SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/555623
Fame (ORMHOF) in 2000, Pike knew the championship Bronco should live out its golden years in greater public view and donated it to the ORMHOF museum in Reno, Nevada. When Mike Pearlman, son of NORRA founder Ed Pearlman, reintroduced the Mexican 1000 as a four-day vintage rally, thoughts giving the Bronco a second chance at life on the track began to flow through Hall's gray matter. After four years of contemplation, Hall slipped the Bronco out of the museum and sent it to Samco Fabrication for a full restoration. Rather than carving body panels and torching the frame to allow for modern-day wonders such as bypass shocks, Hall told Samco, "Bring it back to how it was when I raced it in 1969. Above all it needs to be reliable; we have to first finish to finish first." From the Frame Up Project manager Alex Baker drafted a list of products that would survive the severities of a 1,300-mile desert race, and began stripping the Bronco down to its frame. His first call was to Ford Performance for a 347ci sealed crate motor, which was capped with a Holley 650CFM Ultra XP carburetor and old-school K&N air filter. A Carter fuel pump and MSD 6 ignition would bring it to life, and exhaust gases would be routed through Hedman headers that were coupled to a custom bent exhaust fitted with Flowmaster mufflers. A Milodon 4WD oil pan was installed to allow for up travel of the front axle, and a Griffin four-core radiator would manage cooling duties. Legendary transmission builder Steve Culhane worked over the Ford C4 slush box and added a Performance Automatic 2800 stall torque converter. Bayshore Truck rebuilt the Dana 20 transfer case and drivelines, which feed power to the original Ford 9-inch rear (which was bent) and Dana 44 front axles. After Samco performed THE BRONCO IS POWERED BY A FORD 347CI CRATE MOTOR, AND IS FED WITH A HOLLEY 650CFM ULTRA XP CARBURETOR. 048 SCORE JOURNAL