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My build with Kentrol glass tub and fenders---UPDATE-Summer 2014

bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Got back from North Lima, Ohio with my glass stuff on monday night. The trip went well and i stoped off at build-a-bronco on my way home for a few small items.

The tub looks very straight. Of course its white so its hard to tell how straight it is until is painted a dark color but other people who have worked with fiberglass said my tub will paint up great after some Kwik Fill Polyester Primer and some blocking. Im gona leave it white for the first few years. The underside is not gelcoat but it is nice and smooth with resin. The tub looks exactly factory except for the cut and molded rear fender flares.

As far as for construction it seems very solid with some steel under the tailgate from rear corner to rear corner, some steel in the door areas, and a steel support that holds the dash, windshield frame, hood, and steering column.

The construction i know is done with stranded mat not the woven cloth. Im not sure how much if anything is done with a chop gun.

I got the steel doors on and the lines match up perfectly. Im working on matching up the front fenders next. The factory taillights went in great and look nice and flush. I got all the holes cut in the firewall and everything bolted up. The best way to work with the cutting is with a unibit (or step bit some call it), the hole saws worked for the medium holes, and a roto zip worked sweet for the large holes (with the bit like youd use for plastic or even sheetrock i think). For slightly enlarging holes or trimming up the rotozip with a small grinding stone worked great.

I am using steel doors, tailgate, hood, and grill. The windshield frame will be the viewfinder frame with the wipers under the glass. The front clip (inner fenders, core support, etc) is new steel also. I went with steel grill and tailgate because i wanted to keep the FORD letters that are stamped in them pieces. The glass grill and tailgate from Kentrol are sweet but they dont say FORD.
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
My bronco started a 68. i tore it down over ten years ago and have slowly been taking apart, cleaning, painting, and reasembling every sub component. Every bolt, nut, seal, and bearing is brand new in everything from the axles, to the steering column, to the motor, trans, and transfer, to the heater box, and to the doors.

I just had the frame blasted and i POR-15 the frame. Before the blasting i welded on the rear dual shock mts, the front hoops, the radius arm drop brackets, and plated the inside and outside frame rails for the steering box. I also put new DOM tubing inside the frame for crush spacers and modifyed the cross support so that someday when i add a different steering box the bolts will go threw and not hit the cross brace.

I am going with a 5.5 inch lift and 1 inch body lift. I lowered the radiator the 1" so i dont have to mess around with the shroud lowering. This was simple because i have a new core support and can weld the radiator supports anyware i choose.

I finally got the nads to invest in the Kentrol tub and front fenders. Im hoping to have the body all preassembled by the end of the month so i can tear down and weld, glass, and paint everything.

As it sits i have the rooling chassis with lift in, the motor, 3sp trannie, and t-case in. I have the tub bolted down, passanger door on, and front pass fender on. I also have the steel inner front clip in. I had to hold off on the drivers door because the rebuilt hinges i have arnt working. NOTE: spend the big bucks on new lift off hinges and DO NOT rebuild the factory hinges! I have the pedal assemblies bolted in as well as the steering column and the heater box.

Im waiting on my viewfinder windshield frame, and some other small items to come in the mail. I think i will do the "new way" of installing the windshield glass instead of the oldschool seals. Should be a slick looking windshield and have a modern touch to it as well as being more efficient removing rain and snow.
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
I sent a check to become a contributer so i can post up pictures.
My viewfinder frame and some other goodies came today! The frame looks very well built, and very clean bends and welds. I spent a few hours aligning the front fenders with the grill. Sucks that a 500 dollar grill from dennis carpenter isnt as well pressed as i thought it would be. Maybe there mold is getting worn? Oh well i guess thats broncoing for ya! After some grinding, beating, and a little prying the grill matches up good enough for now. I bolted the hood on and shimed it. Body gaps look sweet on the hood now. Made some cardboard templates so i can cut some sheetmetal tomarrow to attach the front inner clip to the glass tub. That will stiffen up the firewall and hold the doors solid. Im waiting on the brown santa to bring my stainless lift off hinges so i can get the doors on right. Them hinges i rebuilt will go in the scrap barrel!
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Last week i got the metal front inner clip bolted up to the glass tub. I got the glass fenders bolted to the inner fenders and got the grill bolted to all that. Fits pretty good for now. Will need some final adjustments before paint but all in all looks pretty even and flush. I also took a break from panel fitting to make up some seat mounts out of 2x2 tubing to bolt the seats to. The drivers side was a piece of cake and the passangers side was almost as easy except i needed to weld a leg on the tubing on the right side tube. After that i finally got the hole cut for the transfer case lever.
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
This evening i temperarly rivited the viewfinder frame to the dash cowl section. I cut the dash exactly where the directions indicated and then bolted the dash in place. After mounting the wiper motor to the frame i swung it up and it cleared the opening perfectly. I did have a old crummy dash pad around so i went to work cutting that out and pulling out some foam. I do have to say that i think it would work nicely if a guy took his time, but its hard to get it perfect. I would not try this on a brand new dash pad! I have seen other pictures where guys that had this frame just welded a box to the dash to cover up the moter. Because of other dash pad issues with a roll cage and such i may go this route on my dash and throw that old crummy pad out.

Im having my carb rebuilt soon so i can get ready to fire the motor up in a few weeks maybe. I still got to get brake and gas lines run but that should be simple. This frame off resto is like a full time job!
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Working on the wiring today. Should be alot of fun! NOT!?:? When it comes to wiring sometimes the easyest things can trip you up for hours. I finally figured out my ignition switch thanks to viperwolf. I have to clean up the wiring behind the dash then reinstall it. Check the wiper connection and the heater connection, then move to the engine bay.

