My next derelict rescue - '69 Bronco

Now that the Capri project is wrapped up and will be collected by the new owner over the weekend, I mentioned at the end of that car's thread (Another derelict rescue - Mk1 Capri 2800 V6)  that the next project had been identified as a 1969 Ford Bronco V8. Here is the Bronco's thread.

I made a verbal deal on the Bronc after seeing it in person last week. Today was the planned completion of the deal. The day did not go as planned.

The seller and the Bronc were about 110 miles away. The trailer I was borrowing is a rather heavy unit, and I was concerned about overstressing my poor old Tacoma in the forcasted 100°F heat today. So I conscripted a friend and his big Duramax Silverado for the trip.

It did not start out well. My friend called a few minutes before he was planning to meet at my place to get me and the trailer, saying the Chevy made an odd noise, threw a CEL and started missing badly. So he was heading back home to plug in his code reader. Fearing something major, I started looking for an alternative, and warned the seller that it was looking like it wasn't going to happen today.

About 45 minutes later, while I was still looking for an available truck, my friend called me to say that the code reader said it was low voltage or open circuit on injector bank B (or something like that). Which did not sound good to me. But then he continued to say that while he did not clear the code, as soon as he read it, the truck began to run normally again. He took it for an errand as a test, all seemed totally normal and the code cleared itself during the drive.

We decided to take a chance on it. We figured (hoped) that if it did OK on the drive across town to my place that maybe it would be OK on the trip. Got to my place, still running fine, so we hooked up the trailer and hit the road, about 2 hours later than planned.

The Chevy ran fine the whole way up. I exchanged cash for signed papers, started the Bronc and drove it on the trailer, tied it down and loaded a whole mess of spare parts into the Bronc and the bed of the Chevy. Not sure how many of the loose parts are any good, but I can determine that later.

Started the trip back home with the Bronc filling the mirror. All going well. We stop at a truck stop where parking with a trailer is easy for lunch. After lunch we found that the freeway on ramp there was closed for road work, and started on a very circuitous detour to try to get back on the freeway. While snaking all over the county (or so it seemed), the next issue popped up. We blew a tire on the dual axle trailer. No spare, and I don't know if the Silverado jack would have been able to lift it anyway. Siri found us a tire store about 7 miles away, so we crept down the shoulder with the flashers on to get to the tire store.

Yes, they had a tire, but when they looked at the hub they pointed out that the borrowed trailer only had 3 of 5 lug nuts on it, because 2 of the studs were badly borked up. They wouldn't put a tire on it with 2 missing nuts. I had no tools with me. While silently cursing the trailer's owner under my breath, and myself as well for not inspecting it closer before hitting the road with it, we agreed with the tire people that the wheel studs would need to be replaced, and then the replacement tire installed.

Of course, there was only an hour left until closing, and there was no way they could finish it today. So the trailer w/Bronco was left in their fenced compound, and they will start on it tomorrow. We completed the trip home w/o trailer. I'm hoping they can get it done by mid-day tomorrow so I can go pick it back up tomorrow afternoon, but it might not be ready in time tomorrow and I'll need to go on Saturday instead.

On the plus side, the Chevy ran fine the whole trip. Hopefully it will do so again on part 2. Here's a couple initial pics...

you found an uncut one!   nice!

specs on it?

plans?

Welcome to the Bronco Owner's Club.

That looks mostly complete (except for the glass), and it's still uncut, which some people prefer. The trailer, though - that just screams sketchy.

I bought my '71 on eBay, back in '01 when they still had a "parts car" category, for $305. Basically a rolling chassis and body tub, no engine, top, or interior. Dragged it out of field in Oklahoma where kids had been using it for target practice. Towed it home on a Uhaul trailer, with a Jeep Cherokee (XJ), that was fun. Nothing broke, but trailer wag got pretty bad a couple of times.

Tub had rust in the usual places - floorpans, rockers, door hinge posts, etc - so I learned how to weld by replacing them...with predictable results. The more rusty metal I removed, the more I found. I just forged ahead, making some of the replacement pieces as I went along. Back then, Broncos hadn't started their steep climb in value, and I started the project really just wanting to get it back together enough to take on trails.

Well, that changed.

