Differences between 78's & 79's

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Broncobill78

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In 78' the Broncos were considered HD vehicles (because they exceeded 6000GVW) and therefore exempt from emissions but in 79' the EPA upped the HD limit to 8500GVW so the Bronco came under emissions regulations as a Light Duty truck & that's where most of the diffrences lie. Incidently, this is why it's legal in Cali to swap the 460 into a 78' but not a 79' (sort of). The 78' was classified as a HD vehicle but the 79's weren't, 79's were Light Duty trucks and have to meet Light Duty emissions requirements (it's actually more complicated than that, like everything in Cali is, but that's the easiest explanation I could give without delving into engines that were smog certified without a chassis and such. There *are* loopholes that let you put one into a 79' but the documentation requirements are different, Arrgh, it's *already* giving me a headache. This is why I don't live there anymore. I seem to remember it having something to do with Cali being b\different and calling them Medium duty trucks, just to be different I guess). There's just no end to the wierdness. There are also a whole host of skid-plate diffrences between them depending on the size of the gas tank & things like that. You can go crazy trying to keep track of it, but here are the diffrences that I can remember off the top of my head:

78's could run leaded or unleaded with no restrictor in the fuel neck, 79's had the restrictor plate

78's had a regular fuel gage but 79's had the "unleaded fuel only" gage

78's have no emissions hole in the fuel tank & no coffee can but 79's do for the evaporative return hose

78's had no catalytic converter (excep CA) but 79's did

78's used a mechanical throttle linkage but 79's used a cable

78's used the smaller 1310 U-joint & yoke while 79's used the larger 1330

78's used the older power steering pump & pressure hose while the 79's used the "new" version

79's for some odd reason would NOT let you order both the CB radio AND the oil bath air cleaner, that one's wierd.

78's & 79's use different key-cylinder to door-latch rods. The design changed between years for some reason

79's were the only ones offered with the muffler skid-plate

79's were the only ones to come with chrome yellow wagon wheels (freewheeling package only)

78's have the CB behind the driver's seat, 79's have it behind the driver's cargo panel. Go figure.

78's had black handles for stuff like the wing windows & passenger seat latch while 79's were chrome (79 pass seat latches were bigger too)

I seem to remember that 78's had a fuel vent in *front* of the fuel filler & 79's had it *behind* or something like that.

There are also diffrences between the chrome moulding around the rear cap windows (locking strip vs. no locking strip), and some between the gages (black or silver piping & backgrounds & stuff like that) but then you're REALLY getting into the tiny diffrences between trucks. I figure that just knowing that only the early to mid-year 78' baseline trucks had the rounds is good enuf for most guys, but hey you never know when you'll need to win a bet at the bar. And keep in mind that none of this even *begins* to address some of the strange option combos available to our fine Canadian brothers to the North, plenty of those rigs have filtered down to us and complicated the issue.

 
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Tennessee Jed

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And after reading about the headlight shapes in 78 the custom had round sealed beams and the (Ranger) had square sealed beams and the 79's all had square. I am looking for a great deal on a 78 custom in Knoxville Tennessee.

I am fascinated with the 78-79 Bronco, the drive train looks indestructible.

 
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Broncobill78

Broncobill78

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And after reading about the headlight shapes in 78 the custom had round sealed beams and the (Ranger) had square sealed beams and the 79's all had square. I am looking for a great deal on a 78 custom in Knoxville Tennessee.
I am fascinated with the 78-79 Bronco, the drive train looks indestructible.
Oh yeah, it's hard to find a better drivetrain in anything else. That NP205 is just an awesome transfer case, you just can't beat a gear-driven case. Overall the 78/79's are really the best one's Ford ever built. Lift kits are cheap because of the simple straight axle design up front & you don't have to spend $2K in bracketry to make them drive straight after they've been lifted. All you need is a basic lift kit to whatever height you want, a dropped pitman arm & drop brackets for the track-rod & radius arms. All that stuff *together* is only around $650 or so & when you're done it will feel solid & drive straight. They're very simple trucks, very easy to understand, diagnose & repair. ****, you only need 3 wires to the dizzy and the freaking thing will run. How many wires does a 96' need ? The engine compartments are huge & uncluttered. I love them, great trucks.

 

johnnyreb

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And after reading about the headlight shapes in 78 the custom had round sealed beams and the (Ranger) had square sealed beams and the 79's all had square. I am looking for a great deal on a 78 custom in Knoxville Tennessee.

