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Need Advice: Dad Giving Me His '71 Bronco

gnpenning

Contributor
Bronco Slave
Joined
Dec 26, 2011
Messages
2,190
Loc.
I have more questions than answers.
I think I would look elsewhere to have the work done. Not even close to being responsible. The 2100 series is a great carb. Stick with it.

Beautiful rig. Love a uncut. Maybe it's the pictures, but a bit of buffing and some wax that paint should pop.
 

Pops68

Contributor
Bronco Rookie
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
1,667
Loc.
Bazetta Township
Yeah, $400 to rebuild a 2 barrel carb ($50 for kit)???

$1200 +/- to install an Edelbrock carb ($400 +/- for carb)???

Just doesn't sound fair at all.

RUN, don't walk away from this shop!!!
 

bronkenn

Contributor
Bronco Guy
Joined
Apr 27, 2017
Messages
2,662
Loc.
Southeast Ohio
There would be no reason to put a 4 barrel on there without any other mods. You get that 2 barrel tuned right and you will be surprised how good it runs. I ran a 2 barrel on mine for years and it was a lot of fun to drive. Your not wanting to do John Force smoky burnouts with it anyway. Ken
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
But it does have dual exhaust as a mod, which would make most think it can handle a small 4bbl carb. Which it can as many of us have done so on otherwise stock engines.

I'm not so sure the pricing is out of line for a shop in today's world. Yes, it's way high, as the others have already said. But a shop's costs add up quick by the book.
The shop is doing all the work too, so that labor is not just for a half-hour rebuild. It's for removing all the junk from the truck, then soaking it (hopefully) in a tank for a couple of hours(?) to fully clean every passage and orifice and whatnot.
And swapping to a 4bbl is not just a $400 carb (or $500 at the shop most likely), but also a $300 to $500 intake manifold, and it's installation time.
That $1600 estimate added up pretty quickly if their shop labor rate is anything like it is around here. Long gone are the days of $75 an hour shop rates. You'd be lucky to find one at less than $150 per-hour anymore.

I would imagine most shops are using book time anyway. Which is going to be longer than the more experienced at this would take.
But add to that the fact that most shops don't like working on low-paying older vehicles and you have a real quandry sometimes. Whether to do it yourself if you can, or just suck it up and pay what we were actually able to buy whole Broncos for just a few years ago!

Where are you located zeppelin? That'll make a big difference in how you were quoted.
But along those lines, as I said some shops will quite high simply because they don't want to work on old vehicles anymore. If they even know how.
Your guys sound like they at least know how, but only you can determine that.
My sister was just quoted $3000 today from the dealer she's used for 25 years to do the brakes on her '93 Buick Roadmaster. The brakes!
That's calipers, rotors, pads, hoses (probably bearings too maybe?) and rear drums with shoes and likely wheel cylinders. No ball joints, not shocks, not control arms, no bushings while they're in there. Just a brake job with maybe some hard line work if needed. But it's spent it's entire life in the Southern Ca desert, so not likely to need any rust-fixes on the brake lines. For $3000 bucks!!!
Not much less than the car cost new, and probably three times what it's worth today.

It's my opinion they don't want to work on her car, and have not for a long time.

Good luck on yours. And definitely get that exhaust out the sides.
I prefer a nice quiet single exhaust (with a deep throaty purr, but not loud) exiting out the passenger side at an angle.
But in addition to that, you still need to seal up things like the tailgate and liftgate, as well as the stake pocket holes and any other hole or seam that lets dirty air back into the cabin.

Have fun.

Paul
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
way too much for the 2barrel rebuild, BET U could find someone on here, do it for you at a more reasonable rate, OR even walk you through it.

It can be done, just take your time
 

sykanr0ng

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 11, 2014
Messages
5,363
1. I have been told by professional mechanics that 'the book' is based on a very slow mechanic.

2. I have overheard a Ford garage mechanic telling his manager that 'the book' said it was a 5 1/2 hour job and he would need 1 1/2 hour to do it, but they were still going to charge for 5 1/2 hours labor.


If you are going to own a collector vehicle you need to either do the work yourself or have very deep pockets and a willingness to be taken advantage of.
 