Once I had everything apart, I figured I might as well do the best job I could cleaning and rebuilding things, and it started to snowball from there. Sandblasted and powdercoated the frame. Located and rebuilt a 351W, ZF 5 speed trans, Dana 60 rear, and full-width Dana 44 front with GM 8 lug outers. 4 wheel discs. Power brakes, power steering, new springs, longer radius arms. custom steering linkage, twin-stick transfer case, relocated shock mounts, hand-formed stainless brake lines, custom exhaust. etc.

About this time, I started thinking that it didn't seem right to put an old, rusty, beat up, bent body on such a nice chassis, so I invested in a brand new, all steel body. The project had officially blown right past "just good enough for the trails" and was headed full steam for "might as well go all in".

Since the chassis was done, and the body was taken care of, I figured it was time to upgrade the interior a little. Custom dash, Mercedes power leather heated seats, stainless shifters, and more to come - Vintage Air A/C, fuel injection, etc.

Still trying to decide on a paint color - Ford Velocity Blue looks really good, maybe with a white hardtop.

Heck yea!  if I had a shop that nice I'd do a full custom rebuild too!

In reply to wyndscreen :

I started in a normal 2 car garage, that also housed the washer, dryer, water heater, tools, and another project car. I got tired of having to move everything around every time I wanted to work on something (and the wife got mad every time I unplugged the dryer to plug in the air compressor, or welder, so when we moved out a few acres in the country, the shop was the first thing I added. It seemed huge when it was first finished, but filled up amazingly quickly. I've sold off some other projects since then (the '66 912, '66 C10, a few Honda ATV's), both to give me more room and so I can concentrate on the Bronco.

OP, what are your plans for your '69? If it's a survivor, or you going to restore it to factory, or do some mods? The top looks really straight and rust free, usually they rust in the rain gutter and the flanges around the mounting bolt holes above the windshield. I'm looking for top if you're interested in letting that one go...  

Looking at mostly stock appearance, but power steering and disc brakes up front. Possibly EFI and A/C. It has a ways to go before I have to make those decisions.

Top is pretty nice, except for a small glass sunroof in the front section. I plan to weld in a patch there, and keep it.

Today's trip went every bit as smoothly as the previous trip did not. It's home now, and sitting in the garage with a flat tire. Starting tomorrow I'll sort parts and see just what it is that I've bought.

VERY nice.... I love the look of an uncut Bronco...

FYI, technically with Ford back in the day, they were considered station wagons, and the OEM parts were listed with cars and not trucks in the books and microfiche.

Look for the early style front marker lights - they look a lot better than those huge later ones.   The grill behind is the same so they fit into the nice shaped pocket that the large later ones cover up.  There will be two holes that you'll have to fill though should you be so inclined.  Or just leave them. 
 

I'd look at reinforcing the frame around the steering box as well.  But make a decision on what box first as some mount different.  If you have a hard time getting a replacement for what you have and might consider putting a different one in. 
 

I rebuilt everything on ours except for the trans and doing the paint.  
 

I've spent some time this week continuing to assess what I bought. As is always the case, there's some good, and some not-so-good.

I was pretty sure from the initial inspection that I'd want to replace both fenders and the windshield frame, and I've confirmed that now. I'll also need to replace the inner cowl at the base of the windshield, as well as the underhood cowl on the passenger side. The driver's door is rusty and warped, the passenger door might be worth re-skinning, but only if I can repair the welded window frame. If I can't repair that I'll replace both doors.

As I suspected all along (but hoped I was wrong), I'm going to need to rewire the entire truck. Also, it turns out I have no (zero, none) fuel tanks. The originals are both missing, and the spare plastic 8 gallon is cracked.

The rig has a 2-3" suspension lift. No blocks in back, the springs have 5 leaves plus a flat breaker leaf. No body lift. The 2-3" seems pretty good to me, but the rear springs might need to be replaced if I can't get them cleaned up (a lot of surface rust).

The dual exhaust is a bit sketchy, especially at the front where it connects with the headers. Going to need some work there.

Then today, my Marti Report arrived. Color was confirmed as Sky View Blue. Other options were dual tanks, skid plates, hubs, Extra Cooling radiator, AM radio, the the big surprise—Axle code B8J—3.50 limited slip rear with limited slip front! Immediately went out and jacked it up to confirm, and yes it does have limited slip at both ends.

So still happy with my purchase so far. I'm starting to poke around for odds and ends now, things that I know for sure that I'll need.

More to come.

Been a fair amount going on with the Bronc. After flitting around to this bit, and then to that part, I've settled on a couple first goals.

