Ten Years of Blood, Sweat and Tears with a 1971 Ford Bronco
Over the course of a decade, neglected Bronco bought as a project is fixed, modified, upgraded, wheeled, broken, and fixed again.
On occasion, a forum post will strike a chord with people and spark a flurry of conversation with hundreds of replies in a short period of time. A post that has true staying power though, one that stays active for weeks or months, that is much rarer. How about one that is still going strong ten years after it was started? That is one in a million.
A forum member that goes by 77&79F250 started a thread about his new project Bronco back when the iPhone 4 was the latest and greatest. Over 400 posts later and the thread “New 71” is still going strong in the Ford Truck Enthusiast forum. What started as a simple introduction to a 1971 Ford Bronco project truck has turned into treasure trove of information related to this generation of Bronco. It is fascinating to read about the journey this vehicle and its owner took over the years.
It all started with a few pictures of the newly acquired rig and a question about the switch for the dual fuel tanks. The truck was heavily modified by previous owners. The original poster began trying to peel back the onion. He wanted to find out exactly what work had been done and how to best move forward with his new toy. Another member, gfw1985 jumped in early with some answers to that first question:
‘Dash switch is gauge only, tank switch is manual. But after all these years and owners, you’ll probably have to trace the fuel lines. I’ve owned four and worked on many more from 66 thru 77 and haven’t seen an electrical tank switch stock, not saying you won’t find one though. It would still be a solenoid style valve where the tank lines meet.’
This was the tip of an exceptionally large iceberg. Most of the first year was focused on the basics to get the Bronco running. Fluids, fasteners, filters, wiring were all addressed. Even the title was sorted out, so everything was legal. Then some of the real fun started. The Bronco was able hit the trails and attend some shows. One show was the 15th Annual 4Wheel Jamboree Nationals in the owners home state. It even got to rub fenders with some other rigs from the Ford Truck Enthusiast community.
As the months and years rolled by the Bronco evolved and the original poster kept us all updated with write ups of the work and a ton of fantastic pictures documenting the work. We get to see all the ups and downs of this truck for 10 years. The project Bronco was used to help pull the roll cage out of another Bronco. It survived a tornado in 2013. 2014 saw a new roll cage being fitted. In 2016, it got some new wheels and tires along with some fender mounted storage boxes. In 2017 the Bronco was treated to some LED lighting. For 2018 the rig got some upgraded skid plate protection. 2019 was spent enjoying some wheeling. This included a rather interesting trail fix when the track bar bracket was torn in half. This year the truck got a new grill, but even more exciting is the owner is building his own off-roading course in his backyard!
This does not even begin to describe everything you will find in this amazing thread. If you want to see bumpers getting replaced, new seats installed, parts getting welded, almost anything you can imagine, you will find it here. Maybe you just want to ogle over some awesome pictures of an old working Bronco, then this has you covered as well. If you are a dirt under your fingernails, get stuff done kind of person, then you can’t miss this thread.
Photos: Ford Truck Enthusiasts forums
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