So after a recent streak of events it has become possible for me to complete my diesel swap into my bronco that i have been wanting to do ever since I got her my JR year in highschool 5 years ago. I am a college student at USF am almost always broke so I would have never thought I would be able to do this swap so soon.
Heres how it started: About 4 months ago I swapped a 351w outa a 76 merc couger, the POS AOD with a NP435 outa a 96 f-250, and a NP205 outa a 77 f-100. I picked up the engine w/ longtube hedders, and trans for 300 bucks and the t-case for 75. I couldnt Kill that 302 though, i beat the piss out of it and went through 2 AODs but she just wouldnt die. I ended up selling it for 150 which helped finance the swap.
So i did the swap and everything was going good, except I kept busting driveshafts, I busted an ear off the output yoke on the t-case twice, the flange on the rear 3 times, and twisted the shaft in half twice. Mostly from side steppin the clutch, power shifting, and double clutching
This final time the damn 8.8 spun the pumpkin on the axle tubes and left the pinion pointing up into the damn floor board. This promped me to begin looking for a new rear end, and being the "if im gonna do all the damn work anyway, I might as well go whole hog and do what I want even if it costs a little more" kinda guy I am, I began searching for a Dana 70 dually axle do do the swap. (I been wanting to do that forever too.) Well I lucked out and found a 1991 Georgie Boy 30ft RV for sale on Craigslist for 500 bucks!!! It had a 23k original mile 460, c-6, and dana 70HD (4.10), not to mention the onboard generator, roof mount A/C, 3-way fridge, and all the other shit I pulled off it to sell and make my money back on the deal. So I hopped on my bike and road out there that night to look at it and arranged with the guy to come out the following weekend to strip it. He even brought out his rollback tow truck to jack the ass end up and his cutting torches to help expedite the process. We ended up cutting the whole thing in half behind the trans, and flipped over the back half to cut the axle out. The front was removed all together, the body was cut off and the engine and trans rolled out still bolted to the framerails rolling on the front susp. like an old f-body camaro. That made it a hell of alot easier to transport and manuver around.
So I got all this stuff back to my buddies place and began planning and preparing to do the 460 swap. I completed the axle swap in a few hours, all i had to do was relocate the spring purches on the rear inboard 2.25 inches each and the 70hd bolted right up to the stock shackles. I even used the springs off the RV (huge ass 9 leaf pack). Im 6' 315 and I can jump up and down on the rear bumper and she moves maybe 1/2 an inch, before i could almost get it to bottom out with the old bronco leafs. I had planned on useing the np435 and 205 combo i already had with the 460, I even had a BB bellhousing already, all I needed was a flywheel and clutch set and i would have been ready to do the swap.
Well while surfing on craigslist for the clutch stuff for the 460, I happend on a 1989 4x4 F-250 for sale about 75 miles away for 650 bucks!! It had a 7.3idi, zf5, and I believe its a 10.25 rear ( not sure, dont really care.) So I called on it, the guy said another guy gave it to him to pay off some money he owed and he didnt know much about the truck, but the other guy couldnt get it to run. so i drove out that night and looked it over, It had a brand new injector pump, fuel pump, and starter!! I played it down and we threw a battery in it and cranked it for a few seconds just so i could be sure it didnt have any internal issues. I talked him down to 550, gave him a deposit and picked it up a few days later. It cost me 187 bucks to have it towed back to my buddies place cause i couldnt find nobody with a trailer to borrow and uhaul didnt have one big enough. But $750 all in was still a Steal.
I got it running a few days later, all i had to do was fixed a freyd connection on the starter that was arking, and prime the fuel system, and she fired right up, purred like a kitten, and ran like a raped ape!
At this point I have the 250 completely stripped and ready for the engine to be removed. I have the entire wiring harness removed and labled to use in the bronco. The only thing holding me up from beginning the heavy stuff is that I cant find a cherry picker to borrow or a cheap one to buy. Once I get ahold of one, I can begin tearing down the bronco and the fun can begin.
Here are some pics of the 351w Swap:
This was the only mistake i made the whole swap, I tried to convert the 76 351w to the serpentine setup from the 302 only to find that the older 351's water pump had an opposite rotation of the 88's 302. and the timing cover is different so you cant just swap pumps. So i scrapped that idea and just went with the v-belt setup.
