HAVE IGNITION. Open headers are pretty loud.
But the engine started and is running top notch. It was a short run as there was no coolant. Time to get the rad issues fixed and get everything buttoned down. The original plan was to use the 4 core Explorer rad I had gotten along with the Taurus 3.8L electric fan. With the extra thickness of the rad the fan itself hit the water pump. So back to the single core rad it was. After the third rad swap I was able to get one that didn't leak as bad.
Picked up a universal Hayden fan controller and had it all wired up but then after running for 15 min and getting super hot (Into the H on the temp guage), and the fan was still not comming on. POS. Bypassed the temp switch and wired in a switch to turn it on manually.
Time to button things up in the engine compartment.
Time to bolt the fenders on for good and get the hood back on.
Now for another sidetrack project
Beat the crap out of my core support
added on some adjusters
Modified the light mounting tabs.
Bolted the light on
Now that is different.
With slightly modified stock grill
OK now that is out of the way lets get the rear axle done. The explorer 8.8 axle origianally had Drum brakes, but I pulled all that off and installed a set of disc brake parts from a 97 explorer.
So with teh axle partially bolted it was back to the front to see if I can get this thing back on all four wheels.
Time to roll it out of the garage for a visual inspection. First I need to get it off the stands.
Outside
Looks like it's going to need some more work. The 3.5" lift coils and the 1.5" spacer is just not enough. Did some hunting and it turns out a guy was selling a set of used 5.5" lift coils. These will work out better.
While waiting for the new springs I sold the set of brackets I was going to use. so I needed to make up some more. I had material left over to make an older set and I had a potential buyer for them too boot. So I made them up and test fit them.
5.5" EB coils installed. Now it's too high. I'll trim the spacer down to fit.
Trimmed spacer
Time to wheel it out to see the difference.
Much Better
Time to mock up the shock hoops.
General idea and shape. (Not the Final Product)
Front lower mount Version 1
Time for the pipe.
Other side
Front lower mount version 2
Shocks
After this mock up it was noted to me that the shocks can't be mounted upsidedown like that. So it was Kind of a bummer. So I was going to try the single shock for now and see how it would work out.
Bucket, finished and painted. Thanks to Mek for comming out that day to get the welding done. And thanks to Pauls Address for comming out to steel parts from the black parts truck.
Time to get the brake lines routed.
Almost there
Started on the rear upper shock mount.
side plates. One hole was for the old swaybar and the other 2 mirror the passenger side shock mount that was removed.
Bar going across
Upper mount, tacked into place.
Lower mount tacked into place
Upper mounts welded.
Set up.
The tube was fully welded to the side plates. It now acts as another X-member.
Completed seup with the shocks mounted, the correct way. The shocks used are Rancho RS9000's (4" lift F150 Rears)
Time to get wheels and tires on it and get the rear driveshaft installed.
Pushed it out to get a better look at it.
Installed the rear bumper.
While it was in this state Paulsaddress was having issues with a set of brackets I sold him so I told him I would trade the ones I have on BIV for the old ones he was trying to get to work.
Back in the garage for a bit to get the front pulled out and new seals put into the diff along with sealing it to the beam. I also trimmed the fenders some to give clearance for the front tires.
Time for some paint.
Started to blead the brakes and install the rear driveshaft. It's near I can feel it.
She is out under her own power but still plagued with leaky brakes
Brakes blead again and was getting better, but I still needed to fix the leak at the rear porportioning valve.
VMS Diff cover shot.
Time to flex this thing out and see is all that hard work payed off.
Brakes were fixed and it was now time to put them all to the test and see what she's got.
Now there were a few things left to do, but nothing that would stop me from getting a Government safety done on it.
Time for the 215/75-15's to go back on and get it out for a safety.
With the safety done and out of the way I was able to put insurance on it and Drive it. It needed a few tweeks here and there, but for the most part it rode great. And Just intime as the snow was starting to fall.
After driving a couple days with the 15 x 8 I switched to the 15 x 7's. It cut down alot on the wander I was getting on the road. I was playing around with shock adjustment at the same time too. I also gave it a coat of primer in the non primer areas so that it was atlest on color.
