I’m sure most of you guys know the story behind this Bronco since many of you helped my wife find this one for me. For those that don’t know the story, the old thread is here but most of the images are broken from the Photobucket fiasco. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8633
While I’ve had this thing for quite a while now, not much has been done to it because I’m just too busy to work on it. Well, this year they announced that there would be a Supercell West right here in CO. I had so much fun on the club trip out to TN for the 50th-anniversary Supercell that I decided that there is no way I can’t go to the first one here Broncoless.
So, now I’ve put a pause on harness reworks to allow me some time to work on it and I’ve already invested a ton of money into this trip, so there is plenty of motivation to get this thing going. The original plan was to just replace the bad 1/4 panel and windshield frame, then send it off to paint. Build the motor and trans while it’s getting painted and
it in. Keep it simple, get it to Supercell, and make it a real trail rig next year. While that sounds easy, I’ve already been hit by the Classic Bronco snowball effect and things have changed a bit.I’ve been struggling to come up with a name for this thing, “Booger” seems the most appropriate now but it’s sort of taken already. I think I’m going to name him Diez for the number of different paint colors that were on it when I got it. It may also be foreshadowing some future plans should the right opportunity arise.
Before I go into the build (or disassembly) I just want to thank all of you that have been helping me! I’d still be struggling with that 1/4 panel if it wasn’t for you guys.
John (D&D 72), Eck, and Chris show up to replace this 1/4 and windshield frame. In less than an hour my already cluttered garage looked like a Bronco had Exploded in it, body panels everywhere. Eck and Chris went to work on the 1/4, John removed the bad windshield frame, and I went to work trying to fill the unused holes in the firewall. Chris discovered just how hacked in the 1/4 was and all of the rust still present in the edge on the upper 1/4. It had a strip of metal tacked in on top of it which I knew but didn’t realize it was placed over rusty metal. Eck spent a bunch of time grinding it all out.
John found the floorpans hacked in and started to remove the driver's side. Chris found that my replacement 1/4 was a terrible fit. And I noticed that my Bronco had a smile, the windshield support was sagging 3/8 of an inch or so in the middle. We also discovered some hackery in the rockers. These finds left much left to ponder about how to fix this thing and how far to go with what will ultimately be “just a trail rig”.
John (Trail Psycho) shows up with beer, work winds down, and much discussion begins on my options. I eventually ordered a new 1/4, driver's floorpan, and driver's inner fender.
