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Many of you asked if I did another one to do a running blog on it as well.
In May of 2018, while I was doing the F250, a very good friend of mine sold me a 1979 Bronco Freewheeling with some pretty cool options, and most importantly the body and frame are free of rust. I finally have it home now and am in the process of determining the scope of the resto. I want to put it back to being equipped exactly how the Marti Report I have for it states, to which end I acquired a set of 10 hole factory wheels and put L78-15 equivalent tires on it so it would fit in my garage and be correct.
I'm thinking of leaving the original exterior paint alone, restore the interior back to as new condition, and clean up the engine compartment. Mechanically replace all brake components (including lines) reseal the diffs, new shocks/damper and replace any worn out bushings. Change out all fuel lines and pump, new water pump and get radiator rodded, and do the detail work I normally do. Will replace grille, grille shell, and headlamp bezels. A/C compressor is missing as well as expansion valves and the lines - might leave that for later.
Will ll have a ton of questions on Bronco specific things that weren't on the truck I did. I am sure most if you will laugh your asses of about them
First things first - got to fix stuck tailgate window.
In addition to getting the 10 hole wheels and tires on it, and yesterday cleaning it out, today I thought I'd get started on the most troublesome non operational part of the truck - the tailgate assembly. Motor would not turn, glass is off the tracks so the tailgate could not come down. First removed inside access cover. It was held on by a variety of screws meaning this has been off and on a lot of times. One of the glides on the regulator had broken and popped off, that is why the glass was crooked. The inside release handle was fixed at the all the way up position, undoubtedly due to someone trying to force it open. Most of the release rods are bent, the regulator is severely rusted, the original wire connectors to the limiter and motor have been cut and fixed with crap. I'm ptretty sure this is the most messed up part of the truck operationally. Will need to evaporust the regulator for about a week, buy reman lift motor, straighten rods, run them through the factory clip guides, rework the wiring harness and attach them to the harness clips so they don't get caught in the regulator, get two new regulator guides, replace main weatherstripping, and I'd life to change out the tailgate handle - has slightly too much pitting for me. Will evaporate rust all the other fasteners, replace the access cover fasteners with screws that match etc...
Also, is this the original spare tire carrier? It looks like it goes on the inside
In addition to getting the 10 hole wheels and tires on it, and yesterday cleaning it out, today I thought I'd get started on the most troublesome non operational part of the truck - the tailgate assembly. Motor would not turn, glass is off the tracks so the tailgate could not come down. First removed inside access cover. It was held on by a variety of screws meaning this has been off and on a lot of times. One of the glides on the regulator had broken and popped off, that is why the glass was crooked. The inside release handle was fixed at the all the way up position, undoubtedly due to someone trying to force it open. Most of the release rods are bent, the regulator is severely rusted, the original wire connectors to the limiter and motor have been cut and fixed with crap. I'm ptretty sure this is the most messed up part of the truck operationally. Will need to evaporust the regulator for about a week, buy reman lift motor, straighten rods, run them through the factory clip guides, rework the wiring harness and attach them to the harness clips so they don't get caught in the regulator, get two new regulator guides, replace main weatherstripping, and I'd life to change out the tailgate handle - has slightly too much pitting for me. Will evaporate rust all the other fasteners, replace the access cover fasteners with screws that match etc...
Also, is this the original spare tire carrier? It looks like it goes on the inside
IIRC, there should be a part# on the inside of it and maybe a FORD oval logo but can't remember for sure. From the pic it appears to be factory. Here is a factory one:
Began this session by pulling the various rusty original fasteners out of the evaporust and wiping them down. Sprayed Boeshield on them to protect against rust. This little group included regulator mounting, lift motor, side rail attaching, tailgate handle to tailgate, tailgate handle rod, rod boot, window track to window and a couple of others.
Then went to the tailgate itself. Fixed cut harness wires, rewrapped harness, reattached harness to factory clips,
sanded latch rods, vacuumed even more crap out of the inside of the tailgate, removed and discarded tailgate window sweepers and end caps.
