migs Bronco Barn - a chronicle of what's happening at the new place

[migs]

The last couple of weeks since the last update have been focused on the inner front clip, lot's of time spent pondering, cutting, fitting, grinding and a good deal of trial and error working with an old pair of fiberglass inner fenders and a used steel core support.... nothing that fits anywhere close to good together as is.
Using the hood to help check the positioning and fit of everything it became obvious that something was askew. Well, once again bit by previous owner body mounting hole (mis)placement. This time it was the two forward ones near the firewall. There's really no good reference points to be able to measure this tub accurately from side to side on the frame so you really do need the front body parts to get it close to right. I fixed the holes and loosened all the other body mount bolts so I could shift the tub over and get everything aligned better with the front clip and hood.
So I think I have everything where I want it and ready to drill some holes to bolt, screw and then glue it all together.

 

[tasker]

Looking good! Can't thank you enough for all the effort buddy!!

 

[migs]

Well... looks like it's been a while now since I've posted anything here. Still plenty been going on over the past few months, just haven't updated it yet.... so let's get started.

Alright, back to that front clip. So after finally getting everything modified and fit as well as it could, I glued and bolted the panels together. That's not coming apart anytime soon!



We get some random visitors from time to time.....when there's no Sasquatches around of course!

 

[migs]

Alright... now we sidetrack a little as we head into June. New tires and wheels for my rig along with some other updates getting ready before the meb round up. 17x8.5 Method bead grip wheels and went back down in tire size to 275/70r17 Toyo RT Trails. I'll tell you though, that bead grip technology seems like it does what they say it does, I had a hell of a time breaking the bead on a few test tires I tried out as compared to any other regular wheels I've done over the years.

I also added a smaller spare tire/wheel to save a good amount of weight... and money

 

[migs]

More on my rig...I had been noticing a slight vibration in the rear driveline, and given it's still utilizing the original driveshaft I decided to upgrade that to a Tom Woods shaft. So in that went and it's so much smoother. I also decided to paint the rock sliders body color, I like how they practically disappear now. Took it out back for a little flexing to check for any clearance issues with the new tires/wheels, we're good to go!

 

[migs]

Then it was off to the round up we go. Great time as usual, trail rides, exploring back country roads, good food, hanging out with friends....




More updates to come later.....

 

[phred]

Thumbs up on the body color sliders.

 

[Ether]

Love the updates, even though I loved the steelies. How much shorter are those tires? slightly wider? Is your to put that spare on the front in the event of a flat? regardless of flat tire location?

Definitely looks more modern, that wheel color goes great with you paint

 

[migs]

Thanks! The tires are the same size as the old Goodyears I had on the white dodge steel wheels before. Probably about an inch or so smaller in diameter than the big tires on the black dodge wheels and a tad narrower. But the methods have less back spacing so it puts them closer to the rear fender lip.

Yes, that small spare would be used on the front should the need arise, so if it’s a rear flat I’d move a front to the rear.

 

[migs]

Here’s a couple of video clips when we were out at AOAA

 

[migs]

So, next up upon returning home, I finally had to deal with the leaking exhaust manifold on my Expedition. The two front most studs/nuts had disappeared long ago and it had been ticking away for over a year. Replaced the manifold with the engine in the truck and several broken studs stuck in the head...that was a fun job

 

[migs]

Then it was back to work on that fiberglass tub. Worked some more on plugging up extra holes that wont be needed and fixing some broken bits.

 

[migs]

And now with that inner front clip finally mounted in place permanently I started fitting the front fenders and grill to it. Needed to figure out the best mounting options and see what if anything needed to be fixed or modified. Coming together pretty good at that point.

 

[migs]

More fiberglass work. Fenders and grill have some broken bits, some cracks, some extra holes, and some existing holes that have just grown a bit too large over time. So a little grinding, filling and more grinding....and a bunch of itching

 

[migs]

Getting closer to current day and shifting gears over to one of the few steel parts on the truck... the windshield frame was actually in really nice shape albeit one small spot on the lower left hand corner. I cut out the rot and was also able to slide a piece of angle iron up inside and welded on for extra integrity, welded a couple patches in next and finished it off with a little body filler.

 

[migs]

Then on to the hood....pins that is. So the hood that tasker brought already had fancy push button locks installed. They aren't located directly over the core support so I made up a couple of brackets to weld on and mount the pins to. Worked out well, hood closes and locks nice and solid, and there should be plenty of adjust ability as things get properly aligned in the end.



Well, that brings things pretty much up to date now. Getting closer to the cosmetic stuff on this project now, so that will be a lot more fun. Also have a few other odd jobs and projects going on here and there, I'll have to make a better effort at keeping updates current

 

[migs]

More updates... Final stages of fitting and mounting the front fenders. A little trimming here and there, a few more holes drilled for bolts and fasteners and then one last final check of the fit with the grill before locking them down.

 

[migs]

Then it was time to pull out the curtain, prep the surfaces in the engine compartment and tape it all off. Almost time to shoot some raptor liner in there, like was done to the firewall and underside of the tub earlier this year.
Slowly making all that green disappear

 

[migs]

And done! I think that's looking much better in there now. Wasn't exactly fun or easy trying to apply a good coverage to all the nooks and crannies and up under the wheel wells. but it turned out alright.

 

[tasker]

i might need a few moments alone with it....