1973 Stroppe Baja "Saved from the grave" TWICE

[akaFrankCastle]

I'm just gonna go ahead and save this seat for myself....

[ZOSO]

finally covered that lat 800 miles?

[akaFrankCastle]

Yup. But that ones parked. This is a new spot.

[Justin]

Hi, my name is Frank, and I'm a Broncoholic....

[akaFrankCastle]

I just can't help myself.

[Entourage]

Suspense is killing me - can't wait to see the unveiling.

[akaFrankCastle]

You'll be very underwhelmed.

Or not.

[Eck]

Did you scoop up Project Boxerdad?

[akaFrankCastle]

I did not. But from the sounds of it, I think that might be a fun truck as well.

[Gunnibronco]

Its very poorly done, but I thought of you when I saw this a week or so ago.

[akaFrankCastle]

If Broncos were cats the ASPCA would have had me locked up years ago.

[TOOLMAN]

[akaFrankCastle]

[Viperwolf1]

I hope you have better luck with Marti than I did. They said my Bronco didn't exist.

[akaFrankCastle]

They told me Stroppe'd never sold.

[akaFrankCastle]

[akaFrankCastle]

I updated the title with some details. And here are some more.

A former co-worker of mine and Bronco enthusiast sold his Bronco a few months ago. After, he was left with a pile of parts/part rig. While in Missouri I got in touch with him, had a brief conversation regarding what he had, and set up a day to look at the remains. That was yesterday.

When I arrived I expected to find a frame with some body parts on it and random odds and ends. And that is just about what I found. I did not take but one picture when I looked at it. That picture is below.



My buddy Jeff explained to me that after he sold his other truck and moved in with the GF he had no place to store the pile. So, it went to storage. He's a bit like myself and cannot bear the thought of a perfectly good Bronco frame and an extremely questionable pile of Bronco parts ending up in the recyclers. He's been trying to get rid of this stuff for the better part of six months now and I just so happened to get in touch with him at the right time.

I can tell you that currently the truck has a hodgepodge roll cage built over top an old school roll bar. It's not pretty and will be getting taken out. There is a stock Bronco power steering gear box. Also a stock automatic column that needs lots of love. And connecting the two is a collapsible steering shaft. There is a power brake booster and master cylinder. And there is a pile of stuff bolted to the inside of the engine compartment. The dash is mostly complete and even has a Kenwood stereo that I very much doubt still works. Littered throughout and on the truck is evidence of its use as a plow truck. A bellhousing in the back, chopped tunnel cover, and equalizer bar mount on the frame all point to it having an NP435 at some point. There are no axles (ARB equipped axles were pulled long ago) or drive line items to speak of. Basically, its pretty damn close to the condition Project X was in, minus the exoskeleton.

I still haven't really gone over the truck in the daylight. Last time I saw it there was an inch and a half of snow in it. And tonight it was too dark and we were working too hard for me to take inventory. For now, it will sit on the trailer until things warm up and I can sift through it.

There's still much more to the story, but it will have to wait for later.

[Jesus_man]

Tease again...
[subscribed]

[Kinder]

Love looking in the rearview mirror and seeing those familiar lines.

[akaFrankCastle]

A few more pictures for you guys.









And now I have to go prepare for a job interview in a two hours.

[Justin]

Good luck!

[mickphatmac]

December 1973 302....

Beautiful!!!

Looks to be in really NICE shape :)

Hmmm...Stroppe rollbar with add ons...
Dual front shock mounts...???

[akaFrankCastle]

Dual front shock mounts...???

Why, yes. As a matter of fact it does have dual front shock mounts.

[mickphatmac]

...and you know that Rollbar started life at Stroppe! Then it Grew as it got older!
I can almost read the sticker on it!

[mickphatmac]

any plans of how you might want to "DISPOSE" of the rollbar?
Hint hint!!!
I MIGHT KNOW A GUY ;)

[akaFrankCastle]

The current plan is to cut off the non-original stuff and keep the rollbar with the truck. It's kind of part of the "package."

[mickphatmac]

Sweet!
That's what I was thinking...
I would still be interested in all the extra parts of pipe if you are patient enough to cut it off so it could be re-applied to a similar rollbar!

[akaFrankCastle]

I'll do what I can to keep it clean enough for you. I don't think many would recommend reusing it though. Would make for good templates I would imagine.

[akaFrankCastle]

Took some time today to clean out the dumpster known as the new to me 73. Filled a garbage can with trash that came out of the back. The futon mattress would not fit and had to get tied up and thrown next to the garbage cans.

Inside the truck I found a Bestop bikini top, manual trans bell housing and block plate, front drive shaft, a pair of Jack stands (I actually already knew those were in there) and a few other odds and ends.

Once I had most of the carpet cut out of the back I found the original white floor mat was still mostly intact. And under it, the rubber mat that fills the ribs of the cargo area.

So, I think I mentioned the carcass has a power brake booster on it. Here's a shot of the bracket that mounts it.



Anyone have any idea what kind of bracket it is?

Finally, I've found at least three additional paint colors on the tub, in addition to the original poppy red and Wimbledon white.







Anyone need a control box for a Meyer snow plow? Maybe some frame mounts for the same?

[Digger]

SO COOL!

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU DO WITH IT!