Well I guess I could make a thread with my build. It's not much but it's what I have done over the past several years of owning my bronco.

A little background story when I was about 10 my dad got a 85 FSB with a 300 and an 4spd (trying to find pictures of it). I loved that truck and it was the first vehicle I learned to drive in. When I turned 16 my parents gave it to me to drive to school. Mom wanted me to have something a little safer (airbags) so that meant it had to go. I ended up keeping it as a second vehicle for awhile. In college things got a little tough and I needed some money and dicided to sell it to my cousin. Dumbest thing I have ever done and still regret it. After a year or so I wanted another one. In comes the 89 I bought from an older guy with around 90,000 miles on it. He had it sitting in a garage and in his backyard. Decided he wanted to get rid of it so I picked it up.

Ok I know all yall want is pics. So here we go.

Back in October 2005. A few months after I got it.







Thats it for now will continue later.............

Lookin good so far!

Alright picking up where I last left off. I drove it like that for some time but the bug had already bit it was time to mod. So I found some rims and some 32 bfg's for pretty cheap and slapped them on. Really changed the look of the truck





Spent the day playing up at my farm





At this point I was happy with the way things were going but it just needed a little height...........To be continued........

Very cool nice to see other peoples history story's too.

THanks Jon, Dan.

.......To continue on after the wheels and tires I wanted a little room between the fenders and tire. Didn't want to go to high for now so I purchased a 2.5" lift from a member on FSB. Installed it myself ( that was a nightmare) and ended up with a little over 3.5" of lift. Love the lift but I didn't do my research before picking up the rear AAL or the shocks. The rear AAL I think is now broken in a little but the shocks still suck. They are Rancho 5000's and I will never think if buying them again. I have heard several people say they are crap. I now have some 5125 Bilsteins for the rear (have yet to install and looking for some fronts. Ok I know on with the pics already.









I am really happy with the way it turned out. Changed the look of the truck for sure.

Got some play time in with the new lift.







One of my favorites.

Awesome pics Patty.

Thanks guys. More pics to come later.

Alright continuing on....

After the lift I left it alone for awhile. Until my 103K engine started to showing it's age of sitting around for several years. So I made the decision to start looking for a new motor. After a few months of searching I found the one I had been waiting for. It was a 95 5.0 302 with only 50K, needless to say I was pumped. Well atleast I thought I was. I took the engine to the my mechanic who said that it was the heaviest paper wieght he had ever seen. Cylinders were all marked and scored, valves were mis adjusted (meaning some of the springs weren't even for a 302), and the cam was toast. So after a week of trying to get it figured out the guy I bought it from said screw you it's your problem now. So I ordered a reman motor that came with a 3 year 36K warranty but it was just a factory build. After a what was only supposed to take a week of engine swapping, two months later I get my bronco back. Excited to see what the new motor would do I was actually dissapointed. While it had some power it was nothing of what I thought it was going to be.

After about 15K on the motor it is still running strong. Still doesn't pull as strong as I think it should to have 4.56 gears and 33's but I just suck it up for now. I have a few ideas of what I would like to do to try and wake it up a little more. I have talked with Dan about this but some of my ideas include a; RV cam, Gt-40 Heads (or better), port and polished intake, and loose the mechanical fan. Before that the trans is next on the list. I actually think I am losing a lot of power through that glorified slush box. It's got about 118K on the clock with a TC that is acting crazy.

So you guys that know your way around these motors and trans what your thoughts?

More to continue

I tell ya builds are funny. To me it is more about what you need and a little about what you want. What I am getting at is I don't know a guy on this earth that doesn't want a 1000 HP fire breathing big block but is it realistic? No its not. What I suggest is look at what your trying to achieve.

Understand the full function of a motor and how it does what it does really helps. (not saying you don't but using you as an example) If you understand a motor rating is a huge first step. Like horse power everyone will tell you I need more well not really. Big motors don't really produce big HP take the 351m/400 it is a stock 145/172 HP I know sucks doesn't it. What people didn't know is it made 350 ftlbs of torque and almost a flat torque curve. Torque is really going to make your Bronco feel better because torque is what actually moves the truck. Which torque is defined as the work achieved so now we understand torque is what makes your truck feel powerful. What does HP do then right? Well the HP is how fast that torque is achieved.

So to go over this again torque is the work your motor is going to produce and the HP is how the torque will be produced. Now that 172 HP 350 ftlbs 400cid motor feels not so bad but a motor that is 350 hp and 350 ftlbs is going to feel better right?

Research what you plan for your motor. How much power you want? Pick your cam wisely and look at the RPM range they are for. Head I would stay away from aluminum head specially if you plan to get in mud. Don't buy head that flow huge numbers as they will hurt your torque. You need a good balance.

Dale nailed that one right on all i add is again no aluminum head cause inevidably you will overheat your engine off road cast iron takes well to it. Build for torque and low end power. Cam with high lift low duration and advanced timing come alive low small head ports that are smooth create high velocities which suck air into cylinders filling them more efficiently at low end. So high lift low duration cam is what you want.

Thanks you two. Your right I am would love a fire breathing dragon for a motor but I dont need it at all. In hind sight after driving the truck for a week as my DD it doesn't feel to bad. Could use a little more grunt but not much.

I tell you Pat we need to sit and talk at some point. I am thinking something about 300HP with good torque would hook you right up. That is not to crazy and would wake that Bronco right up..

Dale I am game anytime. I still have a full warranty on the motor for now but when thats up and money allows for it I am willing to try it. I do want to try and get it back to a more DD status. Yes my dodge is my main DD for work and what not but I want to keep miles off it so I park it when I get home. I want to use the bronco for around town and short trips. Which it does great at now but like the old saying we always want more.

Well after the motor went in it was time for some offroading goodies.

Sliders.






After that I started playing around with the front bumper.

Warn bumper I got for free.





To continue.....