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ChopTop84

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New to the site, not new to fords or broncos tho.

Have three B2's. a 90 2wd thats been my daily driver for about 3 years. Gave a guy 300 bucks for it because he thought it had a bad oil pump. Turns out he never did oil changes, just put more oil in it or something. You could see the rocker arm indents inside the valvecovers because the sludge was so thick!! Its one of the late year 90's that doesnt have the dummy transfer case, so a little harder to convert to a 4wd, so....

I bought an 84 4x4 off a guy on craigslist. Gave him 200 bucks because it had the rear windows broken out, the interior was soaking wet, and mostly he wanted it gone. Got it home, cleaned it out, and cut the top off in about 20 minutes with my battery powered sawzall. Runs decent, but Im trying to find an intake leak or vacuum leak. Doesnt want to idle very well unless the choke is on, and the OBD computer keeps giving me a "lean" error code. But all the electronic crap attached to the carb actually appears to be working OK.

Then I just picked up an 87 eddie bauer 4x4 today for 160 bucks with no title, and needs a new fuel pump and fuel lines. 5 speed with electronic T-case and manual hubs. Im trying to decide if I want to put the 87 running gear into my 90 to make it 4x4, or fix up the 87, and get the title squared away.

Here are pics of the 84 before and after I chopped it:
Click me for 84choptop

Anyone else up here in WA state and wheels Evans Creek? I live about 10 minutes from the lower parking lot and plan to take the 84 up there as soon as I think I can trust it.
 


bonedoc

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Nice, looks good!! If you really want to fix that '84, look in the tech library and duraspark the motor and dump all that computer crap! Makes it run soooo much better.
 

r1hatman

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Welcome, Nice find. Keep us posted.
 

kimcrwbr1

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Hey WA here yea duraspark the 84 and if it puffs smoke when you start it put in valve guide seals and run it till it pukes. I put a new intake manifold gasket valve guide seals and durasparked it and it fires right up first crank and a motorcraft oil filter with 10W40 synthetic she runs the best it ever has. You can use the stock carb with a metering block for the carb or put a good autolite 2150 1.08 venturi carb.
 

kimcrwbr1

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Pull the egr and check it for leaks mine was leaking at the seal where the plunger goes thru the top of the valve just put a block off plate there.
 

jhammel85

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ChopTop84

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thanks! Ive read most of the tech articles, just a matter of sourcing all the conversion parts for cheap, or better yet, free.

Believe it or not, the motor runs fine with NO POWER to the computer. Well, doesnt run GREAT, but runs well enough to drive around town. Couldnt figure out why every time I plugged the SPOUT line into the dizzy, the truck would die. Tried to grab codes, and again, no power to the reader. Finally traced it back to a dead computer relay beside the computer in the passenger kickpanel.

I'll look into that EGR valve first. Its easier to change than the manifold gaskets.

I was gonna do a ranger tailgate, but the more I look at it, the more I think I want to put the original hatch back on, and just put ford tailgate hinges on the bottom of the gate and have it swing down, instead of the old way up. Hoping the tail lights dont get in the way tho.

Need to buy some rollbar material and take it to my grandfathers place and use his pipe bender and weld up a cage too.
 

jhammel85

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^ the Stamped Ford Ranger tailgates do look awesome though!

If you plug the spout in and it dies, hows the timing? When you check timing, pull the spout 1st.
The spout pulls back the timing on the truck for the cpu to control.

*Edit - N/M, I see that you found a relay.*
 
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ChopTop84

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^ the Stamped Ford Ranger tailgates do look awesome though!

If you plug the spout in and it dies, hows the timing? When you check timing, pull the spout 1st.
The spout pulls back the timing on the truck for the cpu to control.

*Edit - N/M, I see that you found a relay.*
Yeah, it was unplugged when I got it, so didnt know about the computer issue until I started messing with things.

Its timed at 10* with the SPOUT unplugged. Previous owner claims to have put new valve seals and valve cover gaskets in it. But he didnt adjust the valve lash after doing the seals, and the motor had a horrible valve tick. Got that taken care of last night. Purrs now, except for the poor idle. About to head out now to play with that.

Yeah, the stamped ford tailgates do look good, but Im not ready to cut a set of ranger bedrails and weld them on the fill the void above the tail lights, whereas the bronco hatch already fills it, and lets me keep my spare tire carrier and latch assembly without modifying anything.

Was up at evans creek ORV a couple weeks ago, and some kid with a bone stock B2 was all the way up the 511 trail with no liftkit, and bone stock street tires. Said the rear end was welded up, but that was it. I was impressed.
 

kimcrwbr1

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If you can find a late 70s mustang II or pinto with a 2.8 V-6 It has all the parts you nedd for the duraspark including the carb other wise I bought the ignition stuff from autozone for about $130 and a friend of mine had a carb off of a 302 with the 1.08 venturi and #46 jets but #50 work the best for performance kinna suck the fuel tho. Alot of guys go with the holly 350 but my autolite works just fine.
 

kimcrwbr1

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If you put a metering block on the carb where the feedback solenoid is on the back of the carb then you can control the air fuel mix better if interested I can find the link for you.
 

bonedoc

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Kim, is right. It takes just a little looking, I had a hard time finding the stuff but KIm and a few others on here helped with part numbers and such. I went with the Holley 350. It works great, went with the #50 jets but am going to try the size #48. Also need to advance the timing a little more. Getting about 17mpg with the auto trans and 31" tires but feel it could be a little better.
 

ChopTop84

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I'll try some of the bone yards around here, but the 70/80 and even 90's stuff is getting harder and harder to find. Have to go to the "small" yards to find the old stuff. Everything else is being stripped of known good parts then sent to china to be turned into cheap harbor fright tools and sold back to us.

Got the hatch cut down today and put back on with the tire carrier. Looks good! I will get some pics in a little while. In the mean time, Im off to google the wiring diagram for the radio. Previous owner cut it all up and added extra stuff and changed some of the wires, so cant just match up the wire colors anymore. Yes, its getting its original tape deck put back in it. No one will steal it!
 

ChopTop84

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oh, one other thing, there is a wrecking yard near me that has a wrecked 94 exploder 4x4, and from the looks of it, it still has the front and rear axles. I talked with the guy in the yard and he said its been there awhile, and that no one even knows they have it, because they dont deal with fords, its just something they came into. Might see how much they want for it.
 

PaleBlue90

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oh, one other thing, there is a wrecking yard near me that has a wrecked 94 exploder 4x4, and from the looks of it, it still has the front and rear axles. I talked with the guy in the yard and he said its been there awhile, and that no one even knows they have it, because they dont deal with fords, its just something they came into. Might see how much they want for it.
id snag it up. im pretty shure everything is a bolt omn a with a little modding. if ya really want to; you could always stick a 4.0 in it too.:icon_thumby:
 

ChopTop84

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OK, got a few more pics today. Updated my link here:

Click Me!

The new pics are at the bottom. Chopped hatch, and got most of the nasty old carpet out. Got the radio wired back up right and the dash put back together, and even most of the interior trim fits. Door panels are shot tho.

Think I got some of my idle problems fixed. Found 2 vacuum lines that were just swiss cheese, and one of the thermactor vacuum relays was leaking internally, so I just blocked off that line. Still has just the slightest miss at idle, and that could be the cap/plugs/wires, because those are shot and I havnt put new ones in yet. Its driveable tho.

Just about ready for an evans creek run I think. Not this weekend, but maybe fathers day weekend. The wife will be in Vegas, so as good a weekend to get in trouble as any.
 

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