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79 Rusty Custom build

28K views 131 replies 28 participants last post by  f7_2003_97x 
#1 ·
Wanted to start a write-up for my 1979 Bronco Custom. It's got the 351m and is, from what I can tell, almost completely stock. The guy I bought it from sounded like he was the 2nd owner and had only owned it for a couple years. Original owner loved the thing and babied it, took really good care of it but probably put a lot of miles on (mentioned a trip to Montana and back).

I bought it in March from a guy in Kansas (2 hours away). Showed up sight unseen and loved it (and the price) and I was amazed when it made the trip home without a single problem, and at 15 mpg. One of the biggest issues it had was that the old tailgate had been hit pretty hard, broke the window, all that, so I already grabbed a new tailgate from the local junkyard and slapped it on- I was pretty happy it actually rolled up and down. So far I've been really lucky- hoping the luck holds out.

I plan on making it a fun truck- something I can take off road (nothing too serious), haul stuff around in, drive to work, etc without worrying about it getting scratched or anything. I've got a really low budget, but my plan is to:
-Clean it out and fix the holes in the floor pans
-Add a good stereo (I'm a musician, so that's an important part)
-Going to need to do something with the interior... especially the seats which are totally wrecked
-Fix the holes in the body- bad rust over rear fenders and the rear corners- not surprised by either
-Eventually I'm probably going to paint it with Monstaliner or Line-x (though I probably can't afford the latter) after it's all cleaned up
-Put a 4" lift on it
-Upgrade the 33" tires to 35's, though that will require a re-gear so I may put that off a while. The tires are about bald though, so I may not be able to put it off long.

I've got a little experience under my belt (did some engine work on an EFI F150 and an '80 Bronco, as well as a little interior stuff) but I'm still new to all this, and I've yet to get my hands dirty with suspension and the gearing changes.

I'd love suggestions and recommendations- this is going to be a fun truck, like I said, not a show piece, so I just want to enjoy working on it.

Thanks for the help! Pics below



Not sure where the pics of the passenger side went. Same story but less fender rust (some of it is still there).


New door panels and seats in store.


 
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#81 ·
Been another busy few weeks. Had to find a job since I'm finishing school in May. With that taken care of, I was able to get back to the truck this past weekend.

Two main projects- rear bed-side panels and half doors.
For the rear panels, I started with some posterboard and cut it to shape as closely as I could. I know that there are templates available on here, but I figured after I had spent the time and money to have them printed I could have just made some myself.

Used those templates to cut out both panels in 3/8" plywood, did plenty of test-fits and trims as needed (jigsaw came in very handy here). Then cut out holes for the speakers, which are little too low but they work, and did my best to drill holes in the panels that matched to the holes that held in the old cardboard panels.

All in all I'm happy with it, but I have to decide if I want to now use these wood panels as templates and create more permanent metal panels or just stick with the wood and risk breaking them or something.


2nd project- half doors. Only got started on this project this weekend.
Took my extra set of doors and pulled everything out/off of them.

I marked them with tape and then pretty much started cutting. It was pretty straightfoward, and the angle grinder did a great job. I'll need to do a lot of cleaning on the edges, but it's not too bad, and I'm going to round out the corners to make it look cleaner. I'm using half doors by a short-lived member named Seve (you can find pics here) for inspiration.


Next step is to pick up some angle-iron and then weld in some supports since they're flimsy without the top half. After that I'll either fiberglass or weld in the top portion and put them back together! More to come as I find the time.
 
#82 ·
Slow progress- not sure the doors are going to turn out as well as I'd hoped. The fiberglass is a lot more of a pain than I expected- probably would've been easier to use some 18 gauge metal and bend it into shape then spot weld it. If this doesn't work, then I'll start over and do that.

Found a set of replacement leaf springs (I have a broken leaf in each of my current springs) in a yard nearby and am going to be replacing them soon. Also planning to order a set of Rancho 9000's (on rebate now, plus they're not too bad at RockAuto) unless I change my mind and downgrade. Any thing else I should change while I'm under there? Any tricky issues with the shocks? I've pulled leaves and shocks at a yard before, but obviously I'll be much more careful on my own truck.
 
#84 ·
Ah, I didn't grab the wedges. The yard actually pulled them for me- it's one of those types of places. Should've asked them to. I've looked over the bushings and they look pretty decent, but I'll probably order some new ones and have them pressed in just in case. Thanks!
 