I am fascinated with the 78-79 Bronco, the drive train looks indestructible.
I have both Jed. A custom and Ranger,but I MADE a little more difference under the Custom,s hood. I put in a 390. When I got it. It looked good. In the spring I crawled under it and about everything was either tore out or beat out of all the bushings. I started replacing everything missing or beat out.Now its cominng down to the interior and outside. Its been a long up hill battle. Hopefull today I,ll get to take a ride in it. Also I think its possed. Especially what I saw yesterday with 2 witness,s.
 

miesk5

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Yo Johnny,
Good fortune in your hunt!
DIFFERENCES;This is from MRM (Mike M) at his old site via web.archive.net);
"Differences between '78 & '79 Broncos
My favorite Broncos are the '78s and '79s. Even though they look the same, and in most cases parts are interchangeable between the two, but in my efforts to restore my '78 I've ran into a couple snags because of incompatabilities between the two years. This is a list of problems and fixes that will hopefully prevent someone else from running into the same problems I did.

Headlights
'78 Custom - Round Headlights
'78 Ranger - Square Headlights
All '79's - Square Headlights
●U-joints -
'78 used 1310 series U-Joints
'79 and later use 1330 series U-Joints
This means if you want to swap driveshafts, axles, or your transfer case between the two years You will have to swap pinion or transfer case yokes or at least one combination U-joint will be required. One thing to note is that the 1330 series U-Joints are the same size used in 77 1/2 and up F250's w/dana 60's.
●Emmisions - '78s only required EGR, while the '79s had catalytic converters and smog pumps in addition to EGR."

Iggie attached 78 Brochure
 

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johnnyreb

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Yo Johnny,
Good fortune in your hunt!
DIFFERENCES;This is from MRM (Mike M) at his old site via web.archive.net);
"Differences between '78 & '79 Broncos
My favorite Broncos are the '78s and '79s. Even though they look the same, and in most cases parts are interchangeable between the two, but in my efforts to restore my '78 I've ran into a couple snags because of incompatabilities between the two years. This is a list of problems and fixes that will hopefully prevent someone else from running into the same problems I did.

Headlights
'78 Custom - Round Headlights
'78 Ranger - Square Headlights
All '79's - Square Headlights
●U-joints -
'78 used 1310 series U-Joints
'79 and later use 1330 series U-Joints
This means if you want to swap driveshafts, axles, or your transfer case between the two years You will have to swap pinion or transfer case yokes or at least one combination U-joint will be required. One thing to note is that the 1330 series U-Joints are the same size used in 77 1/2 and up F250's w/dana 60's.
●Emmisions - '78s only required EGR, while the '79s had catalytic converters and smog pumps in addition to EGR."

Iggie attached 78 Brochure
Hello Mike, well as I was replacing parts under it. I ordered parts (yokes and universal joints from the rear to the universal joint on the front axle and the front would not fit. I called Jeff,s Bronco and we taled about it and finally he asked for me to send my front drive shaft and give time for them to get it and he,d have a answer (I think his name was Josh) I called later and he said my drive shaft looked like a Jeep one .Seeing as I put a 390 down in it.He said the first time I get hung up.The 390 would twist that skinny drive shaft right now. So I asked if they had the proper one. He said they made them their. I had them make me one and its alot more heavy duty built. The Bronco looked good on top,but under neith it WAS in bad shape. Looks alot better now.
 

johnnyreb

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Hello Mike, well as I was replacing parts under it. I ordered parts (yokes and universal joints from the rear to the universal joint on the front axle and the front would not fit. I called Jeff,s Bronco and we taled about it and finally he asked for me to send my front drive shaft and give time for them to get it and he,d have a answer (I think his name was Josh) I called later and he said my drive shaft looked like a Jeep one .Seeing as I put a 390 down in it.He said the first time I get hung up.The 390 would twist that skinny drive shaft right now. So I asked if they had the proper one. He said they made them their. I had them make me one and its alot more heavy duty built. The Bronco looked good on top,but under neith it WAS in bad shape. Looks alot better now.
Is the OLD SIGHT shut down?
 