1971lubr

Sr. Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
534
Loc.
Cape Coral, FL
Great score, enjoy it. Rebuilding a carb is super easy with only basic hand tools and there is step by step instructions all over the web for doing it. The rebuild kits are cheap, it really only involves cleaning and replacing gaskets. It's not rocket science and after you do it you'll want to tackle other things. These Broncos really are simple machines to work on and maintain, great to learn on, even for someone who doesn't have mechanical skills.

Get a roll cage installed!
 

67RT

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Messages
1,308
Great score, enjoy it. Rebuilding a carb is super easy with only basic hand tools and there is step by step instructions all over the web for doing it. The rebuild kits are cheap, it really only involves cleaning and replacing gaskets. It's not rocket science and after you do it you'll want to tackle other things. These Broncos really are simple machines to work on and maintain, great to learn on, even for someone who doesn't have mechanical skills.

Get a roll cage installed!
A remanufactured carb is $200, probably charge 1 hr labor to remove and reinstall. They may be upcharging parts so if you provided the carb it would be a 1 hr charge. Got a good one from National Carb.
 

Rustytruck

Bronco Guru
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
10,875
rebuild the stock carb it was built for your Bronco. Anything else was built for something else and wont be the same. Keep your Bronco as stock as you can they are a simple machine. When you go changing stuff they start getting complicated and for the most part never properly dialed in. If your doing the work change all you want and live with the results. The truck has survived 40 + years with a completely stock system. As far as the exhaust never run the exhaust straight out the back or dump the exhaust under the Bronco send it out the rear corner the way Ford did it or out the side. Super especially since you want to drive it topless. I am big on modifying Broncos but not big on modifying stockers since stockers don't need any So Called upgrades. Doing upgrades just for the shop to make money out of you is not in your best interest.
 
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zeppelin_71

zeppelin_71

Jr. Member
Joined
May 12, 2017
Messages
56
Appreciate everyone's tips/advice/outrage ;D.

I'm going to stick with the 2-carb rebuilt. For those that inquired, it's $55 for the kit and $386 for the labor. While I realize that may seem high and it sounds like this is something I could do on my own, at this point, I'm just going to pay them to do this along with a laundry list of other things they're doing to get it starting/running/stopping.

Once this thing is going, maybe I'll try to tackle some small repairs/jobs here and there to learn about it. Right now, it needs so much work that I'm going to get it all done by them at the same time. I'm comfortable with the fact that it's going to cost me quite a bit more than if I did it myself. I also could have taken this to cheaper shops around town, but I chose this specialty shop that works only on classic cars knowing that it might be a bit more expensive, because I want it done properly this first time with no shortcuts taken. The shop is well-respected, well-reviewed, and has a 2-3 month wait and an impressive lot full of classic cars waiting in line to get into the shop.

Appreciate the advice on the exhaust, too. I think I like the idea of just taking it back to stock. These guys outsource their exhaust work anyway, so i'm just going to leave it alone for now and I'll find my own exhaust shop after the fact. Same with rear bench, roll cage, etc. Looking to these guys mostly to deal mostly with the mechanical aspects and maybe install a vintage A/C.

Sorry for the delayed response. Wasn't online much over the weekend.
 

Bronco Junkie

So Cal Broncos
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
3,232
I am also running a stock 2-barrel carb on my Bronco. Carbs need to be adjusted frequently and thanks to today's gas, they may need to be rebuilt frequently. Not sure if you want to pay $400+ to rebuild the carb again. As stated, it is an easy carb to deal with and you may want to learn how to work on it yourself.

I am on my 3 rebuild on my carb. And the last one it needed to be soaked and completely gone through to get rid of a flat spot I had. I bought 2 carb kits last time because I know another rebuild is in my future. Good luck!!!
 

Rustytruck

Bronco Guru
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
10,875
When you take the truck to the exhaust shop make sure you tell them that the truck has plastic fuel lines. Ive had up front and personal experience with a shop torching my plastic line after being warned about it. Woke his ass up dealing with flowing flames. lucky for me and him I was still there front and center to save his ass and my Bronco.
 

bronkenn

Contributor
Bronco Guy
Joined
Apr 27, 2017
Messages
2,662
Loc.
Southeast Ohio
When you take the truck to the exhaust shop make sure you tell them that the truck has plastic fuel lines. Ive had up front and personal experience with a shop torching my plastic line after being warned about it. Woke his ass up dealing with flowing flames. lucky for me and him I was still there front and center to save his ass and my Bronco.
I don't think most exhaust shops know those lines are plastic. I had one do my Bronco exhaust and nearly turned it into a "Blazer". They put the exhaust to close to fuel line and melted the plastic line. Ken
 

Weevil

Full Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
314
Family Roll cage Bailie Bilt and Jesse is in Austin and can probably make this happen or steer you in the right direction. PM me If you want the info
 

Fireball05

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
1,822
That's an awesome Bronco! Good luck with all the work you are having done.

