mrron2u
Full Member
My Dad had a 1970 EB and drove it daily for 20+ years. We spent nearly every weekend driving it in the Colorado Mountains camping and wheeling from the time I was 5 years old. Early on it was the only vehicle we had. Later when we had other vehicles, it was always the most reliable one. If I can ever find a picture I will include it. When Dad finally decided to sell it he offered it to me and my brother first. I was newly married and had no money to spare, and my brother was also too broke to buy it. It killed me to turn it down (especially as he was only asking $1000 for it). That left an aching for me to have one of my own someday.
Well, after many years of dreaming of getting my own early Bronco, I finally pulled the trigger. I was trying to buy something a little more done with Power Steering and Power Brakes, but kept losing out to other buyers more prepared with cash in hand. I live in Kansas City so there are very few EB’s to choose from. I always knew to buy one I’d probably have to go where there are plenty of EB’s, like Denver. Well I finally had cash in hand and came across this 1967 U13 in Denver. It looked pretty nice from 600 miles away, and seemed to be fairly priced. I decided to go crazy and after talking to the PO, sent him a deposit and booked a flight to Denver. I was very optimistic (it’s a fatal flaw of mine) and felt like I could drive it back to KC over the course of a couple of days.
I looked at it and test drove it and fell in love immediately. I could see that it was fairly rust free, had a really strong motor and seemed a great place to start building. The specs on my 67 are as follows:
· 289 Hi po V8 engine
· Edelbrock Performer carburetor
· Edelbrock Performer aluminum heads
· Ford 4V hi-po intake
· Full-length headers
· Aluminum radiator
· Optima Yellow-top battery
· Professionally rebuilt Ford 9 inch rear end with Detroit Locker & Yukon high-strength axles
· 4:56 gears
· 3-speed manual with Hurst floor shifter
· Rhino-lining on underside of body
· 33-inch BFG Mud Terrain tires
· 3.5 inch Wild Horses suspension lift
· Rancho shocks (2 shocks per corner)
· ProtoFab rear bumper with gerry can and spare tire rack (needs a spare tire)
· BestTop convertible top, can use as safari top
· Bikini top
· Canvas doors - removable or can use as half-doors
· Back seat added (didn't come with Roadster)
· Manual steering (non-power)
· Manual drum brakes (non-power)
· Locked Dana 30 front end
· Tow bar
I paid the PO, got the title and drove it to my uncles house (who conveniently lived about 5 miles from the seller) and prepped for the long drive home. I bought a cheap spare so I would be prepared should I get a flat. I had a suitcase full of tools. When we checked the oil again we noticed the first problem. It looks like the gasket where the dipstick enters the pan is shot. As a result it leaks oil there quite a lot. So I purchased about 7 quarts of oil in order to keep feeding the motor throughout the drive.
I packed up and hopped in for the long ride home. The PO told me that the Bronco has an issue with Vapor Lock so I expected some issues along the way with that. Sure enough about 45 minutes into the drive it started to sputter. After about 60 seconds of sputtering it passed and I was able to maintain speed for the most part. This seemed to happen about every 45 minutes or so. It was annoying, but not terrible. I made it to Deer Trail, CO for my first fuel stop. While there I pulled over, topped off the oil and let the Bronco cool down for a while. It was at that gas station that I met my first Bronco enthusiast. He wanted to know all about it and we killed 10 minutes of the cool down time chatting about Bronco’s.
After I left Deer Trail, I noticed the vapor lock issue happening more frequently. It finally reached a point where I would have to pull over and wait a few minutes with the motor off before trying to move on. At this point the weather decided to turn on me. I was traveling with the soft top on, but the doors and back window out. I was getting soaked with rain on my left side as wind and rain were coming straight at me. I kept reminding myself that this was “Fun”! I made it to Limon where I decided to find an overpass to hide under for a bit as the vapor lock was getting annoying. It was there that I made my first call to my wife to explain what was going on. I could tell from her tone that she was not exactly happy to hear from me as I was not painting a pretty picture. I told her I just wanted to talk – the waiting 10-15 minutes for the Bronco to cool down was killing me. Well, 15 minutes later and I was back on the road.
My uncle had told me that if I needed him to come and rescue me, he would come as far as Burlington if need be. Well, I hit a real nice stretch of 75 minutes of flawless running that landed me at Burlington where I decided to top off for the last haul of the day to Goodland, KS. I had a hotel room waiting for me there. After I topped off it was about 10PM and I started back out. Almost immediately I realized that the Bronco had become stuck in 3rd gear! I of course noticed this during one of my many Vapor Lock stops. Well, here I am way out in the middle of nowhere with a Bronco that is stuck in 3rd gear and for some reason won’t start. I called the wife again (who was not happy with me). I realized that I probably I had left the electric fuel pump turned on too long after pulling over and had probably flooded the carb. So I chatted with her while waiting for the fuel to clear and the engine to cool off. I had tried several times to start the Bronco while chatting with her. All of a sudden it roars to life so I tell her I gotta go and look for a nice long opening in traffic for a 3rd gear start. Not the best thing for the Bronco to do, nor very easy!
