Zach's 94 Build

[Drilim]

I bought my bronco as my first vehicle in April of 02' when I turned 16. Its definitely been an ongoing project with alot of changes in direction along the way. It definitely wasn't in the best shape when i got it, So I spent the first year or so just driving it and doing regular maintenance. I don't remember where all the original pictures are online, But ill have to search around for them. After about 18 months, I bought a Dick Cepek Stage 2 kit with extended radius arms and rancho shocks. After installing, I stepped up to 33" BFGs and after a while bought Brian's old rock-crawler style bumper.

I live in the abortion built truck capital of the world, Florida. The more I researched and saw online about "Pre-runners" and the broncospeed, I definitely got the bug and decided I wanted to build a fully functional truck that i could play on the beach and on the sand, And still be comfortable on the highway.

It had a few rough spots but no rust, So i started on the body work - one panel at a time. Here she sits as of today. Its rough and in primer, But really needs one more good blocking, primer and paint.


About 2 1/2 years ago I put in a set of black mustang seats as a temporary replacement to my trashed EB seats. Also a tuffy console with a stereo compartment.


Having no use for the stereo compartment, I used it as the perfect spot for a switch panel. Space for 7 switches. 2 for the electric fan setup. 1 for ABS cut off. Was going to do a switch for the manual control of the torque converter, But never got around to it. Eventually, It will have 2 switches for lights - 2 driving hella's and 1 pencil in the middle. Also used the space in the dash next to the electric TC controls for led indicators of the switches.



Got in on the group buy with the Cross rear bumper with a spare tire carrier. Its a nice unit, and very well built.


Sometime last year i acquired a rear upper shock cross-member and bought 2 short body 12" Bilstein 7100s.




Earlier this summer, I bough another bumper from yikes that I absolutely love. For shipping reasons, It came in 2 pieces and I welded the upper light bar on once it arrived. It has kartek tabs for 3 hella lights.

[Drilim]

My truck is a factory MAF 302. Its got about 270K miles on it, and its definitely tired. A buddy of mine gave me a 302 out of an 89 bronco that he wrecked and sent to the JY. After shopping around machine shops, I pretty much got a quote of about 2K for a stock spec'd rebuild with a cam and to go through a set of steel gt40 heads.

I have a bunch of buddies that are big drag race guys. I got an email from one of them of a for sale ad from a guy on the west coast of FL who had a mustang with a gt40 crate motor with 6k miles. He was putting in a 408 stroker blah blah. Anyway, I talked to the guy selling the motor, and made a deal for $1,200. Drove over that saturday and picked it up.

As it sits right now with the edelbrock lower on it:



Notice the gt40 aluminum heads...


Specs on the motor can be found here:
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/item/M6007XEFMS

The plans for the front suspension were a set of autofab buckets with a coil adjuster and a single SAW 2.5" aft of the coil. I believe the SAW's belonged to Nick once upon a time. Recently though I've been contemplating going with dual bilstein's in the front and ditching the SAW's.


Also in the garage with the stockpile is a stripped and polished set of 5 stock Alcoa rims.


And among other things, I have a mint EB dash to replace my faded and cracked junk whenever i get some free time.


Its definitely not as cool or hi-tech as some of the other builds, but its mine. I love screwing with it and I hope to have a respectable dual purpose machine when its all said and done.

[Nick]

Looking good Zach. As for the shocks, 2 big resi shocks will out perform 4 small non resi shocks. Think it through before you ditch the saws.

[Silverslk]

NIce build dude. You should be proud.

[yikes]

Right on Zach! Finally posted pictures of that thing. Ha!!! Glad things are moving along for you. Bumper looks good, if I do say so myself.

[Drilim]

After the tip from Andy, I picked up a set of late model gmc rear foam bumps and mounts to use in the front last week. Today I also scored a set of "figure 8" nissan hardbody rear bumps today. All for $14.

[tcm glx]

Nice build Zack, I am with Nick on keeping the SAW!

[damon1272]

Nice build. I imagine that GT40 engine comes with an E303 cam and 1.72 rockers. should be a good runner. On the plus side you will lose 50 lbs over the front axle with the gt 40 aluminum heads.

[Drilim]

It does have an E303 cam, but the rockers are 1.6. I'm actually contemplating pulling the E303 and putting in a stock 5.0HO mustang cam, otherwise I'll just run it as it sits right now.

[bajascott]

nice build,looks great!!

[Drilim]

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Its definitely been a labor of love. I've spent the last 2 hours writing down part #'s and trying to get an idea how many parts - and how much $$$ - I need to get the motor in.

I'm leaning towards the Bassani stainless/ceramic coated headers and y-pipe.

I've read that others on here prefer the JBA headers.What other good options are there?

[tcm glx]

Jba makes top notch stuff, no doubt there. I run the bassanis cause I got a smokin deal on them. 200 new shipped! I do recomend that if you do Basani, do not use there gaskets, they have a history of going bad, mine did within 1500 miles. Other than that, I really like the basani, good mid range power, and not really loud.

[damon1272]

It does have an E303 cam, but the rockers are 1.6. I'm actually contemplating pulling the E303 and putting in a stock 5.0HO mustang cam, otherwise I'll just run it as it sits right now.