#85 ·
Spent most of the weekend doing yard work to prepare for spring, but managed to get a couple things done.

Cleaned up the new springs with a wire brush, they look pretty good and seem to be in good shape. Planning to coat them with chassis saver and see how long that protects them.


Also finished fiberglassing the half doors. The results were... disappointing. I definitely saw this coming, but I was hoping for better. I should've realized the cloth wouldn't hold a flat shape, the gap is just too large for something like this, so the surface is all wavy and it would take a couple gallons of bondo to smooth it out. Luckily the doors are still salvageable- I can either cut out all the fiberglass and start over with metal, or, what I might experiment with, is putting foam over the top part where it's fiberglassed and wrapping that in some marine vinyl that I have that matches the cream color on the truck. Might be nice to have it cushioned to use as an arm rest. We'll see.
 
#88 ·
Also finished fiberglassing the half doors. The results were... disappointing. I definitely saw this coming, but I was hoping for better. I should've realized the cloth wouldn't hold a flat shape, the gap is just too large for something like this, so the surface is all wavy and it would take a couple gallons of bondo to smooth it out. Luckily the doors are still salvageable- I can either cut out all the fiberglass and start over with metal, or, what I might experiment with, is putting foam over the top part where it's fiberglassed and wrapping that in some marine vinyl that I have that matches the cream color on the truck. Might be nice to have it cushioned to use as an arm rest. We'll see.
I would cut the fiberglass out and start over. You can use glued in foam to gap the area you are fiberglassing. Shape the foam with a hot knife or sand paper. When you have the shape you want paint the exposed foam with a water-based latex house paint. This seals the foam and allows you to fiberglass over the foam. Once the fiberglass has cured you can go back and melt the foam out with lacquer thinner or just leave the foam in place.
 
#90 ·
It has been a lot of work, but it's definitely cooling off now! It's nice to be able to drive it and enjoy it and then do side projects for fun when time allows. My wife also appreciates that- and me not being covered up to my elbows in grease. Major projects left are fixing the parking brake, finishing those half doors, replacing the suspension, and taking out the fuel tank to check it and replace the leaking fuel nozzle hoses.

Dude I saw your truck this last weekend ha nice!
Thanks guys! Bassmaster- were you driving through Fayetteville? It was probably parked at my house. Don't think I got a chance to drive it this weekend, so I took it to work today! I have a great view all day from my office!
 
#95 ·
Time is short but planning a few things this weekend. Have to change out the front brakes and rotors on my DD as well as change the belt tensioner, but I've done it all before on my wife's car so I hope it doesn't take very long. With what time is left I hope to replace the leaf springs and the shocks, and then sometime soon replace my fuel filler hoses and parking brake cables.

Here are my cleaned up springs (painted with Chassis Saver).


The 1/2 doors are functional but not at all pretty. They have the original door handles to open the doors and the lock. I'm going to cover the tops with something- cloth or rubber or something- to get them through this spring/summer, then this winter I'll do it right with some thin sheet metal.


Sorry for the terrible photos- new phone coming next month courtesy of my job.
 
#96 ·
What a nightmare...
Woke up Friday morning at 3:30am thanks to my 1 y.o., couldn't go back to sleep so I thought I'd get to work. Replaced the brakes and rotors on my DD (toyota matrix). That didn't take long then buttoned all that up by 5. Pulled the truck into the garage and started on the front shocks. They came out easily enough and got the new ones in, but the passenger's side seems way too compressed- there's probably 2-3" of compression left at most.



I double checked the model numbers and all, and it's the one that both RockAuto and the Rancho site recommend... so I'm not sure about that. As soon as Lowe's opened I ran over there and grabbed some new lower bolts since they were crusty.



Very crusty front brake calipers- putting that on the list.



Got home and started on the rear, when things got real fun. All of the bolts were extremely rusty and my impact gun was useless. I broke my strongest breaker bar (1/2" drive) so I returned it to O'Reilly's. Shoutout to them- they did a great job of honoring the Power Torque lifetime warranty. Upgraded to a 3/4" 24" or so rachet that ended up doing the trick on all the u-bolt nuts, but with a lot of labor. My back is killing me today.

Success- ubolts off.


Supported the axle on a jack (before doing the ujoints) and then started on the spring bolts. Two came out with relative ease, but two I had to cut out. That took forever too.

