City Bronco build - '68 Sport

From your VIN plate I get:

-U150 wagon
-with 289
-color light blue
-july 68 build
-sold out of denver

that's going to be fun.

Glad you made home safely. Get a Marti, curious to see if it came from Rosen Novak Ford in Denver like mine did in 71'.

okie4570 said:

Glad you made home safely. Get a Marti, curious to see if it came from Rosen Novak Ford in Denver like mine did in 71'.

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I ordered it yesterday. I'll share the results when I get them.

ECEB said:

From your VIN plate I get:

-U150 wagon
-with 289
-color light blue
-july 68 build
-sold out of denver

that's going to be fun.

Click to expand...

Thanks. That would explain the blue paint I have seen in seams and such. My wife loves the Caribbean Turquoise Broncos. If it were that color I would have been forced to paint it back to the CT. Thanks again for deciphering that.

I got my Marti report. Pretty cool info.

Different dealer than mine, will have to figure out where dealer 76J417 was

okie4570 said:

Different dealer than mine, will have to figure out where dealer 76J417 was

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That info is so cool to have. I looked around some more on my truck and what I previously thought was primer gray is actually faded and oxidated Skyview Blue. The history is pretty cool. Looks like yours was all tricked out with extras! Little bigger tires, Etc.

I'm trying to figure out what suspension lift I have on the Bronco. It has a bunch of Duff parts on it and it looks taller than stock. Does someone have some dimensions I could check?

I attached a pic below. It looks like these blocks shouldn't be there. Obviously that wedge isn't supposed to be there.

looking at your first pics, I'd say you need a bigger hammer and at least 2 more jack stands. Glad you get to keep that one in the family.

Dug into some small cracks in the drivers door and found some Bondo. Looks like they had a dent filled in, the Bondo cracked, water went in the crack and rusted the sheet metal. It's not bad, but it is something to address. I may just re-skin the doors since the skin is the only cancer I see. No rust inside the door at all. Kinda strange actually. I'm replacing the rear quarter so I'm not worried about the rust through there.



Heat gun and putty knife.

I did some work over the last couple weeks and figured out my Bronco has some hidden issues. I was lifting the body to install new mounts and noticed my rocker panel was moving. Did a little investigation and realized my plan to get the Bronco driving in the next month is unrealistic as hell freezing over. Up until now I figured hey, it was a daily driver for years. If I just get the engine going and other systems going again, I'll just drive it for the summer and do my metal work in the winter. Well....curious it's killed the cat.

I pulled off the driver side door weather stripping and saw that some of my Sheetmetal is pop riveted and siliconed together.....not welded. Floor pan to rocker panel? Pop rivets and bathroom silicone.

Then the subject of body mounts comes in....what body mounts. The only connection between the body and frame that was still operational was the body mount in the front floor boards. Both sides were bolted, but they were loose. The floor boards had been replaced and the just cut around the bolts. The bolts were sitting down in the channel under the new floorboards. Some of the frame holes for the mounts are too big as well because of rust or excessive wear so I'll need to reinforce those as well.

So long story short......I've put my delusion of getting it driving this summer in the trash.

Bottom line is I am replacing:

A Post driver side
Inner fenders both sides
Outer fenders both sides
Drivers front wheel well
Maybe radiator support
Front body mount brackets
Grill
Rear tailgate body mounts (hopefully not entire channel)
Both rear quarters
Passenger rocker
Driver/pass front floorboards
Windshield frame


All this on a Bronco that looked "pretty good".

I enjoy this kind of work so it will be an adventure for sure. Luckily the parts are relatively cheep and I live pretty close to a supplier (CJ Pony) so no shipping on sheetmetal. The talk with the wife about spending money is the only part I don't look forward to.....





Cleaned up a little and removed the rivets and silicone.

I started deconstructing the Bronco today. Other than broken bolts it ain't too hard breaking things down. I have a few new sheet metal parts coming this weekend.





I figure I will start up front and work my way back.

I haven't shared in a while, so I figured I'd give a little update. I've gotten a lot done so far and my goal is to be driving by this summer.

So far.

Power brakes


Disc brakes after I worked through some issues with the SSBC kit...



2.5" lift from Duff and all new bushings and Bilstein shocks



Power steering



Blasted and coated my manifolds



Installed kick panel, door post, floor board, inner rocker, outer rocker, and rear quarter on driver side.







New wheels and tires.



Painted and replaced seals in front end. Painted everything while I had it apart. I replaced seals on 9", transfer, and 30.





Working on my door skin now. First time doing it, but ordered an Astro 1000 skin tool. Figured it's worth the $130 for both doors. Ordered all the felts and tracks so I can install and align prior to skinning.



Moving along. I'll give another update sooner than 6 months.







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That's a lot of progress in a short time--awesome job!

5001craig said:

That's a lot of progress in a short time--awesome job!

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Thanks. Info on the forum made it possible. Seriously.


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Wow great progress!!

What do you think of the Duff's 2.5" kit? Do they offer a kit with the Bilstein's or did you have to get it all separately?


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JCBombardier said:

Wow great progress!!

What do you think of the Duff's 2.5" kit? Do they offer a kit with the Bilstein's or did you have to get it all separately?


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I love anything Duff. They make great stuff. I bought the Bilsteins separate, but I hear the Duff shocks are great too.


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What wheels are those?

Pretty work ! Your Uncle would proud. Keep us posted. Also check out B.O.A.R. ( Bronco Owners Association of Richmond. It's a strong club a little south of you.

Tiko433 said:

Pretty work ! Your Uncle would proud. Keep us posted. Also check out B.O.A.R. ( Bronco Owners Association of Richmond. It's a strong club a little south of you.

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Thanks. I'll check them out.

duffymahoney said:

What wheels are those?

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ATX Mojave II Satin Black 17x8. Love them.


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