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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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#201 ·
Thanks! Im super excited to finally have it in paint. Ive got a couple more things im gonna try to get done in the next couple weeks, so i can get it back in the garage, and get the tent down before the snowy season starts. Then im probably going to take a week or two break to get some work done on the house. If i can swing it, id love to get a cage in it before the end of the year, but thats pushing it a bit. We'll see.
 
#204 ·
Haha, so glad i bought them when i found them, ive never seen another set since.


I put the rear bumper back on


Fit the rear flares


...and then installed the front bumper, and installed/trimmed the front flares as well :cool:



I need to trim the rear flares a bit as they hang down below the bumper, but im not sure yet how i want to trim them, ill look at them again next week.
 
#206 ·
I hope to keep this paint job in good shape a little longer than the last one :p

...and speaking of which, time to scuff my fresh paint!


masking everything off to spray HNR (heat & noise reducer)




....and here we go!






...and done!




Weather permitting, ill be spraying the bed liner Friday :cool:
 
#207 ·
Bedliner!




I ordered all new weather stripping for the truck, which showed up wednesday


...and since i had some free time, i installed all the seals in the hardtop


So now the top is 100% done, just waiting to go back on the bronco, hopefully in another week once i get a couple other things done on the body :cool:
 
#208 ·
Whats the best way to make a truck faster? Racing stripes!

I really liked having them on the p/u cab, so i decided to do them to this body as a throwback to that one. Plus, i think black stripes on gray paint looks awesome. And think of all that added HP! :p


Laying it out:


...and here we go!





This officially finishes the work i need to do in the tent, which means next week i can get the top on and get it back into the garage to begin the reassembly phase!
 
#210 · (Edited)
Man, that brings back memories!

Started to gut the original tailgate to swap parts over to the new shell.



Unfortunately im dead in the water right now; had to go to the junkyard yesterday to find a harness to repair the tailgate harness; im guessing it broke and the previous owner lost the whole chassis side half of the harness, cuz i saved the entire harness from that truck, and didnt have that piece! I also found out that the tailgate kit from JBG doesnt include the felt window run channels for inside the 'gate, so i had to order those too (should arrive today). So hopefully Monday ill begin repairing the harness and start swapping all the old parts into my new 'gate.

Once the tailgate is back together im gonna clean up the garage and bring her inside for the winter. Ive got a lot of parts to start putting back on!
 
#211 ·
I also found out that the tailgate kit from JBG doesnt include the felt window run channels for inside the 'gate
I replaced my tailgate window sweeps a while back, and noticed this week that the inner one went missing sometime recently. I don't remember when I last drove with the window down, but it must have flown off. That or fallen off when the tailgate was down.

Having repaired most of my defroster grid, I actually think it's better to not use the inner sweep...I haven't noticed any rattling yet. The rubber end pieces seem like plenty to hold it snug, although they also contribute their share of wear and tear on the ends of the grid.

Edit: When you say inside the gate, are you talking about something down in the guide rails?
 
#213 ·
Nice to see someone do stripes the correct way, all the way, even under what the windows will cover up.
Those will look nice when done... they are also a good width and spaced correctly. I like em, that truck is gonna be a looker when its all back togethor.
 
#214 ·
Thanks (y)

I was kinda winging it on the stripes; i settled on 8" wide, 6" apart. I think they came out pretty good, but it sure was a pain to get the tape right! Definitey gotta do em with the glass out, its the only way to get em right! I used the same paint as i used on the top (satin black), so they should match well, and i like the contrast of the satin stripe on the gloss metallic paint. She'll be coming out of the tent next week, hopefully its a sunny day and i can get some good pics of it!

Ive got plans for the lamp housings, all the trim, grill, handles/locks/mirrors/etc. Already got badges in the garage waiting to go on, as well as some other stuff i cant reveal yet ;)
I think shes gonna look pretty good when im done, if i do say so myself :D
 
#216 ·
Can’t wait to see it!!!! Now sit down with a note pad and add it all up...... what’s the ballpark?

The easy answer is.... it was worth it !!!!
 
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#217 ·
Thanks guys!
I shudder to think what im spending on this project. It was pretty cheap until the last couple months. Primer, paint, HNR, bedliner, & weather stripping alone is over 2k. I also ordered all new headlight, turn signal and tail light housings which i should have in the next week or two. Material for bumpers is only ~$350. So maybe im into it for ~4k right now? Definitely worth it though :cool:
 
#218 ·
Gotta clean and organize the garage which means parts gotta go back on!

So......seats! Theyre a little dirty from sitting in the corner for 3 years, but otherwise in good shape.


Put the doubler shifters and the trans tunnel cover on too.


Moving to the back of the truck....this is the chassis harness. Those two plugs a foot or two back, are for the companion harness that runs up to the driver taillight, and the tailgate. (The plug at the end is for the passenger taillight harness, which is still boxed up)


Companion harness. This isnt my original 88 harness but the one from the '90. Same tail light, but the 90+ use a 3156 instead of a 1156 for reverse which is a big plus.


...and the tailgate harness fully repaired!


Tomorrow the plan is to throw the harness into the tailgate, and hopefully finish rebuilding it.
 
#219 ·
Just read this from beginning to end. Inspiring to say the least but Im thinking this Bronco will never actually wheel again lol it got too nice!
 
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#221 ·
man you rock crawlers are tough on trucks. Biggest rocks ive got in South Jersey get stuck in my tire tread.
 
#225 ·
#224 ·
No, going internal. S&W Racecars makes some nice cages, and theyre only ~30 minutes from here. So most likely going to talk to them about building something, as i just dont feel like doing it myself. its difficult, time consuming, and if you make a mistake, expensive.

The new bumpers, plus the rock sliders i havent built yet should protect the body. And now that ill be able to drive it on the road, ive got an excuse to at least try not to dent it :p
 
#226 ·
Yea rep sound like me and Im not going to wheel my F250 because its the Broncos tow bitch
149654
 
#227 ·
miesk5 man I like that white one on the top but Rep could still get rocks in between those rub rails and modify his $2000 paint ?
 
#228 ·
That white one looks like Raf's old rig (bronkzilla) from back in the early days of FSB.

PA wont let you run exo cages on the road anyway; i forget how its worded anymore but its something thats restricted to brush trucks for the fire dept. Theres even a limit to how wide a fender flare can be, unless they are sheetmetal and part of the body (then being considered a 'fender extension'). Its one of the few restrictions PA has on trucks, and they are very strict about it, at least in our county.

The rivnuts in the fenders will let me remove the flares so i dont hit em when offroad and the tires are pretty wide, so its possible to get away w/o too much damage if i try, i just usually didnt care enough to :p
 
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