"The Racing Bronco" Restoration

Let me be the first to say I am diggin' those wheels. Are they still on the truck? Do you know who made them?

357Bronco said:

Is this a turbo charged six cylinder? Looking forward to your build, nice to see another Bronco that doesn't crawl.

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Wondering the same thing. It looks like the one that was a magazine in the 70's. And yes, more photos are needed!

Here are some scans of an article on the truck that I was able to quickly find in the archives today. My memory says there was at least one more in another magazine but I didn't have time to look today. I believe this was from '69.

Todd Z.

If I read that correctly, says 5.36 sec. in 300', that's rippin, like'n this build already.

any idea where that "bennett ford" may have been?

That is the article I was thinking of Todd.

Ok guys, I guess a bit more of an update is in order, I’ll see what I can come up with for now. First of all, let me answer a couple of questions that have been asked. This is not a turbo charged 6, but it is a Paxton Supercharge 170ci 6. If what I remember is correct, the engine was originally a Falcon (I don’t know if the Falcon and the Bronco 170ci where different, but a Falcon engine is what I remember), I’ll get more information out regarding the engine as time goes on. The Trans is an original Ford 3-speed out of an Econoline. The transfer case is not a transfer case at all, but a chain drive which is direct full time four wheel drive. The front end is still a Dana 30 and the rear is a 9”, I’m not sure what the gears are or what kind of traction devises, but as I tear things down I will find out. That pretty much covers the drive train, but just a quick note, the front end is without brakes, and the rear brake have a roll control for staging.
On to the questions about the wheels, I’m not sure who made them, but they are still with the Bronco, or at least in the same garage. The wheels are 16”er’s and 15” wide, the tires which have a 11” tread pattern are also still original and are of a unique design, grove so as to stand straight up upon acceleration. The tires are a bit worn and the wheel are a bit rusty, but they will be reconditions as well as possible and not replaced.
In the article posted by Todd (by the way, thanks for the post and feel free to post anything else you find) the Bronco was still owned by Mr. Erickson. After Dad bought it, the 300’ times came down even lower in to the 5.0? somewhere(I’ll try to find the actual time, but it was a national record holder with a record that stood for many years after the Bronco was retired from full time racing.
Bennett Ford was the dealership Dad was working at when he bought the Bronco. Bennett Ford was located in Salt Lake City, Utah. At the same time Dad was racing the Bronco in the sand, he was also racing a Maverick sponsored by Bennett Ford at the local track.
Sorry for the long post this time around, but here are a couple of pictures to make up for it. The first one is as it sits today in the corner of the garage. The second one is two of the tire stack together; the third one is a quick shot of the engine and the last is an older picture with the Bronco sitting in front of the garage that will be its restoration location. Hope you all enjoy.
Brian

I'm so glad this truck is still around and in such good shape! I often had wondered what became of it.

Still looks to be in pretty good condition. Thanks for the photos...

Too cool man, Looking forward to it!

Ok,
A few more pictures for your viewing pleasure. The first one would have been taken very soon after the Bronco was brought back to Utah. The Country Squire Wagon is what Dad took down to California to pick the Bronco up. It wasn’t his car, I believe he told me it belonged to his Boss at the time and it had air conditioning. After getting the Bronco back to Utah, from then on he used a Bronco as his tow vehicle. As a Salesman, he always had a Demo to use and it was normally a Bronco. He also had at this time started a company call Bronco Conversion Center in which he would install rear cutouts, bigger tires, hood scoops, roll bars, and 4 barrel carburetors. As you can see in the picture, he would put towing tires on the Racing Bronco and mount one set of tires in the back of the Bronco and the other set on the tow bar. The third picture is of the first race he went to which was in Rock Springs Wy. Dad told me the other night that when he got to the race there were a lot of guys there that helped out the “New Guy” in setting up the Bronco. They helped him determine what air pressure to run, how to best tune for the area, how best to stage in the sand amongst other things. He then went on to beat those same guys and they were just happy to be able to help out (try to find that in the current racing environment). By the way, going back to the Bronco Conversion Center, the same garage that all the work was done in is the same garage we will be using to restore the Racing Bronco. Funny how some things come full circle.
Until next time, have a great day,
Brian

