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Rept's Super Slow Re-Re-Rebuild (88)

85K views 609 replies 54 participants last post by  OX1 
#1 ·
Ok peeps, here we go again :duh

So after years of wheeling and not caring, ive pretty well thrashed the body on my bronco.




The whole cab is twisted so the full doors don't come even close to closing so we have to use the half doors any time we take the truck out, and then tarp it up so it doesn't get wet inside n the rain/snow.
So after going back and forth, we decided to go back to a bronco body on this thing. The cab/bed was cool and all, but it dosent really have much room for carrying much gear, and not being able to drive it on the road sucks. So I stared looking for a bronco project. I wanted to stay true to the trucks roots (I have owned it 16 years afterall) which meant the body has to be an 87-91. I wanted to find something clean because im not a sheetmetal guy, and the condition of the drivetrain was completely irrelevant because im just going to drop the body on my frame when im done.

So I snooped around CL for quite some time. Seen trucks come and go, but nothing really jumped out at me. Then one day I spotted a lift 4-door bronco on CL up in the Poconos. Only two pics of the exterior, but it looked like a decent buy for the price, so I made the trip. On an impulse i decided to go up there and see if it would be a decent beater to cruise around in. Unfortunately it was a bit rough around the edges, more-so than I would've liked for a street cruiser so I decded to pass on it. But while BSing with the guy, he told me about this bronco he had planned to restore, but it never really happened. So we go over to take a look at it, and its perfect. its a '90 in decent shape with no motor or trans. The perfect donor vehicle! So we struck up a deal, and I brought it home :thumbup


So here she is, in all her glory.




It was a parked in stones under a tree for 10 years, so while being absolutely covered in moss, appeared to be in decent shape!

He had put a body lift in it (homemade, about 2"), and he built his own shackle flip for the rear with some extra leafs stuffed in there for some more lift. And there it sat, never got around to lifting the front, or doing anything else to it.
 
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#170 ·
I wish i had some super awesome update but i dont.

I came up with a solution that works, but im not super thrilled with. There is a lot less space than the pics show. Also, the clutch lever is tilted back towards the motor, and the gearbox can only be clocked every other position, so theres really no 'perfect' position; each one has its own issues to deal with so i stayed with this one.

I straightened the clutch lever...


...and then made a removable extension for it










It might look like theres a ton of room in this pic, but there totally isnt. I actually had to notch the bumper, valance & grill to get this to fit.




This is the 'lock' position. The handle swings forward into the grill, and over towards the passenger tire when in freespool. It works just fine with one hand, but its not much to look at. The problem is, it will become a very tight space, once the radiator/condenser, and trans/p.steering coolers go back in. Because of this, im stopping right here. This will work, but im afraid if i try to design something more elaborate, itll be in the way later down the road. So im going to keep this for now, and once i get closer to the truck being complete, ill revisit it and see if i cant come up with a more elegant design, that doesnt interfere with anything else (i already designed, mostly built, & then rejected a 'better' design because it took up too much space).

:shrug
 
#172 ·
I just had an epiphany. Cable drive! I need to find a cable that I can pin to the clutch lever, with a knob on the other end, to rotate the clutch. Then I can mount the knob right in between the slats on the grill!
I wonder if that would have enough leverage to overcome the detents on the lever, and engage/disengage easily. Maybe something boat related? Im gonna have to do some research.....
 
#173 ·
You took the words right out of my mouth; I was going say use a flex cable or if you can, index the housing, possibly moving the lever forward so it passed through the bumper horizontally.

I would think a diesel engine stop cable might work.
 
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#174 ·
The issue is, the lever rotates 180° from free to lock, so I'm not sure how to rig up a push/pull cable to handle that range of motion. If I could find a cable that rotates inside it's sleeve instead of sliding in/out I'd be set.
No go on the clocking; Warn told me every other position on the gear box; that puts it out the front at like 30° up (which im pretty sure is underneath the light bar anyway) or down at a weird angle, or coincidentally, straight out towards the engine.
 
#176 ·
Just saw your reply. I dunno what im going to do. The lever actually works pretty good, and i couldnt find any cable mount that looked like would work. The problem is it rotates 180º, and has a detent at both ends. I looked into throttle levers for various bikes, but they all have a spring to return to idle, and i need something neutral that will stay where i put it. On top of that, the cable still goes to a throttle plate with a push/pull motion, and i have a rotating motion. Mounting it sideways on the winch to try to pull on the clutch lever would probably work, except for that whole 180º-of-rotation part. Im not too worried about it right now, theres a lot to do before i really have to concern myself with it.
 
#178 ·
...almost like a transfer case shifter motor
 
#180 ·
Power sounds cool, except those things typically fail when you need them most
And here I was going to be a smart a$$ and suggest using the winch itself to power the control lever. I mean, you've already got the in & out covered...
 
#181 ·
I bought a PC kit not that long ago.
Did some things you can't really paint easily, like pulleys
or paint never works on, like an intake.
http://luxjo.supermotors.net/70 EB SPORT/ENGINE2/POWDER COAT/20170806_115158.jpg
http://luxjo.supermotors.net/70 EB SPORT/ENGINE2/POWDER COAT/20170806_122219.jpg
http://luxjo.supermotors.net/70 EB SPORT/ENGINE2/POWDER COAT/20170806_144647.jpg


But I think it still chips way too easy.