First is to make it mobile. Yes, it would start and run and drive on and off the trailer to get it home, but I wasn't happy with the process. Since it had no gas tanks the PO fed it fuel via a soda bottle wedged in the engine compartment. And because the wiring is a mess and the solenoid was seized, you had to twist a couple of wires together for ignition, and then short across the 2 large terminals on the solenoid, with many accompanying sparks. Sparks and an open bottle of gas in the same engine compartment did not give me warm fuzzies. I now have a temporary toggle inside for ignition, with a push button connected to a new solenoid to crank it over.

It still has no fuel tanks, but a new rear tank kit is on its way now, should be here tomorrow. That will take care of all the safety issues in starting the engine so that I can move it.

Also looking for an appropriate set of wheels and tires for it, since the rear tires are 17 years old, and fronts are over 20. And the LF doesn't hold air very long, either. I've got a line on something local I think would be good, but the seller seems to have ghosted me so far.

Second goal is to get the body solid and ready for final body and paint work. I want to get that out of the way early this time.

Parts - The first parts to arrive were the least needed, as I snagged a set of close-out Toyota H4 headlights at a killer price. Opened the box, checked them out, and packed them back up, as I won't be ready for those for a long while yet. Tomorrow should bring the new fuel tank, plus a first batch of replacement sheet metal—floor pans and windshield cowl mount. Also expecting a new HEI distributor and transfer case shift lever and floor indicator in the next day or two. These were another crime of opportunity, not really needed just yet.

I've started removing parts so I can get to the rusty areas. Going to have to get a fresh tank of gas for the MIG soon...

More parts have arrived, mostly sheet metal. I also gave up on trying to find and buy a good set of used wheels locally, bit the bullet and ordered a new set. They should arrive late this week, and I'll look into new tires for them next week. Probably won't get to the rust repair until next week either, as I have some non-Bronco things on tap for the rest of this week.

Found some time today to start initial work with a new spot weld cutter, beginning with the passenger side floor (both front and back halves). I'm going to need a better center punch before I get too deep into this.

New wheels have arrived, and tires are scheduled to be mounted mid-week. Way earlier than I need, but since one won't hold air and several have cracks deep enough to show cords, I figure I'd better just do them now.

I'd suggest doing the paint last. I waited nearly to the end and still found things that I had to adjust (cut, weld, test fit, etc) that were either difficult or impossible to do without messing up the paint. 

jfryjfry said:

I'd suggest doing the paint last. I waited nearly to the end and still found things that I had to adjust (cut, weld, test fit, etc) that were either difficult or impossible to do without messing up the paint. 

I suppose. But this is not my first restoration, more like my 8th or so. Over the years I've figured out an order of operations that works for me. Might not be right for everyone, of course.

Cool project, rust repair is just miserable. I commend your gusto to tackle rust like that

Spent 90 minutes or so on the rusty floors, starting with the passenger rear half. Got it out, and found that what's underneath isn't too bad. In addition to the new repair panel for this section, I'll need to fab up a couple of simple patches. Also will need to build something to replace the captive nuts for the seat bracket. Other than that, about what I expected. Will start on the front half of this side tomorrow.

How are you treating the inside of everything before you cover it all back up?

Norma66-Brent said:

How are you treating the inside of everything before you cover it all back up?

Wire brush and such to clean the dirt and loose rust, followed by acid-etch and primer (weld-through where needed). Lots to do before new panels are welded in.

I finished removing the passenger floor this afternoon. Pretty happy with what I found underneath, for the most part. A lot of good, solid metal, especially the forward crossmember where the body mount is. Just 2 or 3 small repair patches needed. Next step will be trimming and fitting the new pans, then I'll patch, clean and prep for welding.

Then I'll need to do it again for the driver's side, and finally on to the big part—the cowl and windshield parts.

Floor test fitting is complete. And the rusted body mount under the floor pan has been tediously cut out. Next will be to cut out the next body mount in line, then start to fabricate and install the few repairs needed. After all that, I can start welding it all together.

Passenger floor is all done, save the seam sealer which will be done after the driver's side is finished so I can do it all at once. Very solid feeling, should be good for many more decades.
 

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this.

Driver's floor and firewall replaced. Followed by the inner and outer cowls, and finally the new windshield frame. Also hung the new door on the driver's side. Starting to look a bit more like a Bronco, not a Landie Lightweight.