If you click on my build thread, and then search for EXHAUST, you will see some photos of the custom exhaust I had done at a local shop with a side exit. It sounded awesome, was reasonably priced, and no fumes. I actually printed photos from another member's build thread and took those to the exhaust shop for them to duplicate. They said having the photos and "template" saved them heaps of time and me heaps of money.

Keep posting the progress photos!
 
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zeppelin_71

zeppelin_71

Jr. Member
Joined
May 12, 2017
Messages
56
Ran some of the quotes for other work by a few Bronco guys locally that I respect and both shared your sticker shock at some of the labor costs, especially for some of the bigger jobs like power steering conversion, disc brake conversion, etc.

As a result, I think I've just decided to get the bare minimum done at this shop to get it roadworthy and then I'm just going to drive it a while with all the old school trappings and see what I think about it before I do any upgrades/modernizations.

And, yeah, I might still be overpaying a bit even for the stuff that I'm getting done, but at this point, I just want to get the work done rather than try to move it to another shop to get another quote, etc.

Probably going to give these guys the greenlight in the next day or so and hopefully I'll have this thing back by the end of the month. Next challenge is going to be to learn to drive it! One of my least favorite things to tell people is that I've never learned to drive a stick (much less 3 on the tree), so I'm going to remedy that. I've learned to play piano this past year, so I figure if I can swing that, I can learn to drive a dang manual.
 

sprdv1

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REBEL
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Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
As a result, I think I've just decided to get the bare minimum done at this shop to get it roadworthy and then I'm just going to drive it a while with all the old school trappings and see what I think about it before I do any upgrades/modernizations.

sounds like a good plan.. summer time is running out too "quick" so get that ride time in.. Enjoy
 
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zeppelin_71

zeppelin_71

Jr. Member
Joined
May 12, 2017
Messages
56
Got the Bronco out for the first time this past weekend and took it to a HS parking lot to attempt to learn to drive it. As a reminder, I've never driven a manual transmission before, much less 3-on-the-tree.

Went fairly well, and I was able to get going in 1st and into 2nd. We didn't have enough room for 3rd. First time driving a car without power steering or without disc brakes. Wow! That's a lot of work. I'm glad there were no cars of pedestrians in the lot!

One issue we had was that any time I stalled out in gear, we could not get the car to shift out of neutral after starting it back up. We fixed it by crawling under the car each time and manually resetting where the shifter rods connect to the transmission. Once we did that, we were able to row through the gears. Without doing this, the shifter was basically stuck in neutral.

Later, I attempted reverse successfully, but then we couldn't get the car out of reverse. At this point, climbing under the car did nothing. We popped the hood and discovered that the shifting rod (not sure if this is the proper term) was not in the shift lever coming off the column at all. It was just hanging freely.

We're speculating that it was loosely in there for a majority of the time we were driving, but finally came loose when I shifted into reverse. We're assuming this might also explain why we were having to get under the car to reset the gears every time we stalled. Does that make any sense?

So, the rod that was loose was missing a fastener to keep it in. I don't know if it fell off on the road or was not put back properly by the shop. Either way, we were able to literally secure it with a shoestring and drive back home. Now, I need to figure out if I need some special, specific Bronco part to fix this or if this is just some run-of-the-mill part I can buy at any auto parts store.

Appreciate any help any of you can provide. This is my first time ever doing any sort of work on a car, so I appreciate your patience. I will say that in a way it was a blessing to have something go wrong, because I learned more about my car in that hour or so than I've ever known about cars. Up to now, you just turn the key and they go, so it's going to be fun to learn a bit more about the mechanics as things like this go wrong over time.

On a side note, I'll try to upload a few pics of the actual car now that it's home and on some new tires.
 
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