1986 351w Go Fast Beater Bronco

[DirtFiend602]

1986 Eddie Bauer 351w C6
9"
3.50 gears
Np208f
LS
Power everything

Lots of dreams, not as much money

When i first picked her up, tons of hack stuff to be fixed from PO, Most of the interior wiring, from the B pillar back was destroyed, or hacked together with duct tape, seriously. almost nothing worked, including most of the instrument gauges and message center lights.... and I had shorts and hot leads everywhere. Everything from there on back is new and solder terminated. The front was the same way, with a ton of old speaker wire and useless stuff. all was ripped out, bulbs replaced with leds, and all factory lighting working again,buzzers, seatbelt warning indicators, all the annoying stuff ... I've replaced the door switches, window motors, oiled and lubricated all window and door/tailgate mechanisms, instrument cluster,turn signal switch, entire ignition actuator assembly, speedo cable, starter, taillights,battery, harmonic balancer, power steering pump,gearbox, belts, and pieced back every interior piece , panel, and function in the cab, minus the stereo. that was all before these pictures, attempting to get it road worthy again.

[DirtFiend602]

some recent pics

[bajascott]

hey those beams look REALLY familiar!

[DirtFiend602]

hehe, can't wait to put them on! i figured you'd post somethign when you saw them. since the scraper rings are toast
(im assuming), its parked until i can get the rebuild parts together.... so im just going to spring for coilovers and bumps in the coming month.

[DirtFiend602]

Guys I need some direction.. rings are for sure shot. Blowing white smoke this morning.
Crackcase is way over pressurized. Time for a rebuild. I'm not looking for a gnar HP motor. Just reliable. Valvetrain, crank,studs rods pistons rollers , hone and slight bore....Was thinking 357

[DirtFiend602]

i'm not very fluent in carb'ed v-8's so please bear with me. I put together this list, but still need to tear everything apart and get some clearance specs, and stock specs on the block but this is what i came up with... please chip in if there is something not necessary, just going for reliability, not big hp number, id be happy with 300 wheel.




not sure if bottom end ever rebuilt, top end supposedly rebuilt recently from previous owner.

street and off-road driven.


do i NEED a slight bore, or just a hone?

full roller necessary? if not, what will suffice?

I also need a good machine shop in phoenix to hone , bore and dip the block, its really dirty


http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CCA-235/- finish kit- 19.95



http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFS-51500701/ stud girdle-$204.95


http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AFR-6207/ AFR rocker arm stud girdle 110.95

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CCA-CL35-421-8/ retrofit hydro roller tappets-475.95

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CMB-09-0017/ full roller rockers - 179.83


http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SCA-1-95250-1/ .030 over rotating assy. 717.95

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RHS-35972-01/ valvetrain kit (x2) -255.98


http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ARP-254-4113/ ARP head studs - 129.95



2095.51

[johncharlesb]

You could get away with stock valve train if the cam is stock or mild. I would keep the rolller lifters with modern oils (the lack of zinc in modern oils is particularly harsh on new flat tappet cams).

Check the block, you may get lucky and get away with a hone. A piston could have a hole or be cracked too giving you all that crankcase pressure.

Pull a valve spring and check the guides for excessive clearance.

As long as it is not too ugly in there, many are put back together with just rings and bearings and they work just fine.

Otherwise, go big and if you build the valvetrain, you will want forged pistons to match.

[DirtFiend602]

Thanks man. The motor runs too damn well right now, aside form the the blow by and the mess it causes, i think im going to wait, and run it for a while. I opened up the new breather i put on there, and it substantially helped with pressure, but its still misting. It shows signs of not having interval oil changes,so I put some tufoil in it for now. I'd really like a big power roller motor(400+) , and if i wait, i could get everything together by mid next year.

[johncharlesb]

You may want to run the breather vent into the air cleaner housing base knock out, if not already. It will burn up the nasties and you won't smoke sitting at the light or fill the cab with fumes. I doubt it will run any different.

