66 'restoration'

[Gunnibronco]

Hinge covers...
'66 U14

https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/ ... 96092.html

Well there you have it.

The bad news, my bench isn't a 66.

The good news, I have silver paint.

The last confusing "fact" about my truck is the spare tire mounting. If the truck was actually a front bucket/rear bench truck, the spare tire should be mounted to the inside of the tailgate. The bracket that hung the spare from the tailgate was mounted with 4 bolts, through the tailgate. I saw a couple gates at Don's with these holes. My tailgate has no holes, and no sign of repairing those holes. Once its sandblasted, I'll be able to see more.

My seats each have one black hinge cap, and one missing. Where the covers are missing, you can still see the screw used to mount it. One has a little piece of plastic still clinging to the screw.

P1030233.JPG

P1030234.JPG

P1030235.JPG

Oh yeah, Zac is bringing this "Special Delivery" from Kansas City

12804000_10205740053126631_1359934389_n.jpg

It was a good weekend.

[Eck]

Nice score. Has this thing consumed all of your Bronco self? Are you going to get your "other" one running any time soon?

[Gunnibronco]

LOL. I'm actually making decent progress on my 74. I should be back running by May or June.

I haven't really done any work on the 66, just reading up on stuff.

Sniped the horn button off a FB page, noticed an early 66 tub in a picture of someone doing some major metal work. I noticed he has some major mods going on, so I send him a message asking if he had any stock parts to sell. The FB Bronco folks aren't too 66 savvy.

99% of everything else came from Don's. Molly's picking up a little more tomorrow. It's been stupid easy.

[akaFrankCastle]

Hinge covers...
'66 U14

https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/ ... 96092.html

Email this guy and ask him for pictures of the rear view mirror attached to the windshield. Let him know you're not buying but need picture to find a correct mirror for your truck.

[Gunnibronco]

Hinge covers...
'66 U14

https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/ ... 96092.html

Email this guy and ask him for pictures of the rear view mirror attached to the windshield. Let him know you're not buying but need picture to find a correct mirror for your truck.

I have NO idea how you saw that, I'm still not sure I see it. Email sent.

[akaFrankCastle]

I have NO idea how you saw that, I'm still not sure I see it. Email sent.

Pictures 3 and 5. Craigslist Pro app lets you zoom in on pictures.

Contact Terry Marvel and Tim Hiluck (eagles nest 99 on cb) to confirm hinge cover color.

[sykanr0ng]

I've been reading and looking at lots of pic on CB.com. I think all bench seats all have sliders. I think the first picture I saw, the bench had the sliders removed & I thought it was a fixed seat. I have pics of a verified 66 bench, so I can maybe verify if mine is a 66 or not.

As far as folding forward. It seems all factory benches were fixed. It was law the seat had to be fixed or have a working catch. There may be a bolt or two that can be removed to allow the seat to fold, but there will be no catch, and it will fold forward under hard braking/accidents.

I'm now back to being undecided how my truck was originally outfitted.

66's with front bucket seats had their spare tire mounted to the inside of the tailgate with a large bracket. The bracket bolted through the tailgate with 4 large bolts. I saw some tailgates at Don's with those holes drilled out. My truck does not have those holes, and the tailgate does not look repaired.

66's with bench/bulkhead had the spare mounted to the keyhole slot on the bulkhead with the same hardware used to secure the spare to swing away carriers. The keyhole slot in my bulkhead shows no signs of ever being used, either.

I've seen it said on some other forum that the earliest of the '66 Broncos had benches that folded because the law came in after they were built.

I didn't keep track of it since I didn't and don't and probably never will have a '66

[Gunnibronco]

You might be right, Coby45 has a bench in his that folds, and you don't get any earlier than his. I doubt mine is a 66 bench.

I was all wrong about the tailgate spare tire mount. My tailgate has holes drilled in it that indicates it used to have a spare tire mount.

P1020999.JPG

https://www.tomsbroncoparts.com/product ... ord-bronco

The rear floor is drilled for rear seats, it would not have been, if it was a bulkhead model.

The Buck Tag lists (no one knows exactly what the codes mean, but this seems to be the current opinion)
OPCAR=open cargo, no bulkhead
BSDP=bucket seat, driver, passenger
RS=rear seat
LGROOF=full wagon roof
MIR=mirror
HTR=heater
WSW=windshield washer

P1020990.JPG

The 7 in 798 on the VIN tag indicates front bucket seats as well.

P1030043.JPG

At this point the plan will be to rebuild it as a bench/bulkhead model. First of all, I really like it this way. Second, I have a bench in beautiful condition that can be run as is, or add a silver vein cover to make it look more authenic.

