What Did you Do With Your Bronco Today???

[L\Bronco]

3G Alternator upgrade accomplished and on line.
14.5 V @ 130A- good to go
Hey L, the 'mystery' green wire Was the one. It did everything possible to conceal the red line. Had to twist the thing 180* to reveal it. (typical-typical)
The G/r is the power wire that has that black plastic squeeze-lock connector on it which looks as if should have a old style bus fuse inside......but is just a connector.
Other then that, a bit of die grinder work on the inner side of the bracket & some circuit protection. Done deal. Time to get some more miles on this critter.

Awesome Jimbo!
Great work!
Enjoy the drive!
Headed to Boise today for the ignitor!
When I get home, Im going to knuckle down and finish the upgrades to the 69l
Got her running last week, (the lunatti voodoo roller cam did the trick! Plus new 2 1/2” exh and she sounds sweeet!
Cheers

 

[Jimbo26]

Rolled over the 48K mile mark yesterday. Almost time for the 2nd eng. oil change. That F4 motor hums right along & does fair Mpg for a pushrod.

 

[Jimbo26]

Ok, gurus. I've seen plenty of ways to clean/bring back the Gen 4 F-series headlights once they get that dull, yellowed look or haze over.
Anybody out there have a sure-fire way of restoring the things to new or near new condition?
A commercial kit that works Every time regardless?
Thx & I'll be standing by.......

 

[L\Bronco]

Hey Jimbo!
We wet sand with 1000, work up to 2000, then cut polish.
A bit of effort, but always works

 

[Jimbo26]

May try that if all else fails, thx.
Found some Meguiars PlastX and gave that a couple of passes, front & back as the rear fixtures were pretty faded to. Stuff seems to have worked fairly well. Elbow grease is the ticket.
Now it looks like is time to do the MLP sensor shuffle. Was hoping I would get away with it, but those older components like that were known to be problematic- just like trying to source obsolete parts locally these days.

 

[Jimbo26]

Installed a set of LED headlight inserts- wow, what a difference. Now these new HID lit vehicles can get some punishment right back.

 

[Jimbo26]

Did the MLP shuffle. That was a refresher after not doing one for 25 years.
Finay got all the legal ends taken care of. Almost long range ready.

 

[Jimbo26]

The horse has been re-shod. Moved up to a 32"
Ride quality is good, handling also good- doesn't 'walk' as much as a old school ground-grip. Noise level is acceptable. Am sure it'll be a-ok out in the slop. Price was reasonable for a Thailand mfgr.
Now we are long range ready.
If those SoftToppers weren't so expensive

 

[L\Bronco]

The horse has been re-shod. Moved up to a 32"
Ride quality is good, handling also good- doesn't 'walk' as much as a old school ground-grip. Noise level is acceptable. Am sure it'll be a-ok out in the slop. Price was reasonable for a Thailand mfgr.
Now we are long range ready.
If those SoftToppers weren't so expensive

Looks amazing Jimbo! Have tons O fun with her!
Ill be scarce for a bit, Rocky mountain nationals this weekend!
Cheers all

 

[Jimbo26]

Today- 2nd oil change on the F4 motor.
Nearing the 50k mark & steady making tracks
Did notice a bit of rumble-rub up front from this new rubber. I guess that's the way it is on such a upgrade. Didn't loose much, if any turning circle, so I can live with it.

 

[Jimbo26]

Ok, L
You wanted to keep up with whats been happening, so here ya go. This is still an adventure in progress, therefore Safari mode.
My quandary about it-
is this order considered to be on the halfshell?

 

[L\Bronco]

Ok, L
You wanted to keep up with whats been happening, so here ya go. This is still an adventure in progress, therefore Safari mode.
My quandary about it-
is this order considered to be on the halfshell?

Wow Jimbo!
I love that top!
2things:
1 how does it fair at speed?
2what kind (brand) is it?
I could see one of those in Frankies future!

 

[Jimbo26]

Wow Jimbo!
I love that top!
2things:
1 how does it fair at speed?
2what kind (brand) is it?
I could see one of those in Frankies future!

1- I'll have to let ya know as time progresses. Had a run to town & back yesterday, so far that was a 20 mile round trip. Got it up to 70+ clicks, All groovy for that ride.
Still going thru the wear-in phase so I can't give a fair opinion about all of it......Yet.
Am having some snap fitment issues with the siderails. May have to contact St/Bt about exactly what we need to do to get everything to line up right, as I have adjusted everything else as far as I can go w/o relocating snaps.
Will be left in the today to see of that helps.
Thus far, ST Customer support has been Top shelf to deal with, including the 'mydog ate one of the plastic pieces' episode.