I was talking with a buddy of mine Paul and found out that he had just gotten a set of 35 and I asked him if I could try them out to see if that would be the size I go with. After some more fender trimming.
Drove around like that for a week or so and it was fine but I could tell it was hard on the clutch to get them rollers moving with the 3.73 gearing I had. The trim on the fenders was to Just clear for street driving. I never did try them off road.
So back to the 33's. I had to get a fiew more poser shots, since the truck was working so well.
After much driving around The front was Just not managable with the single shocks. I had the adjusters set for the stiffest setting and it still wasn't enough. Time to mount up the quad shocks.
I reworked the lower coil bucket to straighten out the coil and give me more room to work with the body of the shock. I'm using four Rancho RS9000's (RS99297) on the front.
Time to test out the quad shock to see if there is any interference.
Little things were done here and there. I added a temp guage for the engine and I relocated the fan switch to where the fake vent was.
I drove it like this for a while and even went winter wheeling with the local Jeep club.
After the wheeling trip it was decided that I needed a new bumper and I needed the trailer hitch put on the back.
Something on the bumper looked out of place. Didn't trun out like I planned, but Mekcanix fell in love with it and insisted we trade. So I agreed. At taht time I installed a new CB antenna as the last one got removed when I went wheeling. Shot some more primer.
Finally installed Dual batteries.
After more driving around and whatnot I was still keeping my eyes pealed for parts i came across a used Superrunner kit. Couldn't pass up the deal.
I modified the center link to remove the welded TRE and tapped the tube for a regular TRE. I used the RH D35 outer TRE.
With the install of the Superrunner came the need to relocate the shock mounts as the outer links hit the lower mounts where i had them. Time to move them up some to clear the linkage. Where they were the front shocks would be fully extended and I would have to compress the coil a tad to get the coils out. Moving them up would give me more downtravel.
Droop is pretty good. It's limited by the coil springs.
Rad arm bushing barely move.
Good shot of the linkage
Setup the factory AC pump for on board air.
This failed miserably. The oiling system has to be refined as it locked up on me. I have not had time to look into fixing it.
If you have the AC panel in your dash make sure you disable the switch for the Defroster. Not doing this is what locked my compressor up.
I built a set of Zero rate add a leaves for the rear.
Installed
This moved the rear axle back 1.5". So it total I have stretched the wheel base a total of 3". The front was pushed forward 1" and the rear was moved back 2"
Knowing that I was going to get a hatch with opening glass I wanted to keep the rear wiper. The two arm system had to go. I modified a front arm and grafted the mount from the rear arm to it and used the rear wiper blade. I've since modified it to have the wiper on top and I'm using a modified front wiper. This will clear the handle for the liftglass and the hinge.
Now I needed to check out how much I'd have to trim off the rear wheel well and to see if the front shocks have adequate clearance. Installed the 6" lift shocks out back. So now all 6 shocks are the same.
After much talk about doing it I finally decided I was going to start painting the white top. Got the can of Paint and the rollers to apply it.
Got my hatch with the liftglass so I installed the glass and latch hardware.
After waiting for a long 2 weeks I finally got new tires. I decided on a set of Kumho Road Venture MT's (KL-71). I mounted them on the old set of chrome rims I had. The 15 x 8's. I had them media blasted and gave them a good coat of paint. 2 primer in and out. 2 black inside/backside, 2 silver outside, and 4 clear outside.
Trimmed the rear wheel well for the clearance I thought I needed for tire stuffage. Looks like I need to go a bit more.
After some thought I figured it was time to add to the front bumper.
My buddy Batman found me the missing R to go with the rest of my FOD so I put them on.
I'd like to thank Mekcanix and Batman45 for helping me out getting this far. This is about as current as it will get. From here, June 6 2007 I will continue to update this topic with new posts instead of editing the first one.
If anyone has any questions let me know I'll try to help you out the best I can.
This project is far from over, so stay tuned for more mods to come.
Iran out of POP CORN but I'll be right back KEEP'em comming JOEL. That's one hell of a build job and done right as well. I like the way you take care of the problems as they show up and not say I'll get that next time. My hats off to ya 