I managed to get back on the road and maybe got 20 more minutes down the road before the next stall out. It is only 32 miles from Burlington, CO to Goodland, KS but they were the longest miles ever. At some point I hit a nice stretch of road construction so the road was down to 2 lanes and the shoulder got pretty thin. I can’t remember how many times I had to start out in 3rd. It was a terrible feeling! I limped in to Goodland and made it to the hotel.
I got checked in, and called the wife one more time to tell her I was safe. She wanted to know if I thought I could fix the gear shift issue. I had researched it while on the side of the highway and thought I could unstick it in the morning when everything had cooled off and the rain had stopped. I collapsed in bed and was out like a light. Well about 2am I get a call from my wife. She and my Mom have decided to come out to rescue me. Thankfully the Bronco came equipped with a tow-bar. My dad was in Colby, KS (next town up) as he was making his way back from Ouray, CO with a friend in his 2005 Jeep Unlimited Rubicon. The plan was for me to get up early (6am) and see what I could do to get my Bronco to Colby to meet up with my Dad, Mom and Wife. I think my wife called me every hour after that to make me feel her pain of being up all night. I can’t fault her for that, but every time I had to get up to answer the phone meant I had to get up and walk across the room. Finally at 5:45 I gave up sleeping and went outside to see what I could do.
Thanks to this site I found that someone else had the same problem with this Hurst Shifter conversion and so I hooked a rope to the gearshift so I could wiggle it remotely while under the Bronco. This helped me find the linkage. Once I found it, I used my channel lock pliers and “CLICK” it was unlocked. Thank goodness it was so easy! I packed all the tools back up, and walked over to the Walmart to buy towing lights and a pin for the receiver hitch.
I packed the Bronco for the (hopefully) quick run to Colby. I popped in to the McDonald’s and knew the day was going to get better when I saw that they had Sausage McSkillet Breakfast Burrito’s! Haven’t seen them in forever around here! After my Burrito I hit the road. Made it to Colby no problem, but I was watching the GPS like a hawk counting down the miles.
My wife and mom were already there, and my wife walks out looking at the Bronco like “we paid how much for that”!
It was a priceless moment when she hopped in and I started up the Bronco so I could move it to hook it up to the Jeep. She jumped at the sound of the motor! (BTW – the motor in this thing is HOT! Throws you back in your seat!)
Well, we got hooked up and made the trip back much easier and faster than I would have on my own. Sucks that I had to be towed home by a Jeep, but I’m not too proud to admit that I was thankful for the tow!
I drove it a couple of days this week and it’s apparent that I need to fix the oil leak and work on the brakes a bit first. Then after that – the Vapor Lock issue gets addressed!
All in all, I’m glad I bought it. I think it will be a great vehicle to wrench on and it’s a very stable place to start a build.
I look forward to meeting more Bronco people through this site!
Ron
Well, after many years of dreaming of getting my own early Bronco, I finally pulled the trigger. I was trying to buy something a little more done with Power Steering and Power Brakes, but kept losing out to other buyers more prepared with cash in hand. I live in Kansas City so there are very few EB’s to choose from. I always knew to buy one I’d probably have to go where there are plenty of EB’s, like Denver. Well I finally had cash in hand and came across this 1967 U13 in Denver. It looked pretty nice from 600 miles away, and seemed to be fairly priced. I decided to go crazy and after talking to the PO, sent him a deposit and booked a flight to Denver. I was very optimistic (it’s a fatal flaw of mine) and felt like I could drive it back to KC over the course of a couple of days.
I looked at it and test drove it and fell in love immediately. I could see that it was fairly rust free, had a really strong motor and seemed a great place to start building. The specs on my 67 are as follows:
· 289 Hi po V8 engine
· Edelbrock Performer carburetor
· Edelbrock Performer aluminum heads
· Ford 4V hi-po intake
· Full-length headers
· Aluminum radiator
· Optima Yellow-top battery
· Professionally rebuilt Ford 9 inch rear end with Detroit Locker & Yukon high-strength axles
· 4:56 gears
· 3-speed manual with Hurst floor shifter
· Rhino-lining on underside of body
· 33-inch BFG Mud Terrain tires
· 3.5 inch Wild Horses suspension lift
· Rancho shocks (2 shocks per corner)
· ProtoFab rear bumper with gerry can and spare tire rack (needs a spare tire)
· BestTop convertible top, can use as safari top
· Bikini top
· Canvas doors - removable or can use as half-doors
· Back seat added (didn't come with Roadster)
· Manual steering (non-power)
· Manual drum brakes (non-power)
· Locked Dana 30 front end
· Tow bar
I paid the PO, got the title and drove it to my uncles house (who conveniently lived about 5 miles from the seller) and prepped for the long drive home. I bought a cheap spare so I would be prepared should I get a flat. I had a suitcase full of tools. When we checked the oil again we noticed the first problem. It looks like the gasket where the dipstick enters the pan is shot. As a result it leaks oil there quite a lot. So I purchased about 7 quarts of oil in order to keep feeding the motor throughout the drive.