Next moved to trying to detail the sides of the bed where the tailgate fits into. Through a combination of very light scrubbing wiping,and hand sanding rusty detail parts I got the LH side looking pretty good. RH shown first for comparison
Also spent some time cleaning the tailgate to bed weatherstripping. It was filthy with a coating of something dirty and greasy on it. Went over it 4X with simple green and a mid bristle strength brush and it looks new.
Unfortunately, though there will be no painting of the exterior of the truck to retain the original paint, the inside of the tailgate and the inside tops of the front doors (where your arm rides if the window is down) is going to have to be painted - they jusy look horrible. So will be ordering all parts necessary to finish rebuilding the tailgate and front doors first. While waiting on parts, will paint these interior surfaces somehow.
Out with the old non functioning stuff added on through the years (4 hours total)
Throuhout it's life the Bronco has had some stuff added onto it that I removed today:
An aftermarket overflow tank with a patched together line hose clamped to the neck nipple
A home grown remote hood release cable
An ancient trailer brake controller that was hooked to absolutely nothing
The gravity feed gas tank that was hooked to the inlet of the fuel pump.
A long red wire that went to what looks like an in line electric fuel pump mounted on the fuel line about mid way back of the truck.
So this truck had a regular mechanical fuel pump that leaked like a sieve from the rigged washer fluid bottle when it was running, and a electric pump mounted in line that was not getting power from anywhere. This will be fun to figure out.
Some good news - it looks as if all the driveshafts have been replaced at one time not too long ago, the differentials aren't leaking except at the pinion seals, and fuel and brake line are all pretty solid and well mounted. I think I can leave them in place and not replace. There is NO rust scaling underneath, all just non pitted surface rust. Track bar bushings are toast as well as rear axle frame snubbers. Tie rods all look good, radius arm bushings OK, but will need new steering damper and all new shocks. Exhaust is rigged with dual glass packs in line after going through the catalytic converter - it is still on there. Exhaust will have to be completely redone back to stock.
Placed my first order with LMC for a bunch of stuff to finish rebuilding the tailgate and door sealing.
Lastly, repainted the side of the tailgate that faces the interior. Not happy at all how it came out - some one had beat on it a lot and the new paint highlights it. Deciding whether to go back and body work it all and repaint. Really don't want to, but it is bugging me. Detailed the RH area of the bed recess where the tailgate sits when closed. Looks much better
Yesterday I thought I'd take a look under the dash to see how much wiring has been jacked with. Well, thankfully there were not a lot of cuts or splices to the original harnesses, but a bunch had been added. This pic below is what I pulled out - none of it doing anything, and mostly from various stereo systems and extra exterior lights installed throughout the years
The radio was not actually attached to any of these wires - it was just laying in its hole.
Because my garage is currently full of restored parts waiting to go back on my 72 442, (the body is in paint) I have rethought what the order is for this resto. Doing some exterior clean up involves removing very little from the truck, so I am going to finish the tailgate reassembly, get to work polishing all the exterior bright work, replacing all the necessary weatherstripping, finishing the wheels and doing a brake job while there, and seeing how the original paint can be cleaned up and freshened. I started by doing a section of the right rear quarter under the topper and above the trim molding. I'm going to do this all by hand, this paint is just too thin already to take any chances. First went over it with white rubbing compound being careful to stay out of the striping, and then followed it up by two coats of wax. I was amazed
So,I got brave and did half the upper section of the tailgate and left the other half alone to see the contrast. I will get a good pic tomorrow and post.
That rear quarter panel turned out nice! Yeah, the paint could be pretty thin in a lot of areas like front fenders, hood, and roof. All of mine had pretty good factory paint on the lower sections that didn't get hit hard by over-exposed sun light. I used a "light" clay bar on one of mine, then followed it up with a good wax/polish (all by hand) and was amazed at the results. But I was all surprised how much old paint came off as well. So yeah take it easy for sure but this isn't your first rodeo so you'll be fine I'm sure!! Nice work!
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