Had to cut off the shackle bolt on the passenger side and the front spring bolt on the drivers side. This the shackle bolt- it looks worse than it is. I managed to cut off very little material from the perch.


Some of the crap that fell out of the bottom of the truck as I wrenched/hammered/cut on it.


Finally got the springs out. The passenger side actually had two broken leaves- I thought it was only one like the driver's side. I measured before removal and the driver's side fender was 5" above the tire and the passenger's was 4", so that explains that.




Had to go to Fastenal to replace all of the leaf spring bolts- ended up paying $40 since they wouldn't open the packages and sell them individually, so I have a few extra. Oh well. Got home and worked to get the springs in. That was also frustrating as I forgot to take into account the extra lift of the new springs (without broken leaves) so the axle was in the way and I had all my jacks in position already. After a lot of maneuvering I got the springs to line up and got the bolts in to hold them in place. Wanted to get the axle mounted to them but I was exhausted and frustrated and it was about 3pm, so I started to position them and gave up.

Resumed this morning at 5:30am and was able to line up the springs and attach the ubolts, but I had to disconnect the rear sway bar first so I could move it around and adjust the axle. At this point I'm in class all day, but when I get home I'll torque all the bolts correctly, put it back together, and take it for a drive. Pretty excited, but very tired and sore.
 
#98 ·
The new rancho in the pass front of mine is squished as well(4 in lift). Mechanic had to about reverse the spin if the planet to get rancho to commit to a part number for it and that's what I ended up with as a result.

I take it easy so I've not blown it yet but I keep my eye on it.
 
#100 ·
No news on the shocks- no issues so far, so I might change out the really thick bushing on the underside of the top mount to give the the shock another 1/2" of length.
Also haven't "finished" the half doors- they just need cosmetic finishes. They are ready to be mounted, but I haven't solved the issue of where I'll park the truck when they're on (makes for a tight fight in the garage with the wife's car), so I would probably have to put the original doors on overnight.

Didn't have much time this weekend, and I likely won't for a couple weeks, but I added a retaining wire to the tire swing (no spare mounted yet) so that it doesn't swing past 90 degrees. It was Steve83's idea, just copying. He did a good write up. Also painted my dirty rims with Plasti Dip- super happy with the turn out. Not bad for a $6 can.

Also a pic post suspension changes. It has noticeably more rake to it, but it's no so much that it bothers me. I'm just glad it sits level and doesn't bang and clang as I'm going down the road (the passenger leaf spring had a broken leaf that would just bounce around).




You can see some overspray, but that will come off as its driven.

 
#101 ·
Had the day off yesterday, so took a break from studying to do a few things. It was a super nice day, so pulled the doors off and will start working on fitting the half doors this week. I had all the stuff to make a hoist for the top so I could take it on/off myself, so I got that all together and worked out some kinks. This will be a temporary set-up as I'm hoping to build a carport on the side of my house where I could make a permanent lift and storage area for the top and doors.


Still need to get some covers for the seats.


Couple 2x4's with eye screws in each end, each of four ropes runs up to a small pulley and then to a harbor freight hand crank that does the trick just fine. Had to secure the bench to the wall even after putting everything heavy in my garage on it. It works ok as a temporary hoist.


Very blurry shot of the crank...
 
#102 ·
We had some pretty crazy weather (rains, flooding, etc) this weekend, so it doesn't need to be said that the BKO didn't see much street time.
I did manage to get it out Friday and fit the the half doors- they fit really well and only took a little adjustment. Something has always been goofy with my front drivers side fender and door- the door has a dent on the front edge and it doesn't fit quite right (I've tried adjusting it and will try some more in the future), so I wonder if it was in an accident at some point, but the front fender looks to be original and no damage there- so not sure what happened.

Anyway, there's a slight gap between the front fender and the door on drivers side but passenger side fit is perfect. Of course, paint and cosmetics will come in the future. Like I mentioned before, I plan on tearing out the fiberglass and doing it right this winter. Paint will have to wait until that's done.



 
#103 ·
Nothing too crazy to report. I had the week off so I wanted to get a lot done, but that didn't really happen. I did manage to change out the u-joints and double cardan in the rear driveshaft, but in the process I was an idiot and one of my ramps broke, causing the truck to roll over my leg and scrape up my heel pretty good. The road rash kept me from working most of the rest of the week but I'm just glad it wasn't worse.

Bought a new DD courtesy of the company I work for- pretty fun to drive.