I packed up and hopped in for the long ride home. The PO told me that the Bronco has an issue with Vapor Lock so I expected some issues along the way with that. Sure enough about 45 minutes into the drive it started to sputter. After about 60 seconds of sputtering it passed and I was able to maintain speed for the most part. This seemed to happen about every 45 minutes or so. It was annoying, but not terrible. I made it to Deer Trail, CO for my first fuel stop. While there I pulled over, topped off the oil and let the Bronco cool down for a while. It was at that gas station that I met my first Bronco enthusiast. He wanted to know all about it and we killed 10 minutes of the cool down time chatting about Bronco’s.
After I left Deer Trail, I noticed the vapor lock issue happening more frequently. It finally reached a point where I would have to pull over and wait a few minutes with the motor off before trying to move on. At this point the weather decided to turn on me. I was traveling with the soft top on, but the doors and back window out. I was getting soaked with rain on my left side as wind and rain were coming straight at me. I kept reminding myself that this was “Fun”! I made it to Limon where I decided to find an overpass to hide under for a bit as the vapor lock was getting annoying. It was there that I made my first call to my wife to explain what was going on. I could tell from her tone that she was not exactly happy to hear from me as I was not painting a pretty picture. I told her I just wanted to talk – the waiting 10-15 minutes for the Bronco to cool down was killing me. Well, 15 minutes later and I was back on the road.
My uncle had told me that if I needed him to come and rescue me, he would come as far as Burlington if need be. Well, I hit a real nice stretch of 75 minutes of flawless running that landed me at Burlington where I decided to top off for the last haul of the day to Goodland, KS. I had a hotel room waiting for me there. After I topped off it was about 10PM and I started back out. Almost immediately I realized that the Bronco had become stuck in 3rd gear! I of course noticed this during one of my many Vapor Lock stops. Well, here I am way out in the middle of nowhere with a Bronco that is stuck in 3rd gear and for some reason won’t start. I called the wife again (who was not happy with me). I realized that I probably I had left the electric fuel pump turned on too long after pulling over and had probably flooded the carb. So I chatted with her while waiting for the fuel to clear and the engine to cool off. I had tried several times to start the Bronco while chatting with her. All of a sudden it roars to life so I tell her I gotta go and look for a nice long opening in traffic for a 3rd gear start. Not the best thing for the Bronco to do, nor very easy!
I managed to get back on the road and maybe got 20 more minutes down the road before the next stall out. It is only 32 miles from Burlington, CO to Goodland, KS but they were the longest miles ever. At some point I hit a nice stretch of road construction so the road was down to 2 lanes and the shoulder got pretty thin. I can’t remember how many times I had to start out in 3rd. It was a terrible feeling! I limped in to Goodland and made it to the hotel.
I got checked in, and called the wife one more time to tell her I was safe. She wanted to know if I thought I could fix the gear shift issue. I had researched it while on the side of the highway and thought I could unstick it in the morning when everything had cooled off and the rain had stopped. I collapsed in bed and was out like a light. Well about 2am I get a call from my wife. She and my Mom have decided to come out to rescue me. Thankfully the Bronco came equipped with a tow-bar. My dad was in Colby, KS (next town up) as he was making his way back from Ouray, CO with a friend in his 2005 Jeep Unlimited Rubicon. The plan was for me to get up early (6am) and see what I could do to get my Bronco to Colby to meet up with my Dad, Mom and Wife. I think my wife called me every hour after that to make me feel her pain of being up all night. I can’t fault her for that, but every time I had to get up to answer the phone meant I had to get up and walk across the room. Finally at 5:45 I gave up sleeping and went outside to see what I could do.
Thanks to this site I found that someone else had the same problem with this Hurst Shifter conversion and so I hooked a rope to the gearshift so I could wiggle it remotely while under the Bronco. This helped me find the linkage. Once I found it, I used my channel lock pliers and “CLICK” it was unlocked. Thank goodness it was so easy! I packed all the tools back up, and walked over to the Walmart to buy towing lights and a pin for the receiver hitch.
I packed the Bronco for the (hopefully) quick run to Colby. I popped in to the McDonald’s and knew the day was going to get better when I saw that they had Sausage McSkillet Breakfast Burrito’s! Haven’t seen them in forever around here! After my Burrito I hit the road. Made it to Colby no problem, but I was watching the GPS like a hawk counting down the miles.
My wife and mom were already there, and my wife walks out looking at the Bronco like “we paid how much for that”!
It was a priceless moment when she hopped in and I started up the Bronco so I could move it to hook it up to the Jeep. She jumped at the sound of the motor! (BTW – the motor in this thing is HOT! Throws you back in your seat!)
Well, we got hooked up and made the trip back much easier and faster than I would have on my own. Sucks that I had to be towed home by a Jeep, but I’m not too proud to admit that I was thankful for the tow!
I drove it a couple of days this week and it’s apparent that I need to fix the oil leak and work on the brakes a bit first. Then after that – the Vapor Lock issue gets addressed!
All in all, I’m glad I bought it. I think it will be a great vehicle to wrench on and it’s a very stable place to start a build.
I look forward to meeting more Bronco people through this site!
Ron
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