Bronco Project
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,072
Likes: 3
From: tulsa
Bronco Project
So I finally moved the bronco over to the shop to finally start on the project. Here is how it looks on day one. I have a family cage, tilt column, and power steering kit on the way. Monday we will start body work and tear down of whats left.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,072
Likes: 3
From: tulsa
The family cage goes from the dash to the tailgate. The original roll bar was just behind the front seats and does you no good if you are running a soft top and you happen to put it on the lid. This bronco will probly never see the dirt again but the customer wants the look.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,072
Likes: 3
From: tulsa
I have made a little progress on the bronco, the past couple weeks.
Welded the body seams shut for a smooth clean look.
Added some metal to the fender seam so it would match the door and bed cap.
The drivers door did not fit the opening because the work the previous owner was not correct, had to cut the A pillar out move it up and towards the front.
Had to put in lots of various patch panels to fix rusted areas all over the place. Most were small, this is one of the larger areas that had to be cut out.
Welded the body seams shut for a smooth clean look.
Added some metal to the fender seam so it would match the door and bed cap.
The drivers door did not fit the opening because the work the previous owner was not correct, had to cut the A pillar out move it up and towards the front.
Had to put in lots of various patch panels to fix rusted areas all over the place. Most were small, this is one of the larger areas that had to be cut out.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 32,875
Likes: 48
From: Northeast, OK
I have made a little progress on the bronco, the past couple weeks.
Welded the body seams shut for a smooth clean look.
Added some metal to the fender seam so it would match the door and bed cap.
The drivers door did not fit the opening because the work the previous owner was not correct, had to cut the A pillar out move it up and towards the front.
Had to put in lots of various patch panels to fix rusted areas all over the place. Most were small, this is one of the larger areas that had to be cut out.
Welded the body seams shut for a smooth clean look.
Added some metal to the fender seam so it would match the door and bed cap.
The drivers door did not fit the opening because the work the previous owner was not correct, had to cut the A pillar out move it up and towards the front.
Had to put in lots of various patch panels to fix rusted areas all over the place. Most were small, this is one of the larger areas that had to be cut out.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,072
Likes: 3
From: tulsa
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,521
Likes: 16
From: Lost
looking good so far!
I might have to hit you up for a bit of assistance when I start the wheel arch repairs on dad's truck. Only rust on the truck, and it was "patched" about 20 years ago. Needless to say, it has started showing back up.
Silly question, but do you have "stud gun" and puller? Got a couple things that are going to require using one, and just haven't got around to buying the $100 home version from HF.
I might have to hit you up for a bit of assistance when I start the wheel arch repairs on dad's truck. Only rust on the truck, and it was "patched" about 20 years ago. Needless to say, it has started showing back up.
Silly question, but do you have "stud gun" and puller? Got a couple things that are going to require using one, and just haven't got around to buying the $100 home version from HF.
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Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,072
Likes: 3
From: tulsa
I don't have a stud gun yet, we have been looking for a good used one to buy. Justin, my business partner works in a body shop and he comes across them, he just hasn't found one yet. I'm shure I could help out, patch panels can be had for most of the trucks now.
Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,521
Likes: 16
From: Lost
Yeah, the "pro" quality stud guns are rather pricey, but Harbor Freight has a gun, studs and slide hammer combo for $100 (when it's not on back-order). It's a cheapy, but it is more than capable of doing what I currently need. About 3 years ago, some idiot scraped their bumper along the rear quarter panel on my RX7, from just behind the door to almost the rear of the wheel arch. It left about a 1/4-1/2" deep scrape, and there is no way to get to the backside due to double wall construction. The arch was bent in about 1.5" originally, but I used a slide hammer with a hook on it to pull that part back out. Had to do that in the parking lot where the incident occured, or I would have cut the heck out of the new tire I had put on 2 days earlier...... (lowered car, wide tires)
Of course, no witnesses or note, and no vehicle within 50 feet when I came out and saw it.
Of course, no witnesses or note, and no vehicle within 50 feet when I came out and saw it.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,072
Likes: 3
From: tulsa
we have made a little progress this week and have gone backwards some too. After getting the body lift off the owner came by and said its still too big, so we are taking the 5.5" lift off and going with a 3.5" lift. So if anybody wants a 5.5" lift hit me up. I also will have some 35" tires and wheels for sale too. I brought the next restoration over to the shop to remove the hard top and install on the current project. The red and white bronco will get a soft top.
I rebuilt the factory hinges, Too bad the pin supplied was about .005" too big. So I chucked the pins in the drill and turned them down to .001 bigger than the hole to make sure there was no play.
The drivers door still did not fit after removing the A pillar so we removed the rocker, tearing it up in the process so had to order a new one.
The top installed helped line the doors up, drivers side door is now on just don't have a picture yet.
I picked up a set of seats for almost nothing, they will be re done to match the interior. I needed them to make fit the roll cage around.
I rebuilt the factory hinges, Too bad the pin supplied was about .005" too big. So I chucked the pins in the drill and turned them down to .001 bigger than the hole to make sure there was no play.
The drivers door still did not fit after removing the A pillar so we removed the rocker, tearing it up in the process so had to order a new one.
The top installed helped line the doors up, drivers side door is now on just don't have a picture yet.
I picked up a set of seats for almost nothing, they will be re done to match the interior. I needed them to make fit the roll cage around.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 32,875
Likes: 48
From: Northeast, OK
I'm guessing that's the nature of doing work for someone else - they know what they want but don't always communicate it well. So, when they see what you've done they realize that's not what they wanted. Hope you are getting paid by the hour.
But, I sure like the project post. Keep it up!
But, I sure like the project post. Keep it up!
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,072
Likes: 3
From: tulsa
Made some good progress this week, would have been better but delayed by not enough parts to work with.
This is how it sits at the moment.
Started fabing up the cage. the top will be removed for final welding.
The cage had interference with the glove box door opening so we switched the glove box with the front speaker to allow full access to the glove box. Also welded up where some one had hacked a cd player into the dash at some point. New cd player will go into the center console.
This is how it sits at the moment.
Started fabing up the cage. the top will be removed for final welding.
The cage had interference with the glove box door opening so we switched the glove box with the front speaker to allow full access to the glove box. Also welded up where some one had hacked a cd player into the dash at some point. New cd player will go into the center console.