LockedupXJ
New Member
Hey Guys, I figured it was about time i started a build thread on the bronco me and my buddy are restoring, so here it goes.
First off this is the reason for the Rainbow name. We counted 9 different colors of paint.
This Build started off in February of this year (2010). We searched high and low for a few months looking for the right deal to come up. Finally we found the Bronco we were looking for, it was cheap, had a "Fresh" 351W swapped in and we were told it was in great condition. So we loaded up for the drive to pick it up (about a 4 hour drive), we were told it was drivable and would make the trip back no problem so we didn't bring a trailer. When we get to the bronco from a distance it looked great, but ounce we got close and started looking at it we were a bit disappointed. Turns out there is no tailgate, it had doors but the handles were shaved and the window frames and windows were cut off, and it was generally in rough condition. After the initial shock we decided that we made the trip anyway so we might as well test drive it. We took it for a test drive, it started up and sounded pretty good and seemed to drive fine down the road. It did have 2 different ratio gears in the front than the rear so 4 wheel drive was not an option. After finishing the test drive we looked the whole thing over fairly well and came to the conclusion that it was a bit rough but it was workable.
With the deal sealed and everything taken care of now came the time to figure out how to get it home. Seeing it had no door windows, heater wasnt working, no windshield wipers, only having the auxillary fuel tank and the fact that it had started to snow we realized that our initial plan to drive it home wasnt going to work so well. Luckily there was a Uhaul store in the town so we just rented a car hauler and we were on the road. Heres the first picture of a time intensive restoration.
Ounce we got it home we drove it into the driveway and started tearing it apart, seeing that mostly everything was missing this went fairly fast. When we started removing the fenders and really looking at stuff we noticed that there was some serious body work done on this thing, mainly in the form of Bondo. We started chipping away what was about 1" of bondo in some places and what was underneath was anything but pretty. First major thing we found was the rocker panels were completely gone, rusted out. The PO had done a very good job at covering all this instead of fixing it. He had riveted and rapped metal roofing over the bad rockers and used about a gallon of bondo per side to blend everything together.
After tear down and all the suprises we could take was out of the way it was time to start the fun stuff. First the took it down to the bare frame and started cleaning from there. We pressure washed and degressed it and then hit it with wire wheels and sanding pads. The frame was in great shape and the only signs of rust where on the rear part where the bumper attaches.
We then started on everything else
After everything was clean and grease free it was time for paint prep, then paint
After everything was painted we started at the axles and went up. The front axle had 4.10 gears while the rear 9" had 3.0. We are planning on running 35's when its all said and done so we went ahead and put matching 4.10's in the 9". We also went through both axles and replaced all seals, bushings, bearings, etc. Also we added a Disk brake conversion on the D30. Next was the drivetrain components. We had our doubts that the 351W was actually a fresh motor so we went ahead and pulled the heads to check it out. Sure enough it wasnt a "Fresh" motor but instead a 150,000 mile motor. We pulled to motor, tore it down and took it to the machine shop hoping for the best. Turns out it was re-ringed but not very well. Three of the eight pistons had broken compression rings which left nice gouges in the cylinders, its amazing it never smoked when we ran it. We ended up having to bore it to the max of .060 to get them out. We went ahead and had the heads remaned as well. We put it back together using basically stock components other than a nice Low end cam and an Edelbrock intake with Edelbrock carb. Also we went through the transmission and Dana 20 and replaced all the sincros, bearings, seals etc. It had brand new drivelines on it so that was a plus, I can only imagine why that was %).
First off this is the reason for the Rainbow name. We counted 9 different colors of paint.
This Build started off in February of this year (2010). We searched high and low for a few months looking for the right deal to come up. Finally we found the Bronco we were looking for, it was cheap, had a "Fresh" 351W swapped in and we were told it was in great condition. So we loaded up for the drive to pick it up (about a 4 hour drive), we were told it was drivable and would make the trip back no problem so we didn't bring a trailer. When we get to the bronco from a distance it looked great, but ounce we got close and started looking at it we were a bit disappointed. Turns out there is no tailgate, it had doors but the handles were shaved and the window frames and windows were cut off, and it was generally in rough condition. After the initial shock we decided that we made the trip anyway so we might as well test drive it. We took it for a test drive, it started up and sounded pretty good and seemed to drive fine down the road. It did have 2 different ratio gears in the front than the rear so 4 wheel drive was not an option. After finishing the test drive we looked the whole thing over fairly well and came to the conclusion that it was a bit rough but it was workable.
With the deal sealed and everything taken care of now came the time to figure out how to get it home. Seeing it had no door windows, heater wasnt working, no windshield wipers, only having the auxillary fuel tank and the fact that it had started to snow we realized that our initial plan to drive it home wasnt going to work so well. Luckily there was a Uhaul store in the town so we just rented a car hauler and we were on the road. Heres the first picture of a time intensive restoration.
Ounce we got it home we drove it into the driveway and started tearing it apart, seeing that mostly everything was missing this went fairly fast. When we started removing the fenders and really looking at stuff we noticed that there was some serious body work done on this thing, mainly in the form of Bondo. We started chipping away what was about 1" of bondo in some places and what was underneath was anything but pretty. First major thing we found was the rocker panels were completely gone, rusted out. The PO had done a very good job at covering all this instead of fixing it. He had riveted and rapped metal roofing over the bad rockers and used about a gallon of bondo per side to blend everything together.
After tear down and all the suprises we could take was out of the way it was time to start the fun stuff. First the took it down to the bare frame and started cleaning from there. We pressure washed and degressed it and then hit it with wire wheels and sanding pads. The frame was in great shape and the only signs of rust where on the rear part where the bumper attaches.
We then started on everything else
After everything was clean and grease free it was time for paint prep, then paint
After everything was painted we started at the axles and went up. The front axle had 4.10 gears while the rear 9" had 3.0. We are planning on running 35's when its all said and done so we went ahead and put matching 4.10's in the 9". We also went through both axles and replaced all seals, bushings, bearings, etc. Also we added a Disk brake conversion on the D30. Next was the drivetrain components. We had our doubts that the 351W was actually a fresh motor so we went ahead and pulled the heads to check it out. Sure enough it wasnt a "Fresh" motor but instead a 150,000 mile motor. We pulled to motor, tore it down and took it to the machine shop hoping for the best. Turns out it was re-ringed but not very well. Three of the eight pistons had broken compression rings which left nice gouges in the cylinders, its amazing it never smoked when we ran it. We ended up having to bore it to the max of .060 to get them out. We went ahead and had the heads remaned as well. We put it back together using basically stock components other than a nice Low end cam and an Edelbrock intake with Edelbrock carb. Also we went through the transmission and Dana 20 and replaced all the sincros, bearings, seals etc. It had brand new drivelines on it so that was a plus, I can only imagine why that was %).
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