[Xbriank]

Back over the summer in July while Covid was in full swing I happened to pass a Black and Tan EB on the side of the road with a For Sale sign on it. I have wanted one of these as long as I can remember. Since we couldn't go anywhere, and had nothing much to do, i gave the guy a call and stopped by to have a look.

She ran pretty good, had a bit of rust, but nothing too scary considering it spent its life in New England. it had one owner that had taken pretty good care of it, but the brakes didn't. Given the brake issue and that it could not be driven home I was able to negotiate down to something reasonable, so I took the plunge.

Two days later the old girl was delivered to my house.

Right away I took a look at the brakes, found a line break in one of the steel lines and a break in the passenger side rubber brake hose. got new hoses, and patched up the break in the line I was able to get her on the road for at least some test drives. the steel brake lines are not in great shape, they will need to be replaced, but at least I can stop wll enough to pull into the garage without driving into the house.

Since I had our Pop Up trailer in the garage (rebuilding the roof) I had to get that finished up and out of the way. It took longer than I thought it would, but by September I was pulling it into the garage and planning to tear it apart.

I have been working on it since, but thought it would be good to do some write ups on what I have done to get her back into fighting shape.

Picture attached is where we started

 

[Xbriank]

I was able to patch up the brake lines in the driveway just enough to get it into the garage without going through the wall. So the first thing I did was to Jack up the passenger side and get into the front brakes. I found that the system was all sealed, but air in the lines, so we needed to bleed the brakes. tried to open the bleeder screws and snapped them right off

Rather than mess with 30 year old calipers I just went ahead and replaced both front calipers, and the bleeder screws in the rear. Brakes were bled, and working good. the pads and rotors looked pretty new, so I left them in place knowing that I will need to probably replace those soemwhere down the line.

 

[Xbriank]

Next up is dealing with some of the rust I have. The floor pans have holes, the Rockers need help, the rear leaf brackets are hanging by a thread, and surface rust all over the frame. the passenger fender needs some love, and I am not sure if I can save the driver side door.

The LMC Truck Fairy brought me a load of Sheet Metal and Bracketry for Xmas, so next up I removed the front passenger fender and started cutting away.

the plan is to work on the passenger side and the front end first, then tur it around and do the drivers side and the rear.

 

[Xbriank]

this brings us up to the present... Right now I have the passenger side leaf bracket removed, the frame back there is partially sanded. I have some more work to do back there, I am going to remove the exhaust hanger, do some more sanding, and then if I can catch a couple warmer days I am going to spray some paint on the frame.

Currently I am wondering if I need to remove the Fuel tank to access the back side of the frame so I can bold in the new leaf hanger.

Up in the cab, I cut out the rusty floorboards, but I am going to need to replace the Cab mounts as well, so I am working out how to get the old ones out. also the inside of the rocker panel needs some help I think I am going to need to do some fabrication there to give something that the cab mount can be welded to.

 

[HoustonBronco]

Looks great. You should have no issues replacing those rear brackets. I would make sure the springs in the back are not broken at all. Since youll be in there. Also if you want really good bolts look into ecogaurd bolts. Grade 9 and are rated to like 1000 hours salt spray. Pretty nice.

 

[Xbriank]

Thanks. Right now I am trying to figure out if I can get the bolts for the brackets in without dropping the tank. I have a trailer hitch I have to pull out first though.

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[HoustonBronco]

Oh yeah you can do it. Its going to take some time and youll need to use a magnet to put the bolt in through the frame and bracket. The second pick is the hole i slide the magnet and bolt through. Youll need to grind off the rivets and pop them out with a chizel( may need a blow torch to heat them up then spray with cold water. But dropping the tank makes it way easier but it can be done without dropping the tank.

 

[Xbriank]

Thanks! I already got the old bracket off, popped the rivets with an air chisel, then drilled and popped them out the back.

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[Xbriank]

Oh yeah you can do it. Its going to take some time and youll need to use a magnet to put the bolt in through the frame and bracket. The second pick is the hole i slide the magnet and bolt through. Youll need to grind off the rivets and pop them out with a chizel( may need a blow torch to heat them up then spray with cold water. But dropping the tank makes it way easier but it can be done without dropping the tank. View attachment 174668 View attachment 174669

You had a fancy magnet... I used a length of copper wire with a loop on one end and a bit of patienceto "fish" them in.

How did you keep the bolt from spinning on the other side? Was your bumper bracket in the way of the new bracket? Mine is in the way. Hoping if I loosen the bolts I can get enough play to squeeze it in

Sent from my IN2017 using Tapatalk

 

[HoustonBronco]

You had a fancy magnet... I used a length of copper wire with a loop on one end and a bit of patienceto "fish" them in.

How did you keep the bolt from spinning on the other side? Was your bumper bracket in the way of the new bracket? Mine is in the way. Hoping if I loosen the bolts I can get enough play to squeeze it in

Sent from my IN2017 using Tapatalk

After i got the nut started on the bolt on the other side i carefully and majestically placed a perfectly sized socket and wrench on it. Or you may be able to impact it untill it tightens up. Like by using a normal nut with a lock washer on it

 

[Xbriank]

After i got the nut started on the bolt on the other side i carefully and majestically placed a perfectly sized socket and wrench on it. Or you may be able to impact it untill it tightens up. Like by using a normal nut with a lock washer on it

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, though at one point I thought I would have to drop the tank to get my ratchet back.

Was nice to put something on the Bronco instead of taking everything off of it for a change.

Sent from my IN2017 using Tapatalk

 

[HoustonBronco]

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, though at one point I thought I would have to drop the tank to get my ratchet back.

Was nice to put something on the Bronco instead of taking everything off of it for a change.

Sent from my IN2017 using Tapatalk

Sweet and yes its not as easy as it would be with the rank out but like your saying it sucks having to take everything apart for a simple bracket

 

[NotaVegetarian]

Wow I am amazed at how clean all your parts are. Mine are covered in mud grease and oil. On my 78 project I’m going to try dustless blasting especially on the interior floor.

 

[Xbriank]

Not much done on the Bronco in the last few days. working on projects around the house (Bathroom Facelift) I did find some time to work on my welding and fabrication skills. I have been watching a lot of Fitzee's Fabrications ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6JPmJ_aicru8XPWr3EvJnw ) videos and practicing some of his techniques. it has been 15+ years since I welded, and even then I was quite awful at it.

I Picked up a harbor freight Titanium 125 welder for $170. I am not sure If I can do body panels with it, but it should work for my floor pans and places you won'e see as much. maybe if I get really good I will try it on some body panels.

It actually does pretty good.

you can see a little of my weld, I think I could have ground it down just a little more. It should work very nice to do my floor pans and up inside of the footwell.

I also took a little time to weld up a plate to put into my vice to hammer on/clamp to for welding small parts, just a couple pieces of 3/16 stock welded down the middle with some angle Iron welded underneath. I am not quite going to call it an anvil, but I plan to use it like one.

 

[Xbriank]

Worked with My Son a bit on the rear end. he helped me remove the bushings from the leaf, and begin cleaning up the leaf bracket, and the leaf in prep for paint. hopefully can get the leaf back in and the tire back on the ground this weekend. once I scratch that off the list, it is back to the floors, unless we get a nice enough day to roll her out so I can get the Driver's fender and door off.