I'll have a set of correct seats, if I want to refinish them & install them, I can. Or if it is ever sold, the next owner could return it to original. I'd have to put some serious money into restoring the seats I have to make them presentable. So building a bench/bulkhead truck will put it back on the road sooner, and less expensively.

[colby45]

I do have one pic of my bench from my build log:



It does fold, but it does not slide. Of course, I only have the bench because mine is a half cab, so I can't speak to the front seats that would've been in the regular cab. I do know this bench is original.

[Gunnibronco]

The 66 buckets I bought have no catch to prevent them from folding & apparently they didn't use a footman's loop to secure the passenger seat to the floor. I guess all that helped lap belts get the reputation as "back breakers".

[Aztec77Bronco]

Hey this just came up on CB.com. he has 66 parts. http://bigskybroncos.homestead.com/forsalepg2.html is his website. http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... p?t=261665 is the thread.

[Gunnibronco]

Chad, Here's the mirror my 67 had when I bought it. It was built in September 66. So,,,, I have no idea.

Just got a quick note from a CB.com member, stating this is the correct mirror for my truck. He said he'd send me more info tomorrow.

Is yours for sale?

[rt9]

No. I was going to put it back in now that I got a new windshield. Sorry.

Sent from my SM-G860P using Tapatalk

[Gunnibronco]

I knew it was a long shot. LOL.

Thanks for the pic, now I know what I'm looking for.

[Gunnibronco]

1965ish Galaxie mirror head.

[Jesus_man]

I'm revealing how far behind in my magazine reading I am but in the December 2015 issue of Four Wheeler there is an article called "Jeep looks at the 1966 Bronco". There could be some valuable information gleaned from this article featuring some original pictures.

The spare mounted to the inside of the tailgate caught my eye. And what appears to be folding bucket seats. I might be able to post pics if needed.

[Gunnibronco]

I'd love to see any pics you could post.

Thanks

Chad

[rt9]

I knew it was a long shot. LOL.

Thanks for the pic, now I know what I'm looking for.

No problem. Love the thread!

[Jesus_man]

I'd love to see any pics you could post.

Thanks

Chad

I'll see what I can do, but it may be next week. Too bad it's not online!

[Aztec77Bronco]

Gunni,
I found another thread on cb.com that may help you in some hard to find stuff for your '66 http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... p?t=262712

their website & phone are northeastclassicfordparts.com (website is new and just has a mere fraction of the parts we stock! call with needs) 1-610-986-5506

I found a lot of NOS on their site. maybe they have a NOS mirror for you.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks for the links.

Looks like Big Sky Broncos is for sale, as a business, home, shop & land. Hmmmmmm.

Delconic was recommended to me, as he might have a 66 horn ring. I got a set of his door seals for my 74. I'll look through his stuff. Ebay has a couple nice used mirrors in the $40 range. I saw a NOS one sold for $50 recently.

[Jesus_man]

I really don't know if this is of any use...and of course, it seems they uploaded in reverse order.

[Gunnibronco]

Interesting article, thanks. I just scanned the article, but they mentioned an 'optional' interior that wasn't listed in the sales literature. That is a new one to me.

[Gunnibronco]

This article lists a "Custom Equipment Package", including chrome bumpers, hub caps, bright taillight bezels, cigarette lighter, horn ring, arm rests, and visors.

I had read about a "bright" package on CB.com, it included the tail light bezels & lighter that my truck is equipped with. My truck never had visors, therefore did not include the "Custom Equipment Package". And throws my assumption about hub caps, chrome bumpers, and horn ring, out the window. LOL

[mickphatmac]

(5x) '66 hubcapps for sale - $750

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... ost2828233

[Gunnibronco]

Interesting, but unfortunately right now, its out of the budget.

[Gunnibronco]

Couple more parts pics

65/66 Galaxy mirror very nice condition, a couple small spots on the mirror. Remove the Galaxy hanger, and swap for a similar year truck stem & button pivot and it will be right.

P1030286.JPG

P1030288.JPG

Air box to hood seal

P1030282.JPG

P1030283.JPG

I posted a couple early 66 facts to the Wiki. My truck does have the rain gutters behind the dash on the kick panels. Its hard to get good pics.

P1030280.JPG

P1030281.JPG

Also, they didn't paint the bottoms of the early trucks, just left them in primer, with signs of over spray from when the exterior was painted. The bottom of my tub is white/light grey.

[Gunnibronco]

I also have confirmation that 66 bench hinge covers were silver, and buckets were black, also that the rear view mirror is the correct one.

[Jesus_man]

Pieces of the puzzle are coming together!

[mickphatmac]

Couple more parts pics

65/66 Galaxy mirror very nice condition, a couple small spots on the mirror. Remove the Galaxy hanger, and swap for a similar year truck stem & button pivot and it will be right.

Here is a guy in Utah that might have the 1 you are looking for?

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad ... o&ad_cid=4