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1975 Bronco Story- Before, During and After

Old School

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
440
Loc.
AZ
Before:

This was the first Bronco I had in a long time. My dad had a 67 when I was young, and sold it right before I could drive.

I found a nice 67 Roadster when I was in my mid '20's but had to sell it when we were buying our first house. That was about 15 years ago.

A few years ago, I started looking for a mostly stock and original one. I found a decent 1975 out in Chino Valley about 125 miles from Phoenix. It ran and was very straight but not ready to drive home since the brakes were dried out and the tires shot from sitting over 10 years. I liked it but I had no way to get it home easily and I passed on it.

The guy selling it was a roofer and was given this in payment for roofing the original owners house and barn. He was going to jack it up, cut it out and take off the top, but luckily that didn't happen. He called me later that day after I was a hundred miles away and said he had to go to Phoenix with his trailer to pick up some supplies and could deliver it. But, I was in Flagstaff by then.

It was the strangest car deal I ever made.

He delivered it to my parents house while I was out of town. He called me and told me he dropped it off even though I had not paid him for it. I confirmed with my parents that it was indeed sitting outside of their house. I met the guy in a rest area along the highway that afternoon and paid him for it.

Here's what it looked like:
 

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OP
OP
Old School

Old School

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
440
Loc.
AZ
During:

We got it running pretty easily. Mostly fresh gas and new plugs. I didn't even rebuild the carburetor.

I painted the wheels and got some little car whitewalls to give it the old school/ old man look. My father hated the look and called it "stupid". I agreed but said that's the point. He didn't get it.

I buffed out the dead paint. I love original paint and don't mind "patina" at all. In fact, I like an honest car better than a pimped up phony concealing it's past.

I did repaint the primered but original hood. I never painted a car before and it turned out pretty well. I just used the basecoat with no clear and it gave it a nice satin look to match the cleaned up original paint.

The only real work we did was to go through the brake system.

It was also the only old car that ever left me walking.
My son and I drove it all over one Saturday, we went on about 100 miles of errands and probably stopped and restarted 10 times. I thought the engine sounded strange while cranking. kind of like right before the battery dies. The last stop of the day was to visit my dad in the hospital. We came out and it just cranked and cranked. My dad is a retired Ford dealer mechanic and diagnosed it from his bed. The stator in the distributor died.

Meanwhile I found a nicer 1977 with an automatic so it was time for this one to go.

Here are the pictures I took after cleaning it up:
 

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OP
OP
Old School

Old School

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
440
Loc.
AZ
After:

I put it on Craigslist.

Got a call from a guy who said he was helping someone find a Bronco. Since it was craigslist, I assumed it was some kind of flaky deal. He said the buyer he was helping would call me. He said, be patient with the guy and he was for real. Whatever.

I get a call from the buyer. He asked me if I could meet him near the airport. He was flying into Phoenix in his plane and wanted to buy a Bronco and then was flying from Scottsdale to Glendale (20 miles) to go buy a motorhome before flying home to Flagstaff.

We met and reached a deal.
Finally, I just asked him. He told me he is 89 years old. He said he had the first Bronco in Arizona, a pick-up, and bought it in mid-1965. He still has an electrical contracting business he started in 1941! And, he still has has the 1934 Ford truck he started business with!
He had big plans for my Bronco. He said when he saw the whitewall tires in the ad, he knew he was buying it.

He was eager to show it off so I brought my family over to visit him. Nelson had someone find him a pick up top, redid the interior, had his XM radio installed, painted it and installed power brakes. Disc brakes and a column shift automatic are coming. Here are the after pictures. That's Nelson in the background.
 

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Heus33

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
Messages
7,407
Very cool story - when I was reading the part about the CL purchase I thought you were going to say that this guy was the original owner that traded it to the roofing guy!

Aweseome story nonetheless. There's something about an old man standing next to a stocker that makes it look 'just right'. Remindes me of my grandfather - I can almost smell his pipe tobacco.
 

JGbronc

Bronco Maniac
Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Messages
6,211
That is a very special story! Thank you for sharing it with us!

That's a sharp looking Bronco, by the way. :cool:
 

muskrat

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 21, 2008
Messages
1,503
the white walls

Great story. I bought my '74 from the original owner. Must have been in his 70's at the time.

He had the little white stripped tires on it also, P 215's. My wife hated it, said it looked like an old man's car, which, it was!

I put a 2.5" lift and the 30x9.5's. Still looks stock, but beefier now.
 

miikee73

Shadetree Guru
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
3,551
Loc.
Aloha
Looks like he left the tires on it. It's interesting how one thing on a vehicle can make such a difference in your decision. I really want a late model Mustang GT ,but the only rims I like are the retro 5 spokes.
 
OP
OP
Old School

Old School

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
440
Loc.
AZ
Besides seeing the Bronco go to a good home, I kind of got an adopted grandpa out of the deal.
 

77Bronco636

Sr. Member
Joined
May 9, 2006
Messages
847
I just re-read this thread again and wish I had kept it!!


Sounds like the truck found a good home. Maybe ask the new owner to give you the option to buy it back when he is done with it. He is not a spring chicken you know!!;)
 

Bukin 67

Bronco Abuser
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Messages
2,262
Great story. Good 'ol Nelson. I'm glad he is still able to enjoy it. He even looks like an old electrical contractor.
 

bosshoff

Contributor
Sr. Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2004
Messages
713
This was two years ago. Have you kept up with Nelson to see how he is doing?
 
OP
OP
Old School

Old School

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
440
Loc.
AZ
It went to Flagstaff, Arizona.

Yes, I have kept in touch with Nelson, and he's still loving the Bronco
 
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