Dad/daughter 77 build opinion

My 14 year old daughter is an ole soul and has decided that she wants an old bronco for her first vehicle. After a 2 month search I have located a 77 to purchase. It needs a lot of work but she has agreed to roll her sleeves up & make memories restoring this jewel together. I want this thing to be as reliable as possible for her. Should I rebuild existing motor & tranny to keep it original or buy a crate motor. Any other suggestions would be great.

Welcome! Put your money into safety features first, such as disc brakes, roll cage, 3pt or better seat belts, no crazy lifts or tire sizes, complete steering rebuild/replacement, etc. My 14yo daughter would drive one as a first time vehicle as well if we lived in town, but we drive too many highway miles just to get to town. As far as the engine and tranny, rebuild and keep it original IMO.

My Bronco started out as a Dad/daughter build! Don't worry about keeping it original as far as working parts go. I eventually went to a crate motor. If she likes the original look you can keep the appearance stock.

Building it for a teenager's first car has a unique set of priorities. Safety and reliability first!

Having motor and trans rebuilt by reputable shops can be rewarding if you do final engine assemble and save money too. being 77 is good- plastic gas tanks, disc brakes already, swaybar, quick ratio power steering and automatic. You could by from wild horses front shoulder belts and san felipe rollbar. No real lift and 30" a/t tires for fun. Could even give it a soft top so she has a convertible too.

Welcome aboard... Safety first.. Cage, brakes, steering...

Motor/Tranny rebuild, just depends on how she runs now.. Always a good investment to make it run right...

Enjoy all that quality time. You got a smart one there







Feel free to vote daily for CB as top 4x4 site, link at bottom of page.. "pride thing only" Cheers

Don't do it ...not for her first car and DD ! Broncos and teens dont play well together !

get her like I did a heep so when the call comes that she wrecked it, all you have to do is make sure she is ok, is pick her up and hand the title to the tow truck driver !

give her the 77 for sunny weekend days .

Man I love this site already. Thanks so much for the responses. It means a lot.

No real opinion on the motor. Either way is great as far as I'm concerned.

What I will suggest is to do it all in small projects! Resist the urge to take it all apart and "do it right the first time." There are people who can do big projects like that (all at once) and do them well. But for most of us they end up taking several years longer than you first thought and your kids are grown and out on their own before you finish.

On the other hand, if you just pick off tasks one by one you can use it and enjoy it along the way.

Along the same lines, resist the urge to make it great. Sure a Coyote engine would be awesome, but projects like that snowball and take forever too. Just get a solid engine in it first. You can add electronic ignition and EFI in separate small projects later if you want. And don't try to make the body show-worthy. Too big a project for a father-daughter vehicle.

I'm in no way saying that the big project vehicles aren't great, or that they aren't fun. But most dad-kid projects will go better if there are ample opportunities to enjoy the fruits of the labor along the way. And obviously you know you and your daughter better than I do, so take this advice as you see fit.

Dademmy77 said:

Man I love this site already. Thanks so much for the responses. It means a lot.

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As Franco already pointed out, a first gen bronco is not the car for a first time driver. By the time you pay for all th safety upgrades ur daughter will be out of high school. Heeps are very affordable these days and are far safer imho. Broncos typically don’t do well on gas, tend to need constant love and can be dangerous behind the hands of an inexperienced driver.

I plan to build a very reliable bronco, one that in the hands of an experienced driver would perform well. But I will not let my daughter or son drive it until they get a couple of years of driving full size trucks under their belts.

Hit me up, I’m just down the road from you.
Matt

I agree with all of this and disagree with all of this.

Most of the young ladies I have known have trouble with rules of the road and the dodge factor that keeps you out of accidents in the first year. This is a severe learning curve and then you double that curve driving an old school Bronco.

Their are allot of more modern crapola cheap cars that are safer to be used the first year while learning defensive skills. $1500 will buy a high mileage good running car these days where the cost of gas wont eat you out of house and home. After the first year then give her the keys to the Bronco.

I know how I drove between the age of 16 to age 18 before I bought my Bronco. These days cars are running so much faster, denser and much more distraction. The price of fuel and insurance is ridiculous these days compared back to 1977 when I bought my Bronco at the age of 18.

Maybe where you live life is a much slower pace for a beginning driver but here in LA a new driver doesn't have a chance without superior defensive driving skills. Rules of the road wont keep them safe.

My personal belief get them past the first year of driving. Get them a car with airbags for that first year. Then they can learn to tolerate the short comings of an old school Bronco. Just make that rebuild take a little longer than its supposed to.

My step daughter went through 3 cars in the first year. Of course she always had the right of way and said she played no part in the accidents My grand daughter almost made a year before she stopped short from following too close and left the person behind her hit her and push her in to the car in front of her.

My step daughter, I'd rather walk than ride with her. My grand daughter learned her lesson and I think she drives more carefully than I do. LA can be a tough place to learn to drive.

If it was a son then there would be a whole different mind set. A Bronco is safer than a motorcycle and every time your son goes out, returning is a crap shoot. Divine intervention protects little boys, otherwise there is no way all of us would be here. O the crap we have done and got away with. Different times different places.

