Ugliest Bronco ever? - aka Jeep FC-170

[pippinmader]

Does it count as a bronco if I use bronco parts? Ended up with a 1964 (or maybe 1965) jeep FC-170. And bought a second cab for it with the idea of putting two together and making a 4-door. I might have been a little optimistic about how hard that would be.

I think the orange one was a government vehicles - it looks like it was forest service green originally and then painted Oregon DOT orange after. The green cab was originally red and was likely a fire truck, later it was painted OD and has a McLellan AFB sticker.

Anyway - this FC has:

• A dana 53 rear axle with 4.88 stock gears that is complete
• A dana 44 front closed knuckle that is missing gears and maybe some of the brake parts?
• Transfer case may have been a dana 18, or may have been a 20. I got a dana 20 from a Wagoneer with it.
• The engine is a "super hurricane" flathead straight 6. It is actually a continental build engine which was used in some other jeeps, some dodges, and come commercial applications like welders and combines.
  • The engine is fairly complete, it turns over buy is missing the starter, points, condenser, plug wires etc. Also it doesn't even come with an oil filter!
• Missing the bed - anyone have a jeep truck bed layout around?

Next - what should I do with it? Leave it stock and dump money into it and see if I can get it running? Go crazy with engine swap and chassis swap to something much newer?

[PhantomEB]

Cab swap onto something newer. Maybe a Van chassis? Bronco drivetrain. Flatdeck it!

[Lars]

LS motor. Go crazy.

[PhantomEB]

LS motor. Go crazy.

Better yet Coyote power. Especially if you can get a 6.2…

[crawlin68]

Engine swap to V8 for sure. A chassis swap might make everything easier. Then all you need t do is make some cab mounts to mount the cab to the new chassis. Putting the two cabs together to make a crew cab would awesome!

[pippinmader]

Ok, I agree, update to something newer with more power!

Options that come to mind are:

• 2001 explorer 5.0 engine with a superduty or 1970s f150 chassis - I have the explorer already, and the engine is nice and small to fit "inside the cab" of the fairly small FC.
• Ford ecoboost - A friend of mine wants me to put it on a f-150 chassis with a 3.5 ecoboost (maybe a wrecked raptor!) but those are probably expensive.
• Chevy LS and chassis - I did also consider looking for a escalade with aluminum 6.2 LS - but I am more of a Ford guy.
• Super duty 6.2 - I was on Facebook marketplace the other day and a guy has a 2011 f-250 6.2 gas truck that he wants $2500 for the whole thing. It has a lot of front end damage and he says it is high mileage, but it runs and has a title so that might be a good option? Would a OHC engine fit? Cutting down the frame would be fairly easy and it has all the hardware (fuel tank, steering etc). I don't need anymore junk vehicles at the house!

What do you think?

[CityHick]

I don't know much about the FC chassis, but I tend to think that with regards to bang for the buck that a modern chassis swap would be your best bet. You could end up with a complete factory engineered suspension, modern axles, maybe even antilock brakes and fancy traction control etc.

An ecoboost could be fun, I like the 3.5 ecoboost in my 2016 F150 a lot. An LS is tempting because well.. they're everywhere and there's tons of aftermarket support (though I am sure a coyote or a dodge hemi could be equally fun)

[Lars]

All of those options sound interesting and fun. The one thing I'll note is: size matters. The FC is damn small. If you go modern V-8 (or possibly Ecoboost V-6) you'll eat up a lot of cab room because of the wide engine. There's a reason that boutique car manufacturers, including the likes of Sunbeam (Tiger) used small block Fords. Because they are small. But I agree on the modern chassis thing. My first truck was a 1948 Willys pickup. Stuffed a 283 Chevy in it. The engine fit ok eventually but the frame, suspension, axles, were primitive even by the standards of the day. I wound up swapping in the drivetrain from an early 60's 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4 truck, but even so it was still scary.