Last month we showed you our recipe for a stroked, 533ci Ford big-block that can be built at home with minimal machining and headaches. This month we'll finish the odds and ends and swing the monster into a late '70s Bronco. We'll point out the details of this simple swap and give you a grocery list of what we used to make it all work.
Although we didn't plan on making any dyno runs, the "cyber-dyno" at Speed-O-Motive tells us the combination should be capable of 454 hp at 4,500 rpm and 551 lb-ft of torque at 3,000 rpm. All we know is that it's a blast to pull the trigger on this beast! Now if we could just teach our right foot that the throttle is no longer hooked to a gutless, 130-horse 400 motor, our driveline would thank us.
Axleshaft Insurance
In an attempt to make our Dana 44 live with the power of the new stroker big-block, we decided to have our chromoly axleshafts beefed at CTM Racing Products ("Axles for Your Grandkids," Oct. '03). CTM installed its U-joints, which are forged, cryogenically frozen, heat-treated units that use full-circle clips and bronze bushings instead of crushable needle bearings. CTM also sent the shafts out to Cryo Science for the same cryogenic freezing process. This deep-freezing forces the molecules in the steel to contract tightly. Once the steel returns to room temperature, the molecules hold to a much more organized alignment, which gives the surface a microscopically smoother surface. The process results in fewer stress risers, which should reduce cracks and breakage.
Will all of this result in an unbreakable axle? Well, for us, terms like "unbreakable" are too close to "unsinkable" and we're not ready to go down with the ship. We're just comfortable knowing we've done all that's possible to build strength into our D44. If we have a problem now it's our right foot's fault. Plus, we've written so many Dana 60 tech articles already, could there be room for another? We'll see ...
As soon as we had buttoned up our long-block, we started adding parts from L&L Products' swap kit 11A. This kit is specifically for late-'70s Ford Broncos and pickups with 351M/400 engines and C6 automatic transmissions, but L&L has many other kits to choose from for your Ford-swapping pleasure. Our kit came with everything necessary to install a big-block, including these special motor mounts with Grade-8 locking bolts and military-spec rubber; a rear sump oil pan, pump, and pickup; alternator and power-steering pump brackets; and a set of exhaust headers. | 
L&L Products offers two different rear sump oil pans. The 10-quart model requires the use of fenderwell-exit headers. We chose to use the 7-quart pan, which allows us to keep the exhaust tucked between the framerails. The L&L kit comes with a high-volume pump, an extended pickup, and the special main bolt that holds the pickup tube. Do yourself a favor and run over to your Ford dealer for a one-piece pan gasket (F5TZ-6710-C). The new-fangled gasket means no more gluing together old-school three-piece gaskets with gobs of RTV, only to spring oil leaks later in spite of your best efforts. |
The real beauty of the L&L Products kits are the accessory brackets that allow everything to hang together. Kit 11A comes with the correct brackets for a small-body alternator. | 
L&L has optional brackets for the large-body one as well. The power-steering pump bracket is also included with the kit and allows for belt-tightening with the pump's threaded rod the original Ford way. |
You may be tempted (as we were) to reuse the pulleys from the old 351M/400 engine you're replacing. Don't! They look right, but the center pilot hole for the water-pump pulley is too small at 12-inch diameter--even worse, none of the belts will line up with the various accessory drives. Use pulleys from a 460 (58-inch pilot hole) or get these nice aluminum ones also from L&L Products. The two-sheave water pump (043842) and the four-sheave crankshaft (043854) pulleys are necessary if you're running the A/C compressor. | 
Another optional accessory bracket (010166) accepts the stock square-type Tecumseh and York air-conditioning compressors. Even if you don't want A/C in your truck, the brackets help if you want to mount an onboard air compressor system. All of the brackets are plate steel and have a nice gold-iridite finish. Best of all is that they are all designed to work together to easily adapt your accessories to a big-block. No time and effort is wasted junkyard diving or cleaning and painting parts only to have belts improperly aligned. |