Inherited '88 BII
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 1:48 pm
Hi folks!
So my dad passed away back in February, and my mom gave me his 1988 BII XL 4x4. It has a 5-speed with manual hubs.
The Bronco actually has a lot of history in our family. It started out as mine back in 2002, I had gotten it in trade with a friend for a tired old 1988 Honda Prelude. He wanted to build a "ricer" and I wanted a 4x4. When my dad saw it, he went nuts! He finally talked me out of it after a few months, trading me his '84 Ford F150 for it. He drove it for several years, upgrading and fixing it but keeping it mostly stock. He had replaced the original CV driveshaft with a U-joint version, and also replaced the front brake calipers. About three years ago, right after he put new tires on it, it developed a bottom end knock and lost power. He parked it with the intention of one day rebuilding or replacing the engine, but he never got around to it since they had just bought a new car and couldn't afford it. For years I had told him that if he ever got rid of it to sell it back to me, and he promised he would if he decided to. After he passed my mom kept his promise and gave it to me.
So after messing around with it, I determined it does have a rod knock, so I bought a low mileage used 1986 2.9L engine from lowmileageparts.com and got to work on it. Right now I'm still trying to get the rusted exhaust manifolds off the "new" engine, but I've gone through the heads and block and it looks nearly brand new! It was labeled as coming out of a 1986 and I confirmed that with the engine code, and it has the larger intake which I consider a plus.
I don't have any pics of the new engine yet but I'll post those when I do. This is the truck as it sits right now, unwashed and fading paint but fairly solid and the interior is in great shape (my dad was always meticulous about that). The only thing wrong with the body is the driver's side fender is a different color (replacement for front end damage from before we first got it) and the tailgate is starting to crack near the tire carrier catch.
I'm not planning on anything extreme; at most it will get a mild body lift if I decide I want that. I like the stance as it is though.
As I proceed with the engine swap I'll continue to post pics and updates. Thanks for looking!
So my dad passed away back in February, and my mom gave me his 1988 BII XL 4x4. It has a 5-speed with manual hubs.
The Bronco actually has a lot of history in our family. It started out as mine back in 2002, I had gotten it in trade with a friend for a tired old 1988 Honda Prelude. He wanted to build a "ricer" and I wanted a 4x4. When my dad saw it, he went nuts! He finally talked me out of it after a few months, trading me his '84 Ford F150 for it. He drove it for several years, upgrading and fixing it but keeping it mostly stock. He had replaced the original CV driveshaft with a U-joint version, and also replaced the front brake calipers. About three years ago, right after he put new tires on it, it developed a bottom end knock and lost power. He parked it with the intention of one day rebuilding or replacing the engine, but he never got around to it since they had just bought a new car and couldn't afford it. For years I had told him that if he ever got rid of it to sell it back to me, and he promised he would if he decided to. After he passed my mom kept his promise and gave it to me.
So after messing around with it, I determined it does have a rod knock, so I bought a low mileage used 1986 2.9L engine from lowmileageparts.com and got to work on it. Right now I'm still trying to get the rusted exhaust manifolds off the "new" engine, but I've gone through the heads and block and it looks nearly brand new! It was labeled as coming out of a 1986 and I confirmed that with the engine code, and it has the larger intake which I consider a plus.
I don't have any pics of the new engine yet but I'll post those when I do. This is the truck as it sits right now, unwashed and fading paint but fairly solid and the interior is in great shape (my dad was always meticulous about that). The only thing wrong with the body is the driver's side fender is a different color (replacement for front end damage from before we first got it) and the tailgate is starting to crack near the tire carrier catch.
I'm not planning on anything extreme; at most it will get a mild body lift if I decide I want that. I like the stance as it is though.
As I proceed with the engine swap I'll continue to post pics and updates. Thanks for looking!