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Nothing Special's '71 Bronco

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Greaser007 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep. 2019 at 4:32am
Bob,
   Have you been getting in touch with your inner-redneck this summer ? haha

   Well, earlier in May 2018, I mentioned my buddies '72 Ford Bronco chassis was completed. Well, we wound up painting the body tub in September 2018, and then early July of 2019, I helped him paint the doors and front fenders. It is about the same color creamy-gray as a new Ford Raptor. It came out very nice. He even insisted I take it out for a drive. The lug nuts loosened on us. Hmm, new wheels and lug nuts. The nuts loosened again after the next 2-mile test run.
   I guess your gear-set is running fine that you set-up ?

    Geesh, 2019 is trickling by quickly right !

    Len
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep. 2019 at 3:18pm
No rednecking with the Bronco yet this year.  My wife and I went on a cruise in May, and then my extended family went on another in August, so not much time (or money) for vacations that include the Bronco.  However we are headed to Moab in a couple weeks, so there will probably be opportunities to fix things after that!  (That will also be the only time we use the motorhome in 2019 Unhappy)

I've hardly run the front axle since installing the OX locker.  Just the little bit of 'wheeling last summer.  But that's pretty typical for how I use it and why I'm pretty confident that the gears will last a LONG time.

Otherwise I've been daily-driving the Bronco all summer.  The exhaust pulled apart at the driver's side manifold again.  The exhaust shop that built the new exhaust after I replaced the motor mount last year fixed it for free.  Hopefully it'll hold up through the Moab trip!

And the rear main and valve covers seem to still be holding oil.  I do have a small leak from the drain plug.  I think I need to replace the washer on it the next time I change the oil.
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote drm101 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Sep. 2019 at 11:53pm
Your post on setting up the gear made me chuckle. I had never done it either, so i ordered the video from Richmond Gear and bought the indicator to set backlash and set about replacing the gear in my 396/ 4speed 12 bolt 1971 Nova. Took all the measurements and everything seemed to go ok. When I turned the thing around with the paste, it looked nothing like the pictures, but I was pretty sure it was right. Put it all together and drove it around a few days and it seemed fine with no noise, but I thought I should change the fluid. When I drained it there was quite a bit of metal stuck to the magnet and my heart sank. I took it up to our local ring&pinion shop and told them to just fix it, I don't care how much it costs. They called me the next day and said it looked fine to them. I was shocked. I drove it for 10 years after that and all was fine. That's the 1st and last time I will set up a gear myself. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Sep. 2019 at 4:11pm
We're back from our Moab trip now!  I have a thread in the "Jeep Photos and Stories" form from planning that trip and then a trip report (The trip report starts here if you want to check it out, https://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/will-people-help-me-plan-a-moab-trip-and-report_topic44840_post457832.html#457832).  The Bronco worked great, no major issues or repairs needed.  Even the exhaust system stayed intact!  But I thought I'd put my current project list here as it formed in my head on the trip.

Rocker guards
This was actually my plan for last winter, but I never got around to it.  Typically Bronco rocker guards just attach to the rockers, and mine are so rusted and dented that I don't see that as an option.  Another way people do it is to cut off the rockers and replace then with square tubing.  That's my plan, but it involves welding,  which I can do sort of, but I don't have a welder yet and this will be welding thick metal to sheetmetal which will be tricky for me.  But hopefully I'll get this done this coming winter.

Bigger tires
My 33/10.50-15 BFG A/Ts are almost worn out, and my previously really nice Ford Alcoa wheels are getting gouged up, so for a year or two I've been planning on getting new wheels and tires for trails, keeping the Alcoas for road use.  I'm thinking of 35/12.50 tires on beadlock wheels.  From my limited experience with wider tires I've found them to have a better ride when aired down on rough trails (something I thought of often on Top of the World on this last trip!) but at the expense of some handling.  For this use that seems like a good tradeoff.  Also I'm hoping wider tires that stick out will protect my sheetmetal a little more, which hopefully will be a good tradeoff for the added width making an already wide vehicle harder to fit on trails.  I haven't settled on the tires or wheels yet.  It'll be a mud terrain of some sort, hopefully load range C (it's hard to find them that aren't E).  And somewhere in the 15" - 17" rim diameter.

New flywheel ring gear and starter
As I noted in my trail report, I've got a bad spot in the ring gear and the starter doesn't always engage.  I need to correct that.

