Red 72 Explorer Sport Patina Rebuild

[gunnibronco]

This has been a long time coming.

I purchased this truck in May of 2016 in Gunnison, CO. It lived on my alley, 1 block from my house. It had been sitting for 5+ years when I bought it. The owner said something went wrong in the rear axle, he drove it home in front wheel drive and parked it. The engine would run when I poured gas into the carb, but never picked up prime. The master cylinder was empty. Me and a friend, literally pushed it to my house. These pictures are from when I bought it, you can see my garage in one of these pictures.

I had no idea what an Explorer Sport was at the time. It turned out that this truck is 1 of only 141 Candyapple Red Explorer Sports built, still in original paint, 88,000 miles. It has an old lift kit, and sits nose high. It has about a 5.5" lift in front and 3.5" in the rear. Not too much has been changed on this truck except a tape deck, sweet rec room carpet, hand choke, and trailer brake controller.

9 years, and 1100 miles later I'm finally starting to work on it.

My plan is to do a patina LUBR rebuild with minor updates and upgrades. I do want to keep the factory carb and ignition system, and anything I do will be easy to return to stock. My goal is up and running and driven to the Nevada Super Cel in October.

• Replace fuel tanks, pump, lines, and rebuild the carb- old gas was a horror show
• Add F150 knuckles and disk brakes, vacuum power brakes, all new lines, drums, etc
• Replace lift with Wild Horses 3.5 springs
• Replace all coolant lines
• New wheel bearings, fluid changes, etc.

After I get it up and driving. I have a Centech wire harness, power steering, rust repair panels (front floor pans, a-pillar skins, and rockers), new upholstery, dash pad, arm rests that will be phase 2.

 

[gunnibronco]

Some details of the condition

Paint inspection stamps on dash, glove box door, a-pillar and fender were unexpected.

I didn't take too many pictures at the time. But that has changed as I started working on it.

 

[gunnibronco]

I finally started working on it the last few weeks.

First I wanted to figure out what was wrong with the rear axle that caused it to be parked 15+ years ago. The left rear wheel/axle had clearly moved out of the housing by about 1" maybe. I pulled the axle and found the bearing and collar had walked down the axle. I'll be getting some advice from a machinist soon to see how the bearing fit is to the axle. I did put the bearing back in place on the axle and reinstall it so I can move the truck around.

Then I gave it a pressure wash and started more closely inspecting the truck. Out of curiosity I wanted to see what the paint looked like under the oxidation. I took a little Meguiars Fine Cut Cleaner on a cotton towel. The results were pretty impressive. I'll keep working on the polish. I don't expect to clear coat it. I'll do my best to maintain with polish and wax. I don't really trust putting clear over bare metal and old paint, and the last thing I want is a clear coat failure which would lead to ruining the original paint. I did autobody for 10 years and saw too many random paint failures even on 100% by-the-book jobs, let alone on top of a 50 year old paint job.

 

[ared77]

Great Bronco!

I loved this - "Me and a friend, literally pushed it to my house"

Norm

 

[Galt72]

Really nice Bronco, going to enjoy this build. In hindsight I Wish I would have kept my 72 Sport stock

 

[DirtDonk]

Definitely cool! Looks fantastic especially after the buff.
And it looks like it’s a “P“ too, so definitely add it to Viperwolf1’s “mind your P’s and Q’s“ thread.
If you haven’t seen it I’ll post a link later.

 

[DirtDonk]

Decide what you’re gonna do (and keep to the decision) before you put too much time and effort into the axle and bearing.
If it needs a new axle, then you decide whether you want to keep the original and sleeve it, or get a new replacement with a bearing already on it, or get upgraded 31 spline axles and new differential.
The new differential isn’t needed, other than for an upgrade, but if you’re going to change the gearing at some point, now is the time to decide on all of those things.
Find out if it’s got the 3.50 or the 4.11 gears, and kind of go from there.

Sounds like it’ll be keeping the stock tire size, or at least stock-ish tire size. Correct? If so, then you probably don’t need to change a lot of stuff in the differential and can get away with just renewing the axle and bearing.
Even if it really does have only 88,000 miles, and it sounds like it does, then the other bearing will need replacing as well.

The little oddly shaped device screwed to the A-pillar on the driver side is part of the “ambient switch“ system that would also have wires running down to the transmission.
If I remember correctly, it changes the ignition timing (somehow) based on which gear the transmission is in. Or something along those lines.
Others will know for sure. But document it and any wires going to the transmission if they are present. And any additional vacuum lines that might be on top of the engine and connected to the distributor.

