ntsqd's '71 Wagon

[ntsqd]

This is the one that I bought: https://www.hottexhaust.com/magnaflow-23661-ford-bronco-5-8l-front-rear-catalytic-converter-direct-fit-standard-grade-epa/

[ntsqd]

I think that I may have found the eventual color, and it's been right under my nose the whole time. Ford's late 60's to early 70's Boxwood Green.
A sample:


From:
'70 F-250 Highboy

[Yeller]

That’s going to be nice!

[ntsqd]

In searching for a color code I found this page: https://tamcopaint.com/products/ford-bo ... m-basecoat Click on the pic of the F-250 there, I think that's Wimbledon White, which is the color that I've been thinking all along for the greenhouse.

[ntsqd]

Took it for a drive, oh boy! Those brakes are...... unimpressive. Since I'm staying with 15" wheels, going to larger rotor isn't likely possible. While a 15" wheel can usually fit a true 12" rotor, those don't seem to be made to fit D44 front axles. 11.5" seems to be as large as it gets. At least, without going to trick racing parts. I'm of the opinion that on vehicles like how we'll be using this one that wear parts should not be custom parts. Time for a H-B conversion with a bigger bore m/c.

I got it up and driveable because it should be heading out next week (I hope!! My R&P set-up guy has been working with a race team in Baja for the last month or so) to get it's 4.27's and dual TruTracs.

[dodgerammit]

Took it for a drive, oh boy! Those brakes are...... unimpressive. Since I'm staying with 15" wheels, going to larger rotor isn't likely possible. While a 15" wheel can usually fit a true 12" rotor, those don't seem to be made to fit D44 front axles. 11.5" seems to be as large as it gets. At least, without going to trick racing parts. I'm of the opinion that on vehicles like how we'll be using this one that wear parts should not be custom parts. Time for a H-B conversion with a bigger bore m/c.

I got it up and driveable because it should be heading out next week (I hope!! My R&P set-up guy has been working with a race team in Baja for the last month or so) to get it's 4.27's and dual TruTracs.

Yeah, I'm going to hydroboost on mine. Already have the new stainless lines and fresh prop valve sitting here. Some modern braking availability will be good.

You'll love those Truetracs. If money was no object on mine, it would get 3.73s, a 700r4 rear discs, and Truetracs.
If I get a hankering and some extra change, I may still do Truetracs with the 2.72s. Just hate that the AMC 20 differential is so much more than the D44.

[ntsqd]

Unknowingly Snowball had dual TruTracs before the 8.8 failed the second time. I bought it with one in the front (all the PO said was 'some kind of posi up front' and put one in the rear on the first rebuild. Loved it, Not a rock crawler, but went everywhere I needed to go and without drama. The dual ARB's that I put in the 4rnnr just seemed to confuse my occasional co-driver when she drove it, so not going to do that this time.

[ntsqd]

Wagon is getting it's gears & TruTracs installed as I type this. The rear pinion yoke is worn in the seal groove. He said it will work for now, but it should be changed. Since I plan on a whole new rear drive-shaft after the power-train swap we'll address it then. He suggested 1310, my internal discussion is "1310 vs. 1330 vs. 1350". Looks like I can get a yoke for a D44 in each flavor, but I'm not finding a 1330 yoke for the NP241. The 241 already has this SYE kit in it: https://www.jbconversions.com/products/ ... td_sye.php Looks like JB skips over the 1330 as well, I guess the debate is 1310 vs. 1350.

[dodgerammit]

I like having all the same yoke of all the same size, then just carry 1 spare. In my case, the 1310s suffice. How much are you gonna thrash on it?

[ntsqd]

Intent is that it will be the Family Truckster with an RTT and a camp kitchen in the rear. If I have my way then at some point in the future we will be trying out camping with a vintage Airstream trailer. From my youth I know those aren't light.

[Yeller]

The 241 is 32 spline so any yoke for an atlas or 205 will work, may use a different seal but will work. I swap them around all the time. An option would be a 1300 series flange for an atlas, then a junk yard ford flange can be used and get any unjoint you want from 1310-1350. Even if it morphs and needs a CV it bolts in with no mods to the tcase.

For those reasons I’ve committed that any tcase I buy new will have that flange on both outputs.

[ntsqd]

JB's 1350 companion flange: https://www.jbconversions.com/products/ ... s/1966.php $110 Much more reasonable than the other options that I've found thus far. Still needs the other side, so that isn't the whole cost at that end of the drive-shaft.

