I am currently looking around for an early bronco to build up very slowly and use to drive when roads are not so great to keep my truck and car nice. I dont know a lot about them and am wondering if any one could tell me if there is anything I should know? I really want a manual shift on the floor. I t hink I have found 1 that is but am not even sure that a floor shift exists. I also see some have strange back fenders that give no clearance for tires. I do not want one with cut fenders but I dont want one like this either. I think it is possible part of the sport package but not sure. Any help would be great.

 

The early standard shift broncos were column shift 3 speed unless some one has swaped in a floor shift tranny. The back fenders without cutting them have no clearence. They can be cut and made to look good. Theck out the older bronco forum. I'm sure that they will have more info than me.

This is a pic of my cousins 74. It has 40,000 miles on it. It was completly stock when he bought it. He has cut the fenders, installed a 6" superlift, 36" Irocs. The Bronco is a 74 with 302, auto tranny.
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they are expensive! even when they are just a parts truck they will go for a couple thousand if the owner knows what he has. your best bet is to find someone who thinks its a scout or jeep and see if you can talk him down! rust is the number one culprit and finding one without rust is hard to do!

not from the factory... the manual shift is a 3 speed on the column. the only floor shift broncos you'll see is from owners who have modified the stock tranny for a floor shifter or swapped in a NP435 or similar.

Actually this is how the early bronco came from the factory. the fender skirts extend pretty far down and dont allow for wide tires. back then the 235/75/R15's were pretty big! I had to hack out a lot of my fenders to allow for minimum lift and 39 iroks! some people have found ways to lift enough and use the right wheels to get 35's under the truck without any cutting but i dont see it worth it!

here are some beginning pics of my bronco before i really started building it...






-cutts-

 

Like they said, they all came with those stupid fenders. most owners have cut the fenders over the 40 years, but some are still stock.

I almost bought a 77 with about 50K original miles w/ 302, 3 on the tree, and without much rust, also had a new set of wheels and tires. The guy spit out 3K, but didn't know. I didn't have more than a couple bucks with me at the time, so I went home, and I was figuring out a way to get it back(didn't want to drive it about 400 miles home).

I called him back, and he must have talked to someone, b/c he then said he was keeping the wheels and tires, and wanted $5K.
So there that went......

If you don't want to spend to much money do to many mods, then I'd say look for a 76 or 77. They have front Dana 44s with disc brakes and many had 302s and power steering.
As for body style, it really doesn't matter, half cabs, wagons, etc... they all look good.

It is amazing how expensive those little things are. There are several around my area that the owners will let rot before they sell them, unless someone offered them 10K for a bronco that hasn't ran in a few years and is starting to rust.....

 

rbloodhound.... damn you make me really miss my 74! The first 4X4 I owned. Bought it in '76 sold in '78 BIG mistake! I don't miss the 3 on the tree......lol