 

[gunnibronco]

Really nice Bronco, going to enjoy this build. In hindsight I Wish I would have kept my 72 Sport stock

Thanks. I bought my blue 74 in 1996 and there is nothing stock left.

This is a perfect truck to keep as (sort of) original as possible.

 

[gunnibronco]

Definitely cool! Looks fantastic especially after the buff.
And it looks like it’s a “P“ too, so definitely add it to Viperwolf1’s “mind your P’s and Q’s“ thread.
If you haven’t seen it I’ll post a link later.

I added it years ago when I bought it. It's pre-P&Q wierdness.

Decide what you’re gonna do (and keep to the decision) before you put too much time and effort into the axle and bearing.
If it needs a new axle, then you decide whether you want to keep the original and sleeve it, or get a new replacement with a bearing already on it, or get upgraded 31 spline axles and new differential.
The new differential isn’t needed, other than for an upgrade, but if you’re going to change the gearing at some point, now is the time to decide on all of those things.
Find out if it’s got the 3.50 or the 4.11 gears, and kind of go from there.

Sounds like it’ll be keeping the stock tire size, or at least stock-ish tire size. Correct? If so, then you probably don’t need to change a lot of stuff in the differential and can get away with just renewing the axle and bearing.
Even if it really does have only 88,000 miles, and it sounds like it does, then the other bearing will need replacing as well.

The little oddly shaped device screwed to the A-pillar on the driver side is part of the “ambient switch“ system that would also have wires running down to the transmission.
If I remember correctly, it changes the ignition timing (somehow) based on which gear the transmission is in. Or something along those lines.
Others will know for sure. But document it and any wires going to the transmission if they are present. And any additional vacuum lines that might be on top of the engine and connected to the distributor.

Its a 4.11 gears, and I'm probably staying with 31's like it has. So 4.11 is ok. If we find the axle is out of spec it will get stock axle shafts. I've seen Speedie Sleeves for the seal surface. Is there something similar for the bearing race, I'm familiar with bearing mount type adhesives? I certainly don't want to have the axle pull out and destroy the quarter. I actually have a couple 9" centers, 3.50 w/31 spline and 4.86 w/28 spline, both have lunch box lockers so they could easily be converted to 28 spline and stock/open. I've considered dropping to a 3.5 gear, I'd rather cruise at 2500 than 2800 rpm. I might be talked into 33s, if they will fit with no rubbing, that would bring my rpms down on the highway as well. I doubt I'll change gearing unless there is something terribly wrong with either set of gears. Right now plan is to replace wheel bearings but stay out of the diffs unless there is something to fix.

I've read about the 72 ambient temp switch and the timing stuff. I'm a bit concerned with trying to get it all working right. As ridiculous as it seems, my goal is full functional as the factory built it. I've already had to find an unubtanium (see also: stupid expensive) anti stall switch for the carb, so I'm committed.

I'm currently replacing all the fuel system and rebuilding the carb, along with all the vacuum stuff. Plugs and wires, Pertronix, coolant and brakes are next. I'll be swapping in a set of used WH 3.5" springs I have to replace the wonky 80s lift kit. I'll be doing the spring swap as I do the brake job (rear) and F150 knuckles (front).

I've done a bunch of work so far and will be posting a bunch of pics as I have time.

Thanks

 

[gunnibronco]

Speaking of 72 timing/temp/trans system, is this the wire to the transmission? It was just hanging out by the clutch bell crank.

 

[DirtDonk]

Could be. Looks like the remains of a switch at the end in your hand. Can you get a close-up picture of that end?
And what color is the wire?

The backup lamp switches were often known to fail after years of use and living under the hood, but that would’ve had two wires.

 

[DirtDonk]

Speaking of axle shafts... Do a quick test to verify that yours is actually still straight. Can't hurt to know..
And in your pic, I don't see the retaining collar anymore. Is it off on the bench somewhere and you're just using the bearing alone to roll around? Or is it hidden out of sight in the pic?
And as a reminder, both bearings have long since "aged out" even at the lower mileage. So it's time for new ones no matter what.

Oh, and because I'm always looking for an excuse to post up pics of my friend Tim's '72 Explorer, here's one again:

Color may be the same Candy Apple. Wouldn't know it from the faded photographs, but my memory says it's close!
Never could tell if it was Rangoon or Candy Apple. And the paperwork is long since 40 years gone.

Paul

 

[eb-nutt1]

I added it years ago when I bought it. It's pre-P&Q wierdness.


