My little mule Pe'pe

broncomatt · Nov 17, 2012

Some of you who know have seen my Little mule Pe'pe in action. Well after 17 years its time for another rebuild. New frame and tub.
Here are some pics of what I'm starting with. I have repaired the damage to the frame where the steering box mounts, removed the OE shock mounts. There were aftermarket shock mounts on the coil buckets. For now they are staying. I added a brace for my upgraded steering box.
The tub needed hinge posts which are mostly in and some trimming of the inner front fenders so the front cage setup I have will fit.
I picked up a new sprayer for the inside frame paint and an outside paint (like por 15) but its gray to match my bumpers.
The dash is a change from my current setup. I am only using the heater controls, lots of room for all my guages. Plus I am going to move the glove box door over to fit my cage. This will allow me to use the stock heater.
Stay tuned for more pics to come.

blazinchuck · Nov 18, 2012

looking good matt! suscribed!

SC74 · Nov 18, 2012

What will be swapped from the original blue EB? Drivetrain & axles?

orangecrush4u · Nov 18, 2012

My frame has the cracks no rot but need to attened to that soon, nice job!!!;D

broncomatt · Nov 18, 2012

I'll be swapping all the drivetrain, cage, hood and grill. I have another set of doors coming, better set of fenders and tailgait. I also saved a fairly new set of springs and will make a new front bumper and possibly the rear too. I will invest in some new seats and shocks. The big challenge I face is making a new wiring harness. I hope to use some of the painless harness I have plus tie that into my own consol setup. All the switches except the heater controls are in my consol. I need to get a weather pack kit for the outer connections. I already have some surplus 32 pin conectors.

sprdv1 · Nov 18, 2012

Good luck w/the build Matt... Sounds like it's time "17 yrs"

A lot of great use though I'm sure.

broncomatt · Dec 31, 2012

more progress

I Thought I would post some pics of my progress.
Finished buzzing in the drivers door hing post, had to oblong the mounting holes for the hinges to bring the door down to fit. Now that the body lines match I moved onto the pass side. I buzzed the pass side in and found that once the door was mounted it was off. Too narrow on the top. Cut the front side of the mount and made a door spreader (steel square stock with a scissor jack on the top).
Now that all of that is right I mounted the painted frame on new bushings to the tub. All fits right so I flipped it over to refinish the underside. Started with scrapping and will be sandblasting next.
I will also be cutting the rear fenders for the flares, I'll be using a 1/2 dozen screws to mount the flares with an epoxie to hold them on. Then I can pull the screws out and fill in the holes. It wont be a totaly smooth mounting but it wont have any rivits to bleed threw the paint.

motoman · Dec 31, 2012

Excellent progress! Subscribed!

tasker · Dec 31, 2012

Sign me up too!

addicted · Dec 31, 2012

Me too. How far did you manage to get paint inside the rails?

broncomatt · Dec 31, 2012

addicted said:
Me too. How far did you manage to get paint inside the rails?

Not as well as advertised, I used a undercoating gun with a special inside frame paint from The Eastwood company. They recomended the undercoating gun since it comes with a hose end to get it in the frame 2'. This didnt work well untill I thinned the paint out some. In the end I had to spray the extra paint I had in all the holes to be sure it was well covered. Its a green paint so now that I have covered the outside with the gray you cant see where it ran out of most holes.
Stay tuned!

broncomatt · Apr 26, 2013

progress report

A quick update, flipped the tub over, sandblasted the underside, welded any patches that were put in from the top side. Cut the rear quarters out for the flares, painted the underside with the same paint I used on the the frame.
Then I put it back on the frame with new mounts, and most recently started cutting out the rad support openings for all my coolers. I will need to make some custom mounts for my radiator. I am also still cutting some aluminum pannels for the underside of the tub (to help with heat reduction).

motoman · Apr 26, 2013

Some great progress......

So how do you keep flipping that tub over and over with out a rotisserie?

broncomatt · Apr 26, 2013

I am REALY strong, (NOT)did it all by my self I even have a bad back! I used a shop crane and large ratchet straps to get it up, then secured it to a large beam in the shop. Then switched the crane to a second set of straps on the other side. Using other straps I moved the load around as so not to hurt (or hit) anything. Not easy and kind of scary.
I put it on some tires and tied the windshield frame back so it wouldnt get bent.
Not ideal, but it worked. Thats why its so importent to weld in the braces on the door jambs and tailgait.

NGABronco · Apr 26, 2013

broncomatt said:
I am REALY strong, (NOT)did it all by my self I even have a bad back! I used a shop crane and large ratchet straps to get it up, then secured it to a large beam in the shop. Then switched the crane to a second set of straps on the other side. Using other straps I moved the load around as so not to hurt (or hit) anything. Not easy and kind of scary.
I put it on some tires and tied the windshield frame back so it wouldnt get bent.
Not ideal, but it worked. Thats why its so importent to weld in the braces on the door jambs and tailgait.

HaHa, hey Matt, I didn't have a beam to tie to!!! Bales of pine straw worked great!!! Your's is looking good!!!;D;D;D

orangecrush4u · Apr 26, 2013

still looking good...

broncomatt · Apr 27, 2013

NGABronco said:
HaHa, hey Matt, I didn't have a beam to tie to!!! Bales of pine straw worked great!!! Your's is looking good!!!;D;D;D

Love the hay bails!! Was your trailer to take it out and have it blasted or just work on it?
There is so much that you dont see when its right side up, was nice to know I fixed any rust that could come back and got everything that is under the frame.

broncomatt · Oct 22, 2013

and so it had begun

After many years I have started to tear it all down for the new tub and frame.
Some of this stuff hasn't been off this truck since I put it on 18 years ago.
Now I can finally put it back together in a proper manner. Pulling the wiring harness was like trimming bushes, just cut and rip!

broncomatt · Dec 5, 2013

more progress, sort of...

As I tear Pe'pe apart I seem to find more things that need attention. After pulling the gas tank, cage and rear shocks I found some rust issues with the tank. Since I never really needed a 32 gallon tank, and since I didn't really want to cut the floor for the tank or the rear shocks I scored a great deal on a WH rear shock hoop threw Broncograveyard. In the pic you will see one shock hoop cover is missing, other than that its the whole kit for more than half off. I will still have to cut the body to install the hoop covers but at least its getting a welded in cover. The boots I used for the shocks did allow water to get in some times. I will be going with a larger than OE tank in a few months. I'm also building a swing out spare tire assembly with parts from a rear Harmar chair lift. Very similar to the bumper mount units on most web sites but this will be inside and allow access to the bed from the tailgate. I know many will ask "why not use a stock swing away holder"? Which I do have one, I really don't like them on the out side and I also prefer the look that I already have. Stay tuned for pics of that.

Jeff76 · Dec 5, 2013

Just scanned through this thread, and the one question that comes to mind is...who has a basement in Florida?

Nice job on the bronco!

Jeff

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