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1987 Ford Bronco 2 Currently Known as The Crazy Train


Bacon9586

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1987
Vehicle
Ford
Back in Nov 2017 I came across a steal of a deal. Or so I thought. $1000 for a Bronco 2 like my uncle has. Uncle is my hero kind of thing and I loved driving his Bronco 2 so I went and saw it. There was a dent the guy didn't show in the pictures, interior had some cigarette burns, and the back hatch doesn't close and turn the light off unless you shut it like you're angry at it and holding the bottom left corner firmly. But he assured me the tranny was new and the engine was rebuilt less than ten thousand miles ago. I talked him down to $750 and bought it. There was red flags but I was like "My first car, like my uncles, I can fix things up and give her the love she's been missing."

1987 Bronco 2 XLT 4x4 2.9L Colonge engine automatic tranny.

Brakes seized two weeks later. Both back rotors were leaking and the front driver side caliper was stuck. 1800$ I just paid off.

Tune up. Fresh plugs, cap and rotor for the distributor and fresh spark plug wires. Except the screw hole for the cap broke off. New distributor it is.

Wouldn't pass DEQ and the muffler rusted through to a fist sized hole. After a sawsall was taken to it new catalytic converter muffler and tail pipe.

All 4 tires have been replaced after a massive blow out while on the highway doing 60. They were pretty much useless. But it was the Fall sale at les schwab. That was nothing.

Things left to fix:
Engine knocking, leaking, and just not running right. I get 11 miles to the gallon. And no this engine was never rebuilt.

Transmission seems to lag in shifting gears and no its not new. And it leaks as well.

Random thunk noise when taking off from stop. No idea what it is sounds like something slamming into something else. Hard enough you can feel it under you.

4x4 It engages just fine. But you can'r turn. You get his clunking noise, the steering wheel fights you and pushes back.

Alternator might be going out. Lights flicker slightly. Replaced the battery but didn't fix it.

A/C doesn't work. Shocker I know. Already installed the swap kit need to charge it and see if the compressor works.

Shocks are going out need to be replaced.

Inner tie rods need to be replaced. They are rubbing wrong and are slightly damaged. And it has slightly loose steering and the alignment won't stay true.

All the glass minus the passenger door, someone broke it to steal my backpack, are kinda scratched up. Windshield wipers leave this smear looking effect on the glass and I don't know why. I replaced the wipers didn't fix it. May need to polish the glass?

So after looking over everything I decided I may get a 4.0 motor/tranny/tcase and do the swap. But the site I looked at, not this one, said you also need to swap the dash and the steering wheel for the shifter. I don't want to do that. I want this thing to look like nothings changed in it. So can that be done?

The thunk noise when taking off from dead stop. Anyone got any ideas?

4x4 issue mentioned above. No idea what's up with that one. Was told it all needed to be replaced by a mechanic I don't trust.

I'm doing all this work myself with limited knowledge and tools. Finally tracked down a repair guide in town here going to pick it up next week.

This thing was pretty much original everything till I got it. So 30 years of neglect and meh maintenance. Last oil change it had according to carfaqs was 77k miles. I got it at 102k and now its at 115k and I get the oil changed on time or near to it like clock work. But I have to run 20-50w just to get the oil pressure to even read on the gauge at ~20.
 
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bronco2fan

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Location
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Vehicle Year
1984
Vehicle
ford
Engine Size
2.8
Suspension Style
4wd
Pics of her so we can see her. Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you. But remember, there's lots of knowledge on this forum and the Ranger Station. Good luck with her.
 

bronco2fan

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Location
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Vehicle Year
1984
Vehicle
ford
Engine Size
2.8
Suspension Style
4wd
Not bad looking at all. As we say in the BII world, shit'll buff out. :icon_hornsup:
 

Bacon9586

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1987
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Ford
I just replaced the old sealed unit headlights with LED ones from amazon. under 40$ for both and its a world of difference.
 

strackso

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1988
Vehicle
Ford Bronco
How is it doing right now? Are the windows already fixed?
 

wend3lrt

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Ga
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Bronco ii
Check the link he posted. It says that the window has been fixed already.
 

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