1979 Bronco- 2003 Lightning swap

[L\Bronco]

Hey Guys, I have posted a few picts here and there of my work in progress. I thought I'd try my hand at a build thread. I only started posting recently, so sorry if this isn't up to standard.

I restored a 1979 Bronco from the ground up in 1991 when my kids were very young 351M 10.5: compression, headers big cam about 400 hp, NP 4spd, Gear drive t\case, 36" BFG all terrains Ect. we loved her and she never let us down. I sold her for the mini-van (yes an Aerostar) when my 3rd came along. It was a very sad day.
Skip ahead 30ish yrs, and my three sons rescued a 1979 Bronco Ranger XLT from a guy sadly attempting to "fix it up" she was well on her way to the scrap yard. They gave her to me for my 57th birthday so I could hopefully recreate some of the magic. This was the day she came home last March (2021)

 

[L\Bronco]

Then the work started...

I found a 2015 F150 chassis (which was a bit long) But we fixed that.

Had to do the funky splice to lower the Kick up by 7" (No Broncos were harmed in the building of this truck!)
Voila!, A Bronco sized F-150 chassis.

 

[L\Bronco]

Next The Powertrain... Oh Yeah!!
5.4L S\C (2003 Lightning)/ 4R100 auto mated to an Auto T\case from a 2003 Lincoln Navigator, and front and rear diffs from the 2015 F-150, (3.73:1)
Then add a little wiring.... (Next post)

 

[L\Bronco]

Don't worry, it gets betterHad to make sure it would run before I went much further. (Nothing but premium!)

 

[L\Bronco]

A little tidying...
Coming together!

 

[L\Bronco]

Most of the fab work has been

frame and body mounts so far.

 

[L\Bronco]

Plus a bit of diff turning and driveshaft trickery.

 

[L\Bronco]

Found some cool seats from an Audi Q8...

 

[L\Bronco]

Still a long way to go, But its only been just over a year so far. Ill keep posting as she progresses.
Cheers

 

[Tiha]

Plus a bit of diff turning and driveshaft trickery.
View attachment 29690

Old school tools, I love it.

Nice that you at least measured it. Try to explain how important that is to some people and just as well be talking to a deaf person.

Went through this with my oldest son and his sagging excursion. To fix the vibration we either need to replace the springs, or put shims under the springs. Took a while to explain to him how it all works together. But then me and my kids are hypersensitive to that stuff. If it was a $50k truck when it was new it should still be able to ride and drive like a $50k truck regardless of age or modifications.

 

[L\Bronco]

Old school tools, I love it.

Nice that you at least measured it. Try to explain how important that is to some people and just as well be talking to a deaf person.

Went through this with my oldest son and his sagging excursion. To fix the vibration we either need to replace the springs, or put shims under the springs. Took a while to explain to him how it all works together. But then me and my kids are hypersensitive to that stuff. If it was a $50k truck when it was new it should still be able to ride and drive like a $50k truck regardless of age or modifications.

I knew there was a reason I kept that choke angle gauge! Now they say "what's a choke?"
Driveline angles is a really hard concept to teach in the college too!
Had to make a trans mount and turn the rear diff to get what I wanted back there and changed the front to the CV style on the diff end (for fit and hopefully to fix what I had to do to the rear.) Lots of math, speculation, and most of all hope. Its a huge combination of "Can't wait to drive it and "Terrified to drive it"
Pretty much building a truck from scratch, and I am certainly not a team of engineers!
I guess Ill deal with the issues as they come up. Really makes you appreciate what they have to think about when they design this stuff from scratch!
Thanks Tiha!
Cheers!

 

[Tiha]

Had to make a trans mount and turn the rear diff to get what I wanted back there and changed the front to the CV style on the diff end (for fit and hopefully to fix what I had to do to the rear.) Lots of math, speculation, and most of all hope. Its a huge combination of "Can't wait to drive it and "Terrified to drive it"

This corvette I am doing I swapped from manual to electric choke in hopes my kids could figure it out LOL, I have more hope for the electric. I may have expectations that are way too high. LOL

I have a 1 ton diesel, I put a gear vender on the back of the transfercase. Driveshaft got really short. I had to drop the crossmember about an inch to get rid of a tiny little shake that came and went at 53mph. So yeah it takes time to get the small details worked out.

I have more fun building than driving honestly. I love how you are taking the new technology and putting it into a classic truck.

