I've been trying to figure what I need in a new carburetor for my Bronco and have been struck dumb-founded by the multitude of possibilities in make, and size. Okay, so what the heck do I need? Well, out of the blue the other day my Dad calls, he was reading in Hot Rod magazine about doing just that.

My Dad, being a Corvette guy (I think he's had close to six of them over the years now - in fact he has two right now), was at his mechanics a while back, and was looking at the carb on his vette. With a few quick keystrokes it came up that his carb was bigger than what is needed. Fast forward to this week, he comes across an article that gives him this equation:

(cubic inches) x Max RPM (shift point) / 3,456

Pretty straight forward. Using the cu. in. of your block, in my case 302. Then you take your max RPMs at your shift point and multiply it by the cu. in. of your block. This is sort of the tricky one, if your engine can red line at 7,000 RPMs but the best place to shift is at 5,500 RPMs, then use 5,500. I can't find a good calculator or chart for this, but it's safe to assume that for my application 5,000 - 5,500 is a good point.

The take your total of those two numbers; 1,661,000 and divide it by 3,456. And I get 480 for the CFM of my engine. Viola! Now, I have no idea what the significance of the 3,456 is - so don't ask. I tried to find and couldn't. The next time I am at the mechanics I will ask him if he knows.

I could easily get a 500 or 550 CFM carb and be good to go, and this would still give me an acceptable carb for a 350 if I wanted to step up to a larger engine - which I will most likely not do. It's a Bronco, not a Mustang after all.

Here's a little calculator for figuring out what your carburetor CFM should be; have fun!

A couple of weeks ago I ordered some new door latches for the Bronco expecting to be able to remove the old ones and simply drop in the new ones. I couldn't have been farther from the truth.

At first glance I could tell they were not the same, and they had been ground down in order to fit in the allotted space within the door, so I set upon the path to get this project on its way. I pulled the old ones out and struggled quite a while with getting the latch & lock rods out of their little clips. After I removed the door assembly I cleaned and straightened the rods, and screwed the new latch into place. I set the rods into place and made the mistake of clipping them onto the latch. First mistake.

The latch didn't work at all. It wouldn't close and latch. The lock wouldn't push the lever in place to lock it. It just flat out didn't fit. Time to break out the grinder. I spent probably about a half hour between the die grinder and the Dremel getting the surfaces ground down to stop hitting the door skin. Finally that fixed the locking problem and the interior door latch, but the exterior latch wouldn't work; and what's more, it wouldn't stay latched with that rod attached. After messing about with the door latch, I figured I had to make a new rod that was longer.

Not knowing what the hardware store was going to be able to supply me with, I figured I might be able to use some braided cable instead - but they had steel rod stock - so I bought some of each. After I bent a new rod, it became clear that this was the easiest way to get the latch to work. The cable was a good idea, but after I pulled out the anvil/vice, it was simple enough to bend a rod, and clean it up.

This still seems like a lot of work just for a single door latch. I still can't get the striker post off, and have yet to even attempt to do the passenger side.

It's been so long since I have had an old car to work on regularly, I have obviously forgotten how much effort has to go into the simplest of things some times. I think I am going to get one of the those small Butane torches from Sears to help get some of the bolts off.

I think for the passenger side I will take some photos of the steps and post them after I am done.

Donovan and I decided to take a walk down by the raging Tuna (Tunungwant) this afternoon after dinner, and actually ended up walking about 2 miles or so. There is a trail that goes between Bolivar Ave and Tuna Crossing (where they finally rebuilt the bridge after 5 + years of it being closed), and since Donovan is completely in awe of this new bridge we had to go all the way down from one end to the other. Which brings us to the title.

The first thing we drift past was the Sewage Treatment plant, or as Donovan called it - The Bradford Poop Factory. It was in full swing today too, and it did indeed have the smell of churning poo. Mike Rowe would be proud. Donovan was also fascinated by the corkscrew type machine churning the water up an incline, the name of which escapes me. The best part about this facility is the two football field size plot of land right next to it. What a great piece of property - if only I had a lawn that nice, large and level.

Continuing on our journey we came across some really old oil well machinery, apparently still in use, mass amount of duck, birds and other various wetland creatures. On the way back, we stopped down by a really "cute baby river", and commenced chunkin' rocks into the Tuna.

First thing we both noticed was rock pocking up that looked like a face, and right away it dawned on me that it looked like a sock puppet. Kinda funny. With so many rocks to throw the interest in this rock faded fast. We probably did that for another 20 minutes, and I built a small cairn in the baby creek. Since, if I see flat rocks, I have to pile them up. Well, either that or huck them into some random body of water.

As Donovan wanted a snack and a drive across the new bridge we got the hitch out of our giddy-up and made like a couple of trees.

