EDIT 7/2/2017: PLEASE NOTE THAT PHOTOBUCKET SUCKS. THEY HAVE BROKEN ALL LINKS TO 3RD PARTY SITES UNLESS EACH USER PAYS $400 A YEAR! THUS ALL THE PICS HAVE BEEN DELETED FROM THIS BUILD THREAD. ALL FUTURE PICS TO THIS THREAD (AND THERE WILL BE A LOT) WILL USE A NEW PHOTO HOSTING SITE.
EDIT 12/4/2017: MEMBER SCHWIM HAS RESTORED THE PICS IN THIS THREAD - AT LEAST TEMPORARILY! THANKS SCHWIM!
I got my 78 Custom about a year and a half ago and have done some work on it but not a whole lot so far. I bought it from the 2nd owner who had owned it for 20 plus years. The best thing about it is that it is 99% original. Here's some pics when I first got it.
Specs:
78 Bronco Custom
351M / C6 / NP203 (converted to part time by original owner)
AC / PS / PB
Front bench seat
Bright Yellow w/ Black & Silver interior, black top, factory pinstripping
White wagon wheels w/black centers
The owner indicated that "it ran OK when I parked it 2 years ago . . ." so my original intent was to get it running and do the relatively minor amount of rust repair (after replacing the hood and tail gate) and drive it a while before really tearing into it. That was before I looked under the rubber mats! The floors - especially right behind the front seat and the rear seat floor boards - were much worse than I expected! Also I did a tune up, changed fluids, belts and hoses, and rebuilt the 2150 and got it running. But it did not run good - 0 compression on #6 and a couple others were pretty low too. Anyway, the more rust than I thought and the fact that it needs engine and tranny work (turns out it leaks really badly!) is prompting me to start in earnest on the rebuild now!
Like I said, I have done some work on it already, like the tune up, complete brake job, removed the outside carrier and installed an interior spare tire mount, but the biggest mod so far is the installation of a 23" Lokar shifter.
My plans are to do a very mild resto mod and build it as a semi daily driver (I office at home) with some towing duty. I am going to keep the color factory and refurb the white spokers for a vintage look. I've already installed a set of used 33" BFG ATs and will be installing a pair of 2" leveling coils and maybe a 1" body lift (I haven't decided yet). I want reciever hitches front and rear for towing and parking a trailer as well as for mounting a winch front or rear. It will not be used as a trail rig - I have an early Bronco for that! (Actually I want the 78 to be capable of towing the trail rig on my 16' + 2' dove tail car trailer.)
As for the engine, I am planning on rebuilding it as a 408 with EFI. I am putting the engine specs together now and hope to be pulling the engine this week. Here is a pic of the Streetmaster intake modified for injectors. Board member bmc69 did the mods for me.
I will have the C6 rebuilt with a mild shift kit and I think I'd like to reverse the part time conversion and go back to the original full time configuration. Not positive about that and I have not yet researched what it would take to go back to full time. I just don't like the idea of having a bastardized transfer case - I may even swap in a 205 to get a true part time system!
The front floor boards and rear fender arch patches just came in last week from LMC and I will be starting on the rust repairs hopefully next week also. Please feel free to comment or provide suggestions as this build proceeds.
EDIT 12/4/2017: MEMBER SCHWIM HAS RESTORED THE PICS IN THIS THREAD - AT LEAST TEMPORARILY! THANKS SCHWIM!
I got my 78 Custom about a year and a half ago and have done some work on it but not a whole lot so far. I bought it from the 2nd owner who had owned it for 20 plus years. The best thing about it is that it is 99% original. Here's some pics when I first got it.
Specs:
78 Bronco Custom
351M / C6 / NP203 (converted to part time by original owner)
AC / PS / PB
Front bench seat
Bright Yellow w/ Black & Silver interior, black top, factory pinstripping
White wagon wheels w/black centers
The owner indicated that "it ran OK when I parked it 2 years ago . . ." so my original intent was to get it running and do the relatively minor amount of rust repair (after replacing the hood and tail gate) and drive it a while before really tearing into it. That was before I looked under the rubber mats! The floors - especially right behind the front seat and the rear seat floor boards - were much worse than I expected! Also I did a tune up, changed fluids, belts and hoses, and rebuilt the 2150 and got it running. But it did not run good - 0 compression on #6 and a couple others were pretty low too. Anyway, the more rust than I thought and the fact that it needs engine and tranny work (turns out it leaks really badly!) is prompting me to start in earnest on the rebuild now!
Like I said, I have done some work on it already, like the tune up, complete brake job, removed the outside carrier and installed an interior spare tire mount, but the biggest mod so far is the installation of a 23" Lokar shifter.
My plans are to do a very mild resto mod and build it as a semi daily driver (I office at home) with some towing duty. I am going to keep the color factory and refurb the white spokers for a vintage look. I've already installed a set of used 33" BFG ATs and will be installing a pair of 2" leveling coils and maybe a 1" body lift (I haven't decided yet). I want reciever hitches front and rear for towing and parking a trailer as well as for mounting a winch front or rear. It will not be used as a trail rig - I have an early Bronco for that! (Actually I want the 78 to be capable of towing the trail rig on my 16' + 2' dove tail car trailer.)
As for the engine, I am planning on rebuilding it as a 408 with EFI. I am putting the engine specs together now and hope to be pulling the engine this week. Here is a pic of the Streetmaster intake modified for injectors. Board member bmc69 did the mods for me.
I will have the C6 rebuilt with a mild shift kit and I think I'd like to reverse the part time conversion and go back to the original full time configuration. Not positive about that and I have not yet researched what it would take to go back to full time. I just don't like the idea of having a bastardized transfer case - I may even swap in a 205 to get a true part time system!
The front floor boards and rear fender arch patches just came in last week from LMC and I will be starting on the rust repairs hopefully next week also. Please feel free to comment or provide suggestions as this build proceeds.