[robbz28]

I went to the local junkyard today, they have a whole new lot of southern F150's in really nice shape. Picked up a gold 96 passenger door that just fit in the back seat & a blue/white drivers door for around $60 each, both power mirrors & absolutely rust free. I was told by my friend who owns a body shop & does a lot of restorations, to buy good used doors, over aftermarket doors, cuz the aftermarket doors aren't too good fit/finish, & are made of thin metal. When grabbing that blue/white drivers door, I had taken the parking brake off to try to get as much wiring harness with the door as I could, & the parking brake was in excellent shape. It rotated very nicely, spring back really nice, where as mine mine is just crap, so I got that too. Plus I scored a bed mat for my 2020 Ram for $25, and a vietnam vet plate for my garage wall license plate collection. View attachment 169563

I also got a chance to get a few paint codes off of other blue Ford trucks that were there as i plan on keeping the Eddie Bauer paint lines & 2 tone just like factory, just not the same shades.

I am planning on making this truck really nice, and the factory paint colors even when really nice, i don't care for too much. The shade of the blue is: 7B Shadow Blue Metallic & it is way too dull, even when really nice its just boring. Then my factory tan color is: 8Q Light Desert Tan, its way too yellow!! The TAN may go to the 96 EB tan CODE DZ, or match the shade of my interior interior. Spray outs will help me decide later.

As for the blue, I like the bright blue/tan 1996 bronco colors, and there was an F150 there with that color... here is that paint code KM. Royal Blue Poly. Just not sure if it will look right on an 86.

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All in time i guess, & thinking out loud here. May look into GM Mulsane Blue, which is a lighter shade of blue. View attachment 169574 Gotta pick something soon, fenders, hood & doors can get painted soon.

Just keeping notes on my build thread.

IM pondering this same issue, the purist in me wants to just keep it simple and do the Dark Shadow blue, because i do like it, but it may not be my favorite, but i REEEEALLY like the cobalt blue of the newer GMC and Chevy trucks, aboslutely beautiful shade of blue.

 

[robbz28]

Yeah, its really hard because I don't think the newer colors look right on the older Bronco, but i just don't like how boring the Shadow Blue Metallic is.... quite the quandry!!

I feel ya, also you need a color that will complement the interior. In the case of the eddie bauers, the interior matches the tan thats on our models, the shadow blue metallic is pretty up close and i think would look better in a basecoat clearcoat than it does in old single stage...which im not 100% sure, but think they still used up till the late 80s on trucks and broncos...i could be wrong on that though. Mine has clear coat on part of it, but i think it was half ass repainted at one point, at least the hood was and they may have sanded the old paint and just cleared over it to kind of brighten things back up. Anyway, mine will likely be shadow blue metallic because im about to have to buy paint to do my jambs and my underhood before i put the engine back in.

 

[robbz28]

I think you are right on the BC/CC vs the factory lacquer paint. You can test that out, as i have lots of rust repair to do first!!

Plus i got the call that my Corvette frame should be ready to pick up from the paint shop later this week, so the Bronco may be waiting while I assemble everything on that...

Awesome! I have a friend who is big into 3rd gen vettes, has a sweet 63 roadster that he took to Bloomington a couple of years ago and got Gold certified. He also has a 67 roadster thats the same color, he calls them his "bookends" due to it being the first and last year....must be nice.

 

[robbz28]

Yessir, thats the cobalt blue i was tellin you about, also i had a 2007 toyota tacoma that was Spectra Blue Mica....it was a similar dark blue, very pretty when it was clean and shiny.

 

[robbz28]

Found a single OEM 94-96 EB rim for my spare tire to match my other 4 rims. I like the look of no spare tire cover & a matching rim/tire on the spare tire carrier.

This was supposed to be a "Grade A" condition, but i give it a generous "Grade D" rating.

I will see how well I can sand out all the dents, curb rash, & stains on it, and re-polish it.

View attachment 172327

Grade A from 100 feet away


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[robbz28]

Never waste an opportunity to use a good Helen Keller joke...

I have one of those wheels, it’s in grade D shape but could be saved with some work. My spare is mounted on it, if you’re interested, I’ll take a closer look, it might not be as bad as I’m thinking.


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[robbz28]

That’s a sweet little welder! Does MIG and TIG. I just have a MIG but I love it, use the heck out of it too. Just get you some scraps and Start playing.


