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My '71 Bronco Build

firehawk

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
614
Loc.
Clawson, Michigan
I am finally going to share the build of my '71 Bronco.

I bought it off Ebay last summer and had it shipped form Arizona to Michigan.
The previous owner had already put efi on it and hydroboost from a 94 mustang.

Pretty solid, at least from what I had seen here in Michigan. Of course after I bought it I came across several others that I probably would have bought instead. But that is hindsight. I still want to buy the one with a C4 and 351, slighty more solid than mine was and it has the prerunner front bumper I want.

Well back to the condition. The po also replaced the floor pans and it was not up my satisfaction as the welds were too small, 1/4 inch and 90% of them were not attached to the underlying structure, they just filled the hole he had drilled. I did like the extra thickness of the sheet metal he used over
stock but I decided to go ahead and buy the replacement floor pans from JBG. They fit pretty good and all I had to do was cut out the replacements and weld in the new ones along with drivers side kick panel.
 

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firehawk

firehawk

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
614
Loc.
Clawson, Michigan
I have also covered the opening where the window goes after the po also cut out the widow frames. I like the half doors. The quarter needed to be straightened out and welded on the the front edge where it meets the drivers door.

Along with a few good size dents in the tail lamp corner, that is some thick metal on those corners and I couldnt get the studs to stick to it from my stud gun to pull out the dents. I had to weld a tab onto it and pull it out that way, and use alot of heat and hammer it out from the backside. A door pick also worked well.

The metal in the tub was in pretty good shape, I think anyhow. So far so good. I need to send it out to be stripped down, or start sandblasting it myself. I have already tigged up some of the few rust pinholes I found along with numerous holes from weatherstripping and god knows what else that was mounted in the tub.

I will not be running a hard top so I welded up the mounting holes in the top of the quarters.
 

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firehawk

firehawk

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
614
Loc.
Clawson, Michigan
I am hoping I dont regret this, but I have welded in a piece of metal over the stake pocket holes in the top of the rear corners. I still need to weld in a couple pieces to patch the passengers side kick panel and apron, where they always rust under the fender.

I ended up picking up a different grille and drivers side fender because the ones that came with the truck were a bit trashed. I plan to put the '66 style turn signals in the grille.

I hope to be able to clear the intake with the hood after I install a 2 inch body lift.

More pics to come.
 
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firehawk

firehawk

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
614
Loc.
Clawson, Michigan
I now need to make a list of things to do while I am gettin the body ready for paint.

Perunner front and rear bumpers w/spare carrier(might make my own version)
Crab cage or family cage
Rhino line tub
New seals for rear axle, transfer case and trans(might go auto)
Body lift
Swap d30 for d44
Winch
Serpentine belt setup


The list will grow as I think of it
 

Chief Master Sergeant

Contributor
Retired U.S. Air Force
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
5,172
That's a nice rig. You said that came from Arizona, but it has a lot of rust in it. Was it originally from AZ? Mine had the same inner fender rust yours had and the inner fender all but fell apart when I removed the front fenders. Ugh!
 
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firehawk

firehawk

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
614
Loc.
Clawson, Michigan
I wouldnt say it has/had a lot of rust, but the floor pans, drivers side kick panel and the typical area where the fender aprons meets the kick panels. Also the bed floor had some pitting and a little bit of pin holes from rust. The pin holes and pitting I am tig welding up. The other panels are already replaced except for the pass side apron/kick panel patch I need to put in.

It might be alot of rust for a 71 from Arizona, I would not know. Maybe it came from somewhere else. It looks like it might have been a half cab, probably why the bed floor is a little rusty. Either way it is nothing I cant fix.
Just need to find the time and motivation.

I will try to get the updated pics tomorrow.
 
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firehawk

firehawk

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
614
Loc.
Clawson, Michigan
Here are some progress pics.

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trlblazr

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
2,495
Loc.
Mesa AZ
I ended up picking up a different grille and drivers side fender because the ones that came with the truck were a bit trashed. I plan to put the '66 style turn signals in the grille.



If it isn’t the right year grille you can still go with the 66 style turn signals with a little mod work. Check out my photo gallery.
 
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firehawk

firehawk

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
614
Loc.
Clawson, Michigan
Well it is primer sealer. So I might be running it for a while looking like that.
The boss said I need to get it out of the shop, so the background might be changing. I dont mind the look of the primer, it is nicer than what that side looked like before.;D

Well after lookin at your avatar I think I will try for the bikini clad wrap, regardless of paint color. :p
 
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