Gents, I am looking at purchasing a 68 Bronco for a project for my son (15 yrs old) and myself (mostly myself). I have never taken on such a project so I thought it would be wise to ask y'all if there are certain items on this particular vehicle that I look to make sure they are in working condition before I jump in?

Thanks,

 

Rust is the biggest thing to fear. It will cause the most heartache, and the most expense, and the most time and money to fix. After that, the rest of the parts are nuts and bolts and can be removed or replaced with wrenches. Get under the vehicle and look up at the floor pans from below, and also look at the the rest of the sheet metal and support beams. The kickpanels will rust, the door posts where the door hangs, and the striker where the door latches are all places that corrode also. These parts can be purchased and replaced with aftermarket pieces, so don't be afraid of not finding them available. Just go into this with eyes wide open with the knowledge that sometimes these projects get more involved than people would wish. If you look at Ebay or classicbroncos.com you will find many unfinished Bronco projects being sold by people who underestimated the amount of time and money required to complete their particular vehicle. It is very important to start with a vehicle with rebuild potential.
whew.. i'm out breath..
good luck

 

You need to be careful so you don't get hornswoggled by some turkey.

You also need to absolutely honest about what you can and can't do on your own, and what kind of money you want to sink into a truck. So you don't end up like this:

Ebay is okay if you are able to drop 50k in this thing for fun and won't miss it, or if you can build cars from scratch and want to snag something cheap. Otherwise look before you leap.

I'd first go and round up support troops, local shops, etc, that you might need to complete the project and get and idea of costs.

When you look at these things.... bring a magnet with you.

If you are already a veteran of old cars, here are some things unique to old Broncos:

68 is bad year because stock is no power steering or brakes, and I think vac wipers were not offered yet.

The Bronco body is poorly designed with seamed quarters and is prone to rusting into oblivion.

Power steering is somewhat rare and expensive. The Bronco box is basically like a rare corvette box and only broncos came with them. You can get parts, or send them to be rebuilt at places like straight line steering in CA, but if you buy a kit to convert it will be a grand or more to do in parts.

The Boxed frames are pretty good and don't usually rust through.

Broncos are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get. Like a 67 title with a 74 Bronco. Many people have canibalized them over the years for trail use, etc, and many have already beed upgraded.

Unless you are a ace mechanic, before you buy, get a shop to do a leakdown test, and a vaccum test, see the fluids in the diffs, etc and give you an opinion.

As long as you are brutally honest about what you can and cant do and what you are looking at you will be in for some fun

 

There is really no BAD year of Bronco. But there are better years than others for options. Find one with a good solid body and tub and the options can be added to them easily.

??? The main culprit for rust is trapped moisture, whether it is under the floor mat or carpet, trapped water in the door posts and rockers from plugged drains or the lack of undercoating that was available at the time. The Bronco was built very much the same as the Ford trucks of that vintage. And they have the same rust issues as the Bronco (which is about the same as GM trucks )

If you shop around, you can find a factory p/s box pretty cheap and have it rebuilt if needed. I bought my box at a swap meet in Sac, Ca for $200, a set of used brackets and pump from a wrecking yard, new hoses and yokes and ujoints. Have about $300 into everything. There are also a few swaps that use easier to find steering boxes. The high dollar kits from the Bronco suppliers give you a brand new box, new pump, shafts and hoses to hook it up. They can be a bit expensive, but worth the price when you consider you're getting all new components. The Bronco mounts in the same fashion as a Corvette box (mounts to the side of the frame with the worm and gear section on top of the frame). But thats where the similarities end since the Vette uses a power assist cylinder with a manual box


As TomThrall mentioned, the biggest issue in buying one is rust. Everything else can be rebuilt or replaced easily. Rust repair and major panel replacement takes a lot of hours and a bit of know-how and some special tools.


Jason