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[robbz28]

Nice...God I hope mine cranks when I get it all back in lol


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[robbz28]

Nice, one of my two new Taiwan fenders came in yesterday and I was very surprised at how good it looks, it has two tiny blemish spots that I found but for the price I ain’t gonna complain any. Hopefully the other one comes in before the weekend so I can get some paint on the backsides of them.


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[robbz28]

I don't know about you, but when i pulled all t hose little screws out that held my plastic inner fender to the fender lip, half of them broke off or stripped out. I plan on drilling out the holes and using those plastic push rivets when i go back together, like modern vehicles use, i got a pile of them in a box i bought for my four wheeler years ago.

 

[robbz28]

I had a 05 Silverado that was two tone, white on top and a silvery tan on the bottom, had a nice touch of metallic on it .

Also look at some of the new f250’s that are blue/tan those look better than the yellowish tan we have.

I do feel like our old paints are probably faded a bit. I’m almost certain I’m going back with that original lower color but until it’s on there Im looking around for a possible replacement color, just got to keep in mind the top needs to be the same color, and if it is a metallic that probably wouldn’t look good on that satin roof (unless you went glossy on the roof, which to me on a two tone job don’t look right)


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[robbz28]

I officially spun the Bronco around in the garage to begin the passenger side, front end, and hood & cowl, hopefully I can get it wrapped up enough to let the body shop fix my low skill work into something decent! Here the drivers side sheet metal, no filler yet, just welded & some primer to keep it from rusting.

View attachment 179115

The calico bronco!


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[robbz28]

Only if a cooler name presents itself at that time...since we’re build twins, this gives you naming rights to my wreck.


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[robbz28]

Finally made a hardtop hoist.
I screwed 2x6's in to studs on my ceiling & walls & this was because my rafters did not line up with where I wanted to position things, & my weird shaped, 1 car wide 16x45 foot deep garage demands things like this be placed accurately.

I used some scrap 1/8" thick, 3" wide steel stock i had laying around & bent/beat it into a bracket & welded in a gusset in for strength. I bolted a boat winch rated at 600lbs to that bracket & MacGyver-ed together 110lb paracord, eyelets, nuts/bolts and safety hooks that I can unscrew & easily detach from the wood for removal. After some adjusting, it cranks up easily, & is nice & level & the bottom of the wood is at 6'-5" so I won't hit my head on it when walking under it, & I can back the Bronco all the way under it with the roof clearing the top.


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I tried several iterations of this hardtop hoist with some fine tuning because of the overactive engineer brain... the bracket & boat winch work great, but making sure the rope pulls straight up from each corner made things much easier to adjust to level, fore/aft & cross car, plus much more stable in every direction. Don't bother trying to do it any other way, I did & it was not very stable.

I made this hand sketch of the dimensions I used to make this if it helps.

View attachment 179331

Your blueprint looks like something Wiley Coyote drew up chasing Roadrunner...I’m
Laughing because I do the exact same thing on the exact same yellow legal pads.


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[robbz28]

Reminds me of when I did my 67 mustang about 10 years ago. It had Fred flintstone floors, it literally peeled up with the carpet. A weekend with a sawzall and two new full length panels later it was all as good as new again.

I hate rust


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[robbz28]

I’m sooooooo glad we don’t have the rust issues here...we do have them but a car has to be left out under a tree for years.
My friend had a 1996 Yukon his boss gave him from Michigan and I know those had corrosion protection, but that road salt didn’t care. It looked like Swiss cheese, completely rotten.

Seeing your posts about rust are making me grit my teeth because I have another project waiting for me after this Bronco. My BIL has a 68 Camaro that has been sitting in his shed for 20 years and it’s in pretty bad shape. I’m gonna have to do a lot of cutting and patching OR buy a replacement body for 16k...


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[robbz28]

I been slacking on mine as well, havent worked on it in like 2 weeks now! Its just sooooooo hot and kids are back in school, and the grass here has started growing so fast it needs cutting about every 5 days and i mow a tad over 4 acres so...plenty keeping me busy. Was going to work on it today and went to change the belts on my mower first and a dang spindle bearing is out...it's always something, just glad my son is still a few years away from 15.

 

[robbz28]

Did you ever consider doing the whole quarter panel instead of the patches?


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[robbz28]

I ran into a similar problem with my power lock actuator, the rod was a different length and I had to modify things a bit but it works.


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[robbz28]

The calico theme is getting carried away.... but its a nice clean door! .

Johnny Cash’s “One piece at a time” comes to mind…


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