OK so after driving Charlie for a couple of years I decided I was ready to start the rebuild and I’ve actually started it about 12 months ago. funny story I saw a nearby bronco buddy (chuzie) looking for body panels to rebuild his rollover and I decided that selling my body parts would be a way to force myself to do my restoration. So I sold fenders, hood, grill and anything else that I could to get me going. I started this resto work in January 2018 so if I can get her done by SC 2019 it will be a 15 month build and coincide with my birthday near end of March which will be the big 5 ohhh! And 10 years since my wife originally bought the truck.
My overall build strategy is to refresh body and paint, fix all the leaks in the drivetrain, replace the leaking exhaust and generally make her a good driver. I like the old school look of the chrome bumpers so I will keep them. She will be a daily commuter and weekend trail truck. Here in Florida we easily get 5 months of good topless weather and the rest is spotty rain/sun mix. For now I don’t plan on adding ac but that may change. I thought about a 5 speed but don’t see myself on the highway much so will stay with the np435.
Geared myself up by purchasing some air tools and a welder at harbor freight...one of the new Vulcan migs (Migmax 215) and started to get busy.
Started with replacing the add a leaf rear suspension with Toms 3.5” 9 leaf and added four Bilsteins to boot. While doing this I set the rear axle back a little 1.25” to better center in the wheel wells.