Thanks Gary. The paint is Dupli Color satin black. Dad has it in the engine bay in his '69 Firebird and the appraiser said it's the closest to OEM satin black that he'd seen yet.
That compressor has a lot of hours on it that's for sure. By far the best investment Dad put into the shop. Just makes life so much easier.

What's your input on installing a windshield? The old adhesive is all cleaned off and the windshield frame is primed ready to go. Do I just goop the frame up good with a quality windshield adhesive, space the bottom of the glass (I understand beer caps work just about perfect) and set it in place nice and even? Dad and I have never replaced a windshield before but I imagine we could handle it. Any tips?

 

I really don't have input on installing a windshield as I've not done it. Yet. I have one that I need to put in Rusty, but haven't tried.

 

The interior looks great. I too am curious about installing windshields. Are you planning on painting to top white to match the body, blue to match the interior or one of each color? (If both broncos you had, came with tops.)

 

Thanks! I'll read up a bit on them, I'm sure people have put windshields in on their own before. I hate sending anything out to get done unless there's no way I can do it myself.
They both came with tops, the '82s was actually sanded smooth and clear coated which looks pretty slick. I've been tossing around the idea of two tone, if I do it'll be white and light blue but I haven't quite decided on what borders I like the most.

 

Read through this build thread before/after work and I'm quite impresses especially with the custom made patch panels. The one on the rear quarter was a work of art!

I do remember reading a thread someone had on proper install technique for a windshield. It was either on a F-series or a Bronco, don't really remember, but I'll see if I can dig it up.

Lastly I have a question, what kind of welder are you using?

 

Thanks a lot! There's a lot of time went into that quarter. If you find that windshield thread I'd love to see it.
The welder is a Lincoln 180 Mig Pak.

 

Couple more small updates. Turns out the stock alternator for the '85 won't work with my non-AC harness. It has a square plug, my harness does not. So I found me an alternative alternator Here's what happens when you find yourself with a little extra time and beers.



Rattle can rebuild



Decided to paint the insides of the fenders to match the exterior color. Used a single stage mixed up in an aerosol can. It matches perfect and it's a cheap and easy alternative for mixing and using a paint gun. It really does work awesome!



Since I don't do drum brakes very often, it was obviously frustrating. I threw a hammer, and a tantrum but I got them done.



I wish I had taken a picture of this hitch before.. Since I'm on a tight budget and I figured there'd be enough hitches around for older Fords that buying a new one should in no way be necessary I was hoping to find a decent one good and cheap or maybe free. No such luck for a bolt on ready hitch. I fished this one out of a scrap dumpster for free at a buddy's place and took it home. I knew it would fit because it came off of a '77 F150. But it was rough, both brackets were bent in so bad they were almost touching, it looked like a D8 Caterpillar ran it over. They unbolt so a buddy of mine offered to straighten them in a press where he works. When he brought them back to me they were perfectly straight and he brought all grade 8 hardware for it too. He said his boss donated them to the cause Did it all as a favour so total $ invested - Zero. A little time and some satin black this is it.



Then stuffed on the front sheetmetal and rad saddle. In the meantime I stuck a seat in it - definitely going to need a step. It feels like sitting in a Peterbilt compared to anything else in the driveway. Still have to bleed the brakes, run the fuel system and put the rad/coolant in. Then it should be moving under it's own power. That's going to be quite a feeling. Probably got some hardcore wheelers sneering at it already. It's not a mall crawler, but it's not a wheeler either. Just a nice daily driver that I can do some stupid things with off road

 

Wow, Brad, that's coming together. The hitch looks excellent, as do the fenders. Good job!

 

Thanks Gary. I have some better pictures from Dad's camera that I will upload later today.

 

Here's a pic of the exhaust. When I swapped this engine out for the stroker in the Flareside I kept the headers and H pipe. Seems to fit well, it's just hung there right now. The mufflers are Thrush welded, look JUST like a Flowmaster 40. I figured for the difference in price it was worth a try, Then the "tailpipes" are just 45s with a 3 inch tip. Needs a hanger after the muffler and it'll be nicely out of sight. Should make a bit of noise I'd imagine.





These 33s look pretty cool on it with the extra fender clearance but they're dry rotted from sitting so long. Since it'll need new tires anyway I'm thinking about 35" BFG Mud Terrains.

 

Nice job. Anyone sneers at it tell em to suck your d........ well you get the meaning.

 

Nice work so far. Those 33's look tiny. 35's would look good on there.

 

Thanks, I figure if I'm buying tires I might as well get 35s. There's room for 37s I'm sure but I don't think I'll bother going that big. 35s would fit It nicely. I've heard the Mud Terrains don't wear too fast and they work good off the pavement.


Thanks! Haha yeah that's pretty much the attitude I have with anything I do. If I wanna go wheeling, I take the fourwheeler

 

I like the thrush mufflers, I have one on my '96 dual in/out and it has some down low grunt, but i'm not as happy as when I had my single in dual out Flowmaster 10.

 

Sweet! That's what I'm hoping for, nothing too noisy just a nice bark when I want it to. I thought about the Super 10s for a long time. If I was running pipes out the back I likely would have put them on but noisy exhaust right behind your ear makes for reeeeeeally long trips sometimes haha. I've sold lots of them at the store, they sound awesome. I may end up putting a pair on the Flareside at some point