I'm back to POR-15 for anything that will be abraded.
(if Rust Bullet is similar, but doesn't fade, that may be the
way to go). Yeah, it fades, but nothing else ever seems to happen to it.
Cage has been pushed up against 100 of trees and the trees
always lose.
 
#182 ·
I thought about POR15 but like you said im pretty sure its not UV resistant and needs topcoated anyway.

Moot point, i just finished painting the bumpers this morning (Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black). Weather has kept me from making much progress on that end. We had 5 separate storms yesterday alone!

I hung the full doors from the red cab on the bronco today, they are full of small dings & dents but i think they will be easier to fix than the white doors. Disassembled the front fender wells, and removed the front clip as well. Weather permitting, monday im going to start priming/painting the liners. The inside of the fenders will be black along with the firewall so i need to finish that too. I also need to get these doors adjusted to the tub and then i guess ill start pulling dents.
 
#184 ·
Ford Magnetic. Everything else black: door handles, all trim, flares, etc. The top is gonna be black. Planning on putting the racing stripes back on, and definitely the depth markings too. I found a PC color thats pretty close to the Ford color (we think anyway), which the 16.5s are getting coated in, hopefully in the next couple weeks. If it looks good, then later on i may re-do the 17s as well as the radius arms and some other parts.
 
#186 ·
Maybe :toothless
Im pretty excited, i think its gonna look awesome when done.




Since everyone likes pics:



Bumpers getting painted:




Rear all done:


the front is done, its on a cart in the garage. I need to roll it outside tomorrow, so ill snap a good pic then.

I yanked the front clip off and primed all the wheel well pieces, tomorrow (weather permitting) theyll get some chassis black on them too.

I hung and aligned the red doors to the cab; they need a little love with the hammer, but i dont think they need any rust repair at all :thumbup



Theres a couple small dents in the hood, but i dont think that needs any rust repair either.



my biggest problem now, is im not a body guy so while i want it perfect, im not sure i have the skill to do it. Also, its gonna end up getting pinstriped in the woods anyway, so it really doesnt need to be perfect. So basically, its a battle against my OCD :toothless
 
#187 ·
The best advice I can give you on body work, is buy some long blocks like the Dura Blocks shown below. They come in different sizes & shapes, but is the only way to get things straight IMO.

 
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#197 ·
Dude, i am so excited to see this thing all done in shiny new paint, you have no idea :toothless

The best advice I can give you on body work, is buy some long blocks like the Dura Blocks shown below. They come in different sizes & shapes, but is the only way to get things straight IMO.
Guess i never said it, but i bought these, and they are indeed awesome :thumbup
 
#190 ·
Man, bodywork takes forever :banghead Hopefully im doing this right.

Most of the dents hammered out of the passenger door


driver door mostly straight (more work has been done since this pic was taken); theres a dent in the back behind the latch that i cant hammer out, still need to finish this


From there i set up the tent in the stones again


...and holy crap, shes outside for the first time in three-ish years!


just barely fits in there on the 33s :toothless



With the body work on the tub mostly done, i stared sanding and shooting primer:






Considering this is the first time ive used a real paint gun, im pretty happy with how its laying down.


Started priming new tailgate, still have to shoot the other side (maybe tomorrow)


...and then finally yesterday a buddy came over after work, and we hung the front clip! It was pretty hot out so i didnt snap any pics of it outside, only these after we put it back in the tent.





We're getting ever closer to paint :rockon
 
#193 ·
Progress update!

No matter what i did to the doors, i couldnt get them straight enough to make me happy, so i finally said **** it and bought new ones


So thats it, body work done. Time for paint!


I dont have the room to paint inside, and the black walnut trees are dropping leaves and nuts like crazy, so im not going to even bother messing up the paint job, im letting someone else do that :toothless


...and off we go!





Dropped off on thursday, she'll be back home in fresh paint in 2-3 weeks. :rockon
 
#194 ·
just cuz the bronco is out for paint, doesnt mean we cant work on it, right?

So here we go!


I drug out the hard top and brought it to the tent. First off, i forgot how much lighter the 80-91 tops are compared to the 92+.
Second, this thing is gross!


Windows coming out




Pressure washing shows just how bad it was





Primer!




...and paint!


So much better now :thumbup
 
#195 ·
Next up, the windows!

But not the original ones, ive had these bad boys stashed away in the garage for years, now's the time to use them :imp



Random pics of the window disassembly:








new felt window run channel from J&J Auto Fabrics


..and installed


Going back together, fixed window gets installed into top rail first


...sliding glass in


Black rtv in the corners. Yes, this is the way Ford did it.


One done


Both done


...and installed!



Man, this is gonna be awesome :toothless



Bronco is at the paint shop 2 weeks this upcoming thursday. So im figuring ill be bringing it home with its shiny new paint job next week :cool:
 
#287 ·
Next up, the windows!

But not the original ones, ive had these bad boys stashed away in the garage for years, now's the time to use them :imp



Random pics of the window disassembly:








new felt window run channel from J&J Auto Fabrics


..and installed


Going back together, fixed window gets installed into top rail first


...sliding glass in


Black rtv in the corners. Yes, this is the way Ford did it.


One done


Both done


...and installed!



Man, this is gonna be awesome :toothless



Bronco is at the paint shop 2 weeks this upcoming thursday. So im figuring ill be bringing it home with its shiny new paint job next week :cool:
Were you able to find rubber?
 
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