Hi, y'all. My great uncle bought the Bronco new, and I had always liked it. He knew of my interest in cars, and how much I liked it, so it was willed to me. At any rate, I'm a big gearhead, but know NOTHING about trucks. The car is still in Georgia, and I probably won't get it up here for a year or so - whenever we move and I get the detached garage for my toys (my first car, a 67 GTO, and an open track car, a Merkur XR4Ti, and now the Bronco).
Quick blurb about me that may explain some stuff below. I'm an engine guy. My knowledge from toys is about Ford 2.3L turbos. From work (literally an engine engineer at Ford) is the 4.6L Modular. All 3 versions - 2V, 3V, and 4V. I do my own calibration on the 2.3 stuff. I have done a lot of oddball fabrication on the XR, because there's virtually zero aftermarket for it. I'm learning bodywork on lots of things, primarily leading up to finishing the GTO.
The Bronco is well used, despite the low miles. It has a 170, and is bare bones. I don't know if they ever sold these things new without a top or doors, but I have neither. I hope to get it into shape where I can take it to some sand dunes that some friends of mine frequent. By no means ********* stuff, but something I can have fun with, and drive to work when I'm up for open top driving. Right now, the truck is downright scary because of tires (easy to remedy), and brakes.
At any rate, the hope is to put a modern drivetrain in it. I have a 4.6L 4V engine that was slated for another project (punted!) that has zero miles since a rebuild. I hope to put that in it, if I can find a transmission and transfer case from something newer that will bolt up. I've been told by a co-worker that they will fit, hopefully he's right. I can fab up the motor mounts, but my biggest fear is the intermediate shaft (between steering column and steering gear).
However, things I don't know about are what all bolts in? Specifically, the rest of the drivetrain, brakes, steering, etc? I'm hoping that there is plenty of cross compatibility with later trucks, so I could get, say, disk brakes from a junkyard truck, and convert them. What about upgrading axles? What just bolts in?
The goal is to do as much swapping without turning this into a major project as possible. Part because of cost, part because I would prefer to eventually finish restoring the GTO. The engine still probably is lower down the list, but I'd like to get some decent brakes on this ASAP.
The big question I have is this: Is there any good single source for info on interchangability? A book, a technical website that isn't just a forum? I can't stand newbies on other message boards who ask questions without doing their homework......so I want to go do my homework.
Quick blurb about me that may explain some stuff below. I'm an engine guy. My knowledge from toys is about Ford 2.3L turbos. From work (literally an engine engineer at Ford) is the 4.6L Modular. All 3 versions - 2V, 3V, and 4V. I do my own calibration on the 2.3 stuff. I have done a lot of oddball fabrication on the XR, because there's virtually zero aftermarket for it. I'm learning bodywork on lots of things, primarily leading up to finishing the GTO.
The Bronco is well used, despite the low miles. It has a 170, and is bare bones. I don't know if they ever sold these things new without a top or doors, but I have neither. I hope to get it into shape where I can take it to some sand dunes that some friends of mine frequent. By no means ********* stuff, but something I can have fun with, and drive to work when I'm up for open top driving. Right now, the truck is downright scary because of tires (easy to remedy), and brakes.
At any rate, the hope is to put a modern drivetrain in it. I have a 4.6L 4V engine that was slated for another project (punted!) that has zero miles since a rebuild. I hope to put that in it, if I can find a transmission and transfer case from something newer that will bolt up. I've been told by a co-worker that they will fit, hopefully he's right. I can fab up the motor mounts, but my biggest fear is the intermediate shaft (between steering column and steering gear).
However, things I don't know about are what all bolts in? Specifically, the rest of the drivetrain, brakes, steering, etc? I'm hoping that there is plenty of cross compatibility with later trucks, so I could get, say, disk brakes from a junkyard truck, and convert them. What about upgrading axles? What just bolts in?
The goal is to do as much swapping without turning this into a major project as possible. Part because of cost, part because I would prefer to eventually finish restoring the GTO. The engine still probably is lower down the list, but I'd like to get some decent brakes on this ASAP.
The big question I have is this: Is there any good single source for info on interchangability? A book, a technical website that isn't just a forum? I can't stand newbies on other message boards who ask questions without doing their homework......so I want to go do my homework.
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