New relay for my air compressor
This is really minor, but the relay for my air compressor stuck "on" during the drive out to the Grand canyon, so I had to pull a wire to avoid burning up my compressor motor.  That left me without trailer brakes while I was towing the Bronco behind the motorhome, and also with no (easily accessible) front locker and hassles airing back up.  I actually fixed this temporarily while we were on the trip, stealing a relay from my fog lights.  But I need to actually mount it and replace the fog light relay.

Extended radius arms
The previous owner put about a 3" suspension lift on, but without doing anything to the radius arms that gave pretty severe negative caster.  It actually handled OK like that, but the wheels would turn the wrong way when flat towing (that can be exciting!).  I fixed it the best way I could afford by putting drop radius arm mounts on.  That works great except that they hang really far down and get caught on rocks a lot.  Also the stock radius arms limit front articulation (especially when paired with urethane C bushings).  Long arms with rubber C bushings should give better clearance and articulation.  Below are a couple pictures from this Moab trip that show how the mounts hang down and the lack of front articulation.

Clock the transfer case
This is where the project list might be turning into a pipe dream.  Bronco frames are NARROW.  The Atlas transfer case I have barely fits clocked all the way down.  Right now it's pretty well protected by the radius arm mounts, but if I get that problem taken care of the transfer case will be the first thing to get hit.  I can (and will) put a skid plate on it, but I'd like to clock it higher.  To do that I need to cut a BIG notch out of my boxed frame (and obviously reinforce it after that).  Plus the U-joint at my front diff is already at a pretty big angle, so I'll need to twist the axle forward to lift the rear of the diff up to reduce that angle.  But that will give me negative caster again so I'll need to cut off the steering knuckles, rotate them back and reweld them.  So this might be a bigger project that I can tackle.  We'll see.

Transfer case skid plate
I mentioned this above, but adding here to complete the list.



In this pic you can see that the rear axle is twisted up pretty good, but the front is basically parallel with the frame.  That's how Broncos flex with stock radius arms and urethane C bushings.

Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Sep. 2019 at 9:33pm
Oh, and a couple others I had forgotten as I posted that:

Hydroboost and rear drum brakes
My Bronco came with 4 wheel manual drum brakes.  I converted it to 4 wheel disks with vacuum power assist.  But I've never been thrilled with the setup.  For one thing the brake pedal has always seemed a little vague, with more effort needed than I think it should take.  And I've had some trouble with the booster and have found that the kit I got used weird parts so I can't buy replacements.  The booster completely quit working on me this summer so I've had just manual brakes for a few months now (no, it's still safe, I can lock the tires, it just takes a lot of force).  So I'm going to look into using a hydroboost system off an existing vehicle (so I can get replacement parts).

And while I really like the rear disks when I'm driving, there's no parking brake.  For a while I had a line lock, but that failed a few years ago, so nothing now.  I'm going to go back to the rear drums and see how that works out.  (I'll keep the disks in case I want to go back in that direction later.)

Synthetic winch rope
When I got my winch I went with wire rope as a cost savings.  I'm not unhappy with that choice, but I did the bone-head move I've seen so many others do (in YouTube videao) when winching:  I over-drove the winch.  When I winched up the ledge on Top of the World the winch was bogging down as it pulled my front tires into the ledge so I started letting out the clutch and it walked up easily.  I should have stuffed the clutch in again then until the rear tires got to the ledge (if the winch needed the help then), but I let the Bronco pull itself up.  The rear tires wouldn't climb either and the Bronco hopped a little.  Eventually the winch caught up and pulled me up, but when I went to respool the rope I saw some things I didn't like.  So I pulled out some more rope and found that some loose loops had formed, and I now have kinks in the rope Embarrassed.  So I should really replace the rope.  Although I could go with wire again, I'm thinking I might go with synthetic this time (which would require a new fairlead as well).  But we'll see about that.
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ol' Unreliable Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep. 2019 at 3:15am
Re: the parking brake, how about one of those with the brake drum in the rear rotor?  Is there one that will go on your axle?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep. 2019 at 3:32am
I could possibly fab something up to make that work, but I'm not aware of any kit for it.

