72 Red Explorer Sport

[Gunnibronco]

Really, about 150' from my house. Going to get it right now.

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Parts needed:
Horn Ring
XUpper & lower grill trim stripsX
Chrome "Sport" auto shift lever knob
99-? Ford Superduty h-boost
Front disk brake conversion, Ford or Chevy
4R70W to D20 adapter
Receiver hitch for use with stock bumper
Stock height coil springs

[Rox Crusher]

It doesn't even look like it needs the included wrenches

Awesome !

[Gunnibronco]

Needs a 9" 3rd member, as far as I know.

Getting 2000 Mercury Mountaineer EFI & 4r70w & complete frame off.

[Broncobsession]

A 3rd member and a rear lug nut and it's ready to drive!

[Gunnibronco]

Not quite. No brakes, bad fuel pump. Will get some help and push it home tomorrow. LOL.

[landshark]

Carpet is sweet

[Gunnibronco]

PO told me he thought it was probably original.

I was withdrawing cash today and discussing Broncos with the teller. He told me there was 1 year of Broncos made with a tube frame, and it was awesome for rock crawling. I'm going to keep my eyes out for one. I have A LOT to learn about Broncos.

This truck turns out to be somewhat rare. 72 was the first year of the Explorer Sport option. Interior was specific to that year & Explorer Sports. Should have come with parchment floor mat, I think. Most were Durango Tan or Ginger Poly, all with the same interior. There seems to be some disagreement on colors available. I forgot to look at the color code when I was there.

It has a ranch hand spare tire carrier, but missing the body side mount (PO said it was always missing). So if anyone has one, I'm looking. I sent one to Pensacola, FL, a couple months ago, lol. Back seat is in good shape, wasn't in the truck, mostly stored. He's looking for the horn ring, he might have (please, please, please).

Typical rust, floors, rockers, lower door posts, inner fenders. Some dents & dings, but mostly complete. Original owners manual & even found a "OK" inspection stamp on the driver's a-pillar. Very unmolested.

It's a P truck, if you follow Viper's thread. 04/72 production date on the b-pillar sticker. I'm not entirely sure of what he's getting after with the whole Ps & Qs things. The thread is hard to follow, all 23 pages of it. Hopefully he can chime in.

[Gunnibronco]

Sales brochure.

[mickphatmac]

Great looking LUBr!!!
I wouldn't change a thing, nice score!

[Gunnibronco]

Great looking LUBr!!!
I wouldn't change a thing, nice score!

Thanks, I just noticed your's is a 72 Explorer Sport. What color was it originally?

This truck is 'SOLD', and not mine, actually. My mother & step father have asked that I build them an EFI LUBr. It will get new suspension (its a Rancho lift now), PS, PB, discs up front, but they LOVE the interior & color. Its going to be a classic looking LUBr, nothing outlandish. All rust will be repaired & complete repaint, with the modern driveline updates. The 66 resto will wait till this is done.

[Viperwolf1]

:laughing2: PO told me he thought it was probably original.

I was withdrawing cash today and discussing Broncos with the teller. He told me there was 1 year of Broncos made with a tube frame, and it was awesome for rock crawling. I'm going to keep my eyes out for one. I have A LOT to learn about Broncos.

This truck turns out to be somewhat rare. 72 was the first year of the Explorer Sport option. Interior was specific to that year & Explorer Sports. Should have come with parchment floor mat, I think. Most were Durango Tan or Ginger Poly, all with the same interior. There seems to be some disagreement on colors available. I forgot to look at the color code when I was there.

It has a ranch hand spare tire carrier, but missing the body side mount (PO said it was always missing). So if anyone has one, I'm looking. I sent one to Pensacola, FL, a couple months ago, lol. Back seat is in good shape, wasn't in the truck, mostly stored. He's looking for the horn ring, he might have (please, please, please).

Typical rust, floors, rockers, lower door posts, inner fenders. Some dents & dings, but mostly complete. Original owners manual & even found a "OK" inspection stamp on the driver's a-pillar. Very unmolested.

It's a P truck, if you follow Viper's thread. 04/72 production date on the b-pillar sticker. I'm not entirely sure of what he's getting after with the whole Ps & Qs things. The thread is hard to follow, all 23 pages of it. Hopefully he can chime in.

Nice find.

There was a big batch of the very first '73s that appear to have taken 3 months to finish. The sequence numbers are assigned as they roll down the line and should be sequential. The build date is the date it was finished. This created 2 sets of P and Q sequence numbers. My theory is Ford had to wait for the new dashes and/or light bars before they could send any '73s out. They could build them to 99% and store them on a lot until the parts arrived.

The first set of P's were the last '72s.

[TOOLMAN]

Jesus H....save some for the rest of us!

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks, I saw it had something to do with lack of parts/emissions problems & the 72/73 change over. I was surprised when my production date on the sticker was 4/72, I was expecting a date closer to August.

I just posted up some of the details you are tracking over on your CB.com thread. I'll look for the other details when it gets home. I'll order a Marti report for this one.

[Gunnibronco]

Jesus H....save some for the rest of us!

These last 8 months have been CRAZY. I owned 1 Bronco from May 1996 until October 2015.

I haven't traveled more than 2 miles to get any of them. I'm not really trying that hard. But at this point, I'm not going to let them hit the open market, if I can help it. I pursued this one for my parents, I knocked on his door & asked to buy it. The green 69 that went to Florida was in a bit better shape, but with less options, I'd rather be building that one from a body point of view. But this one is cooler.

