The 79 Bronco has been putting up a fight. While trying to get the interior modifications going, I cannot let this 300 straight 6’s running issues go unnoticed. Now the big fix begins………………………….
When you see this, it means one thing, I’m pulling the engine. As a mechanic by profession, it saddens me to give up on something. This hot rod 300 has had a gremlin since the day I first put fuel to it. It has something in the valvetrain/timing area that just isn’t right. It could be one or more of a few things such as bad camshaft, cam gear loose on the hub or the likely issue, cam lift/duration doesn’t match the ratio of the rockers. Yes, of course this is fixable without pulling the engine, but when looking in the cylinders with a scope, I noticed horrible scores and scratches. With these issues noted, I decided to pull the engine and rebuild it the correct way, my way, and use appropriate matched components.
I’ve been down this road enough to know the easy way to work on these. It takes about an hour from turning the key off to having the whole nose off in one piece. Then que the music and bam, engine on the floor. Now for the secret, this won’t be torn down for year again, I’ve been sitting on a fresh lightly modified 300 and its ready to go. Having the replacement complete 300 ready after swapping a couple small items from mine, we will be on the road. The most difficult part will be making an exhaust head pipe that will go from the manifold to the muffler since I will not be using my header for this.
Having the replacement engine on hand was only 75% of the goodness. A good friend Jesse Adams pulled up with a sweet 300, complete with all accessories and transmission from a 79 Ford pickup. This way I will have all the little bits I needed to make mine as correct as it could be. Now, anyone could go to an autoparts store and get belts, filters, whatever all without having to consult my giant build bible of weird parts that I used.
With the Bronco back together, I can finally say I have the Bronco I was dreaming about all along. This engine is so perfect it makes me giddy. Since we finished the swap, I’ve managed to run 4 tanks of fuel through the Bronco with no issues. It cruises great, pulls good, sips fuel and is smooth. With that now I can get back on track to get this Bronco closer to done.
This week we will continue the wiring for the fridge, second battery and water system, stay tuned!
Almost Overlanding with Craig Cooper and Family 