Project Little Foot

[IDIBOBS]

Can't believe it was October 23 when I worked on it last. Looks like I didn't do squat in 2024. I did get air in the shop and some other improvements, so that's good but still pretty sad. Made some progress today. Fired it up again. Lots of water poured out the exhaust at first 1 or 2 liters, but then tricked down to a drip. I'm thinking I may have had water in the muffler somehow. Seems to run good, although took a bit to get fuel to the injectors. My thinking is that if coolant was getting in the cylenders, it would have hyrdo locked - there was a lot of water pouring out. Don't see any oil in the coolant, but it hasn't got hot enough yet to open the thermostat.


The main success today was that I filled trans and T case with oil and tried the clutch to test the ZF-5 swap. No problem going into gear and rolls forward and backward. WOO-HOO! I was a little concerned I was gonna have some type of "won't go into gear" type problem. Super stoked on that. That's a win that will help with motivation moving forward. Plus, once I hook up steering wheel, I'll be abIe able to move it. So I think that's 6 years to do a 1 year project. Good thing I've got the brown truck. I'm thinking once it moves and steers, some tires will help with motivation too. I've got 33s on the brown truck and they are great no rubbing - but may try 35s.

Next up.
Steering.
Adjust brakes (parking brake not working).

Gonna have to gear it with 35s. Your gonna loose a load of tq

 

[onetonjohn]

Axles are 4:10. Good enough? Otherwise I'll stick with the 33's.

 

[KansasIDI]

Axles are 4:10. Good enough? Otherwise I'll stick with the 33's.

Probably good enough. 3.55s and 35s is too tall IMO, even without an overdrive. 33s are still a bit steep with 3.55s

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Axles are 4:10. Good enough? Otherwise I'll stick with the 33's.

Unless you tow a lot of weight or up steep hills that's fine.

 

[onetonjohn]

Pulled the trigger on banks turbo today. Should be here in a couple weeks. Need some tires next and start test driving it without turbo for a while to work out kinks and get a feel for how it drives.

 

[onetonjohn]

Starting to get the little stuff. Got the fuel tanks plumbed and bed bolted back down with superduty bolts. Will be helpful if I ever need to take the bed off again. Starting to fuss with all the little stuff. Moved things around so I have the brown tuck right next to it for reference. Only down side is that I"m finding a lot of minor issues with the brown truck that need to be addressed.

 

[onetonjohn]

I started looking at the tailgate. I have one from 87-70 era truck, but looking at it, the diameter of the hinges are different. Went out and got the newer HW on the bed side (hinges, bumper stop, cable and latch bolts). I was thinking it was going to be bolt up, but looking at it more carefully, looks like they are drilled differently, and the 86 is shaped differently around where the latch bolt will be installed. The good news is that the brown truck in the photo above is actually a newer style bed while the white one is old style. So I've got a reference. I'll take some pictures that show the issue and the conversion - in case anyone is in same boat. If there is a good write up on this, I'd be interested, but haven't found it yet. There was one that was pretty good, but no pictures.

 

[onetonjohn]

Today I got the factory floor goo up (mostly) with air hammer and a scraper thanks to some folks on the forum that gave me the idea. Pretty much got it all, but there is still some goo. Thinking of using acetone or go be gone to get that last bit if it's important otherwise I may just put the dynamat right over it. I've got a week off next week, and plan to spend a couple days on the truck. Gonna tighten up some piddly stuff. Time the injection pump. Put in the dynamay. Try to get the tail lights in. That reminds me I've got to get some small clips that will take screws. Also thinking of changing back window - it leaks. Never done that before. I have extra glass. Not sure where to get the seal. Guess I should check, any tricks to get it in? I'm assuming a friend and I can do it. I remember folks talking about putting small rope in the seal, and pulling it out to pull seal lip around the frame, but maybe I don't need all that, and can just get it in with picks, spoons and screwdrivers. Don't know.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I've got to get some small clips that will take screws.

Not sure where to get the seal.

Look at LMC Truck or Bronco Graveyard for both of these.

Guess I should check, any tricks to get it in? I'm assuming a friend and I can do it. I remember folks talking about putting small rope in the seal, and pulling it out to pull seal lip around the frame, but maybe I don't need all that, and can just get it in with picks, spoons and screwdrivers.

The rope trick works, but isn't really needed. New seals are very flexible. I just use my fingers instead of tools. I'm afraid that I'll accidentally break the glass with tools. A friend does help quite a bit. You might keep some soapy water handy for extra seal lubrication. This time of year, it will probably dry rather quickly. Clean up the messy glass after the install.

 

[ihc1470]

The airasol window cleaner makes a good lub. That what a glass shop told me to use.

 

[onetonjohn]

Vacation starts today. We'll see how far I get. So far, I've found a new problem with the glow plug controller that I get to figure out before I can time it. Going backwards?

 

[onetonjohn]

Got the taillights in, dynamat in, new carpet ordered from ACC (I hope it's good quality), glow plug problem resolved. Found a rust hole in the rear window when I pulled out the old one (seals/window broken and probably leaking). Repaired the hole and ready to put the new window in (have glass and seal) but need to wait till I can get a buddy over. Overall not bad progress. Took out the motor bike for a couple rides - so that makes it feel more like vacation. Oh and I got a hole cut for the transfer case shifter that's different with ZF-5/ BW4407 swap. All and all decent progress for me. Hope to wrap up a couple more lose ends this weekend we'll see how it goes.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Sounds good. What was the glow plug issue?

 

[onetonjohn]

Here's a pic of the cab.

 

[DirtyWood]

Boy new glass in a vehicle is a really underrated investment. I had a POS little Toyota that was held together by rust and paint but it had a brand new windshield that helped me forget I was literally driving a rust-bucket.