Heres how it started: About 4 months ago I swapped a 351w outa a 76 merc couger, the POS AOD with a NP435 outa a 96 f-250, and a NP205 outa a 77 f-100. I picked up the engine w/ longtube hedders, and trans for 300 bucks and the t-case for 75. I couldnt Kill that 302 though, i beat the piss out of it and went through 2 AODs but she just wouldnt die. I ended up selling it for 150 which helped finance the swap.
So i did the swap and everything was going good, except I kept busting driveshafts, I busted an ear off the output yoke on the t-case twice, the flange on the rear 3 times, and twisted the shaft in half twice. Mostly from side steppin the clutch, power shifting, and double clutching
This final time the damn 8.8 spun the pumpkin on the axle tubes and left the pinion pointing up into the damn floor board. This promped me to begin looking for a new rear end, and being the "if im gonna do all the damn work anyway, I might as well go whole hog and do what I want even if it costs a little more" kinda guy I am, I began searching for a Dana 70 dually axle do do the swap. (I been wanting to do that forever too.) Well I lucked out and found a 1991 Georgie Boy 30ft RV for sale on Craigslist for 500 bucks!!! It had a 23k original mile 460, c-6, and dana 70HD (4.10), not to mention the onboard generator, roof mount A/C, 3-way fridge, and all the other shit I pulled off it to sell and make my money back on the deal. So I hopped on my bike and road out there that night to look at it and arranged with the guy to come out the following weekend to strip it. He even brought out his rollback tow truck to jack the ass end up and his cutting torches to help expedite the process. We ended up cutting the whole thing in half behind the trans, and flipped over the back half to cut the axle out. The front was removed all together, the body was cut off and the engine and trans rolled out still bolted to the framerails rolling on the front susp. like an old f-body camaro. That made it a hell of alot easier to transport and manuver around.
So I got all this stuff back to my buddies place and began planning and preparing to do the 460 swap. I completed the axle swap in a few hours, all i had to do was relocate the spring purches on the rear inboard 2.25 inches each and the 70hd bolted right up to the stock shackles. I even used the springs off the RV (huge ass 9 leaf pack). Im 6' 315 and I can jump up and down on the rear bumper and she moves maybe 1/2 an inch, before i could almost get it to bottom out with the old bronco leafs. I had planned on useing the np435 and 205 combo i already had with the 460, I even had a BB bellhousing already, all I needed was a flywheel and clutch set and i would have been ready to do the swap.
Well while surfing on craigslist for the clutch stuff for the 460, I happend on a 1989 4x4 F-250 for sale about 75 miles away for 650 bucks!! It had a 7.3idi, zf5, and I believe its a 10.25 rear ( not sure, dont really care.) So I called on it, the guy said another guy gave it to him to pay off some money he owed and he didnt know much about the truck, but the other guy couldnt get it to run. so i drove out that night and looked it over, It had a brand new injector pump, fuel pump, and starter!! I played it down and we threw a battery in it and cranked it for a few seconds just so i could be sure it didnt have any internal issues. I talked him down to 550, gave him a deposit and picked it up a few days later. It cost me 187 bucks to have it towed back to my buddies place cause i couldnt find nobody with a trailer to borrow and uhaul didnt have one big enough. But $750 all in was still a Steal.
I got it running a few days later, all i had to do was fixed a freyd connection on the starter that was arking, and prime the fuel system, and she fired right up, purred like a kitten, and ran like a raped ape!
At this point I have the 250 completely stripped and ready for the engine to be removed. I have the entire wiring harness removed and labled to use in the bronco. The only thing holding me up from beginning the heavy stuff is that I cant find a cherry picker to borrow or a cheap one to buy. Once I get ahold of one, I can begin tearing down the bronco and the fun can begin.
Here are some pics of the 351w Swap:
This was the only mistake i made the whole swap, I tried to convert the 76 351w to the serpentine setup from the 302 only to find that the older 351's water pump had an opposite rotation of the 88's 302. and the timing cover is different so you cant just swap pumps. So i scrapped that idea and just went with the v-belt setup.