I have decided to make a build thread for my 85 bronco. I bought it last year, and the previous owners brother swapped in a 460 from a 72 Lincoln, put a 3 inch boy lift in, and mounted 35x12.5x15 BF Goodrich All Terrains on it.



My buddy was building a 454 for his 78 chevy mud truck, so I started looking for a 460 to one up him a little bit, I came across this bronco on craigslist in May.



I had put my truck up for sale in March, but had no offers on it, we went and looked at it in June







It had crappy seat covers, no radio, and duct tape over speaker holes cut in the doors. There was no back seat, it had plywood on the sides, and there was house carpet on the back floor. It hadn't been registered since he got it, but it was loud and fast, and I wanted it! We talked to the guy, and said we would buy it, but I had to sell my truck first. He took the ad down, and I mailed him $250 as a down payment. 5 months later..... I finally sold my truck.Then I went and picked up the Bronco.

 

Sounds like the PO of the bronco did not care one bit for looks. Can't wait to see what you've done to it though.

 

When I got it, the owner told me a little about its past. The original owner was in the army, and brought it over to Germany in 1991. There are 2 stickers on the windshield to prove it.
He also gave me a stack of receipts for about $10,000 that his brother spent on the truck. He said that his brother drove it 30 minutes to work everyday until the price of gas went up, then he brought it to the farm where I got it. According to the receipts, he got it around 1999, and worked on it until 2001. He then drove it until 2003, which is when the tabs on the plates I got expired. I was told it was driven around the farm until the electric fuel pump went out. he put a mechanical one in before I went and looked at it. From the receipts I have learned that it is a 1972 Lincoln block, it was bored out to 475, there was head work done to it, it has an Edelbrock intake, Comp cam, and had a Holley 830, and a 750 (still has the 750), headers, and MSD ignition.

When I got it home there was a giant Harley sticker and blue paint all over the rear window, and a little triangle sticker above the mirror on the windshield. I immediately scraped those off. The speedo didn't work, the gas gauge wouldn't work below 1/3 of a tank, half of the lights didn't work, there was no radio, the radio bezel was cut up, the wiring was a mess (still is), there was 2 heater fans which wouldn't shut off, the heat control cable was snapped, and the brakes didn't work the best. I started driving it like that until a few problems popped up.

 

Sounds like a farm truck to me.

 

I put a few light bulbs in it and started driving it to school and work everyday. The first thing to go was the defroster fan, which went out during a -20* day. The truck actually has 2 fans, one that is the defroster fan, that always runs on low, unless I disconnect the power, and a fan that works when I put the switch on high, which was connected to the AC vents, but the PO removed the AC during the engine swap, and I have removed the vent hoses.
The new blower motor:

The floor was also really rusty on the drivers side, so I had a friend at the body shop I used to work at replace that, the rocker, and he made a patch for behind the door with an extended cab panel.




The former owner did something to the firewall








its really dirty in this picture

 

Impressive. I'm having rust issues with mine too and it's leading me toward a new body unless I get a better welder. Too bad you're just a little to far over it'd be nice to see her in real life.

 

The patch panel going in.




rocker clamped in



the parts from Bronco Graveyard


the night I got it back
It took about 2 weeks, and I got it back around midnight, on my 18th Birthday, and was very excited!

 

I bought a woodgrain radio bezel before I did the body work, and I painted it black to kinda match the dash. I got a CB radio and stereo for Christmas, and I got them both working, but I didn't mount the radio, because I wanted to wait until I got the correct bezel.

 

the former woodgrain bezel and CB mounted



Photo via Snapchat

Then in January the brakes started to go, they would drag, and one day after a lot of driving they locked up, so we replaced them. This the only picture I have of that


Me imagining a 6 inch suspension lift

 

Thanks! Here is sneak peak of what I did on Saturday. I will be patching the rust on the drivers side, because i found a patch on Craigslist, and will be getting a new quarter for the passenger side.



at the beach

 

Nice work with the patch panels. I like the 49 Ford too.

 

Thank you! It is my dream car, and I will never sell it, it's a 4 door right now, but I am going to make it a 2 door hardtop custom with airbag suspension and I might drop the 460 from bronco into it.

I forgot to mention my grille and accident earlier. During December, I hit a Cadillac in the parking lot of the gas station where I worked. The parking lot was completely iced over, and there is a small hill going down into the lot. I pulled in going about 15 mph, and could not turn left or right, or stop. He was parked and I hit him, and dented his tailgate and bumper, and shattered his rear window. I bent my bumper, dented the fender, and cracked the headlight bezel.





About a week after I got the truck, the emblem fell off. I really liked the billet grille that LMC sells, and found one on summit racing for $79, compared to LMC at $159. NEVER order anything from summit that is back ordered! I bought the grille in December, and didn't get it until late January. It fit well, and came with hardware to install it. The top of tranny cooler was zip tied to the grille, so I fabbed a bracket with angle iron and bolted it on, the bottom is zip tied to the rock guard, and I still have to figure out how to mount that.

 

I'm liking the grille, not liking the damage though, but we've all been there.

 

It happens, they were rusty anyway, and I've already put the new ones on so it's fine, I'm just waiting on turn signals so I can mount the new headlight bezels.

 

The tires started to separate in march, so I ordered 4 new tires, an extra rim for a spare tire, and a new steering wheel that I haven't gotten mounted yet. My accelerator pump also broke, so I replaced that. I also bought a radio bezel, to replace that crappy wood grain one. I got it from BigGreen350, and installed it. Then in April my starter went out in the pouring rain in front of a dealership where I was applying for a job. Needless to say, I did not get the job. My brake booster also went out, and I had to drive around for a week with manual brakes.





The old brake booster



Removed



New one installed

I had an ad on Craigslist for a while l looking for parts, and someone finally called and offered me some. The guys friend had been restoring a truck, and moved, and left all the parts on his garage. They were brand new for LMC, still in the packaging, and worth about $600! I paid $200, and got a bumper, 2 fenders, rockers, cab corners, a rock guard, a grille, trim, and headlight bezels!







I then got rid of the rusty and bent old bumper, and mounted the new bumper.



Old one coming off



New one mounted