Hey grinnergetter, welcome! Hope we can help you make your Bronco a good road experience for you. They can be, but depending on what PO's have done, can be a bit of work to get there. Maybe yours is almost there already, what with being almost stock original as it sits now.
Definitely post pics when you can. We love to see all Broncos in any condition. (especially nice clean ones to get jealous about of course...)
You can't upload directly to your post unless you become a contributor for 12 bucks a year. But in the meantime you can use an online image hosting site (other than PhotoBucket that is) and link the photos to here. Or you can use your "garage" system by going to your User CP above.
But if you feel it's going to be worth if for you, the 12 bucks is well spent.
...The previous owner had the Bronco for almost 30 years and I'm sure the suspension is quite tired. Engine is at 160K. So it really needs a refresh. Planning on DD with some extra oomf. Bronco will remain uncut.
I see a lot of "well, while I'm doing this..." money being spent.
You'll learn a lot about the snowball effect working on an old truck!
Having trouble deciding between running stock suspension or 2.5 lift. Could anyone tell me the ride/body height of a relatively new stock suspension? Wondering how much mine has sagged.
As Attac mentiond, 7" in the front (but usually 6" in the back) will get you within half an inch either way of what is considered stock.
Measure between the top of the axle tube and the bottom of the frame rail and that will get you there. Your half-cab may sit high in the rear, and that's perfectly normal. There were generally two different GVWR setups on EB's of any given year. The higher load capacity would have had one more leaf and have sat higher when the Bronco's full hard top was removed, or it was a half-cab to begin with.
Vintage Air. Has anyone run longer lines from pump to cab and hidden them? I know that's a stretch but looking for experience and possibly line length/ routing ideas.
Actually there was a discussion about it here just a month or so ago I thought. Some have done it already, but most are just using the kits as is. On mine, member 904Bronco here used a combination of Vintage Air and BC Broncos kits. Not to hide the lines, so much as to just run things the way he wanted. And he liked aspects of both company's designs.
But someone mounted theirs outside or hidden. It was either here on an EB, or over on Ford-Trucks on a '73-'79 pickup or Bronco. But I thought it was here we were discussing it.
Maybe someone with better search skills than mine will find the thread and post a link.
Probably still the single best Bronco upgrade there is.
Was a hydroboost a worthy upgrade over a booster setup? I have a 73 F250 with hydro and have never been "overwhelmed with joy" at the amount of braking power.
It is worth it to most, as was said. The Bronco vacuum booster was marginal, and when going with a larger master you can feel it with the extra effort needed to push the fluid.
Stock was 1" bore master and many up-size theirs to 1.125" bores.
The general recommendation is that for smaller tires, vacuum is fine. For larger tires, hydro-boost is worth the premium in cost and effort.
As a comparison though, I have Ford disc brakes on my '71 and they are still manually operated. No boost at all in other words, and I like them the best.
But they are not large tires either.
My '68 has vacuum boost and 31's and is not that substantial in the braking department either. But don't forget that friction material has a ton of effect on power and "feel" when it comes to brakes.
Bottom line though, is if you are going with 33" or larger tires, and like a powerful brake, then hydro is the way to go.
If you're going to stay with smaller tires in the 31" and smaller area, but really like powerful brakes, then hydro is still the way to go.
Will I have to have a body lift to run 351W?
Many of us have snuck 351's under a stock hood with stock body insulators. But it's really, really close. If one thing is not as low as you can get it, OR if your body mounts are even slightly sagged, you'll hit something.
That's why the 1" body lift is so popular, as the others have mentioned. It gives you just what you need.
And it doesn't hurt that it makes more room for modern transmissions too. And a little extra room for working under the truck and running fuel, hydro and electric stuff as well.
Roof rack. Pros/cons, is one attachment method better than others?
Personal preference at some level. I'm sure one method is better than another, or not. But with such big drip rails all the way around the hard top, it's hard to avoid the simplicity of a clamp type setup.
Not many are running racks I don't think, but not many here will argue against it. Both in looks and functionality, they can be good or bad depending purely on personal opinion.
Some known downsides are noise and aerodynamic drag (related of course, but different symptoms) and higher center-of-gravity when loaded. But the added carrying room is hard to argue with.
And they look "purposeful" to me, so I like them. Even the old-school safari style racks.
Have any ideas on how to clean inside of frame really good before rust prevention. Frame is completely solid but it lives in Indiana now and rust happens. Looking to slow it down as best I can.
There's a great thread here where someone used the Eastwood stuff that was mentioned. And I think they even made their own custom wand for cleaning, brushing and coating.
Sort of like a bottle-brush for frames.
Good luck! Have fun too...
Paul
Best resource for Early Bronco's is right here... 