While my Bronco was not my first DD I can honestly report that I did not have my first car accident until I was 40. And of all of my female friends, I can only remember 1 having had an accident in their first year of driving. Sorry but the fact he's asking about a daughter and not a son is pointless. He, as her father, is the best one to determine her driving skills. And since she's as of yet 14....she's got time to learn.

But for the most part I'd agree that a Bronco is not a good first car. My own kids are getting a boring but reliable DD but we'll always have a project car to work on.

FRANKO289 said:

Don't do it ...not for her first car and DD ! Broncos and teens dont play well together !

get her like I did a heep so when the call comes that she wrecked it, all you have to do is make sure she is ok, is pick her up and hand the title to the tow truck driver !

give her the 77 for sunny weekend days .

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Dademmy77 said:

Man I love this site already. Thanks so much for the responses. It means a lot.

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lol, especially this one right.... ^^^^^^

Get her a tuffy console box bolted to the body within the car.

Inform your daughter that if she is ever caught driving without her cell phone being INSIDE the locked tuffy console than you will sell her truck immediately. AND DO IT.

Or, if you want your daughter to be happy and successful in life, and not obsessed with her online image, get her this phone only:

https://www.verizonwireless.com/basic-phones/kyocera-cadence-lte/#sku=sku2650010

Finally, if you want to be absolutely sure she will be a happy, intelligent, and well-rounded person....no cell phone at all.

That's your first and best safety feature you could possibly add to your daughters car.

Look up IsaacNelson98 and view pics of his accident at 16 years old!


I PERSONALLY think everyone who wants to get an Early/Classic Bronco for their kid's (son or daughter) first car should look at these pictures and read all the comments first.

Even if you don't have kids - LOOK IT UP if you aren't familiar with it.


You know, my wife asked me the other day why I worry so much now........she said I never used to worry about anything (full of piss and vinegar!). Told her I'm GETTING OLDER!!!! Growing up, finally?????

sought and found. Pics midway down. 16-year old kid..driving 30mph, hit black ice, slid into a tree.....

sounds like the kind of accident that everyone in a modern car has exactly zero human damage from...he got 70+ stitches in his face and broke his femur.

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249827

Thanks for posting the link, Pipeline!!! Did you read through all 9 pages??

I had been conversing with him via PM for a while after it was first posted..... seemed like a good kid, but didn't want to listen to anyone's opinions. He then dropped off the face of the earth. I tried contacting him again more recently to see what he decided to do, and how he was doing, but he never got back to me.

I did, I also read through the add-on thread where everyone tried getting a bit more real with him about his perceived limitations and out-of-whack expectations for his truck.

I think everyone saw in him the 16 year old kid we all once were...the one who WANTED the super cool truck but didn't yet understand that the supercool truck comes AFTER all the important stuff is dealt with...job > wife > kids > house > wife again > cars > one more time for wife > Bronco.

This thread being about his daughter adds a slightly different element to the usual conversations about young kids with these trucks. For her? Not necessarily a game-breaker. I wouldn't let my boys in my truck, period..likely ever. Life for me would stop without them and they are way too insane.

Tasks:
NO CELL PHONE!!!
Disc Brakes w/ Power Hydroboost
Full Family Roll Cage and Hard Top
Small tires / no lift.
Hi-Back Seats
Telescoping Steering Column
NO CELL PHONE!!!

I plan all these upgrades on my newest acquisition, but I'll drive as I do them. But I'm also a grown a$$ man living on an island with a max speed limit of 30mph.

Nevertheless, all upgrades will be done within the first couple months; I can't shuffle off this mortal coil leaving behind a heap of people that care for me just cause I wanna look cool.

I just reread all of the first 9 pages and then the follow up 3 pages worth. For some reason, I thought there were more pics.

He hasn't been on here since August 2015. Hope he is OK - may never know.

Reminds me of my kids - Ask me a question and I answer and they either ignore it or argue with me about it. Why ask if you don't want the answer??

pipeline010 said:

I did, I also read through the add-on thread where everyone tried getting a bit more real with him about his perceived limitations and out-of-whack expectations for his truck.

I think everyone saw in him the 16 year old kid we all once were...the one who WANTED the super cool truck but didn't yet understand that the supercool truck comes AFTER all the important stuff is dealt with...job > wife > kids > house > wife again > cars > one more time for wife > Bronco.

This thread being about his daughter adds a slightly different element to the usual conversations about young kids with these trucks. For her? Not necessarily a game-breaker. I wouldn't let my boys in my truck, period..likely ever. Life for me would stop without them and they are way too insane.

Tasks:
NO CELL PHONE!!!
Disc Brakes w/ Power Hydroboost
Full Family Roll Cage and Hard Top
Small tires / no lift.
Hi-Back Seats
Telescoping Steering Column
NO CELL PHONE!!!

I plan all these upgrades on my newest acquisition, but I'll drive as I do them. But I'm also a grown a$$ man living on an island with a max speed limit of 30mph.

Nevertheless, all upgrades will be done within the first couple months; I can't shuffle off this mortal coil leaving behind a heap of people that care for me just cause I wanna look cool.

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don't really think hydroboost is necessary, unless you like locking up the tires easy, because of no abs

Pops68 said:

Reminds me of my kids - Ask me a question and I answer and they either ignore it or argue with me about it. Why ask if you don't want the answer??

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lol it doesn't stop with just kids%)

Yeah, kids who are soon to be 20 and 25 years old!!!