Its a 4.11 gears, and I'm probably staying with 31's like it has. So 4.11 is ok. If we find the axle is out of spec it will get stock axle shafts. I've seen Speedie Sleeves for the seal surface. Is there something similar for the bearing race, I'm familiar with bearing mount type adhesives? I certainly don't want to have the axle pull out and destroy the quarter. I actually have a couple 9" centers, 3.50 w/31 spline and 4.86 w/28 spline, both have lunch box lockers so they could easily be converted to 28 spline and stock/open. I've considered dropping to a 3.5 gear, I'd rather cruise at 2500 than 2800 rpm. I might be talked into 33s, if they will fit with no rubbing, that would bring my rpms down on the highway as well. I doubt I'll change gearing unless there is something terribly wrong with either set of gears. Right now plan is to replace wheel bearings but stay out of the diffs unless there is something to fix.

I've read about the 72 ambient temp switch and the timing stuff. I'm a bit concerned with trying to get it all working right. As ridiculous as it seems, my goal is full functional as the factory built it. I've already had to find an unubtanium (see also: stupid expensive) anti stall switch for the carb, so I'm committed. View attachment 943822
I'm currently replacing all the fuel system and rebuilding the carb, along with all the vacuum stuff. Plugs and wires, Pertronix, coolant and brakes are next. I'll be swapping in a set of used WH 3.5" springs I have to replace the wonky 80s lift kit. I'll be doing the spring swap as I do the brake job (rear) and F150 knuckles (front).

I've done a bunch of work so far and will be posting a bunch of pics as I have time.

Thanks

I'm running 33x10.50-15 on a 3.5", uncut...moved the rear axle back a inch to insure frt quarter clearance when flexed, so they are doable

 

[gnsteam]

Cool project, I will be following.

 

[gunnibronco]

Speaking of axle shafts... Do a quick test to verify that yours is actually still straight. Can't hurt to know..
And in your pic, I don't see the retaining collar anymore. Is it off on the bench somewhere and you're just using the bearing alone to roll around? Or is it hidden out of sight in the pic?
And as a reminder, both bearings have long since "aged out" even at the lower mileage. So it's time for new ones no matter what.

Oh, and because I'm always looking for an excuse to post up pics of my friend Tim's '72 Explorer, here's one again:

View attachment 943875

View attachment 943874

Color may be the same Candy Apple. Wouldn't know it from the faded photographs, but my memory says it's close!
Never could tell if it was Rangoon or Candy Apple. And the paperwork is long since 40 years gone.

Paul

The retainer collar was loose when I pulled the axle. It's currently reinstalled with the bearing. I have all new seals and bearings to go in before it's driving.

Good point on checking how straight the axle shaft is.

I've documented all ES paint codes from Marti Reports for the last 9 years. Candyapple is the only red I've found. And I think I've accounted for almost every ES but 15. I'm having connection issues with CB.com right now. Something weird in my Internet connection won't connect so I can't use my laptop or id post my spreadsheet of paint codes. I can only use phone data not wifi to get on here. Super frustrating.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

 

[gunnibronco]

I'm running 33x10.50-15 on a 3.5", uncut...moved the rear axle back a inch to insure frt quarter clearance when flexed, so they are doable

Thanks!

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

 

[gunnibronco]

Here is my list of 72 Explorer Sports by paint code. If anyone can contribute a Marti I'm missing-Sequoia Brown, Tampico Yellow, Seapine Green, or Mallard Green, or my 15 unknown, that would be awesome!

 

[gunnibronco]

A couple easy things I've done were super satisfying.

The truck didn't have a horn ring when I bought it. I sourced an old horn ring and got it installed recently.

I also removed the old tape deck and replaced it with a stock am radio. It's not hooked up, but it looks so much better it's worth it. I used a 3D printed filler plate from a guy on FB. It looks great but took a lot of modification time to get it right. I'd just cut one out of metal the next time. I wanted to keep the original dash patina and paint inspection stamps so it was a great solution. I also installed an old ash tray, and was able to make 1 functioning T-shift handle out of 2.

 

[DirtDonk]

Neither my 71 nor my three friend’s 72’s (2 Explorers, 1 standard) had a horn “ring” on the button. Ours were just center buttons with no ring.
We haven’t talked about it in years, but does anyone remember which/how many Broncos got rings and how many didn’t?

 

[gunnibronco]

Neither my 71 nor my three friend’s 72’s (2 Explorers, 1 standard) had a horn “ring” on the button. Ours were just center buttons with no ring.
We haven’t talked about it in years, but does anyone remember which/how many Broncos got rings and how many didn’t?

On this dealer pricer the Sport pack includes the horn ring. Others have told me it would have had a ring.

I just looked at some pics I have of other ES, one had a ring, one had a button. I'll keep looking.

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