A Bronco With A Different Personality

A Bronco With A Different Personality

We are currently building a 1984 Bronco for a customer.  It is getting a lift, tires, new drivetrain, tow hitch, well the works..  Here are some photos as we continue building.  Thanks for looking.

 The truck is all original with only 37k miles.

 Very clean original seats.

 The oringial 6 cylinder with a C6 3 speed and NV208 transfer case.

The new GM 5.3L V8 backup up by a rebuilt TH400 and a Ford NV205 transfer case. 

Our new mounts are bolt in and are powder coated.  Also notice the section removed from the factory crossmember.  This was to fit the GM a/c compressor. 

We were able to keep the new transfer case tucked up nice. 

A LOOK BACK AT FREDDY THE GM POWERED S14

Over the past 4 years I have owned and have been building this 1997 240sx.  It was a project that all started with a motor.  I picked up an LS1 from a friend that had spun a rod bearing, then spent the winter rebuilding it.  I went all threw the motor.  It got a new rod, all new pistons, crank, bearings, heads, valve train, cam, etc.  Like many other car guys, I enjoy the build more than owning the car.  I liked the idea of learning a new motor and the time spent going through it.  Now, at the time I started on the motor, I had no idea what car I would put this LS1 into.  To be honest, I wasn't even sure that it would going into a car.  I have always wanted to build a series of motors, just to collect and let sit around my garage.  The same as a model car hobbyist builds for the enjoyment.  

After some time I remember seeing a local guy swap this motor into his 1998 Nissan 240sx.  I was blown away at how he made the motor look at home in this chasis.  He was one of the first people I had even seen complete this motor swap.  At this time there were no motor count conversions of driveshafts that were built to length.  After reading about how capable the car's suspension was, I knew that I needed to find a 240 and get to work right away.

I searched the internet for almost a year before I found a car that I believed to be worth the money.  I found the car on a forum and had it shipped down here from Boston.  The car was a completely stock, automatic, 1997.  The day I bought the car I ordered wheels, tires, coilovers, and every adjustable suspension arm.  I drove the car like this for about 6 months before I was ready to pull the motor.

Looking clean but still VERY slow!

HARRISON'S 5.3L LS CONVERSION PT.3

After a few final steps Harrison's 5.3 swap was finished and ready to get some miles under its belt.  Since we are using the Holley EFI system everything needed to be plumbed, fluids topped off, and a full exhaust system installed.  With all of those things finished we were ready to load the base map and get it started.  As I said before, the Holley system is amazing.  We selected a map that was within our displacement and cam profile range.  From there we specified injector size, fuel pressure, IAC type, etc.  Once everything was entered, the programming was sent to the ecu and a test fire was in order.  On the first try she fired to life and sounded great.  Now that the motor was running we put it in learn mode and connected the supplied wideband O2 sensor.  After checking for any leaks and making sure everything was operating correctly, we sent it down the road.  As of now the car has about 800 miles on it so we will get it back in and take it out of learn mode.  Here are a few final photos of the car before we gave it back to Harrison.

HARRISON'S 5.3L LS CONVERSION PT. 2

Now that the motor was installed for the last time we were able to address the wiring and plumbing.  For the engine wiring and ecu we decided to go with Holley's new EFI system.  The system comes with the engine harness and a new stand alone ecu.  As with any aftermarket harness it comes with all new factory colored wiring and plugs.  The harness is completely independent so it has an integrated fuse box for the ecu and fuel pump powers.  Where the Holley EFI stands apart from the the rest is it's ability to self learn.  Once all of the basic perameters are entered and the car is running, you can put it in learn mode and let the ecu tune itself.    Our 5.3L had a cam, valvetrain, LS6 intake, throttle body, and the MAF was eliminated.  I was new to the software and it took me about 30 minutes to plug in all of the information.  Once I had it loaded the car fired up on the first try.   

The ECU itself is quite compact and was right at home mounted in the glove box. 

HARRISON'S 5.3L LS CONVERSION

We just finished doing another LS conversion in a customer's 1998 240sx.  It was a great project for a great customer.  I will try to cover as much as possible in 3 or 4 write ups.

This job started a little different than most but ending up working out great.  I had a customer, Harrison, who wanted to do an LS motor swap into his 1995 240sx.  His car was completely stock and would need suspension, brakes, and a diff to even make the motor swap logical.  After pricing the motor swap as well as everything else we set a date and would start ordering parts.  That night a good friend of mine stopped by the shop and told me that he was going to get his of his 1998 240sx as well as his 5.3L LS swap.  He had previously planned to do the same build but, being a married man, family came first and we all know how that story goes.

That week I introduced the two, money transferred hands, and Harrison ended up with a newer car.  The 98 240 already had an aftermarket diff, suspension, brakes, and the stock motor had already been pulled.  Now the car just needed to be finished.  

Since we build all of our own motor mounts, we first set the motor in the engine bay and took all of our measurements.

Tune into SPEED

Tune into SPEED channel today at 1 EST to watch me compete in the Ultimate Street Car invitational in Arlington.

BUILDS>> MY XS400 BOBBER PT.3

I came out to the shop this morning to get some work done on my frame.  I got the upper tubes, seat hinge, and cross bars welded on.  Next time I need to make the axle plates and seat pan.  Till then!

BUILDS>> MY XS400 BOBBER PT.2

Not much has happened since the first post, however I still wanted to touch on the plans for this thing.  I recently started building the frame my self.  I looked around on the internet for an XS650 weld on kit that I could cut up but I couldnt find any that I liked.  Instead I took some measurements and had a friend bend some chromoly.  The smaller tubes are 7/8" and the back bone is 1.25"  Its all been sleeved and tacked together in these pictures.  I have changed the wheelbase to 59" and the rear axle has moved up to 5.25" over stock.

I did ended up buying a frisco mounted sporty tank from LowBrow and a pair of Shinko enduro tires.  This week I plan on finished the frame and making the axle plates.  After that I can make the seat pan and get the mounts welded on.  Thats about it for now.


Jesse

BUILDS>> MARKS MODERN C10

Last winter, while I was first building my shop, I had a neighbor stop by to say hello and see how things where going.  After a few minutes of chit chat, he asked what I was going to be using the building for.  I informed him that we were a performance / restoration shop and that I had a passion for motorcycles and older vehicles.  He looked at me and said, "Uh oh, I better stay away from here, I'll end up spending too much money."  Fast forward a few months and he has come to be a good customer and a great neighbor.  After a lot of discussion and planning we have finally started building his 1970 C10 short bed pickup.  Plans are to build a modern truck with a classic street truck appearance.  The motor will be a GM based LS 5.3L with a 4L60E.  Suspension will be all new from hotchkis.  All new interior with A/C from Vintage Air.  For safety we will be changing the fuel tank to a rail mounted cell, and installing disc brakes all around.  For now we have stripped the truck down, blasted the frame, and powder coated it and the rear end housing.  In the next few weeks we will be setting the motor in and getting some of the drivetrain lined out.  In the next entry I will explain the motor mounts and headers.

I have no idea how long this truck sat, but it's last title was last transferred in '05.