The E 303 is a great cam if you are running mass air. It will work well with those heads. I would recommend advancing the cam timing 2 degrees so that it will move your power band down in the rpm range. This will help that 5.0 move that heavy truck. I done this a few times on heavy cars and it makes a real difference.

[Drilim]

How would I go about doing that Damon? Ive seen that mentioned before. I am running mass air and would like to stick with stock injectors for reliability.

I've read a lot online about the stock 5.0HO cams being the most bang for the buck on our trucks, But obviously the less things to pull apart the better. I don't know enough about motor building and tearing apart but I am mildly intimidated by pulling the lifters and rods to swap a cam

The crate motor had 8K miles on it since bought new through Ford when I bought it.

[damon1272]

If you can change your water pump then you can change your timing chain set. Pretty easy and striaght forward. Chain set is not expensive nor are the gaskets. One could degree the cam but I don't think going to that far is worth it. 2 degrees just moves the power band down some and will let you use that power better. The stock 19 lbs injectors are fine for that motor as they will support the horse power. Also if you run good fuel you can dial in alot more than the 10 degree intial timing because of the aluminum head. This takes some playing with but that GT 40 motor should do very well for you. If legal to run a long tube header in your state then that will help alot on the torque output of the engine. The shorty headers work good but don't come close to the performance of a long tube. Changing the gears is no big deal. Hell leave it alone and drive it and see if you want to change it. That E303 will give you much more performance than the stock cam in my opinion. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G6620/

[Drilim]

I did a little research today, and to correctly advance the timing I'd have to pull the heads.

What are your thoughts on a stock 5.0HO cam? The E303 has a higher RPM range @ 3000 plus. The stock 5.0 cam has an 1800-4000 RPM range, and can be found for $40-50 bucks. I've talked to a few guys who have put similar motors in old body lightnings, and had great success with the 5.0 cam. I think with a stock 19lb injector and playing with the IGN timing, it'll make real nice reliable power.

I'd like to keep with shorty headers, but want to do the matching y-pipe. I've heard that makes a noticeable difference in the torque department.

This is my first motor build/swap and I'm trying to make sure all my bases are covered let alone on a reasonable budget.

[damon1272]

It will run good with shorties just a suggestion on the long tubes.
As for the power range that is why I suggested advancing the cam timing 2 degrees. This will move the power band down in the RPM range.
A used 5.0 cam may be cheap but there is added expense. As for changing the cam you would need to change the lifters also. I have built many a 5.0 with the same set up you currently have and it can produce alot of power. By advancing the E303 you would start your power band around 2000 rpm. Not much of a differnece for about 10-15 horse power over the stock cam.
As for the 5.0 cam in the lightnings, The lightning cam ran out of steam at 5500 rpm but it would not shift till close to 6000. The engine would fall on it's face.
The big thing between the mass air and speed density cams is that speed density is limited to about 114 degree lobe separtion for decent idle. Mass air allows you to run a much better profile cam.

[Drilim]

Sorry to keep asking the same questions, Damon. I googled cam advancing and all the write ups said to do it correctly, the heads would have to be pulled.

What is the difference in lifters? I thought a SBF roller lifter was a roller lifter? And both cams are roller cams.

I'm intrigued. It'd be awesome to pull the timing cover, advance it a few degrees and start assembling it.

[damon1272]

Sorry to keep asking the same questions, Damon. I googled cam advancing and all the write ups said to do it correctly, the heads would have to be pulled.

No problems. Yes, degreeing the cam can be done with the heads off. They can also be done through the #1 spark plug hole. All articles say to degree the cam when installing it whether it be striaght up, retarded, or advanced. There is potentially a few extra horse power to be gained through this on a race motor. They also act as if the world will come to an end if the cam is not installed in this way.
That said, I can garuantee you that when Ford assembled that motor the cam was installed striaght up. It was not degreed nor were your heads cc'd or your engine balanced and blue printed. If you advance the cam and you get 1 3/4 degrees or 2 1/4 degrees it is close and won't make that big of a difference overall or what you could feel by the seat of your pants. Hell, Ford factory manuals do no have you degree a cam. They state that you are to install the cam to the refernece marks.

What is the difference in lifters? I thought a SBF roller lifter was a roller lifter? And both cams are roller cams.

It is not a diffrence in lifters. You do not want to install used parts with other used parts as they are under high pressure loads. These parts wear into each other. You would not install a new crank and run the old main and rod bearings, same with a cam and lifters. Normally when you change a cam you change the lifters also. Otherwise this can lead to engine failure or a flatened cam lobe. This happens more with flat tappet cams as opposed to roller cams.

I'm intrigued. It'd be awesome to pull the timing cover, advance it a few degrees and start assembling it.

You would be fine in just pulling the cover and installing a new set and advancing the gears.
I also sent you a PM if you have any questions on the engine.

[Drilim]

Since new years, Ive had a few deliveries since Summit. Valve covers, gaskets, ARP Intake hardware, timing chain and other misc crap. Also bought a set of used Ceramic Coated Bassani headers for a 5.0 for $175 off RDC.

Does anybody have any experience or use locking header hardware? Id like to invest in a set and not have to worry about torquing them every couple thousand miles.