Project for an Iowa winter, '77 Ranger

renrag · Dec 20, 2017

1strodeo said:
...seriously why does it seem everyone has a lift but me?

Farm shops provide the luxury of space. After that, it is just a matter of waiting for a $500 craigslist hoist.

renrag · Dec 22, 2017

Good day yesterday. Hope for another today.

renrag · Dec 26, 2017

Progress.

rydog1130 · Dec 26, 2017

looks good!

renrag · Dec 26, 2017

After futzing all afternoon on getting the passenger door gaps and body lines right, Dad went home. I then spent some time looking things over and noticed that the door was never going to seal on the front edge. Digging for the weatherstrip, proved me right. A few more trips to the old body, and I realized that the replacement hinge post, is too "narrow" where it meets the side of the cowl. This puts the hinge pin too far back in relation to the pinch weld where the weatherstrip installs. Tomorrow I guess I will pull the whole thing back apart and start over. Yipee.

Edit: the door posts were not built too narrow, they were not built with to match the cowl correctly. I ended up splitting the front face, and narrowing up the lower half of the front face. This brought the door hinge pins forward and made it all line up better. Hopefully this makes sense.

BajaBronco · Dec 26, 2017

Is it done yet? Hurry up! Want me to order you a Happy Joes??

renrag · Dec 26, 2017

BajaBronco said:
Is it done yet? Hurry up! Want me to order you a Happy Joes??

Taco please.

BajaBronco · Dec 26, 2017

Fex ex overnight you some CA burritos and tacos should do the trick. Hinge will be fine after these!

Bajabrewer · Dec 27, 2017

renrag said:
Yes, that is a horse trailer....

sounds like the right way to haul a Bronco!

renrag · Dec 27, 2017

A whole day spent making the passenger door fit well by modifying the hinge post, then the front fender, then lined up the rear. The rocker is also going to take some work. I think I can get it all to look nice in the end. Sure is a lot easier to line up Bronco body lines than '67 Mustang body lines.

Tomorrow the driver side.

sprdv1 · Dec 28, 2017

renrag said:
Haha. I am slow. In my defense, whiskey doesn't need ice.
Entire body minus the tailgate, plus a bunch more. Biggest order I ever placed.

LOL, doubt I ever place an order that big Only in my dreams

Looking good man

mjschneidy · Dec 28, 2017

renrag said:
Eastern. Near Davenport.

I grew up in West Liberty IA, moved to Michigan after college to further my automotive passion.

Nice project, but I'm curious did you look into the jig assemble Dynacore body versus buying all the individual panels and welding them together yourself?

This is exactly the kind of stuff my farm friends did in the off season to avoid going stir crazy and spending too much time in the local bar.

renrag · Dec 28, 2017

mjschneidy said:
I grew up in West Liberty IA, moved to Michigan after college to further my automotive passion.

Nice project, but I'm curious did you look into the jig assemble Dynacore body versus buying all the individual panels and welding them together yourself?

This is exactly the kind of stuff my farm friends did in the off season to avoid going stir crazy and spending too much time in the local bar.

I looked into assembled bodies until I saw the difference in price. For $6,000-$10,000, I can sure weld one together.(I think. I haven't actually done it yet) For a week or two's worth of labor, that seems like a pretty good wage to pay ourselves. Besides, Dad and I are having fun(mostly) with the challenge. Figuring out all the ways we might be screwing it up, then trying to fix them. So far, the hinge posts seem to be the worst of the pieces. Most of the rest haven't seemed too bad. I went in with expectation that half the pieces would need 'tweaking'. I'd say it is more like 1/4th.

This is how it sits tonight. We think we are square and level. The body lines also look good(final fit after the bones are welded solid). Tomorrow, we plan to set the top on and see how the windshield works out, as well as double checking that we have the whole thing square and true. Getting close to the point where we will be brave enough to start welding.

Skiddy · Dec 28, 2017

that's looking good, has to be good to work with a helper and one you like. you will cherish this forever

broncoitis · Dec 28, 2017

Great Job so far! Looking forward to seeing this come along. Great start you are off to! ;D

STalon89 · Dec 29, 2017

Once you've owned a truck that someone incorrectly put together, that price tag doesnt seem so unrealistic. Just spend the time on the door posts, front and rear. And also the tail light posts.

renrag · Dec 29, 2017

STalon89 said:
Once you've owned a truck that someone incorrectly put together, that price tag doesnt seem so unrealistic. Just spend the time on the door posts, front and rear. And also the tail light posts.

Time on door posts? hahaha That is where all the time has gone. Remade both fronts to get the doors to hang 'right'. Today, we put the top on it to make sure that everything was going to work in the end. I had the body lines looking like I think that they should, and we measured everything for square as well as making some 'bucks' to hold things in place. The top was put on to make sure it will fit the whole truck and the windshield will all look right. Nice part was, it confirmed what we wanted. Gaps look good almost everywhere. The windshield needs to go back 1/8" or so on the driver's side to get the upper door surround correct. The rest looks great. Whew.

American180 · Dec 29, 2017

Looking good renrag. Keep up the great work.

renrag · Jan 3, 2018

1977 The worst year of the early Broncos. (opinion subject to change if I ever get these the way I want them)

ep67bro · Jan 3, 2018

Funny every 77 I have had was rusted worst than any other year.

The gas doors look good but I could see the challenge in grafting them into a new fender.

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