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Tin and Tar - First Time 68 Bronco Resto

englewoodcowboy

Lick Creek Restorations
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Jul 25, 2010
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Looking good! Keep in mind, those missing holes would be in models that did not come equipped with the rear seat. If you plan to add one you will need them, if you are doing a half cab you won't however having them in the sub frame is a plus down the road if you ever change your mind, you already have reference points.
 
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rydog1130

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Looking good! Keep in mind, those missing holes would be in models that did not come equipped with the rear seat. If you plan to add one you will need them, if you are doing a half cab you won't however having them in the sub frame is a plus down the road if you ever change your mind, you already have reference points.

ha, well another member pointed out it might be the floor channel for the rear of the floor pan but other than the bracket and two holes its the exact same length and width though so Im leaving it in....ha
 
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rydog1130

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Busy week coming up, planning on getting the doors hung and that bed put together this week along with getting the last order of shirts made up! Pictures to follow!
 
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rydog1130

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Well this week was pretty productive yet frustrating. They say the definition of insanity is doing something repeatedly and expecting a different result, well I think this truly applies to hanging doors on a bronco. First off I learned a lot this week, and maybe other than relying solely on measurement charts I should have read a few more posts on here about other peoples pit falls on hanging their doors. I will admit I made three mistakes right off the bat that would have saved me a bunch of time. First mistake, assuming my dads barn floor was level....my god I think the side of a mountain is more level than my dads garage floor. Second mistake, not having my window frames in and my windshield on. Third mistake assuming I could build my bed last and mate it up to my doors....So, first thing I did after failing after 5 tries of getting doors square is get some jacks under my ride and making it level. (I know i know you should always be level, the space I was working on prior to before being forced into a corner this winter was in fact level.) Anyways, we assembled the bed and it went together surprisingly easy. We only had to grind about a quarter inch off the taillight posts so the upper quarters would sit flush. The bed corner panels i tacked in place because theres no way to screw or clamp them together. I think the tailgate and bed came outreally well.
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Now, that I had my bed as a second reference point i tossed on my frames and windshield and instead of trying to screw my door post in place when "i thought i had it in the right place, I finally found areas I could clamp which would still allow me to close my door. Now it might need just a few taps here and there but this is the best I've got it looking all week. Theres about 32 hours of work all together here

IMG_1727.jpg IMG_1733.jpg


Next week I'm up i'll try to tackle the drivers side door which should hopefully be easier since i can apply my new found education to that side . I had more pictures but long story short my new phone backed up from last back up on my old phone...so I'll have to take more pictures next week....ps i have no clue why these photos are loading sideways...just tilt your head and they'll look good!
 

JAFO

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Looking good. I see the pic with the tailgate. Missed it earlier.

Hey, irFanView ( http://www.irfanview.com/ ) is a free picture editor and is great for optimizing and rotating your pics. Easy to use. Open the pic, then CONTROL + R to resize. CONTROL + S to save. Press the R key to rotate Right. L key to rotate Left.
 
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rydog1130

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Didn't get a whole lot done this week. Cleaned up the C4 that will go into her a bit. Trimmed up the striker post so they sit more flush. Also I put the top on to help with the door alignment. I think the reason they did away with those folds down windshields is because there pretty flexible and a lot of play lol. With the top on she's sitting where she needs to be! I'll hopefully have these dumb doors figured out next week when I get back to it

image.jpg
 
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rydog1130

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Door Alignment

Ok so update time, well since my last post I've been slowly getting these doors in place. Ive been pushing and pulling to get them where I need them. I placed the top on about 2 weeks ago and I noticed the top was walking away from the quarter panel the closer it got to the striker post.

IMG_5516.jpg

so I had to use a body jack to get the sag out of the corners, well I got the door post at the correct height but by doing this it caused the door post to walk away from the edge of door further away towards the top of the door. So, to correct that I placed the jack behind the tail-light post, unziped all my screws holding the wheel tub and filler panels to the bed and slightly pushed it forward. I did this on both sides and shimmied the top here and there to get the correct angle on the windshield. I feel like i have my striker post where they need to be and all i have left is to adjust my post a little.

The driver side post needs a small adjustment at the top, I believe it needs to come back 1/8-1/4" to drop the edge of the door so it rides flush with quarter panel and make that door gap an even 1/8 -3/16"
IMG_5700.jpg IMG_5908.jpg

The passenger side post needs to come strait up about a 1/4" and it will be sitting pretty!

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Then I also got the transmission cleaned up, contemplating on having it gone through before i put it in or just go for it and if I have issues like slippage just take it out this next winter and have it rebuilt when I have a little more money...thoughst?

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Unknown

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Way to stick with it and get those doors figured out, looking good.
 

Unknown

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Did I run into you at super celebration? I met a few folks from GR and Kalamazoo area!

