Now that the ’71 Bronco (MarsChariot) is more than halfway through its off-the-frame re-build, I can safely start a build thread to document the rebuild, which I refer to as the “re - rebuild” as will be explained later. And I can now talk about it since I have been unable to talk about it for two years because it was just too painful to think about out loud.
Three year ago, on August 13, 2007 I had just completed my year long EFI and 5.0 GT-40 crate motor installation and took a few pictures. A few hours later I had a garage fire (started by an air compressor that was plugged in but not turned on). The flames engulfed the interior of the garage where both the wife’s Blue ’73 and my Red ’71 were at the time. The blue ’73 burned substantially because the fire started right next to it, but even the ’71 got cooked and smoke-“plated” while the contents of the garage burned and exploded all around it.
I had the hood up after admiring the results of all my labors, so during the fire the engine was exposed to the oven-like radiant heat all around it and the new engine was instantly made to look like it was 40 years old. Every bit of plastic was melted, wires burned, and polished aluminum dulled and “powder-coated” with soot, oil, and smoke. Higher up on the roof, the paint was blistered and burned from the heat. All exposed polished metal was instantly 20 years old, like it was from the rust belt and completely oxidized, rusted, or corroded.
The timing of the fire, just a few hours after finishing a year-long rebuild and conversion, and without even getting to crank it, was a bit over the top in my opinion. It pissed me off so much that I vowed to return the Chariot to better than before just to shake my fist at the fates. Of such are deep psychoses made.
During the next few months the garage was rebuilt with improvements, including a freakin’ overhead sprinkler system. (No electrical devices are left plugged in anymore. This is what the firemen are always saying, but nobody listens to them. So go out in your garage and unplugged anything that does not need to be plugged in right now.)
Because the Chariot had been pretty much restored before (See the ClassicBronco Calendar, October 2006), this has been a slightly different off-the-frame restoration. It is essentially a job of “remove, clean, polish, paint or replace” instead of the usual time-consuming build-up and fabrication of most re-builds. I did it all once already over the past couple of decades. Now all I had to do was do it again, but quicker and better. Hence the “MarsChariot 2.0” title. So the body came off and went to a local restoration shop, the frame stayed and got a thorough re-furbishment, and they both just came together last fall. I recently completed the Painless harness install, which is the occasion of my ability to breath a sigh of relief. There are lots of things to do yet, but this marked the halfway point.
Moral of the story: Broncos are nearly immortal. Everything in the garage was toast, but the Chariot held up and rolled out, just in need of serious (off-the-frame) re-finishing to remove the black powder coating it acquired during the fire.
Below are the before the fire and after the fire pictures. The next update will show progress on the body and the frame.
Before the fire (first three pictures) and after the fire (ast five pictures).:
Three year ago, on August 13, 2007 I had just completed my year long EFI and 5.0 GT-40 crate motor installation and took a few pictures. A few hours later I had a garage fire (started by an air compressor that was plugged in but not turned on). The flames engulfed the interior of the garage where both the wife’s Blue ’73 and my Red ’71 were at the time. The blue ’73 burned substantially because the fire started right next to it, but even the ’71 got cooked and smoke-“plated” while the contents of the garage burned and exploded all around it.
I had the hood up after admiring the results of all my labors, so during the fire the engine was exposed to the oven-like radiant heat all around it and the new engine was instantly made to look like it was 40 years old. Every bit of plastic was melted, wires burned, and polished aluminum dulled and “powder-coated” with soot, oil, and smoke. Higher up on the roof, the paint was blistered and burned from the heat. All exposed polished metal was instantly 20 years old, like it was from the rust belt and completely oxidized, rusted, or corroded.
The timing of the fire, just a few hours after finishing a year-long rebuild and conversion, and without even getting to crank it, was a bit over the top in my opinion. It pissed me off so much that I vowed to return the Chariot to better than before just to shake my fist at the fates. Of such are deep psychoses made.
During the next few months the garage was rebuilt with improvements, including a freakin’ overhead sprinkler system. (No electrical devices are left plugged in anymore. This is what the firemen are always saying, but nobody listens to them. So go out in your garage and unplugged anything that does not need to be plugged in right now.)
Because the Chariot had been pretty much restored before (See the ClassicBronco Calendar, October 2006), this has been a slightly different off-the-frame restoration. It is essentially a job of “remove, clean, polish, paint or replace” instead of the usual time-consuming build-up and fabrication of most re-builds. I did it all once already over the past couple of decades. Now all I had to do was do it again, but quicker and better. Hence the “MarsChariot 2.0” title. So the body came off and went to a local restoration shop, the frame stayed and got a thorough re-furbishment, and they both just came together last fall. I recently completed the Painless harness install, which is the occasion of my ability to breath a sigh of relief. There are lots of things to do yet, but this marked the halfway point.
Moral of the story: Broncos are nearly immortal. Everything in the garage was toast, but the Chariot held up and rolled out, just in need of serious (off-the-frame) re-finishing to remove the black powder coating it acquired during the fire.
Below are the before the fire and after the fire pictures. The next update will show progress on the body and the frame.
Before the fire (first three pictures) and after the fire (ast five pictures).:
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Now that your talking about it, hopefully things will be better. I'll be following your build. 