No reason it shouldn't ride and drive as nice as a new one. Saddest part is, that truck was never meant to run 85 mph. LOL So next you will be re doing all of your weather stripping and door gaps to try and tighten it up and quiet it down. LOL

 

[L\Bronco]

Ha Ha, way ahead of you, all the new weatherstrips are in a box ready to go!
Good luck with the choke on the vette!
As soon as the Bronco is rolling my 69 convertible is getting an explorer 5L and a T5, I’m done fighting with methanol fuels and carbs
Cheers

 

[L\Bronco]

I have more fun building than driving honestly. I love how you are taking the new technology and putting it into a classic truck.

I agree totally, there is something about cruising down the road in a vehicle that you are familiar with every nut and bolt.
I definitely enjoy the fabrication and planning stages way more than the finishing details. (Too long between changes)

 

[Zeus78]

Okay @L\Bronco, you explained this in the other thread and I was wowed by just the explanation of it, now that I've seen the build pictures, all I can say is… I'm not worthy. Haha, I would never have the **** to cut and weld a frame and try to fit that body on that frame, that takes more skill than what I have. Wow, nice work.

 

[L\Bronco]

Okay @L\Bronco, you explained this in the other thread and I was wowed by just the explanation of it, now that I've seen the build pictures, all I can say is… I'm not worthy. Haha, I would never have the **** to cut and weld a frame and try to fit that body on that frame, that takes more skill than what I have. Wow, nice work.

Thanks Zeus 78, I appreciate your kind words. I have been building my own frames and Chassis for my stock cars since 1990, so I'm not new to this game for sure.
All you can do is jump in with both feet and hope for the best, Just make sure its safe at the end! It's definitely not for everyone. (I thought it was turning out pretty cool and figured a few guys might like to see the process.)
My escape plan was that I could go back to the original frame at any time, I never cut into the body at all and I have a spare original wiring harness too, so I'm not tied to anything yet. (Except the countless hours of work!) But thats what a hobby is all about.
The cool part is that it starts from the key on the dash like normal (All the PATS stuff is behind the cluster)
At first glance it looks like a normal 79 inside except for the seats, and under hood it looks like a 2003.
This truck is a junkyard build for sure, I rebuilt all of the powertrain and bought misc lines and fittings, but the rest is from the 2 donor trucks or the local auto salvage.
Thanks again
Cheers

 

[Zeus78]

Thanks Zeus 78, I appreciate your kind words. I have been building my own frames and Chassis for my stock cars since 1990, so I'm not new to this game for sure.
All you can do is jump in with both feet and hope for the best, Just make sure its safe at the end! It's definitely not for everyone. (I thought it was turning out pretty cool and figured a few guys might like to see the process.)
My escape plan was that I could go back to the original frame at any time, I never cut into the body at all and I have a spare original wiring harness too, so I'm not tied to anything yet. (Except the countless hours of work!) But thats what a hobby is all about.
The cool part is that it starts from the key on the dash like normal (All the PATS stuff is behind the cluster)
At first glance it looks like a normal 79 inside except for the seats, and under hood it looks like a 2003.
This truck is a junkyard build for sure, I rebuilt all of the powertrain and bought misc lines and fittings, but the rest is from the 2 donor trucks or the local auto salvage.
Thanks again
Cheers

Looks like you have a good shop to do these types of projects in too.
Can't beat a good shop and experience.

 

[L\Bronco]

Again, Thanks.
My shop, like any, have their drawbacks, but overall, its really good and lots of space, not to mention, 40 yrs worth of tools! I am pretty fortunate to have this much space to work on our stuff.
Plus Experience is really just a whole bunch of success and failure that you learn from (hopefully), I have had my share of both. Just make sure you always learn from the failures and celebrate the successes.
I have a saying for when you try something out of the box.
"If it works, tell everyone, If it doesn't, tell no one!"
Cheers

 

[johnnyreb]

Then the work started...
View attachment 29650View attachment 29651View attachment 29652
I found a 2015 F150 chassis (which was a bit long) But we fixed that.
View attachment 29653View attachment 29654View attachment 29655
Had to do the funky splice to lower the Kick up by 7" (No Broncos were harmed in the building of this truck!)
View attachment 29656View attachment 29657Voila!, A Bronco sized F-150 chassis.View attachment 29659

Looks great

 

[79Bronco460PI]

When I saw all the wiring exploded ... that will be worth a hundred grand when final!