We were making good time, even with the path hogs that decided we were so thin we must get out of their lumbering paths of doom - until the small hordes of really small frogs descended onto the path. Man are they small! I have no idea what kind of frog they are, but small indeed. the picture is of Donovan's hand. I tried convincing him that the best way to keep one was with a picture, but he didn't buy into that line of thinking - so now we have two baby frogs keeping his lizard happy on the porch.

It was a good walk, and I was surprised Donovan didn't start squeaking by the end of it. At least this went well, because everything else I did today was a complete bust.

I tried getting the new door latches on the Bronco, and either they sent me the wrong ones, or they just flat out don't fit for whatever reason - because they don't work. they are wider, and the outside latch will not function with them in place. I did manage to get the hardtop off with John and Litsa's help yesterday, and will get the soft top on this week - and hopefully figure out how to get the reverse light switch mounted, figure out why the passenger side tail light is not working right, figure out what the deal is with the damned door latches I have, and various other things in order to get it back on the road soon.

At least it's running well, and the top is in good shape.

Ya know, when I bought the damned thing it ran fine - made it all the way home from Philly with no problem - it was a long drive mind you - but we made it. Thanks to Jcal for driving the Jetta home.

Any way, so I start pissing around with the little stuff to get going, the doors and weatherstripping leak in some places, the bolts are stripped and/or rusty, I wanted to put the stock seats back in, etc.... Not to mention the bits that it needs to pass PA inspection - the steering had too much play, I need at least 2 new tires, the stinkin reverse light switch busted; that's about it really.

Hi ho, hi ho... off to work I go....

A few weekends ago, I yanked the water pump to put a new one on, and check the bolts on the timing chain cover. Everything was fine until I reinstalled the water pump and the last bolt sheared! GAH! %$##! I didn't even put a lot of pressure on it. So now I have to strip it down to the timing chain, and remove and reseal all of it, and get the busted bolt out. Luckily the bolt was sticking out about 1/2 inch from the block. Now I have the timing chain cover back on, cleaned and sealed, fresh paint on the harmonic dampener, and lower pulley.

With that all sealed up and cured, I can get to the water pump next. I have the ever popular Ford Blue on it as well, and a new Flex Fan to go where the super freaking heavy stock fan was.

Uncle Bob, Stay off my truck!

I also ran into a total Uncle Bobbed repair/adjustment on my Oil Pan. Some dodo decided to slop a bunch of crap all in the low oil tube, rather than buy the plug - so it looks like there is a bunch of brass slapped to the inside and outside. Looks like total crap. I started looking about for a new oil pan, and OMFG! They are expensive. Come to find out EB's need a dual sump pan, and they range from $80 to $225 depending on what you get. Needless to say, with a fresh coat of paint - I am happy with my crap-tastic pan. It doesn't leak - so I will replace it some other time.

I finally reinstalled the stock front seats, leaving me close to the point of buying new tires for it. I really want to get it legal and on the road this summer, so I can get the soft top on it, and tool around with Ding & Dong in the Bronco - they enjoy it as much as I do, especially since they can both ride up front: no airbags in the 60's - well, at least the kind you find in the dash of a truck.

I bought some hydraulic hood lifts from Tom's Bronco Parts in Oregon, and they are awesome! So long to the 2x4 holding up the hood on this baby! I also bought some hood pins as well as a complete weatherstrip kit, and some new door latches and posts.

What's next

I really need to get some new seat belts, a reverse light switch, new tires, the weatherstripping installed... what else? I want to get some body grommets to plug some extra holes, but I might just use some sheet rubber and 3M adhesive, then place the sound deadening/insulation down over it. I also have to get the cushion foam for the rear seat so I can get it back together and installed.

Eventually I want to get a new distributor, electronic ignition, replace the wiring harness, sweet set of 18" rims on it, new paint, good stereo, new dash and guages, carpet, the list is endless.... But that's why it's a project.

I've been slowly tearin into the Bronco, and going after some of the small stuff that doesn't cost much to fix, so I thought I would plop up a couple of shots before it is changed too much. So far I have removed the front seats, moved a couple of switches, replaced the oil pressure and temp sending units and yanked out the auxillary fuel cell.

It's still pretty stock, all things considered. It has an updated engine from a 78 Ford F-150 - up from a 289 to a 302.

I've budgeted myself to $100 bucks a month or less, and I have almost hit my mark already for October. Bought some wire and more stainless screws today - now I have to figure out how to get the lid off and hang it in the garage.....

As a side note, I added a category in delicious for my Bronco links, check it out.

It's 11:45. I've been on the road for almost 13 hours, and I'm tired.

But the Bronco is home!