Jim & Paige's Bronco

dtbback · Post by **dtbback** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:55 am

1Hondalover wrote:Correct. This is 5 row dual pass. Lots of capability to have cool stuff with a custom radiator.....motor oil heat exchanger on the left side, 3/8" bung for drain valve, intake water connection, grounding hub and mandrel 45 top hose connection for more direct route. Not taking any chances Jim & Paige's Bronco will ever heat again, at idle for 30 minutes with the A/C on or buried in the silt pedal to the wood.

Speaking of not taking chances, our Fluidyne trans cooler showed up today. No way we're going to risk the new E4OD. Lots of work to be done before KOH.....

Fluidyne E4OD cooler dual core dual pass.jpg

Fluidyne E4OD cooler dual 6.5 Spal fans.jpg

How much did that beautiful piece of cooling set you back?

1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:37 am

tcm glx wrote:Solo seems to be way way backed up. Good luck getting in! Cant wait to see the Bronco at KOH!

Dropping off at Solo tomorrow Tony. Bassani/RPM exhaust will unfortunately have to wait until after KOH though. We won't have the headers back in time and I don't want to spread things too thin. We have a small pile of dough invested in the new trans and cooling, so I'll make sure those things are well seated in time to romp KOH. Engine & exhaust upgrades do before peninsula run in the Spring.

1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:43 am

dtbback wrote:How much did that beautiful piece of cooling set you back?

$500 for the trans cooler plus $115 for the two fans. I sent all of the Spal fans to Fluidyne for both coolers.

dtbback · Post by **dtbback** » Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:57 pm

Holy moly!

1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:31 pm

Headers are back from Swain in New York.....too bad they're not going to make KOH.

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dtbback · Post by **dtbback** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:59 pm

VERY NICE!! I just wish they were local.

1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 6:54 pm

So Jim & Paige's Bronco is done at Solo and on to some new electrical before she comes home for testing, new A/C lines to the new condenser and a few other tidbits before we load up for KOH. Bobby, Paul and Mike mounted the new radiator and trans cooler with all new plumbing and 1/4" ducted bash plate to replace the 3/16" and provide a little more side protection for the radiator.

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1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 6:59 pm

Solo's finished work......

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1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 7:03 pm

Currently at Jonny Lightning for new wiring to the fans, a few updates and accommodations for this bad boy:

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tcm glx · Post by **tcm glx** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 7:31 pm

That's one good looking alternator! Bronco is looking great, getting all dolled up for KOH!

rdcjuanb · Post by **rdcjuanb** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:45 pm

Crazy how busy that place is.

cs_drums · Post by **cs_drums** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 8:56 am

Pretty cool cooler set up.

1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:19 am

Really nice job on the exhaust by Richard and his crew at RPM last week. A few issues to be sorted out.....they had to cut a right side tube for the headers to clear and in the same vicinity the headers are touching the fire wall. I think the Autofab motor mounts may be the culprit in the fire wall scenario, but I obviously can't blame Bassani for not clearing the custom frame tubes. Not sure why the stainless Bassani Y-pipe didn't fit properly, but RPM did a bit of remodeling on it too. I need to crawl under to take some pics of the finished product since I didn't take any while it was on the rack.

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As usual, few things go easy and exactly as planned. Busy getting ready for tuning on Wednesday, then we'll tackle the repairs. KOH left some cracks in the frame and a sheared off transmission cross member, so a fab/repair list is growing. We're going to try a new (to us) fab shop right here in town. Mostly crawler folks, but big ones and based on survey last week they seem to be very aware slow or fast. Fingers crossed here big time.......I'm tired of hauling the Bronco everywhere to get it worked on.

Installed a new 255LPH fuel pump yesterday, and found the new Bosch installed in Baja was totally fouled with sediment. Maybe 1,500 miles on that pump from new, so I drained the tank and found lots of crap in there. What a ton of fun trying to fit my arm in the hole with a shop vac hose.....looked like someone threw a cup of sand in there! Not our original fab so it's probably been there since we took over. I'll put a new Baldwin in the UMP and a new fuel filter to make sure everything is flowing good for the tune.

tcm glx · Post by **tcm glx** » Mon Mar 07, 2016 9:36 am

Did you drive it yet? Curious to hear your thoughts on power... I think you will be happy!

cs_drums · Post by **cs_drums** » Mon Mar 07, 2016 9:42 am

I had the same issue with my headers and firewall. Nothing a body saw and some tin didn't fix. Richard guys do great work.

Wrightracing.net · Post by **Wrightracing.net** » Mon Mar 07, 2016 12:31 pm

I had Richard do the exhaust in my Bronco many moon's ago. Back then in the small shop. That exhaust was a side exit before the rear tire and is still solid. I have oval-shaped the 3" exhaust on some rocks, but still works great with a SpinTech muffler.

1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Wed Mar 09, 2016 7:47 pm

tcm glx wrote:Did you drive it yet? Curious to hear your thoughts on power... I think you will be happy!

Unfortunately no drive yet......but we been on the dyno! Wish I had video with sound of that.

Will post more tomorrow but looks like at the rear wheels we made 180HP and 250TQ with an otherwise stock 351. This after Steve fixed the mass airflow sensor hijinks.

hollandermotorsports · Thu Mar 10, 2016 9:35 am

Very nice.

1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 12:03 pm

Our magic intake wye might have helped a little.

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1Hondalover · Post by **1Hondalover** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 12:28 pm

Pretty smart guy this Steve at Powertrain Dynamics. He rigs up the Bronco, spins it up and immediately asks me about a few things, including the mass airflow sensor. I told him as far as we knew, Greg and Blake transferred the entire 1996 OBDII setup into our chassis. Why was he asking about the sensor? Steve said the engine was immediately and dangerously lean from mid to WOT. I have no idea, but it could explain some of our past heating issues as hard as we run it. I had seen another sensor in a ziplock bag left over from the conversion, so I brought it with me.

Steve pulls the sensor out and takes it to his office. He comes back and says it's out of an old F150 not 351. Curry Racecars I tell him.....but it doesn't explain why the OE 1996 piece isn't in there. I give him the other sensor in the bag and guess what? I have no idea how it didn't replace the old one when everything else was swapped together. Funny it seemed to run pretty well.....with the exception of the heating issues it made the trip down the peninsula last year and lots of other places pushed pretty hard with no problem.

A few minutes later the 96 sensor is in and spinning again. Several WOT pulls and Steve comes out smiling. No more lean condition. I'm happy he can see this......how would I know otherwise? Now Steve can start to tune and he does just that. He tells me the John Wood E4OD is spot-on already, and sets everything as it should and can be for us to push it some more. Steve repeatedly says he can't believe we didn't scrap the motor running that lean. I say Ford.

In the end I'm thrilled for $500 and even though I want that Stroker worse than ever, happy with the power the old Bassani assisted 5.8 makes. Hopefully Pismo testing March 19 and then Barstow testing April 9.

If you have the need......best go see Steve and have him see what's happening for your rig.

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