[johncharlesb]

...and run 20-50w or 15-50w Mobil 1.

[DirtFiend602]

Great thank you. I will change the oil, running 5w 30 now.

[navynuke]

Good luck with the motor, I am waiting on funding to start mine, but if you don't wanna blow the bank on aftermarket heads/parts ect, find some GT40 heads, port/polish them a bit. if they are for a 302 you can have the head bolt bores drilled out for the size you need on the 351.

Glad your getting most of the hack stuff fixed from the previous owner, I had my fair share of that too, even if it had all the regular maintenance stuff done.


Like the gold fuel pump bolted to the valve cover to try to fix the vapor lock issue. not a fire hazard at all.

[DirtFiend602]

Thanks man, yeah its all a PITA but will get there eventually..

Decided to leave the motor for now, and keep my eye out for a newer roller 351w, then ill just recarb it and use the duraspark II stuff..

Added an engine bay led light




Got the AC fixed and charged thanks to my buddy, need to make a heat shield for the evap... but even with the 134 conversion kit I did, still getting a nice 55deg. Now that i have AC again, just need to reroute some stuff so the solenoid feeds the dashpot, when the cycle switch powers on the compressor.

[Drilim]

If you start stockpiling parts for the motor now, You'll be ahead of the game when it finally bites the bullet.

I'd start getting a list of the components you'd like and look for deals. McMaster-Carr has ARP black oxide/stainless 12 point hardware for a fraction of the cost of summit & you can buy it individually. Navynukes suggestion about the gt40 heads is right on. Great cheap addition of about 25-40 horses depending on the head work done.

Where did the underhood LED come from?

[DirtFiend602]

If you start stockpiling parts for the motor now, You'll be ahead of the game when it finally bites the bullet.

I'd start getting a list of the components you'd like and look for deals. McMaster-Carr has ARP black oxide/stainless 12 point hardware for a fraction of the cost of summit & you can buy it individually. Navynukes suggestion about the gt40 heads is right on. Great cheap addition of about 25-40 horses depending on the head work done.

Where did the underhood LED come from?

I've been looking for gt40-x heads for a long time... they are hard to come by out here. But if for some reason i do decide to keep this motor, I will most certainly do heads, and roller rockers. ill save the big hp numbers for a long block down the road. phew , thats out of the way lol.

Love MCmaster-Carr! i get all my little bumper and swing latch components from them.. the same stuff syngery suspesion charges a 400% markup on lol... ill look into the arp hardware, I wasn't aware they sold them, thank you!!!!

I had some Summit Racing bucks for like 15 bucks worth of shtuff..

THIS http://www.summitracing.com/parts/REH-73813/

Can't remember where I got the leds from.. i have a giant bag full of oem bulb led replacements... i went on the sylvania website, got all my bulb numbers, and the googled away for a couple hours.

before and after pics are in the pictures above

[DirtFiend602]

did the same thing with the rear courtesy light... it's way too bright, looks like a spaceship when Iopen the door.

[DirtFiend602]

started ordering step bushings, weld washers, etc for the rad arms. having the brackets cut this week, these rad arms are going to be super beef. im not going to plate them in w 1/4 like the rest, 3/16 should be just fine. going to use the existing shock mount holes, add sleeves inside the plate, so the shock mount will be on the outside plate, limit strap on the inside face , all one bolt, bump off the top. pics when i get home

[DirtFiend602]

I'm trying to sell the wheels or trade for some basic 15's or 17's too....


I'm also just going to cut these ears off, make some new ones, and just plate over the complete ears.

[SteveG]

Don't start cutting yet, I swear I'll get you that photo... tonight.

[SteveG]

Here you go. Ignore the cut out in the body of the radius arm. That was done to make clearance for the shock. These plates were made slightly larger than the existing tabs and welded on. The diamond shaped piece was ground off.