The rear disks I'm using use GM calipers, and I guess I could use rear calipers from a Toronado or Riviera or something to get a parking brake.  But those use a cable to actuate the caliper on the disk, and from what I've heard, they will slow you down in an emergency, but they aren't very strong.  I want something that will actually hold it on a hill.  I have the brake parts to put the stock rear drums on, so I'll try that.  I'm pretty sure I'll be satisfied with them (I'm keeping the front disks).  But I can always make another change later if needed.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nofender Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep. 2019 at 11:18am
Have you thought about an e-brake on the rear output? There are couple places that sell a pretty nice set up for the Atlas. Taking advantage of the gearing - they hold!! 

I've been running syn winch rope for since 07 now. I just replaced my original Amsteel with a Warn rope. Not cheap - but VERY worth it in my opinion. The small Jeep has a wire rope. But I've yet to even use the winch on that Jeep. If it starts seeing some regular action, I will swap it out. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep. 2019 at 1:20pm
I have thought about an e-brake on the rear output (being on this page it's hard not to!).  But I wasn't aware of any that were made to go on an Atlas.  I will look into that.

And it sure seems that everyone who uses synthetic rope will never go back.  So hopefully the budget will allow for that!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar. 2020 at 2:18am
I mentioned a few posts back that converting the rear disk brakes back to drums was on the list.  I completed that in January.  I haven't driven it yet, or even adjusted the brakes.  And I don't have the parking brake hooked up yet.  That will have to wait its turn.  But the drum brakes are on.

So now I'm starting on the hydroboost.  After a bunch of forum research I decided to go with a hydroboost unit and master cylinder from a Chevy Astro van (it actually ended up being a '95 GMC Safari with AWD and front disk / rear drum brakes if anyone wants the details). That came in the mail yesterday, so today I pulled the old booster and master cylinder out and stuck the new one more-or-less in place to see what I was up against. I'm up against a lot if I try to put it in like I show here! The boost unit has 4 studs that don't look like they'll play well with the firewall, the accumulator on the boost unit wants to be right where the throttle linkage is, and the master cylinder hits the oil fill cap. You can see all of that in the pictures below.

After doing that and washing up I thought about putting the new booster and master on the angled bracket that I had with the vacuum system. That will take care of all of those problems. It will put the master pretty close to the inner fender, but I think it'll clear. So I'll check that out more completely another day.

One other potential interference is the reservoirs on top of the master might hit the hood. Eyeballing it I think it'll clear, but if not I think I can use a different reservoir on this master that will sit lower.

Anyway, here is the aftermarket vacuum system that came out, on the angled bracket that I might reuse.


Here is the new hydroboost and master after unboxing.


And here a few showing how it doesn't want to just go in quietly.






More to come...
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Mar. 2020 at 1:25am
Well, it took a couple of days, but I got a chance to piece things together a bit. I "eased" the booster mounting holes in the angle bracket so the studs from the hydroboost would fit. But in the process of doing that I realized that the pushrod that goes into the boost unit doesn't come out easily. I'm sure I could get it out to modify it, but I want to just be able to get a boost unit for a '95 GMC Astro and replace it in the parking lot of the NAPA in Moab if I need to. So disassembling the unit to remove and modify the pushrod doesn't support the goals.

The pushrod in the hydroboost is quite a bit longer than the one on the old vacuum booster. 2 3/8" in fact. And the hole in it is bigger than the one in the vacuum booster. But I can bush the hole, and if I space the hydroboost away from the angle plate the right amount I should be able to use the stock pushrod. To check it out I made some spacers that were 1" long, which was the most I could move it out using the studs that came in the booster. Below are some pics of how that sits in the Bronco. I think it'll work out well! I'm probably going to have to move a homemade power distribution box I have on top of the driver's side inner fender. But that's the only thing that it looks like will interfere. It looks like the reservoirs are sticking up pretty far, but there's still clearance when the hood is shut!

So the next step is to get some 2 3/8" spacers, some longer bolts to replace the studs and a bushing to adapt the hole in the pushrod to the pin for the bellcrank. Then I should be able to bolt everything together!

Here's a picture showing how the lengths of the old and new pushrods compare:


And here are a couple that show the hydroboost in place with the 1" spacers. It'll be moved another 1 3/8" away from the angle bracket the next time it goes in.


Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar. 2020 at 6:54pm
A little more progress today. The hydroboost and master cylinder are now bolted in, and the pedal linkage is hooked up! I made a bronze bushing to make the Astro hydroboost pushrod fit the bellcrank that came with my aftermarket angle bracket and four spacers to mount the hydroboost to the angle bracket at the right place for the linkage to work out. And the lengths of everything seems pretty good! The pedal is essentially at the top of it's travel at rest, but there's just enough play that I know it isn't applying the brakes. The pedal does go all the way to the floor, so I'll have to see if I'm getting enough travel in the master to fully apply the brakes. I'd guess that I am, but I won't really know until the hydraulics are hooked up.

So now the next step is to figure out the hoses for the hydroboost. Then get brake lines hooked up (I'll need a new proportioning valve since I'm going from 4 wheel disks to disk/drum). And then it should be good to go! (or should I say "good to stop!"?)

Picture time. Here's a better picture of why I couldn't "just bolt it to the firewall." This is looking through the hole in the firewall that the rod from the pedal comes through. You can see part of the dash support / pedal assembly through the hole. There's another piece on the near side as well. Also you can see a flange bent out just to the far side of the hole. And it's not flat or smooth around the steering column either. I'm not saying it wouldn't be possible to bolt it directly to the firewall. But if it is possible it would be challenging to figure it all out without messing anything else up. And then there's the throttle linkage and clearance to the oil fill cap. So I'm happy with my choice to use the angle bracket.


Here's the bushing in the hole of the hydroboost pushrod


And here's the hydroboost and master cylinder mounted to the angle bracket. I did see in other threads now how others did this without the long spacers. They get a different bellcrank to allow the hydroboost rod to come back a lot farther. That would be cleaner, but I'm OK with how this is turning out. I shifted my power distribution box over about an inch and now everything clears.




Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 June 2020 at 2:51am
The Bronco's brake conversion is done! I bought the hoses from the GMC power steering pump to the hydroboost unit and from the hrydroboost unit to the GMC steering gear. I also bought the hose from the Bronco power steering pump to the steering gear (actually the hose for a '70 F-series truck). That gave me all the fittings I needed, but not all on the right hoses. So I cut the hoses and had an industrial hose supply shop put them together they way I needed them. Not a cheap option, but it worked. I added a power steering cooler and T'd the return lines from the hydroboost and the cooler at the pump. That took care of the power steering fluid side.

At that point I needed to put the Bronco on the back burner while I worked on my parents travel trailer for a while, so this next update was delayed.

I got a new proportioning valve for disk / drum (since I was going away from disk / disk) and made all new brake lines. T
his evening my wife helped me bleed the brakes, so it's done!

I didn't take it for much of a test drive, because I don't have insurance on it, but the brakes come in a lot higher than they did with the vacuum power / 4 wheel disk setup. (One of my complaints about it was that the pedal was almost on the floor in a moderately hard stop. It always did the job, but it never inspired confidence.) The brakes are a bit touchy now, but they don't seem horrible. I think I'll be able to get used to modulating them easily enough.

Also I probably don't really have the rear drums adjusted correctly yet. I had intentionally left them "loose" so I did a few hard-ish stops in reverse to try to get the adjusters to tighten them up a bit. On the first few stops I locked the front brakes pretty easily. But after a few I was stopping just as hard without locking the fronts, so the rears must be coming in more now. We'll see how things go once I actually get it on the road.

Ok, I said the brakes are done, but that's not quite true. I still need to do a little clean-up underneath, making sure the rear brake line is tied up appropriately. And even though getting a working parking brake was one of the driving forces in this project, I still don't have one. My air tank is in the way of the parking brake cables and even harder to address, my roll cage is in the way of the parking brake pedal. Both are surmountable obstacles, but both are going to need to wait a bit.

The next project, and the reason I'm not putting insurance on it just yet, is adding some rocker protection. Both rockers are rusted and crunched, but the passenger side is so far gone that the body is sagging to the point where the door doesn't operate correctly. So my plan is to cut away the rusted / crunched sheet metal and weld in some heavy-wall rectangular steel tubing. Hopefully I can get started on that project in the next few days...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 June 2020 at 10:49pm
Well, only a week later, today I officially started replacing my rockers! Or more accurately, removing them to make room to replace them.

Here's a picture of the back side of the passenger rocker. You can see why I don't think there was enough structure there to attach armor to the existing rockers!


Here's what I had been looking at on the outside


It looked even worse after removing the Gorilla Tape bodywork:


And after about 15 minutes with a death wheel I had the rocker off:


So I'm halfway done with one side already! (or maybe not quite half way)

By the way, here's a pic of the driver's side.  You can see that the aux gas tank fills the area between the frame rail and the rocker, with the bottom of all three at about the same height.  This is why doing something like putting nerf bars on isn't an option.