This is the only D44 1350 companion flange that I've found so far: https://northwestfab.com/products/1300- ... ge-2-pilot

Then roughly $640 for this drive-shaft: https://4xshaft.com/products/1350-cv-dr ... 3896782142

[Yeller]

I think Jon makes those for everyone LOL

drive shaft stuff has gotten soooo expensive over the last few years. I've gone to going to the local pull apart and buying front super duty drive shafts for $60 and carrying those to my local drive shaft shop and having them reworked, cuts the cost about in half. At the axle end I'd do a normal yoke, I like flanges so you can use an impact to drive the bolts, but the axle end is usually easy to get to so futzing with the u bolts isn't such a PITA as it can be at the tcase. That and I'm cheap about some things

here's a very reasonably priced yoke.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdh-3-4-5761-1x

however, if you go the doner SD shaft route you have the flange on the driveshaft, takes the bite out of the cost of the flange for the 44.

[ntsqd]

I'm slowly acquiring the parts for the 3 link up front. The Metalcloak joints and LCLs are here. Same for the threaded bungs & DOM to make the trac-bar and the UCL. Just ordered migs' lower spring cups. They're more than the Duff parts, but I liked their set of features better. I know that I could make these, but it isn't worth the time that it would take to do so. At least not while I'm still employed.

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/threa ... on.267743/

[Yeller]

Anxiously waiting


I really like the Migs cups as well. He wasn’t producing them when I bought mine. Didn’t help I was sitting in Suzie’s office and she had a pair sitting on her desk

[ntsqd]

BTW, the diff covers are finished and will be installed when he finishes up the gear install. Of course I took no pictures of any of that process. Each has a fill port, a drain port, and in inspection/level checking port. They are all O-Ring Boss ("ORB") bungs and plugs. The fill & drains are -8 and the inspection/level is -16. The ORB std. is common with the AN/JIC fittings in all sizes and threads. An AN/JIC fitting, with the right o-ring fitted, will screw into an ORB port and seal. The steel bungs came from Pegasus Racing and the steel plugs came from McMaster. The -16 plugs are pretty heavy. I may replace them with some AL plugs at some point. But then the covers themselves are far from light, so maybe it doesn't matter.....

The only hole that I could machine in the mill was the 1-5/16" hole for the -16 bung. The holes for the -8 bungs I hole-sawed by hand. I wiped out two saws and three pilot drills in 4 holes, but they were at such a weird angle that short of welding up a bunch of tooling I could not see a way to clamp them into the mill for those holes. Full fillet bead of steel filler around the outside of each bung with a bead of Silicon-Bronze around the inside. Painted the outsides with Eastwood Chassis Black and the inside with glyptal.

I'm not a fan of the 12 point headed bolts that Ruff-Stuff supplies with their covers. I get why they use them, but I'm wanting a bolt with a bit larger hex on it as they are tiny. A normal 5/16" HHCS likely isn't going to fit (well, it will but no socket for it will), so a reduced head HHCS is needed. That puts me into ARP territory as I've not found any other source for them.

[Yeller]

Those -16 ORB plugs are heavy. I have on on my coolant purge tank on the broncno, some how wound up with a steel cylinder that holds a gallon, but it stopped steaming in the heads and evacing the coolant from the radiator at 230 degrees. I have some ideas on the bolts, I’ll send you what i find if anything.

[ntsqd]

Wagon's back, with the new gears & TruTracs installed. I have the tools to do that work, even have the housing spreader that my grandfather made when he rebuilt the FF Dana 60 that he put under his bump-side F-100. I don't have much experience doing the work and I needed to get this turned around, so I sent it out to a friend who does that type of work regularly. I gave him the new covers to install as well. I'm not a fan of the bolts that RuffStuff supplied with the covers. We used them for now, but Yeller put me onto using header bolts instead and I've been looking into that. I've found a set that come plated and that are the same length (1.0") as those supplied with the covers.





The speedo was a bit off before, now it is radically off. Indicated 80 mph is somewhere about 60 mph. Even with the 33's on it 80 (60) needs just about 3k rpm's.

[Yeller]

Have you dug into the DD dash to see if it is calibratable? I'm assuming it is driven from a pulse generator on the speedometer drive. I used an inline gearbox on my old GMC to correct the speedo in it, both step down and step up boxes are available. For what they are, they are expensive now but simple and work, they offer 90 degree ones too if fitment is tight. This is listed as dodge/gm but it is the same thread and drive as the D20 in your wagon. Of course, if the dash is calibratable that might be free.
https://transmissioncenter.net/shop/dod ... down-rate/

[ntsqd]

I'm at a decision point. Do I tear out the TBI 350 & put it in the '73; or do I press forward with the linkage & coils conversion? If I do the former the calibration can wait until the 5.3/4L65E are installed. Even then I really want to get away from this 80's all digital display and go with the "analog" gauge display that DD offers now.

To get the Vintage Air system working to do anything but full blast heat (where it's stuck now) I need to tear into all of that. VA wants the code off of a sticker that is not visible to be able to send me the correct control panel. There's a part of me that suspects that sticker is long gone and that I might be on the hook for a full replacement system. It also has a super annoying set of squeaks and rattles under the dash that I need to find and fix. I suspect that I'm going to need to remove everything under there and start over. Maybe I can even get back the glove box that the VA install deleted!