TX SS – 1973 Ford Bronco Build

TX SS · Feb 19, 2018

Pulling the yellow Bronco more apart and interested in some feedback from folks here. My main goal of the yellow Bronco is to get all the parts for an automatic swap to my brown Bronco. Then will decide what I do with the rest of it. The yellow bronco will never be my dream Bronco. I like original paint. I bought it for the parts and to then see what I could do with it in the way of repairs. I've never restored a car and this seemed to be a logical choice with another solid example already in the garage. All options are on the table for this one including uncut, cut, hardtop, soft top, roadster, sell, etc. I cleaned up and cut out as much of the real nasty before I moved houses last summer. Now I'm slowly pulling the rest apart as I have more time. I've quickly cleaned up some areas just to try to see real condition. Attached are several pictures from today. What are real problem areas in this front section that I should be concerned about? I have a lot of replacement metal from the guy I bought the Bronco from, as well as a few pieces I bought on my own.

DirtDonk · Feb 19, 2018

Judging just by the pics here today, I would consider going the extra mile and a half and removing the entire top cover of the cowl. It's a notoriously rusty spot for really rusty Broncos. And even some that are not so rusty.
But yours looks rusty enough to justify the extra look-see inside.

Besides, the area underneath is where the steering column attaches to the truck. So a swiss-cheese condition could turn out to be more dangerous than most rusty areas.

Paul

sprdv1 · Feb 19, 2018

TX SS said:
New pics of garage and Bronco number two. Making more and more progress and hope to be working on Broncos again soon. As pictures show, yellow one is a major project but have a good amount of replacement metal that came with it or that I’ve picked up here and there.

They look prettt comfy there.

sprdv1 · Feb 19, 2018

dirtdonk said:
judging just by the pics here today, i would consider going the extra mile and a half and removing the entire top cover of the cowl. It's a notoriously rusty spot for really rusty broncos. And even some that are not so rusty.
But yours looks rusty enough to justify the extra look-see inside.

Besides, the area underneath is where the steering column attaches to the truck. So a swiss-cheese condition could turn out to be more dangerous than most rusty areas.

Paul

x2.......

TX SS · Feb 19, 2018

DirtDonk said:
Judging just by the pics here today, I would consider going the extra mile and a half and removing the entire top cover of the cowl. It's a notoriously rusty spot for really rusty Broncos. And even some that are not so rusty.
But yours looks rusty enough to justify the extra look-see inside.

Besides, the area underneath is where the steering column attaches to the truck. So a swiss-cheese condition could turn out to be more dangerous than most rusty areas.

Paul

Thanks for reply Paul. Are you keying in on this picture and the dark areas where the firewall meets the cowl? The dark/unpainted areas are from scraping the original factory coating off that was there. Also the original firewall insulation left some residue. I will clean up better and see if I can get clearer pictures.

DirtDonk · Feb 19, 2018

Nope, I was going almost exclusively on what I see in pics #4 and #5 above. Number four is a pretty good case for looking deeper than just the open area. But number five is practically shouting for some Sherlock Holmes detecting!

Oh, and these too...

Paul

TX SS · Feb 20, 2018

DirtDonk said:
Nope, I was going almost exclusively on what I see in pics #4 and #5 above. Number four is a pretty good case for looking deeper than just the open area. But number five is practically shouting for some Sherlock Holmes detecting!

Oh, and these too...

View attachment 442973 View attachment 442974

Paul

Thanks Paul the other pics are very helpful.

sprdv1 · Feb 20, 2018

DirtDonk said:
Nope, I was going almost exclusively on what I see in pics #4 and #5 above. Number four is a pretty good case for looking deeper than just the open area. But number five is practically shouting for some Sherlock Holmes detecting!

Oh, and these too...

View attachment 442973 View attachment 442974

Paul

Makes you wonder for sure... Hopefully not a big mess to fix...

TX SS · Apr 4, 2018

Finished up a small stereo install in the Bronco over the weekend. Wanted something basic that was mostly hidden and out of the way. I did a heater delete in this process to make room for the sub box and amp. Everything is JL Audio including Bluetooth controller, 4 channel amp, 4” main speakers and 8” subwoofer. Soundstage is low with where speakers are mounted but that is the trade off I’ll have to take. Here are a few pictures.

TX SS · Oct 4, 2018

Time for an update on the yellow Bronco project. I've continued to push through and work on it over the summer and have made some process in the right direction I think. I'm not trying to bring this Bronco back to factory or show level, but rather trying to get it back on the road and teach myself a thing or two in the process. I'm working on the Bronco in my home garage with basic hand tools and a Millermatic 211 mig welder I bought in early July 2018. Never having welded I went and bought a sheet of 18 gauge steel for patch panels and dove in.

After Paul posted the picture above I cut into the cowl cover. There was rust scale and some flaking as expected but based on overall condition I decided to treat with Rust Bullet paint and leave it at that. I patched rather than replacing the full cowl panel since it is under the hood.

TX SS · Oct 4, 2018

Next up was patching inner aprons. Both sides had rust in usual spots.

TX SS · Oct 4, 2018

Next was front floor pans. Used Bronco Hut's replacement set which are two pieces per side. In this process had to extend transmission tunnel and patch both kick panels as well.

TX SS · Oct 4, 2018

After getting the floor pans in I decided to trim the kickpanel bottoms for bigger tires that I plan to run along with big cut fenders and rock sliders.

TX SS · Oct 4, 2018

Other random fixes to body mount under the batter and filling aux gas tank fill hole. Body mount fix turned out to be a huge time suck with having to cut out piece of fenderwell and then patch.

TX SS · Oct 4, 2018

Decided to patch seat pan to bed transition underneath the bulkhead. Picture of half cab top I picked up too.

TX SS · Oct 4, 2018

Which leads me to this week's work. Replaced body bushings and mounted driver door with new hinges hoping to fix bad sagging that was there with the old pieces. Looks promising and something I can work with when final assembly time comes.

TX SS · Oct 4, 2018

Next step is to mount a few more body panels, disassemble and then pull body to overhaul frame and underbody. Ultimately planning on big fender cut with as big of a tire as I can run on stock height suspension.

Justafordguy · Oct 5, 2018

Nice work, you're really gettin after it.

svastano · Oct 5, 2018

Looks Great!

green61bug · Oct 5, 2018

Wow, I just read this entire thread for the first time. Your brown bronco is amazing. Very nice upgrades to the truck. Love the cupholder console too. Perfect for your bronco!! It makes me want to build my 75 that I've had for sale.

Nice progress on the yellow bronco too! Good work!

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