The new Bronco:
After blowing out my left knee for the second time, driving a clutch on a daily
basis has become too much. Thus, in September of 2007, I sold the F-250 and
bought another Bronco. For me, a Bronco is just right for bad knees; the seat is
rump-height, and the big door lets me slide in without having to pull my knees up
like the Thunderbird does.
Statistics:
Knowing I needed a replacement for the pickup, I started searching the ads and used
vehicle lots for a full-sized Bronco. If you've read through the pages on this site,
you've probably noticed that I have a preference for fuel injection over carburetion;
there's nothing wrong with carburetors, I personally can fix and tune EFI better than
I can carburetors.
I found this 1986 Bronco at a used car dealership. It was sitting in the very back,
and the owner of the lot was trying to figure out how to get rid of it and not lose
money, like he would have if he sold it to a junkyard. The truck started and stayed
running (roughly) after a couple of tries, and didn't smell musty. It seems that the
previous owner had done some work on it, and that it overheated and wouldn't idle
right, and had trouble staying running when cold. I was able to drive it the few miles
home, lifted the hood, took a quick inventory, and then ran to the parts store.
At the dealership, I had noticed that one of the spark plug wires had black electrical
tape on the boot. I found out later that another wire was not snapped onto the plug,
and found one that was missing the snap end entirely. New plugs, wires, cap and rotor,
and a relearn later, it started easily. The overheating was fixed by three things. First,
all EFI systems use the coolant temperature sensor as the main fuel injection control.
On this truck, when I went to unplug the wire from the sensor so I could do an
electrical test on it, the sensor came apart. Second, the upper radiator hose had been
installed a bit twisted, making it rub on the alternator pulley, and had worn a small
hole in it, making it unable to hold pressure. Third, the previous owner had installed
a reverse-rotation waterpump (for a serpentine belt engine, which this is not).
I replaced those parts, along with new belts, a new radiator cap, and a new oxygen
sensor (just for good measure), and the beast now starts easy and runs great.
Basically, my design thoughts here are to update the look. Got any ideas? Send
'em to me.
The Story:
The 1986 Bronco, next to its "stable mate" Thunderbird.
I've got plans for this truck. Due to the ridiculous price of fuel, the 302
engine is just fine; any engine mods I make will be for mileage purposes. I'm not
sure how long the tacky running boards and bumper teeth will last. It'll get bigger
tires, probably lose the funky bug shield, and after finishing the body work (most
of which is rust repair on the tailgate), it'll see some new paint. At this point,
I'm thinking of a gunmetal grey color, but white with zebra stripes (per the plans
for the first Bronco) is a possibility.
(To go back a page, click here.)