Time for another update. Things are moving along towards an early November start date for the restoration. This week will be full with an eagle project, next week is the opening of the deer hunt, and I’m looking for Bambi’s daddy. The week after is a move the cars around weekend to make room in the old garage for the build and the start of framing and wiring the inside. After that the build should begin. Yesterday, I received an email from Toddz with some interesting information. Todd had stated in the past that he would try to make contact with Charley Erickson, the builder of the Bronco and out of luck or maybe great work on his part he did just that, story to follow at a later date. For now, I’ll just leave you with a couple more pictures.
Brian
First picture is a picture that appeared in the local paper the day after the one and only time Dad took the Bronco to the Snow Rally in Park City, Ut
The Second picture is the reverse side of the same moment
Hope you enjoy!

It has been two month, so I figured an update is in order. I have not had a chance to do much work on the Bronco, but I have started some work on the place of restoration. In post #27 is an old picture of the Bronco in front of its new home. The garage was built sometime in the 1920’s, so I’m framing and insulating the interior for this winter project. Hopefully I will have the interior of the garage finished this week so the teardown can begin. So for now I’m a carpenter/electrician/framer/clean-up guy.
More to come,
Brian
Just a few picture of where things are for now.

Awesome piece of history you have there!;D

I can't believe I have not updated the forum since the middle of December. Sorry for the delay. Not much has happened with the Bronco since the last update, but the garage is finally done and read to be worked in. The first bolts of the disassembly should happen on Tuesday. This gives me basically two months plus a few days to disassemble, paint, reassemble and make final preparations for FFF. Wish me luck, but I do believe that it will not have a lot of work other than paint prep. I’ve looked over the Bronco top to bottom and have yet to find any rust that will need substantial work. Mechanically everything is still in excellent condition, with a few slight oil leaks to take care of. I think the biggest challenge is going to be the wheels. The original hand cut tires are still on the original chrome wheels that are in need of rechroming. I’m not brave enough to chance taking the tires off the wheels, so I have product call Mirra Chrome that I will be testing in hopes of chroming the wheels with tires on. Has anybody out there had experience with this product?
Anyway, I’ll take picture along the way to show the progress,
Brian

Oh, by the way, Dad said he has tracked down some old home movies of the snow rally hill climbs. The movies were taken that same year as the pictures in post 32. As soon as I can get them on to a DVD I'll post them on the forum.
Brian

My69Pony said:

Oh, by the way, Dad said he has tracked down some old home movies of the snow rally hill climbs. The movies were taken that same year as the pictures in post 32. As soon as I can get them on to a DVD I'll post them on the forum.
Brian

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Glad to hear of your progress, Brian, and looking fwd to seeing the movies. Here's another nudge - I sure hope you can make it to FFF!!

Todd Z.

Todd,
We will be there, even if it means I'm still turning wrenches in the trailer on the way down.
Brian

My69Pony said:

Todd,
We will be there, even if it means I'm still turning wrenches in the trailer on the way down.
Brian

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Glad to hear it. Have you been in contact with Charlie? I'll bet he would come down for it.

Todd Z.

Well, as of yesterday, Saturday, the wrenches finally started to turn. We were able to finish the interior of the garage and then get everything cleaned up prior to the start of the teardown. As I’m able, I will post pictures of the project, but for now I’ll post a few more pictures of the past.
A few vintage picture, racing in Rock Springs Wyoming 1970, in Bennett Ford Colors, Me in the Driver Seat in front of what is now its restoration home, Little Sierra Sand Dunes Utah Easter 1975, and then a few pictures from last Aug in preparation of my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary.
Enjoy,
Brian