Tony's 69 Bronco Build

My name is Tom and I am building a 1969 Bronco for a friend of mine, Tony.
This was going to be a stock rebuild, however it has changed directions.
I have been a Jeep guy so this is my first Bronco. I must say I like this thing.
When it is done I will be sad to see it go. I may need one after this.

The Bronco is a 1969 that he found for sale in May of 2010. The engine was rebuilt in I think 2006, we will get into that later.The guy that owned it died soon after, so there she sat in the hot So. Cal. sun. The body is good, some rust but we can work with it.

Tony picked it up and it was sent to my house.



A day or two looking at it and coming up with a plan, a big shopping list was made.







Then I started to take it apart.





At some point someone had shot at her. There are two holes through the inner fender on the passenger side into the block. Maybe that is why the engine was rebuilt.





Like I said there is some rust so we will have to take care of it.



The front section of the floor was bad so it was cut out.




I pulled the engine to take a look inside. We never tried to start it. so we did not know if it ran.
The insides looked real clean and after pulling the heads the hone marks looked real good.






However when I took a look at the bearings I could see the quality of the rebuild, or lack of is a better way to put it. The mains were not line bored and the rods where not sized. You can see it in the bearing wear.




So this is only the beginning, I will keep you all posted with updates.

Thanks for looking.

Tom

Looks like a fun rebuild, I will be following this one.

Nice Tom... U better start looking for you one now, so you can explore all options..

Yes, you're already hooked...you just haven't allowed yourself to admit it (yet). ;D You're obviously very skilled, lucky. I'll be following your build, so give us some good dirt!

Looks like a good start, looking forward to see it come together. I'm just down the grapevine from you here in Bakersfield.

Awesome! I like the detailed pics. Keep them coming!

Great learning experience. I started my Bronco life by fixing my Bro's 73 and then he bought the 75, and sold it to me! I let go of my 76 ramcharger.... I expect you to let go of your jeep soon, I owned a 81 cj7 (wife's when I met her) and a 2002! fun and cool, but no Bronco!

Great start, Tom. Good luck on the build and welcome to the site!

I want to say thank you all for the replies. I will keep you posted. Oh and by the way my Jeep has been sold. I am driving a Subaru WRX but I will need a toy after this project is done.

Tom

Hey Tom, let me know if you ever need a hand. I would love to see this progress and maybe learn some things since I am very close. I am right off of Seco Cyn.

The plan for this Bronco is to be a real nice driver. She will not see dirt. (All of you off roaders out there please don't hate.)
This is a frame off project. We will be rebuilding everything along with some upgrades.
Take out the 3 speed put in a 5 speed.
Add AC, power steering, power brakes, discs up front, a small lift, 33" tires and regear the axles.

One of the first things to get done was weld in the new floor that was bought from Wild Horses in Stockton, CA. along with a ton of other parts.



I bolted on some of the new body parts, but that is as far as I go with them. I am not a body man, leave it to the pros.

The rear corner was removed. It had rust, dents and I wanted all of the holes filled. I will be building a custom tire carrier.



Next the top is removed to fit the roll cage from Sexton Off Road in Kamas, Utah. We have to keep everyone safe.

Sorry some of the pictures are small, some are big and not so clear. I took them with my phone. Not such a good idea. I am not sure how to fix that, computers and I don't get along all of the time.



The fit is very nice.










The Bronco is to look old with a slight modern touch. For this reason I wanted something different with the tire rack. I also knew I did not want a 33" tire hanging off of the body.

I have made racks like this in the past for Jeeps, but for the Bronco I wanted a kind of stock look.

The cross member between the frame rails will be hidden behind the stock bumper. For the hinge I use a trailer spindle and bearings.





The section above the bumper will be painted body color to blend in.





Well that is it for now, I have to get back to work.

Tom

Very cool. Nice work. Keep the pics coming.

Henry

Wow! You work fast!! I will be following this build!

bigpitbull said:

Wow! You work fast!! I will be following this build!

Click to expand...

LOL... Don't be fooled. This has been going on for 2+ years now. I am just now putting up the pictures. I work on it in my spare time.

Thank you.

Tom

Slick job on that tire carrier, I dont think I have seen anyone disguise the lower with a stock bumper before, props for sure on that, its a good look.

^^x2 that rear bumper is really thought out really like that design. Keeps the classic look to it.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks guys, that makes me feel good. I must say I am proud of it.

Tom

Time for some updates on Tony's 69 Bronco. After I pulled the Bronco apart, built the tire rack it was off to the body shop so the real body professional could do his work.

I took the Bronco to Nick he has a small one man shop in San Fernando, Ca. He is a old school hot rod guy and I can say his work is unreal. He had two other cars in his shop at the time, I have never seen dark green and black laid onto a car this perfect. This is the first Bronco he has done, I think it will come out great. It is going to be shot Grabber Blue. The top and dash will be
Wimbledon White.

Nick started by pulling the body off of the frame, having it stripped then he replaced the rusted parts.





Unused holes where welded up, no filler on this project.



Because you will see into the wheel wells Nick smoothed out all of the spot welds. The inner fenders in the engine compartment will get the same treatment along with any others he finds.



The under side of the Bronco will be just as clean, you never know who will be rolling around under it.



With the replacement parts from Wild Horses welded in and the windshield frame replaced it was time to fit the fenders and hood.



The original top had too much rust where the top panel was spot welded to the sides, so I had to find another one.

Everything was going great until I got the phone call the the blasters used too much pressure and warped the top so bad it could not be used. So the search goes on for another top. This time it took about two months to find a clean one. The paint was sanded off by hand, we don't want to have that happen again.



I had removed some of the braces from the original top so they could be added to the replacement one. I wanted to get rid of some of the drum effect
in the top.

With most of the body work done it was put back onto the frame so all of the seams could be lined up.





I moved things around on the dash to fit the AC controls, new stereo and get rid of the things that are not needed. The glove box is moved to the left and nothing is left of the speedometer so everything clears the roll cage.





In the next update I will be taking the frame home, having parts powder coated and getting into the engine, transfer case, axles and start putting things back together.

Thanks for looking.

Tom

Love it! Just curious who paid for the replacement top?