72 "AM" LUBR Frame Off Restoration...Completed with Lots Of Pics..

[ericbee]

After 1 year of waiting and building and fixing bugs, I am close enough to completion to finally post pictures. So many problems had to be addressed and the amount of time and money was nearly triple of what I was expecting, but once I started I had to finish.

This started out as a real rust bucket. The body was scrapped and a completely new body and tub was fabricated using brand new sheet metal. No rust anywhere. Frame sand blasted and POR 15'ed.

2 1/2 suspension lift, 33 inch tires, black powder coated slot wheels and they just fit. Crate 302 Ford racing Engine producing over 400hp with Atomic EFI fuel injection, Flowmaster exhaust.

Any questions just ask, I hope you like what I created.

PS: I called this the AM LUBR because the color is 1966 Aston Martin Metallic Pearl Racing Green

 

[bigpitbull]

I love the steering wheel and the EB... where did you get the wood wheel?

 

[ericbee]

The wheel is a Grant Wheel that was sanded, stained and sealed to match the twin sticks. It comes in raw wood but, the dirt from your hands soils the wood so easily it has to get sealed. Mahogany Red Stain, but it needs to be a little darker. One of the little details I will get around to one day...

 

[gnsteam]

Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet! Great job, you should be proud.

 

[bigpitbull]

awesome! good job on the EB.

 

[broncobsession]

Well my friend, you outdid yourself. One of the nicest rigs I've seen.

I love the attention to detail and the fusion of old and new technology.

Great color choice, haven't ever seen that before. Saving all these pics in the inspiration folder for sure.

 

[PlaneDrvr99]

Noticed that you stated the body was all new sheet metal. Did you use the JBG new body kit? If so, what did you think of it?

 

[jn2630]

Noticed that you stated the body was all new sheet metal. Did you use the JBG new body kit? If so, what did you think of it?

I am curious about this as well.

 

[ILikeBond]

Wow, what a gorgeous Bronco, down to every detail. The AM green combined with the wood and brown of the wheel, sticks and upholstery. All pics in my inspiration folder too.

Couple questions if you don't mind.

Any body lift?
What are the specs on the wheels, size and backspacing?
Have you run into any troubles with the 33s?
Is that a tweeter on the dash?

The angled cage is interesting. Is it welded to the door frames? Are you worried with it being angled like that that it could snap or compress in a rollover?

BTW, great pictures too, definitely worth choosing one to enter the calendar contest. I like #1.

 

[ericbee]

Ok, first let me answer some questions...

When I said all new sheet metal, I meant to say that the original body was so badly rusted that a new body and tub was assembled from non rusted sheet metal. We did not purchase aftermarket sheet metal, the entire thing was made using original sheet metal but from half a dozen different trucks. See the pics below for more details.

No body lift only 2 1/2 suspension lift.

The only trouble I have had with the 33's is that upon full articulation (left side only) AND hitting a speed bump or parking bump or big lip on garage floor at the same time, it just catches the lip of the left front fender well. As a result, it is going in to get the fender lip rolled on Thursday just as a precaution. In addition, since the left side is the only culprit, the mechanic is going to try and shift the axle over to the right by about an half an inch so the turning radius is symmetrical on both sides. This should also eliminate any rubbing but, between the lip roll and the axel shift I am certain there will be no issue.

The backspacing is stock but, I honestly dont remember what it was/is. The slot rims are actually from a Jeep CJ as it had the same 5.5 x 5 bolt pattern and the rim was 7 or 8 inches wide which worked perfectly to clear the rear uncut fenders and fronts too.

There are 2 tweeters in the dash. They originally were placed up in the windshield wiper cover but, I decided to remove the wiper cover, wiper motor and wiper blades, so I relocated the tweeters to the dash.

The angled cage was completely custom built. It is not welded to the door frames, it is welded to a plate that is bolted to the floor. It was angled (with a great deal of time) to match the lines of the rear fender wells, clear the speakers in the back, allow the seats to fully extend and is braced in 4 locations.