[Gunnibronco]

Great looking LUBr!!!
I wouldn't change a thing, nice score!

Thanks, I just noticed your's is a 72 Explorer Sport. What color was it originally?

Never mind, I reread your thread and now remember the Durango Tan/Goldenrod conversation.

[Gunnibronco]

Color code: T - Candy Apple Red

It will be interesting to see the Marti report on this. I wonder how many red Explorer Sports were made.

Mickphatmac's Marti report shows 1655 Durango Tan/Goldenrod Explorer Sports. A Marti I found on CB.com shows 488 Copper/Ginger E/S. Those 2 colors are supposed to have made up the bulk of the E/Ss built. Total E/S production numbers don't seem to be known.

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Found 2 "Paint OK" stamps, one inside the glove box door & another on the driver's front door pillar. Going to preserve these.

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Glove box door emblem

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Rear seat fabric is excellent, but the arm rests aren't so much. And those brown arm rests aren't going to be easy to find (same with the front door arm rests).

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Dealer emblem

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Silver shifter & turn signal levers. Are these original? Never seen them before. I'm guessing part of the trim package.

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No window knobs, but bolts? Is this factory or someone replaced the knobs?

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Brown seat hinge covers all in nice shape. Also the light tanish seat belts.

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Jack & hardware all nicely bolted in place, even the jack instruction stickers.

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T fitting in front brakes, goes to trailer brake controller

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What's up with this choke? Doesn't look factory

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[Eck]

Mine is a '69 so don't know how much to consider but my window knobs were bolts too. My choke knob was an in the dash control that if I remember correctly was left of the steering wheel.

Are you going to try to do an original replication (i.e. The brown arm rests, etc.) or are you planning to be a little more financially and readily practical with restoring this one?

[Gunnibronco]

I guess bolts replaced knobs when the windshield tie down hardware was removed. I thought all Broncos came with knobs. My 74 had one knob & one bolt, figured a knob had been replaced. LOL.

Just confirmed with Zac, this should have had electric choke, and the manual choke is an add on. My 66 has the choke on the left of the steering wheel, and I think the 69 I sold did too.

We're going to try to keep it very original. Especially since it might be one of very few Candy Apple Explorer Sports. The arm rests might not be so hard to find, they were used on some Ranger packages later. Again, info via Mr FrankCastle.

Another correction to my original post, the Explorer & Sport packages were ONLY available together in the 72 model year.

[Viperwolf1]

4.11 gears too.

[ZOSO]

It must be change that was later on but my old 74 explorer had a color matched dash like the rangers.

[Gunnibronco]

4.11 gears too.

Yep. I have a little more info for your Ps & Qs thread, I'll post up there in a minute

[Gunnibronco]

It must be change that was later on but my old 74 explorer had a color matched dash like the rangers.

The later explorers did get the matched dash. 72's were white.

[ZOSO]

It must be change that was later on but my old 74 explorer had a color matched dash like the rangers.

The later explorers did get the matched dash. 72's were white.

Its how things changed so much between trucks. And in 74 only 2 colors were available on explorers. orange and blue.

[Viperwolf1]

Should be an automatic choke but not electric until '73 or '74. Tube coming from the exhaust manifold provided the heat.

This is Landshark's '72.

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[Gunnibronco]

Its how things changed so much between trucks. And in 74 only 2 colors were available on explorers. orange and blue.

Between my 66 and this, I've managed to find some odd balls, for sure

Should be an automatic choke but not electric until '73 or '74. Tube coming from the exhaust manifold provided the heat.

This is Landshark's '72.

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Ok, I've got that. Thanks. Was the manual choke just added on because the other one did't work as well as it should?

[Viperwolf1]

Yes, more than likely.

[Jesus_man]

Wow, what a cool score Chad!! Can't wait to see it as you bring it back to glory!!

I love the wear marks on the dash from the keys swinging! A testament of good memories for someone!

[Gunnibronco]

Wow, what a cool score Chad!! Can't wait to see it as you bring it back to glory!!

I love the wear marks on the dash from the keys swinging! A testament of good memories for someone!

Thanks JD.

This is a, really well taken care of, survivor. Part of me loves the bumps and bruises and would run it "as is". But the rust is really coming through the rockers and inner fenders, and the bottoms of the door posts are gone. The kick panels are starting to go too It's time to stop the rust before it gets worse.

The Marti report is on order, so in a couple weeks we should know how rare a candy apple red E/S is.

[Gunnibronco]

I sprayed a test card of 'Candy Apple Red' today. It's close, but not the same as the truck. There is some really nicely preserved spots for comparison. My spray out card was a bright red and fit the name 'Candy Apple Red' well. I'm not sure I'd call the original paint very 'Candy Apple', it has a purple or blue tint, deeper and darker.

The paint I sprayed today is close enough, that it could be hand tinted to match the original paint.

Jeff, you said your F150 was 'Candy Apple' right? And it looked funny?

I'll try to take some pics tomorrow, its raining now.

[Rox Crusher]

Jeff, you said your F150 was 'Candy Apple' right? And it looked funny?
.

Nope. Originally it was Raven Black and Bright Red. The red section was repainted and either they got the color incorrect or it has faded to where it looks really "orange".