One thing I still need to figure out. I'm planning on getting a 4" x 4" square tube to weld in place of the rocker. Here's a pic with a wood 4x4 in place. Wood 4x4s are actually about 3.75" square, so a metal 4x4 tube will touch the inner vertical part of the original rocker that I left in place.

The problem is the 3/4" step on the outside. I was planning on spot welding the tube to the vertical inner rocker and to the door sill. But the outer step isn't as wide as I'd like, and the main sill is 3/4" above the 4x4. So I'm thinking I'll get a 3/4" tube and weld it to the top of the 4x4, and then spot weld the door sill to the 3/4" tube.  Unless I get a better idea.

Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 June 2020 at 10:46pm
Not much progress the latter half of the week, but I progressed toward being able to make progress (if that means anything Confused). I now have two 6' lengths of 4x4x3/16 wall tubing in my garage. I don't buy steel often, so that was a bit of an adventure, but I'm set there now.

I also took a couple of 34" lengths of 1x1 tubing (probably 3/16" wall as well, but that's just by eyeball) and cut one side off to get a couple of 1x3/4 C channels. This was the only actual progress. I used a mill to cut the two corners off (one pass per side). It took about 45 minutes of my lunch hour including cleanup. No pictures of that yet, but I'll get some as I start getting the 4x4 ready to go in. I'll weld that to the top of the 4x4 and then spot weld the door sill to it. to bridge that gap.

I also spent some time staring up from a creeper to figure out what I'm going to do with the structure that comes down from the "A" and "B"pillars. Both are in the way of the 4x4, but I think I know how I'm going to cut and bend them so I can weld them to the tube and strengthen everything rather than weaken it. Again, pictures will have to wait until I start actually doing something about it.

I also stared up at what the bottom of the fender needs to do. Now it's bolted to an inner panel of the tub, but that's in the way of the 4x4. So one option is to slice it off at the top of the 4x4 and weld it there. But I'm not a good enough welder for that to end up looking very good, and I don't know that I want the fender welded to the body. So I'm not stoked about that.

Plan B has promise though. If I bend the bottom of the fender in at the top of the 4x4 I can drill and tap the top of the 4x4 (probably after adding some wall there to get more threads) and then I can bolt the fender to the top of the tube. The only challenge with that will be making a good straight crease where there's come contouring along the curve of the fender (at the very front in the photo below, in-line with the bottom of the door). But that's probably what I'll be trying to do.


And the last thing is that I want the rocker to stick out far enough to protect the door a bit. I thought about getting a 6" wide x 4" tall tube, but I thought that might not look so good. So what I think I'm going to do is put a 1" OD tube on it. Below I've sort of mocked it up with the wood 4x4 and a 3/4" ID copper pipe. The real version will be longer, going beyond the front and back of the door. I'll also add a few supports in the middle. And it won't be made of wood and copper! Anyway, I found a local shop that can bend the 1" OD x 3/16" wall tubing. They're working on getting me a quote, so again, progressing towards progress!




Edited by Nothing Special - 20 June 2020 at 10:50pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ol' Unreliable Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 June 2020 at 2:24am
There was an article in one of the 4X4 magazines many years ago where someone did to a Bronco just what you're doing.  I seem to recall that they just cut everything off right at the bottom of the doors and used the 4X4 tubing to go from wheelwell to wheelwell.  It has been a long time since that article but that's what I remember. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 June 2020 at 3:20am
Might that be the February 1998 issue of 4 Wheel Drive & Sport Utility?  That magazine is sitting on my dining room table right now!  And I didn't even have a Bronco until 5 1/2 years after I got that issue
Bob

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'71 Ford Bronco
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Ol' Unreliable View Drop Down
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Joined: 25 Sep. 2016
Location: CO Springs CO
Status: Offline
Points: 4226
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ol' Unreliable Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 June 2020 at 11:09pm
Well, let me go look....  Smile

Yes, that is exactly the article I remembered!  I would never have been able to find it without your knowing which issue of which magazine it was.  I just remembered that "someone" wrote an article about the modification at "some time in the past"...  Big smile



Edited by Ol' Unreliable - 21 June 2020 at 11:18pm
There's a reason it's called Ol' Unreliable
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