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Making My Bronco Great Again

2K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  OpusDiesel 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
After a year of himming and hawing, I have decided to rejuvenate my ’93 XL. It is an ex-GSA rig (Probably BLM) that I bought at auction in 1998-ish with 70,000 miles on it. 20 years later is has 220,000 miles on it and it was time to replace it or get it up to snuff. In that 20 years it has only left me stranded once (fuel pump) and I have put very little into it (new clutch, brakes, alignment). It has served my family well, teaching two teenage boys to drive, (yes, that is where the right-side dent came from), and taken us all over Orygun.





My reticence at rejuvenating it comes from innate cheapness, and that fact I always wanted an early Bronco. Truth is, the early Bronco is a fetish and not that practical for me. An early Bronco will never be a comfy highway rig for longer trips, and the prices are getting a bit out of hand.

I briefly considered a newer rig, but truthfully the newer rigs are too fancy for me. I am sort of a rubber floor mat kinda guy. I suppose if I could find a stripped down 4-door Wrangler it would compare in highway/off-highway driving, but good luck finding one that is not all dolled up. I suppose when the new Bronco comes out it could turn my head, but I expect it to be on the order of 60k to start. (I could swing that, but like I said I am cheap like a Scotsman.) I could also probably get away with a smaller more highway orientated SUV (CRV, Rav4, Renegade, Edge, Murano), but when you do the math, the difference between 20 mpg and 30 mpg over the life of the vehicle does not justify the cost difference, especially when you factor in insurance. And while I am not a trail guy, I hate abusing equipment and a steady diet of washboard logging roads will more or less beat the ca-ca out of unibody rig in relatively short order.

My path seems clear right now, that the kids are off on their own and have managed to pay for college without either of us going into debt, I am going to set aside 5-10k and rejuvenate the old rig. I say rejuvenate instead of restore, because I have no use for a rig I cannot use freely.

Over the years my rig has picked up a lot of little problems that in aggregate are starting to wear on my nerves. (Leaking rear main seal, busted oil pan stud (yeah, the one you cannot reach without pulling the motor), needs brakes, busted fuel gage, upholstery, etc.). The abbreviated list of things to attend to:

Repair and repaint the body (Yes son, you have to swing wide around the telephone pole every time pull into the drive way…)

Rebuild the motor (I think I’ll start with the heads and then see how much attention the lower end needs)

Improve the drivability (New shocks, brakes, maybe some taller narrower tires, etc).

Try and improve the gas mileage to 20 mpg (Headers, exhaust, intake, electric fan)

Spruce her up a bit (LED lights, Upholstery, Stereo, GPS, maybe a Computer, Rearview Camera, etc.)

My plan is to get another 150k out of her as a dead solid reliable daily driver. (Actually, I drive a company rig during the week, so my miles on this rig are reduced – see below)

Cheers, R-b-W

 
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#5 ·
Yo R-b-W,
Welcome!
For any Bronco questions or to chat about it's planned modifications or build, it's better to post each seperately in Noobie Bronco Tech Questions. Flame free zone. This will get more attention and you can build up your post count to get into other sections such as Bronco and Ford Parts/Accessories (75 posts required to view).

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Was cruise control, if equipped recall work completed by dealership? Call local dealer or register and view status @ https://owner.ford.com & have VIN ready.

1993 Bronco Dealer Brochure in Google Drive @ https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-xGWnnLeWl6cGFMTDNNcGprQTA/view

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum...0-1993-ford-bronco-dealer-training-video.html http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum...0-1993-ford-bronco-dealer-training-video.html
1993 Ford Bronco, Venezuela Commercial @

Free registration for some wiring diagrams (partial, 86 through 96) and Technical Service Bulletins, (80 through 96) same as by Ford; Search Wiring Diagrams

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#7 ·
Welcome, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but nice chevy. As a kid we had a black 64 c10 stepside (without the spare tire cutout) rotting at the end of the driveway. The axles were buried in the earth, and when we finally sold it off, I used my bronco to pull it out. My swampers dug foot deep ruts before I got it out.
 
#9 ·
Welcome to FSB. Your 93 has given you great service and deserves to be Made Great Again! You must be out of the rust belt, she still looks pretty good, except for the dent that is :rofl:
 
#10 ·
you may never get to 20 mpg, but rebuilding the engine, cleaning every scrap of black goo out of the intake, changing all the hoses, rebuilding injectors, new long block, and new vacuum hoses and sensors and a new transmission got me from 8mpg to 16-17 on the highway.
 
#11 ·
Welcome aboard, lookin' forward to this.......
 
#12 ·
Thanks for the warm welcomes. This week is cleaning and getting quotes. I am finding it a bit of a challenge to get "businesses" to give me a quote on doing the body work. "We don't work on rigs that old" or "We only do insurance work " have been the most common responses. I finally had a WTF moment yesterday with an estimator at a shop that does do custom work and asked why. His response was "One nightmare client has spoiled it for everyone". ~shrugs~

I remember when cash in hand was a good thing. I am thinking there are a lot of people that are not really that interested in being in business. So in an effort to be taken more seriously, I am going to detail the the rig. I am not a great cleaner but I'll put some hours in and take it too a real detailer next week.

And yes Big Blue, it is a nice Chevy. My boss runs 3 '66-67 pickups, a half dozen P-vans (bread trucks), and a few vans. All Chevys, he buys them cheap and drops a Mr. Goodwrench 350 and a Holley 4-barrel in there and puts them to work. It is kinda fun to show up at a job walk in a '66 and see your competitors in their 60k+ rigs complaining that they cannot make any money.....
 
#13 ·
After 2 years I am picking this up again.... (Lots of ca-ca to deal with that seemed more important than dumping thousands of dollars into a 30 year-old rig. Things are better now, and a week in AZ helped immensely.) I spent the weekend mucking out the Bronco. Found a local builder with a good rep to rebuild the 302, and I picked up a little Scion tC to drive as the build goes forward. I'll move this to the noobie section as I make progress.
 
#14 ·
Welcome back.....
 
#15 ·
What part of Oregon? Did you find a body tech?
 
#16 ·
Welcome to the group... Tell me about the bs in trying to find someone to work on these older rigs ? (be easier to find a unicorn)...need the windshield resealed on my 82 with the exterior chrome trim even the local rod shop (a shop that promotes themselves as classic resto) won't touch it cause their windshield guy "doesn't feel comfortable doing it" (? seriously)... Guess I won't be going there for my custom paint job if they can't even reseal a freakin windshield ? Thankfully CID doesn't scare my regular mechanic and he actually (usually) knows what he's doing.
Pulling dents isn't terribly difficult... Or u could just get new panels if you're planning on painting... Will be great to see her come back to life ?
 
#18 ·
I’m familiar with how the custom shops won’t touch old tin. For my ‘78 F350 my niece christened with her truck not long after she got her license, I can’t find anyone in the area who would work on it. I’m more then willing to pull the dent myself, but I have never painted a truck other than my hunting truck with Rustoleum. But even with that custom touch the pole gave you, it’s a nice rig
 
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