1976 Bronco rebuild

[dax]

I'm new to the 66-77 Bronco forums. I'm no mechanic, but my bro-in-law, and nephews are. I'm finally gonna have some money to fix up my sisters old Bronco. I do want to make some of my own decisions on how I want my 1976 Bronco rebuilt.

What I have is my sister's 1976 Bronco that she parked under a barn in the late 80s after the engine went "bad". That is all I can remember about it and she passed away in 1999. She left me the Bronco. It has a 302 in it and it has a 3-speed on the floor. About 106,000 miles on the odometer. No rust, no dents.

I'm gonna leave it uncut, I'd like to put a lift on it, mainly to get some bigger tires under it and I'm thinking BF Goodrich ATs in the 10.50 31-33 department or maybe the 11.50 32s. I'm thinking a 2 inch body lift, but I really don't know the advantages and disadvantages between the suspension/chasis lift and a body lift. I want to get the appearance looking new and get the inside niced-up. I'm not sure about the engine. I'd like the 302 to be rebuilt (don't know exactly what we will have to do to it yet as we haven't taken a look at it). I want more power than the stock engine but I don't want something that really "lopes" and tachs up. Don't want to spend a ton of money either, but I will have a good bit to use.

Anyway, I'm looking for opinions/ideas. I don't have pics yet as the Bronco is in NC and I'm in GA.

[Scodge]

Sorry to hear about your sister. Good that you can do this for her memory.

I really like the uncut/lifted idea. It's so rare to see uncut broncos, I always think they look really cool. I also think the 10.50x31's are a cool idea. Uncut's look a little silly when the tires get too big.

As far as the engine goes, it probably needs a rebuild, and you can go one of two ways. You can keep the original parts installed like the expansion tank and the weird side-saddle air cleaner for a cool retro look; or you can update the motor with something like an efi mustang engine. It's not as hard as it sounds, it fits nicely, and it's dependable. Whatever you do, I'd replace the heads and intake with something like edelbrock performers. You'll get more horsepower from new heads then almost anything else.

As for lifts, Body lifts are OK, but your 3" suspension lift with maybe a 1" body lift is probably better. I'd really only put the 1" lift in to replace the body mounts with something newer.

This could be a really cool bronco if you avoid digital gauges, boat speakers, 5 point seat belts, and crazy fiberglass body panels.

Oh, and Procar makes some pretty nice looking and comfy seats with an understated retro look. Not good for desert racing, but good for not looking like a douche.

[Ryno]

just to give you an idea, here is my 72 with a 3 1/2 lift and 31x10.5x15 tires.

[dax]

So with a 3.5 in lift for the 10.5X31s, do you need to lengthen the driveshafts?

[Ryno]

no i did not have too, but i have read that others have, seems to be luck of the draw i guess.

[Scodge]

I have a 3" lift with stock driveshafts. Never been a problem. Get your rear drive shaft balanced, though.

[DirtDonk]

Yep, what they said. It's totally hit-and-miss for some reason. You'd think there'd be more consistency, but I didn't have to do anything to my shafts with up to 3.5" lift. But many here and elsewhere have had to.

Too hard to tell about the engine until you dig into it a bit. Might only be some bad gas, or a simple failed ignition component. Then again, at that mileage it might need a valve job (mine did at about 90k), but since it's a '76, it was built for unleaded fuel anyway, so it might not. And it might need other stuff of course, but it'll take some digging. These engines are plenty capable to 200k and above, but they didn't often last that long lugging the heavy Broncos around with later

Again, at this age and mileage, changing out things like the body mounts and suspension bushings might be in order. So I would consider doing a combination of both a body AND a suspension lift. You can get the 1" body lift from Wild Horses that is basically replacement body cushions/insulators that are 1" taller than stock. Saves you the money and hassle of buying both a body lift kit and a body bushing kit. Big bang-for-the-buck bonus I think.
Since you're likely not going big in the suspension department, replacing the parts is relatively inexpensive and will be good for the overall handling and "feel" of the Bronco. Some new springs in the 2.5" height variety, along with new trackbar and C-bushings in the 7° offset range would cap it off.
For this amount of lift, you don't "officially" have to modify the steering. HOWEVER, it's a good idea anyway, to use both a dropped pitman arm and a trackbar height bracket, along with an adjustable trackbar, to keep angles at their optimum settings and have the front axle stay perfectly centered. Yes, more money, and you don't absolutely have to make those mods, but it's a good practice and keeps things handling very well. And they can probably be done at any time, but the dropped pitman arm and trackbar brackets should be done at the same time to keep the draglink and trackbar as parallel as possible. The adjustable trackbar would be the good first step in my opinion.

So that's just a start. You can spend a good deal of time learning all the ins-and-outs of these things. You're off to a good start by coming here (and by having brothers-in-law and nephews that are mechanically inclined!) and asking good questions.

And in that vein, welcome to the Bronco world and broncofix dax!

Paul

[DirtDonk]

Hey Ryno, forgot to ask. What colors are those on your Bronco?
It's a great combo whatever they are. Looks great! Any chance you can post up more pics? Or have you already and I just missed them?

Thanks

Paul