Hello all, I'm Rusty and I'm new here. I bought an 87 Bronco back in October and I'm in way over my head and need help. The previous owner ran it as a plow truck, so the rear is rusted out from a salt bucket, and in the front, the frame has been broken and welded back on crooked because of the weight of the plow. None of the gauges work except the speedometer and tachometer. The body is full of rust holes, and the 302 in it was torn apart by previous owner and was put back together without any seals or gaskets, so it leaks coolant. The oil pan is also stripped and drips oil out of the plug threads when hot. Any suggestions? Besides sell it
Thanks.

 

Hey, been there. mine didn't run at all and was missing all sorts of vital parts. Congratulations and welcome to the family!. Only advice (besides sell it or use it as a parts truck for your next bronco) is stay vigilant and tackle ONE problem at a time.

 

Thanks! I bought an 88 Bronco as a parts one for mine for $200 thinking that would solve my problems, it solved little ones not frame or leaking or hole issues, but small ones. I'm considering switching the frames, but that would take a lot of time and space I don't have. I would use the 88, but it has been gutted majorly and the body is covered in dents and bondo. The frame on it is clean, and very nice do to a professional undercoating. I'm just not sure what my smartest move would be.

 

Hate to say it but the frame it the backbone of your Bronco so you are probably going to need to use the frame from the 88. It is your call if you swap and fix all the 87 parts onto the 88 frame, or build the 88 with parts from the 87. But it really sounds like to are set up for a two Broncos to make one deal. Good Luck and welcome to FTE!

 

Okay, so lets see pictures of both. Make a list of every usable component you have from both and a list of what is left over that you would still need. body isn't actually that important when compared to frame. as said, frame is #1 so if you have a good frame, you have a viable project. #2 is electrical (decent harness and such) a whole new one would probably run about $1000 so it could be a big problem. After those two everything else can come relatively easily because powertrain and body are much more common and supported projects. Just don't get discouraged and don't let anyone get you down. Even if the project is illogical. All that matters is how much YOU want it. Don't worry about trying to suddenly have your dream rig, it will take a lot of work, but at the end of all that work you will have accomplished much more than if you just bought a really nice one. Besides, half the fun is getting there right?

 

The wiring harness has been chopped on the 87 to somehow make the truck run. The 351w that was originally in it has been replaced with a carbureted 302. The 88's harness is a mess, and all the plastic clips are broken. I was hoping to possibly just "drop" the 87's body, wiring, motor, and trans onto the 88's frame and axles and then weld the 87's floor to eliminate the holes. I'll upload the pictures later of both of them.

 

88 Parts Bronco





88





87 Running

 

What does one do in a situation like this?

 

you sure have a serious project in front of you. Frankly from what i can see i would use the 88. you could easily find a fuel injected 5.0 or 5.8 from a wrecking yard complete from oil pan to upper intake with the harness included. the wiring didnt change from 88-91 on the firewall there.

What trans is in the 87?

 

This sounds like the right choice. you can freshen up everything a bit in the process and have your one decent rig.
Another idea is make do with the 87 for now and work on just body stuff on it while you work on a rolling chassis from the 88 (axles, suspension, frame, transfer case, transmission, and engine) to make it just the way you want and then just pull the improved body off the 87 and put it on that completed chassis from the 88. this way you have no significant downtime on the 87 until you actually pull the body but you still get to do a big rebuild. This is almost the exact thing i am doing with my two broncos pictured in that little avatar pic up there ^
The Black one has good wiring and body but crap drive-train and engine, while the white one is hopeless with body and electrical but engine and drive-train are pretty solid.

 

AOD at the moment, but I'm probably gonna put a C6 in it soon due to slipping and not wanting to go in gear. Also, I just pulled the carpet on the 88 and the floor pan is rusted through in spots too.

 

yea that AOD is probably toast. if they are not setup correctly they dont run for long at all. a C6 would be the easiest to drop in.

good luck with the PROJECT!

 

Eventually I'd like to put a 460 in it and 4:56 gears, which is one reason why I'm getting a C6 to put in as well. After all, who cares about mpg?

 

NO ONE who drives a Bronco.

 

That's what I figured. Anyways, update for the 88. I've gutted it even farther to the point of it being down to bare body and frame. Does anyone know exactly what gauge metal the body's are? I'm thinking around 22 or 24 gauge area