Okay, I suppose this may be a partial build thread like everyone else has, but its going to be more about my interior now.

I bought my Bronco about 7 years ago, and let me tell you, it was as close to perfect as I could get. it had 101K miles and the guy put a new transmission in at 100k. He just put a 4" lift with 33" bfgs on it too, and it was only 5K (which was a bit cheaper then the other Broncos I saw during that time in this good of shape.)

Anyways, the ONLY real issue I had/have was the interior.... it was an XL, and had super bare-bones everything. I don't mind manual windows because they don't break, but I would like automatic door locks since you can use them as manual, and power mirrors would be nice too.

One of the biggest issues was the rear paneling.. it was just black cardboard stuff.. well now, after some searching and painting, I have finally found some!

Alright enough talking(typing) and here are some pictures. I'll post everything I've done to this point that I have pictures of and plan on posting more!

Here's my crappy stupid looking old beat up paneling:



Here's some paneling I found at a salvage yard in decent shape.. a little dirty though:



After a thorough cleaning with detergent, and grease and wax remover, then some Ace Hardware spray paint:



Here they are in my truck!!




And look at this!!! CUP HOLDERS!! (I still need them up front though..)


Here is a locking glove box. I didn't take pictures before but it was also blue, I painted it with the same paint as the paneling. My rear window key works perfectly for the lock so its pretty handy:




As for some other things I did, I don't have pictures before, but I'll post the after pictures for a better idea.

These bottom carpet pockets for the door panel were found at the same salvage yard a couple months ago. They are on both sides, but I only have this one picture:


Also, here is an overhead console I wired in. I know, its not a Bronco one, its an explorer, but it is very similar, it just doesn't have as many pockets. It works really well but the left hand light overheated and burned out, so I'll have to fix that but one light still works, and the compass and temperature work great:


Also, the first thing I did which I find necessary for a manual transmission, a tachometer!! I followed the writeup I found on this site to get it installed so I have my original odometer. That writeup was how I found this site!


Not necessarily stock.. but pretty good to have anyways:


Alright that's enough posting for now, as I come up with more stuff I'll post it later! Let me know what you guys have done to make your interior better and maybe I'll get some ideas for mine too!

 

An awesome job. The new panels totally transform the interior. Great work. Mine is stock Eddie Bauer interior, and I have only replaced the stock leather seats with cloth ones so far as the leather ones were trashed.

Jim

 

Thanks. Yeah I've really wanted those panels for a long time but a rarely have seen them in salvage yards, and they are always the wrong color so I though I'd try to paint them since I found these ones.

I wish I could have the Eddie Bauer interior.. but that is not something I'll be able to find in salvage yards.. I have a headliner I got from the yard, but its starting to sag and its also blue. I can paint it with fabric spray paint but I'm not sure how I'll fix the sagging yet. It has a rear cargo light that works though so I'm pretty excited about that.

My next thing would be to get new seats. I really want bucket seats so I can get the center console, but those are pretty hard to come by, especially in decent shape.

 

I agree about the seats, I have never seen good seats in a salvage yard. I have kept my leather ones, so when I can afford it, I'll get them redone, along with the rear seat. However, I am loving the cloth ones for now.

Jim

 

Yeah there was one time in a salvage yard I found a beige center console with a passenger side tan seat. They were both in pretty good condition (especially for a salvage yard) but the drivers side seat was messed up.. I almost bought them and then got a blue seat for the drivers side (since there was one in another bronco in decent condition), but figured I'd wait until I find a better set. Now I haven't seen any bucket seats at all that are worth taking, and no center consoles either...

My cloth bench seats are okay, but I'm starting to get to big rips on the front seat. I really dislike having no extra storage in the front and no cup holders. Plus the seat isn't as adjustable being a bench seat, which is frustrating. I would really like to get some stock leather seats because I think they look the best, but I think if I ever wanted that I'd have to spend 1K.. so I may stick to finding some cloth ones at a yard. I need new seats soon though because I'm getting tired of mine fast!