I think every part on this truck i have taken out and reinstalled at least 20 times! At the end of this built i should be a bronco expert. I can take the front clip off in less than 5 minutes, and i can have the dash out in less than a minute! Maybe somebody is hiring for a bronco pit man?

Got all the wiring done today except for the rear taillights and the gas tank sending unit. Also got the firewall insulation pad in (its has a plastic front and a silver foil kind of backing with some wool type material between the two, and boy is that wool stuff hard to cut! And it impossible to drill threw because it wraps up in your bit). Got the dash back in and the defrost duct hose cut and installed. Got the headlights and front running light mounted up and tested.

I want to take everything back apart and weld and paint soon!

I sent a check to become a contributer, so as soon as im able ill post some pics.:D
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Finally got the wiring all finished up today. Made a new harness going from the firewall to the taillights, and also ran a wire back for the rear tank. I got the brake lines and fuel lines ran using some sweet stainless clamps from Wild Horses. I was able to secure the brake line and gas line to the frame right under the wire loom. Looks very clean and factory. I also adjusted the fuel gage to read full instead of just 3/4. Everything is coming along nicely. Sucks it all has to be taken apart again for paint!:(
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
so i got my contributer ststus finally and will try for my first time to post pics!
 

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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Im burnen the midnight oil again! Thanks to everyone on here that has helped me with my many, many questions. There are a few of you that really know your broncos!

Got my brother started on fixing my old rusty tailgate yesterday. Also got my SS liftoff hinges and got the doors on (and did it all by myself i may add). Had to play around with shimming the body mounts to get the doors right. The passanger side is still a bit hard to open, you really have to pull, but the drivers is smooth. I took me probably 5 hours to get them close. Ill work out the bugs later.

Today i cut the hole for the steering column longer so i can get it in with the shift linkage attached. Got the support bracket all in place for it as well. Got the steel cowl section where i want it so when im ready i can glass that into the tub. Also got my SS battery tray welded up and drilled out. I hate SS! Trashes every bit i got and them big bits ant cheep! I think i wrecked 3 big bits and broke 4 tiny ones off. Back to the hardware store in the morning for some bolts and some steel.
 

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sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
Making headway, keep up the good work. Nice lookin Rig.
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Got the tailgate mounted today as well as the final mounting of the front fenders. Took care of a bunch of little loose ends such as the plates for the underside to hold the seats in. Went with some 3/16 X 2" plate steel about 14" long instead of fender washers. Starting to take the parts back off getting ready for paint underside. Tomarrow i will take the front clip off and weld it together and hopefully prep it for seam sealer. Im kinda in the teardown stage now and getting ready for paint.
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Got the front clip pieces drilled for welding. I then sanded some areas so i could spray some SEM weld through primer. I let the weld primer dry overnight and then screwed the pieces together again and started welding. It went pretty well so far. I did it in 3 sections (right and left wheel tubs, and the core support section) so that i can sand everything easyer before i weld them 3 sections together. I wont do the final welding until i get my paint supplies together. I dont want to have everything sanded and then have it flash rust and have to do it all over. The last pic is of all the core support pieces waiting for the weld primer to dry. I have all them pieces now welded in place.
 

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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Sunday was spent preping the bottom of the tub for raptor-x. The glass resin is a bit to smooth i thought, so i hit it with some 80 grit. Everybody told me the glass kentrol tub will be rough and ill get glass slivers but in fact the opposite was true. It was actually to smooth and had to be roughed up for paint.

Moday i finished welding the front clip and then hit it with some 320 grit and then scuffed with a red scotchbrite. Its now all ready for paint. I have never painted before so this should be interesting. I spent around 1500 bucks on a gun and paint and supplies so there is no turning back now. I practiced with the new gun shooting some epoxy sealer on a old hood and then hit my seat brackets. Went smooth!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday i taped off the tub getting it ready for sealer. I also had to do some glass repair to the front fenders. Glass is way easyer to work with than steel! After another scuffing with a scotchbrite and a wipedown i shot the front clip and the front of the tub with epoxy sealer. There was no wind so the neighborhood was ingulfed in a cloud of paint. It was crazy, accross the street and into the neighbors yard it looked like a fog had rolled in!:-X I never thought that would be a problem but i guess the overspray lingers!

Today is wednesday and i just finished seam sealing the front clip with Lord fusor 800ez as recomended to me by allenfay. This stuff was ausome to apply. It comes in a regular tube that fits any caulk gun and it comes out nice and thick and sticky. I have caulked hundreds of thousands of windows and such so im a pro with my caulk!;) I hate runny caulk that comes out like mayonase because tooling it with your finger is impossible (my favorites for construction caulks are volcome and of course quad). Thank you allenfay for the great recomendation of the fusor 800ez. In a hour or so i will spray the front clip with black single stage, and part of the tub, and the fender repairs with white ss. Tomarrow i will paint the other part of the tub front with black ss. After all that has dried i will coat the underside of the tub, and the wheel wells with raptor-x.
 

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Tedster100

Chairman of the Bored
Joined
Aug 25, 2010
Messages
1,762
Wow, looks good. Are all those sanding discs from the underside? Your body does look a lot smoother on the bottom than mine. I put Herculiner on mine and it really cleaned it up nice. Looks like the quality control got a little better too, my tailight buckets didn't fit worth a crap and had very little to mount to. Looks like you're moving faster than me on the paint! Hey, did you drive all the way to Ohio to get this? I live within two hours of Lima, can't imagine how long that took!
 

allenfahey

Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Messages
2,672
Looks good! I would wait a few days to spray the bedliner on the fresh paint in the front wheel well unless it has sat in the sun. The chemicals in the bedliner might react to the fresh paint and it might lift.

How are you liking the Devilbis cups? I use PPS because the filter is built in the top. Those type of cups are VERY nice to spray upside down like under that tub dash area :)
 
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