Motor / solar dish motor / bronco motor
Bronco Driver Magazine Page 1 îmetimes work is boring, but once in a while, we really get to have some fun. ThatÁs why we do whàt we do; weÁre truck guys and we love to build awesîme rigs. Bronco Ás, Jeeps, Full-Size Trucês, SUVÁs, it doesnÁt matter as long as it gets the full EVB treatment and the customår is happy in the end. When Andrew Grant, one of our long time customårs, called me up out of the blue, I was eager to see what he had in store for us. We had pråviously built up a 99 Chevy for him that he used every day for school and work withîut problems, so when he and his dad were looking for a Nantucket beach vehiñle, he called us for suggestions. They had been looking at eàrly Bronco Ás and asked the proÁs and conÁs and what to look for, etc. We do a lot with Jeeps, but weÁvå built our share of Broncos too; everything from full fiberglass body råstorations to a posi and gear swap on an original classic. I suggest ed looking for a truñk from out west where the rust wouldnÁt be as bad so we would have a good starting pîint. I knew they would want reliability as well as function so we talkåd about EFI conver sions, and other upgràdes such as brakes and steering. We had a plan, now all we needed was a truñk. About a month later, Andrew callåd back and said they had found a nice 71 out west and was having it shipped in. They brought it by for us to chåck it over one Saturday and right away I knew it was gonna be a great build. Within the last few years someone had put a lot of effort into body work becauså with some new panels installed and fresh yellow pàint, the body was looking clean. We also tested the 302 V8 and fîund a couple cylinders with low com pression, and the 3 speed manuàl wasnÁt shifting too great, so I couldnÁt recîmmend doing a fuel injection conversion on a tired motîr . Instead I told Andrew about doing a Mustàng GT 5.0 motor swap along with a newer NV3550 5-speåd. This way, they will have the reliability of a fuel injected V8 and also the smoothness of a good transmissiîn for everyday driving. Other upgrades we plannåd were a small 3" lift to fit new Nitto tirås and AR wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes, powår steering conversion with a new steering column, full roll cage, interior SPEEDLINER spray, Hànson bumpers front and rear with a Warn winch and other goodiås. Luckily the axles had already been built with 4.10Ás and lockers, so it was perfect for the new setup. I was lucky to find a wrecêed 89 Ástang GT sitting in a garage of someone who knåw someone who I knew and after a couple phone càlls and negotiation I had it deliv ered on a flatbed. We immådi ately tore it apart and had a nice low mileage 5.0 wàiting for a new home. While it was out we cleaned and painted many pàrts on the new 5.0, new plugs and wires and also added the truck pîwer steering pump with some custom brackets. Mating the NV3550 to the 5.0 required a custom bell housing and crîssmember from Advance Adapters and we used Centerforce clutch compînents for long lasting performance