 

I have two center consoles. The one that came in the truck is still in the truck because the folding cloth one that came with the cloth seats needs a bracket to mount to the floor.. I don't have that bracket, so it is in storage. It is the one that folds down and has two cup holders in it, and then folds up for a child or small adult to sit on if needed. I like the center console that is in it right now as it has a lot more storage than the folding one.

I have a lawsuit pending and if we settle out of court in Sept, then I will be ready to get the leather seats redone, and we can work something out on the cloth buckets, and cloth folding center console. However, don't hold your breath, because if we don't settle, the trial isn't until June of next year. I am sure you will find seats and/or a console before then.

Jim

 

Oh, well good luck with the lawsuit. What's it about if you don't mind me asking? And yeah, I would hope I can find seats before June but you never know. I have been kind of looking for the past 2 years, but not really hard at all. I pretty much have just been going to a salvage yard every couple of months or checking Craigslist every so often. I wasn't seriously looking though and now I am especially because my seats are starting to tear.

As of now, once I get this stupid conjunctivitis/illness stuff gone (don't know how I got it because I'm OCD and always stay clean), I'm going to fix the headliner I pulled out of a yard. This should be pretty easy because I'm just going to re upholster it myself. It's a blue fabric with some tears and it's starting to sag, but I'm going to buy some material that is the right color and glue it back on. I found some headliner at Joann's, but its only 54" wide and the headliner is at least 60" wide and long. I may go that route though and make one seam in the most inconspicuous area. I'll throw up some pictures later when I start to work on it. Maybe I'll work on it today because I'm getting bored sleeping all day waiting to get better.

 

Nice job Bubba, it turned out great!.

 

My lawsuit stems from a bike accident, I was crossing a driveway and was hit by mini van. He states it is my fault, I state it is his fault. We will see who wins either in Sept or June.

Jim

 

Thanks Encho! I'm still pretty excited about how it turned out. I'm now working on the rear headliner I bought.

And Nighteyez, I'm pretty sure no matter what, pedestrians have the right of way, especially if you were on a driveway which would probably be connected to a sidewalk (I live on dirt roads on a ranch where there are no sidewalks). So unless you were hiding behind a bush waiting for this guy to back out and then ran out in front of him, I'm pretty sure you have the upper hand.

Anyways, I took some picture of the headliner I pulled from the yard.

Here I pulled off the old, sagging blue cloth and started to scrape off the leftover foam:


Finally after about 1 1/2 hours of scraping, it's ready for the new headliner:


I'm going to go to an upholstery store today and see if they will let me just purchase the headliner myself. If not, I can always go to Joann's and buy the headliner there, it's just that it's only 54" wide, and this headliner is over 60" both directions, so I'll need to make a seam somewhere if I go that route... Plus, the headliner from Joann's would need to be painted also since it's the wrong color and I can't use my 40% off coupon I have there until the 12th. So hopefully I can get some better headliner from an upholstery shop today.

 

Looking good.

Jim

 

Alright.. being too excited to finish, I forgot to take pictures of my interior before the headliner, but I took some while reupholstering it and after!

Here is the new material laid out across the headliner:


You can see how thick it is with the foam backing:


Here are the sides after installation:



I kinda messed up on the back, there are some small creases and I didn't fold the material super tight across the back because I wasn't sure if I would cut, or fold it over, but I think its still pretty good:



Overall, even though I kinda messed up with the back, I think it looks really good and it's much better than having no headliner, and now I have a working cargo light! I think the bulb I picked up from the yard is starting to die, but those are super cheap.

I'm surprised how much quieter driving seems now too. I knew it would quite down some noise, but it muffles the outside sound quite a lot for that one piece.

Now my next project will be to get bucket seats and a center console!!

 

You can work on car interiors if you lose your other job... impressive work!.

 

Why thank you Encho! Just in the past few weeks, adding those panels and headliner has made a tremendous difference in the interior of my truck, and with all the supplies and parts, I spent about $150. I think that's a pretty good deal for the shape its in now!

 

Looks great! If mine ever rips or comes off, I know who to go to for a repair

Jim