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alright, so i'll narrate a little bit here. after i got the bronco, i proceeded to start the uninspiring and unexciting task of getting it road safe. i also tried to do a little bit of work on the interior.

forgive the pictures, my phone's camera lens was scratched at the time. but...i mentioned how bad my seats were.

i think most people with leather seats can relate to this scene:

well, a fortuitous trip to the junk yard netted me some nice eddie bauer cloth seats (which i greatly prefer to leather in the hot texas sun)

then a little power wash to the carpet

this came out looking pretty clean

and i removed the old dash pad

and added a new one

 

[dash_cam]

then it was back to the real work of mechanical reliability.

i decided i needed to do a sag pump swap and 4-bolt conversion. this took a little trial and error but i'll just leave the whole deal here.

start off with some junk yard components

for the return line, i stuck one of these guys in the steering gear

modify the return hose itself

and boom

then over time, i eventually did the same for the pressure hose

and one on the pump

add a nice universal hydraulic hose and you're done

 

[inlovewithsurfin]

Lift install time!!!! Bronco graveyard superflex 5.5, deaver front and rear springs, paired with extended radious arms, fox shocks and stainless braided brake lines.

 

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more deferred maintenance!

new calipers, rotors, brake pads, and hub locks

black brake fluid is a good sign, right?

both caliper piston seals are shot.

 

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also added a trailer hitch and brake controller. thankfully this came with the towing package, so i already had the wiring harnesses available.

very fancy mounting system

and that summer vacation was spent in my parents' little r-pod camper

 

[inlovewithsurfin]

After pics of the lift…

 

[bow]

My tailgate was falling apart with broken latch and rust at the bottom. With the soft top I do not need rear glass so I decided to install a pickup tailgate. I have seen this done before but have not seen one in person. I purchased a tail gate and latches for a 73-79 ford pickup. Had to modify the hinges and latches.

Installed and painted

 

[bow]

After fixing tailgate I got some motivation to fix the rest of the body work. Started by fixing rust in rockers and quarters. Purchased patch panels from tabco and started cutting out rust.

 

[dash_cam]

and then, when i wasn't getting the mechanical up to par or actually using the bronco, i found some time to put some work into making it mine and look how i wanted...

step one was getting rid of the chrome

i found black grill and headlight bezels. then i painted them with bedliner.

if i had the sweet brushed silver looking trim i would have left it. but i can't take the "wood grain" look.

you can see my cheap-o stereo and mega cracked dash pad

just some ebay vinyl wrap to do the trick

and some chrome removal

touch up the wiper arms

and i removed the foam pads from the roll bar and painted that with black bedliner, as well.

 

[bow]

I also replaced the passenger front fender and repaired a few small rust spots.

 

[bow]

Paint is ppg single stage acrylic enamel

 

[dash_cam]

i'm not keeping strictly to chronological order here, but pretty early on i decided to add some tow hooks. (we'll see these again later!) but this has been a long and slow build with multiple iterations. so for now...

step one is go to the store, i mean junk yard again. grab some expedition tow hooks.

it was pretty straight forward.

and then some rough trimming of the bumper

 

[bow]

Finished up painting bronco and raptor liner on rockers and roof.

 

[dash_cam]

so...i'll take a break from maintenance and even upgrades. how about just using the 'ole bronco to do some cool stuff?!

doing some light camping

my daughter feeding some kind of critter out of the back...

drive in movies

and i like to go off-road, too

and then eventually, i went with some new 31" ATs and new wheels

 

[dash_cam]

when i bought my bronco, it had a pretty good leak from the rear main seal. i let it go as long as i could, but eventually i developed a leaking water pump, too. with leaks front and back, i decided it was time to pull it. i didn't do a rebuild, though. just a complete and thorough resealing.

i borrowed a trailer and cherry picker from my brother and then started to work.

here's the little leaking bastard

it was pretty filthy

started off by scraping the big stuff

then some industrial degreaser

look, i found an engine under the grease

of course i broke a water pump bolt

so i welded a nut to it

and on to the next thing

 

[dash_cam]

if you've heard anything about removing the IM, you also know there is risk of breaking some IM bolts, too.

but....look at my engine. so fresh and so clean. that's ~240,000 miles right here.

of course i had to rebuild the injectors

then a little before and after with the top of the pistons

then i replaced the freeze plugs

and i FOUND another freeze plug inside the engine

and new brass freeze plugs installed

and it's starting to come back together

 

[dash_cam]

well...when i pulled the engine, it was filthy on the cross member, too.

so i did some pretty extensive cleaning, too

hit it with a coat of paint

and boom

and, as usual, i did have to do a little customizing.

so i added water temp, oil pressure, and trans temp

and after all that, it's time to reinstall...

putting it back together

 

[dash_cam]

continuing on...

i relocated my CB to a center console that i mounted to the floor.
i welded some nuts to the floor to bolt it into place

i put an external speaker in there where the CB was previously located.

and the rear cup holders barely clear the back seat folded forward.

and under the hood, i mounted a PA speaker so i can yell at people from inside the cab

and, out of chronological order, i talked to a local bronco owner and we bartered a deal for him to build some rock sliders for me. this is the first bit of protection i added to the bronco myself.

and then sprayed down with bedliner

 

[bow]

After painting I installed new door panels from carpenter and new door felts/gaskets. Also purchased a graphics set from Phoenix graphics.

 

[bow]

Also purchased a new grill and head light buckets and installed them.