johnnyreb

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Yo Johnny,
Which site are you v asking about being shut?
And yes, Seabronc helped many here!
It was the same one Seabronc was on. Would you believe I think it was FULL SIZE BRONCO ? I would come on a good bit. At the time it was alot of company for me . I was dealing with some things about my past and you all got my mind off of it. It was and is great therapy. The bronco(s) have kept me busy -hhahaha and broke. Thank you all Mike for the great company and helping me more the just about my Bronco,s. These guys (and gals) coming back from these war zones its a big help to them too . Thank all of you for all the help and great spirit in also helping these people. Thank you Mike for all you have done for our country too.
 

johnnyreb

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Yo Johnny,
Thanks!
Seabronc was on a few Big Bronco message boards.
Project Bronco was one of them @
View attachment 22138


Here are some from my former siteView attachment 22137
The name FULL SIZE BRONCO seems more like it. Met some really nice people their . Except at the last and he acted like a know it all and never made a mistake. All the rest were really nice. I guess every bushel has a rotten apple. Thanks Mike for all you done and do for people.
 

Carnutt73

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Broncobill78 this is excellent info for anyone looking for 78-79 broncos. Nice Job! Ford had all kinds of different options for everything. There are even a lot of differences between the U.S. market and Canadian market trucks and broncos. I currently have a canadian F150 and its got some different things on it just for the canadian market.
 

johnnyreb

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In 78' the Broncos were considered HD vehicles (because they exceeded 6000GVW) and therefore exempt from emissions but in 79' the EPA upped the HD limit to 8500GVW so the Bronco came under emissions regulations as a Light Duty truck & that's where most of the diffrences lie. Incidently, this is why it's legal in Cali to swap the 460 into a 78' but not a 79' (sort of). The 78' was classified as a HD vehicle but the 79's weren't, 79's were Light Duty trucks and have to meet Light Duty emissions requirements (it's actually more complicated than that, like everything in Cali is, but that's the easiest explanation I could give without delving into engines that were smog certified without a chassis and such. There *are* loopholes that let you put one into a 79' but the documentation requirements are different, Arrgh, it's *already* giving me a headache. This is why I don't live there anymore. I seem to remember it having something to do with Cali being b\different and calling them Medium duty trucks, just to be different I guess). There's just no end to the wierdness. There are also a whole host of skid-plate diffrences between them depending on the size of the gas tank & things like that. You can go crazy trying to keep track of it, but here are the diffrences that I can remember off the top of my head:

78's could run leaded or unleaded with no restrictor in the fuel neck, 79's had the restrictor plate

78's had a regular fuel gage but 79's had the "unleaded fuel only" gage

78's have no emissions hole in the fuel tank & no coffee can but 79's do for the evaporative return hose

78's had no catalytic converter (excep CA) but 79's did

78's used a mechanical throttle linkage but 79's used a cable

78's used the smaller 1310 U-joint & yoke while 79's used the larger 1330

78's used the older power steering pump & pressure hose while the 79's used the "new" version

79's for some odd reason would NOT let you order both the CB radio AND the oil bath air cleaner, that one's wierd.

78's & 79's use different key-cylinder to door-latch rods. The design changed between years for some reason

79's were the only ones offered with the muffler skid-plate

79's were the only ones to come with chrome yellow wagon wheels (freewheeling package only)

78's have the CB behind the driver's seat, 79's have it behind the driver's cargo panel. Go figure.

78's had black handles for stuff like the wing windows & passenger seat latch while 79's were chrome (79 pass seat latches were bigger too)

I seem to remember that 78's had a fuel vent in *front* of the fuel filler & 79's had it *behind* or something like that.

There are also diffrences between the chrome moulding around the rear cap windows (locking strip vs. no locking strip), and some between the gages (black or silver piping & backgrounds & stuff like that) but then you're REALLY getting into the tiny diffrences between trucks. I figure that just knowing that only the early to mid-year 78' baseline trucks had the rounds is good enuf for most guys, but hey you never know when you'll need to win a bet at the bar. And keep in mind that none of this even *begins* to address some of the strange option combos available to our fine Canadian brothers to the North, plenty of those rigs have filtered down to us and complicated the issue.
I,d someday like to take a 78-79 and take front -end and transfer case out and put a posi read-end with a six cylinder in it and see how it would run.Plu some of the other weight things to make it lighter. The posi would give it plenty of traction . I wonder what the back seat--front-end and transfer case would weigh itself. Plus the differencer between the 351 and 6 cylinder. Now THAT would MAKE A NEW BRONCO TO ME.
 

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