One other very unique idea I came up with for the roll cage was to use square tubing off of the round tubing as a windshield brace. The square tubing matches the look of the top of the door frame, is hidden from view by the door frame and is very minimal in appearance. It serves it purpose to securely keep the windshield from flexing and is also strong enough to use as a pull bar to get in and out of the truck.

 

[Heus33]

Really nice!!! I'd like to hear more about the stereo - specifically how you mounted the speakers in the rear quarter panels and what double din unit you have in the dash (along with how much surgery was required to make it fit).

And the kick panels in the front.

Oh oh oh and the rear seat track - (ok I'm done!)

great job! really unique color scheme - bravo!!

 

[ericbee]

The stereo costs as much as a new Bronco, seriously. I'm not bragging I am sickened at the thought of it but, if I cant hear it with the top off driving then there was no sense installing one to sound good parked. This one is pretty slick.

The speakers are all made by Audison and Hertz subs and are component speakers with separate tweeters. The fronts have the tweeters in the dash and the mids were put in custom fiberglass enclosures down by the kick panels. They were lizard skinned to match the floors. The rears were installed in the same enclosure as the subs but, with an interior wall inside the enclosure to keep the correct sound pressure volumes for each speaker.

The rears are 10" slim subwoofers made by Hertz. They were also put inside custom fiberglass enclosures to fit perfectly in the recessed areas in the back of the cab. All of the crossovers are contained within the enclosures themselves.

The amp is a Hertz 5 channel digital amp. It is hidden under (not inside) the center console tuffy box. It was installed on rubber grommets to isolate it from vibration and protect it in case water flows down the back into the front area. The tuffy box is also raised up about 2 inches to allow for sufficient airflow to the amp to avoid overheating.

The double din stereo is the new Kenwood DNX9990HD. It has sirius, cd, ipod, am/fm, HD radio, blah blah all of the options as well as navigation and back up rear camera. That back up camera is the best thing around, I dont even have to turn around when backing up, just look in the dash. Nice modern touch. Oh, and the camera mount is beyond cool, I need to take a picture to show you how that was installed using a custom bracket below the bumper.

Much thanks goes out to a member on this forum browngr5 (Tony Brown) who did the install and fabricated the enclosures. I couldnt have asked for a more professional and cleaner installation. A thread on his work can be viewed here:

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205477&highlight=custom+speaker+enclosures

 

[Rox Crusher]

that thing looks awesome

another solution to the fender rub is to move the axle back by an inch.

You just drill a new hole in the spring perch on the axle and the plate on top of the springs.

 

[xcntrk]

Man this rig is beautiful. Nice work. Only thing I would change are the painted slots...

 

[ericbee]

I powder coated the slots to give it a modern, meaner more aggressive look. I sometimes wonder if I should have just polished them up and left them silver but, I can always blast them and polish them up if I wanna switch it up. For now, they stay mean and matte black.

 

[broncobsession]

Got any engine pics? Whose suspension did you use?

What did you do with axles, transmission, discs, ps, power brakes or h-boost?

I assume custom upholstery?

 

[ericbee]

You want more pics? Jeeze..

The transmission is an AOD C4, made by Jasper. 3 on the tree and the column is a flaming river tilt column.

We used a Tom's Bronco 2 1/2 lift ( I think it was Tom's)

I have front discs and rear drums, power brakes but, decided to switch over to hydroboost, it is being installed next week. Going to put up a 3 week old MC and Vaccuum next week on the For Sale forums if anyone is interested.

The upholstery was custom, Ginger Spice color and I do have a rear bench but, removed it recently to haul some boxes around, gotta put it back in soon.

PS: The silver tracks you see on the rear bed is a quick release system I located that allows me to take the rear bench on and off in about 5 minutes. No bolts through the floor or nuts on the underside to deal with. It's a slick set up.

 

[Crawdad]

Man I tell you what, if Aston Martin made a one-off bronco this is exactly what it would look like!!!!! I love it! I've always loved a tan interior vehicle no matter what the color is on the outside. Its a very beautiful LUBR! Great work!

 

[ericbee]

Thank you all for the kind words.

 

[76MaBronco]

I'll be the first to ask. Are you coming to the BYOB Fall Cruise??? I see the CT plates and we're starting just outside of Hartford.

VERY sweet rig. Impressive.