Havent driven the BKO with the u-joints except up and down the street- planning on doing some highway driving tomorrow or Friday. I'm still getting a pretty good clunk when I put it in reverse, and I'm getting a sound from what might be the torque converter- it's not really a grinding sound, but more of a groaning under heavy braking. I've also noticed that occasionally, also after heavy braking, it takes a little extra tap of the accelerator to get the truck going again. Sounds like I might be pulling the torque converter sometime soon. Any opinions/experience with this?
 
#106 ·
On my truck, it clunked whenever I let out the clutch, and it turned out to be the extending joint in the driveshaft itself. I bought a new JBG driveshaft and installed it, and it's been perfect ever since
Both good ideas- I will put a camera under there and look for axle wrap first, then check for any movement anywhere else. I'm sure my driveshaft needs some grease as well- I'll do that, but I doubt it would have much of an effect, if any, on the clunk. Not super worried about it right now.
 
#108 ·
My clunk came from some loose spider gears in the rear end, I think. Have not put the rebuilt pumpkin back in to test it out. If you can do this it might be the third member. From post 239 on my build:



Just made a vid. Did as you suggested. Seems like excessive play to me.
 
#109 ·
Mine has a tiny bit of play in it but not nearly that much. Still need to look under it while the wife puts it in reverse (it only does it for reverse, not from reverse to drive).

Took it for a nice Sunday drive though- everything else is so smooth! Loving the new suspension.
 
#114 ·
Haven't done much to the Bronco lately. I did knock one item of the to-do list this weekend.
My gas tank hoses leaked pretty badly when I filled up, and I could see visible cracks/wear in the main fill hose so I ordered new hoses a while back from JBG and replaced them this weekend.
While I had the tank out I check it and overall it was in great shape. I was prepared to order a new one but it was very clean inside and only had minor surface rust on the outside. Putting it back in was a pain- the main filler hose was too long and it pushed the gas tank over too far to the passenger side, so I had to trim an inch or two off and now it fits fine. There's a good kink in the hose though, which the U-shaped piece of metal is supposed to take care of, but I just couldn't get it situated to get rid of it. I filled up with no problems though.

Future to-do list:
Replace parking brake cables and rear wheel cylinders (rusty bleed screws)
Build floor and overhead interior consoles
Build tonneau cover

Hanging the tank to paint over the surface rust with Chassis Saver. Didn't bother painting the whole thing as I figure I will replace the whole assembly before it rusts out.


My son enjoying the truck. He loves opening up the console, pulling stuff out, and closing it again. Repeat.


Friday night I parked it outside with the top off since I was going to do the tank Saturday. I bought a cover recently as an experiment and put it on saturday night to see what would happen. It ended up pouring rain that night, which I wasn't expecting. The cover did really well, and for the $43 price I definitely can't complain. The only problem was that there was a huge pool of water (probably 10+ gallons) in the back since the top was off, but the cover held almost all of it and kept it from leaking into the bed, so I just opened the tailgate and let it all run off the cover.

Here's the link to the cover at Walmart.com. Sold out right now, but I would recommend it if it comes back.

Better pic of my patented pulley system (based on many before me). Not pretty but functional.


And, my neighbor a few houses down bought a school bus. Not sure what they will do with it, but that means I no longer have the strangest car on the street. For now.
 
#115 · (Edited)
It's been a while. The Bronco has been sidelined to take care of some summer house projects. The largest was redoing our garage- I epoxied the floor using a Rustoleum product and then tore out the 70's style wall paneling (who thought that was a good idea for a garage?) and installed insulation and drywall. Finally finished it a couple weeks ago and have been cleaning it up and organizing everything. Ready to get back to the BKO and start making some progress on the interior.

To do list:
-Replace headliner (already removed, just need to buy some thin fiberboard and glue on vinyl)
-Build custom console
-Make some simple door panels
-Find some decent seat covers and floor mats- not ready to invest in a re-cover right now
-Recover or replace dash pad


Garage photos:
Before (with most everything removed)
20170704_171551[1]

Paneling removed, prepped for floor coating:
20170713_215140[1]

New floor coating (dark areas are fresh, had to go back later and paint over some patching I had done):
20170721_144235[1]

Installing insulation:
20170730_161824[1]

"Finished" product- minus trim for windows and doors which will be replaced in the future:
20170811_141734[1]
20170811_141745[1]
 
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