1995 Bronco for fun
 

I was mostly on the hunt for a mid to late 70's F150 or Bronco, but I ended up catching a really good deal on this '95 Bronco. I basically got it for the cost of the brand new BF Goodrich All-Terrains that he'd just purchased, and it ran good enough to drive an hour back home! The fact that it even ran was more than I was looking for. It was parked in the guy's driveway for several years not being driven, so there is much work to be done.

The first thing I did was gut the inside. None of that stuff will be going back in except for the seats. I ended up breaking off several bolts during my tear-down due to impatience and just plain inexperience. I should state that I've never done any automotive work on this scale before.

I'm not really sure what the end goal is. I don't want to spend a ton of money on it, just a little bit. It's just something to keep me busy. Next on my list of things to do is finish repairing the rear wheel tubs, repair the rear tailgate window, and research creating my own crude gauge cluster and full dashboard with simple toggle switches and no plastic.

I've had it for about a month.


These are the pictures from the craigslist ad before I purchased it.


https://i.imgur.com/XILyLvs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zJWYb2u.jpg

The carpet was destroyed. There must have been an entire can of tar poured in the back half.
https://i.imgur.com/uUOiHXT.jpg

Dashboard needs some work.
https://i.imgur.com/****mI2.jpg

Body rot - I had no idea what I'd find after pulling up the carpet...
https://i.imgur.com/RnOIBCg.jpg

After I bought it.


https://i.imgur.com/9SPXVV4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/BoF3Jwu.jpg

The edges are pretty bad, especially in the tailgate area and the wheel tubs.
https://i.imgur.com/8hVmB2Q.jpg

I've never done anything like this before, so I did a little bit of research and got a bunch of different tools. This wire wheel worked pretty well for a little bit, but it quickly lost its effectiveness. For $20/wheel, I decided I'd instead just use flap discs.
https://i.imgur.com/YC0t6zl.jpg

Primer over the first area I grinded.
https://i.imgur.com/BuigLZ2.jpg

cutting off fender rust. I used the flap disc here to remove the emblem glue - a TERRIBLE idea. Lesson learned. It ate up a flap disc and carved deep grooves in the metal. I didn't realize until this how much metal that was actually eating away.
https://i.imgur.com/jNeQ02t.jpg

After I cut off the wheel well and fender rust. It's currently just jagged metal. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with that. It's not really a priority of mine, though.
https://i.imgur.com/THI5S9f.jpg

Initial coat of flat black primer
https://i.imgur.com/KLsI6mI.jpg

Painted over the gray primer after the bed was finished grinding.
https://i.imgur.com/j15XFFC.jpg

Using a heat gun to scrape up all this padding in the front half. This was the worst part so far.
https://i.imgur.com/PJQL4Ht.jpg

I had originally planned on making my own wheel tubs, but in the end I changed my mind. I was a tig welder before I went back to school, so I could make my own. Maybe I will do that in the future, but this will work for now. for the record: I know this is not the correct way to cover these holes. I am considering this a temporary fix to get me through the winter.
https://i.imgur.com/AjgEZXI.jpg

A thick first layer of bondo on top of the fiberglass
https://i.imgur.com/RxMnl1x.jpg

Before I painted the front grille and headlight chrome
https://i.imgur.com/pLq9pgQ.jpg

had to install a new temp gauge because I had problems with overheating and the stock one is broken. Another temp fix - $7 at Advance Auto
About the overheating - I changed the thermostat and that didn't solve it. I then noticed the radiator fan was hitting the upper fan cowl/housing and getting wedged at times where it couldn't move. After drilling some new holes in the housing to mount it higher and purging the air from the coolant hoses, I haven't overheated once. I drove it to work the last two days.
https://i.imgur.com/Ymyddzc.jpg

my daily driver: A hybrid; next to the anti-hybrid. This was after I painted the front stuff black
https://i.imgur.com/Yl9Zwmw.jpg

Sweet. I have a 1995 as well. It looks good in black

I love those old Broncos. I had a green on tan 89 Eddie Bauer.

Thanks for joining

Tony