Nope, couldn't make it down there. Heavy travel schedule for work and a bike race the same weekend got in the way.
 

englewoodcowboy

Lick Creek Restorations
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Don't be afraid to take a BFH to it. I had to on mine. Literally, I could not get a gap right and was out of adjustment, I had already burned it in and found it after the fact that the bent flange on the post was not in the correct spot when they bent it so I took a block of wood and an 8# sledge and nailed it a few times, it it perfect now. I have been told from others that Ford was notorious for using the BFH on door adjustments at the factory, they even went as far as using a press on the door hinges to get some into spec so keep that in mind. Since I rebuilt my hinges, when I finally got my doors perfect and it was time to disassemble, I took the time and stamped the location in the back of each hinge just to be sure if there was any difference I would not be fighting that come final assembly. If you feel you need to get a flange to bed in a key area, apply some heat to the area where you want it to move before you use the persuader, it will save you some time and you will get a better finish. I had to do this to keep the inner kick from bending and force the door post to bend.
 
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rydog1130

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Nope, couldn't make it down there. Heavy travel schedule for work and a bike race the same weekend got in the way.

oh ok. well maybe ill see you aug 6 at the bronco takeover in silver lake
 
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rydog1130

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So if I'm hearing you right...do somthing like this? I only need a small adjustment at the top for the door to line up right! It's screwed in place right now so it wouldn't be to much of a PIA to take out the screws on top an push that door post back a smidge. I'll be there Tuesday and hopefully be done with these doors

image.jpg
 
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rydog1130

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ok, so last night i took a little bit of everyones advice and I'm almost there. Might just have to add a shim or two but otherwise I'm getting happier at where these doors are lining up! Let me know what you think

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rydog1130

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Success! The doors are in and they look good!
IMG_9277.jpg IMG_9300.jpg

Now, I placed my rockers and the lower gap looks good but I have a question on whether I may need to trim them? I tried fitting my fender and it lays pretty good except back at the bottom of the door post where it meets the rocker. I can get it to fit in there but its tight and when I do that it lifts the fender about 2" off of where it bolts to the top of the fender apron. It's really tough to get it to sit flush when its in that position, but if I pop it out from where it meets the rocker it sits pretty flush. Only problem is it rides back about 1/8-3/16" on the rocker. Should I trim that rocker so its flush with the door? You can see the white line on the rocker where I marked it.
IMG_9405.jpg IMG_9347.jpg

Also one other question, these tabs on the rocker should they wrap around the door post like in this photo or lay behind it? If so I may not need to trim so much!
IMG_9346.jpg

Lastly I think my passenger side window frame is bent, thoughts?
IMG_9331.jpg IMG_9310.jpg
 
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rydog1130

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up date - rocker/fender fitment

Ok, so last week I was able to get my rockers looking good. They were about a 1/4"+ too long. It was pretty simple fix here's what I did if anyone else runs into this issue.
IMG_0134.jpg IMG_0413.jpg

I marked where the rocker was coming into contact with the fender and took a pair of vise grips and bent those flanges on the rocker out. Theres a small crease from the stamping process that I used a 3 lb mallet on an anvil to flatten out as much as I could. I then cut a few notches on the flanges especially on the lower part where its curved.

IMG_0459.jpg

Once, the notches were cut I shaved off about 1/4" of the excess flange. I then used a large "duck bill" as I like to call them pair of vise grip clamps and re-bent that flange back in. I used a small set of baby vise grips to bend the smaller curved portion in at the bottom.

IMG_0470.jpg

I then used a rubber mallet and gave it a few taps from the inside of the rocker to help restore that slight curve on the large flat side of the rocker. here's how it looks, no welding or block sanding required!

IMG_0481.jpg
 
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rydog1130

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grille work

After the rockers were done I moved on to fitting the fenders a little better. Surprisingly the majority of the fender bolt holes lined up really well with inner fender apron holes. So, I'll spare any pics of that part of the project as all I did was take 1/4" milling bit and shaved the holes where they needed room. Once those were on good we stripped the remaining parts and paint on the grill. I have no clue what type of paint they used back then but it is some stubborn stuff! I tried applying several coats of zip strip before hitting it with the blaster and it still was a slow process. I eventually took a course wire cup brush to it and that removed most of the paint a lot quicker. Then we hit the remaining paint with the media blaster. It looks pretty good. My plan is to patch the rust spots this week and get it looking good.
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The other game plan is to make a few minor adjustments on my doors. I'm getting some flex in my driver side door post when I push my top forward and its causing the gap to get bigger between the back of the door and striker post. There's a few things to investigate but hopefully shouldn't be anything major. Once those few things are done I plan on hanging the lower quarters and tail light housings and getting this thing welded together!
 

JAFO

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Ends up I don't have pictures from when I cut down the rear door post before paint. I took some pictures of the striker post, but I have the weather strip in place. Basically you need that lip that holds the weather strip to be ~ 1" out from the striker post face. See pics.
I ran a piece of tape down the metal lip so I had a guide, then cut that lip with a cut off wheel and grinder.

Seal2_zpsacoluesb.jpg


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rydog1130

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good to know! I thought i had a post of mine on here but i must have not hit submit, thanks Jafo!
 
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