2- Softopper (Bestop)

Once I get everything hashed out, I expect good results.
Already diggin the Safari mode & see why this is a favorite way to get around. All the instructions were accurate, had no issue.
I did consult a YouTube video on this that a yankee fella had posted up, which was also a help. He did a fair job with the install tutorial.
Where it got kinda weird to me was with rigging up the middle/rear X brace part. That's where the print + video helps clear up any confusion, and I can see how that can get some confused.. ..which is my natural conditionso is all the same here!
I found that the Header-bar piece is more then a little critical to proper fitment & had to take it back loose a few times. It's a Fab job that's part of the process- has to be bent to form as ya go with it. Not for the inexperienced.
In retrospect, I would form the header-bar first as a test-fit, install the siderails to gain proper snap alignment with, remove h-bar and Then install the foam weatherstripping, after that put the h-bar back in place for final fit.
Getting that h-bar right helps one see where to put the foam weatherstripping for best alignment, as it's a near-far sort of arrangement to the f l a n g e of the body. The h-bar is actually mashed Into the weatherstripping to seal off righty tighty.
Being where your at reminds me of ol Red Green & his Tv shows.
It would be mighty entertaining to see him try on one of these kits & see the results
I didn't discover his shows until about 10 years ago and that stuff was just over the top.
Red is the Ultimate (blank)-rigger, bar none!
The first time I ran across the show, he was turning that old mopar Cordoba into a tracked vehicle...and I just couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Its enough to start drinking again.

 

[Jimbo26]

...aaaaaand- Softopper.
That Texas sunwill sure do it.
Had to relocate the 2 snaps at the bottom of the h-bar. No way the thing was gonna reach like that. (So much for mass production) At least there was enuf room for the mod.
Gonna let everything set for a while and get use to itself. Another uphill battle is over.
I went to a local Yinyang restaurant last week and my fortunate cookie said something about Persistence paying off. Mighty peculiar how these things come to us before hand like that.

 

[L\Bronco]

...aaaaaand- Softopper.
That Texas sunwill sure do it.
Had to relocate the 2 snaps at the bottom of the h-bar. No way the thing was gonna reach like that. (So much for mass production) At least there was enuf room for the mod.
Gonna let everything set for a while and get use to itself. Another uphill battle is over.
I went to a local Yinyang restaurant last week and my fortunate cookie said something about Persistence paying off. Mighty peculiar how these things come to us before hand like that.

Looks Great! Nice job!
And to quote the master
“If the women dont find ya handsome, they should at least find ya handy!
GO DUCTTAPE!!
You should look for the log splitter episode!
Hilarious!
PS
Found a mug that might help you with projects in the future!

 

[Jimbo26]

Have not heard that quote in quite a while. Words to live by. Arkansas is just 30 min. away- the duct-tape capital of the south!
I'll see if I can find that one on YouTube. Thx again. Red is just.......Red. Nobody else can fit the category.

Hey ️ mighty salty......but catchy! ---
I'll trade ya that coffee cup even swap for one that has every AK47 variant on it. That or one that is the likeness of Darth Vader. Take your pick.
I'll be back with a better opinion about this 'Topper deal as time and experience goes on.

 

[Jimbo26]

Rolled over the 50k mark a couple days ago,

Gotta Keep on truckin........

 

[L\Bronco]

Hey Jimbo, heres Frankie beside a new one!

 

[Jimbo26]

Groovy, now is time to drop the flag & see which one pulls the 🏎
Did the receiver hitch mod to the rear bumper today. Would upload a pic but the dsl connection is just way too slow right now, keeps failing to load. Another time.
The previous owners had put a 2" hitch ball in the usual place 33+ yrs ago and even a 3/4 drive makita impact wouldn't get it broke free so had to torch it off
That's as far as that work went. I have a phobia about welding work near fuel tanks so the rest of the surgery was done AFTER the bumper was removed from the vehicle. (This because I saw somebody dang near blow themselves up cutting the tank straps off a junk vehicle way back when)
The safest place to combust fuel is between a piston and cylinder head- gimme a Amen, J-R!

Today: replaced the 33+ yr old trailer wiring pigtail. It was just coming apart after that long and inop big time.
All ready to haul trailers when needed now
I get those extenders fitted and in place, will be winch install time. Gotta sneak up on this bit by bit, but we're getting there.

 

[Jimbo26]

Today
changed out the master ignition switch on top of the steering column. Didn't hurt myself but time will tell. Long as it don't mysteriously k i l l the battery at random again, then I will know.
Replaced a peanut bulb in the dash cluster while in that far, nice to have all that working again. Had to JB patch some more broken plastic c r a p substructure- always the norm with these old things. More reasons to curse the bean counters of that particular era.