68 custom in NM: Build Thread *** Lot's O' Photos***

[GraficO]

OK... time to start posting pictures. I'll start with the day she arrived and by the time I get through those, I'll start posting current ones.

She started out in Eastern New Mexico as a friend of a friend's hunting rig. Apparently she's been lurking around Midland/Odessa TX, Carlsbad, NM and Lovington, NM for quite a few years.

I asked my good friend John to find me a Bronco and within a week he found this one for $2750. About a month later, I went to Portales, NM with a flatbed and brought her back to Albuquerque.

Granted I had only seen some bad and distant photos of her before I got there... and I questioned my purchase when I got there to pick it up.

She ran.. but the brakes were shot and the clutch needed major adjustment.

Enjoy!

 

[sprdv1]

Pretty decent find man.. Cool

 

[GraficO]

spent several weeks cleaning, grinding and dismantling... discovering all the "fixes" the PO had done... gotta love spray insulation foam to cover rotten out cowl panels!

Gotta love flashing used for floor pan repair as well... eeesh!

 

[GraficO]

the process of removing the welded on cow catcher and the front clip...

 

[GraficO]

after breaking bolts on the door hinges to get them off and then breaking the retractors off in the backing plates... I had to "window" the door posts to get the plates out and build new ones.

I found a set of complete doors and a newer hard top in Pueblo CO... had them freighted down with a junk car company for $50... so $100 for each door + $250 for a good top + freight = a smokin' deal!

Found a great tailgate on Ebay for $200... I thought I was rockin! Yeah right...

 

[GraficO]

In the meantime... I got pretty rabid about getting replacement parts from Ebay, JBG, BC, Wild Horses and Tom's... pretty soon I had a garage full of replacement parts and nowhere to install them...

If you are reading this... remember that it takes more time and money than you think to rebuild a classic car. Purchasing parts along the way or before you are really ready for them can crunch you financially. Not to mention opening "Pandora's Box" when you start getting into the inner workings of the body... basically, for the lack of a better way to say it... "PO's and rust f*@&ing suck!"

 

[ztoolman44]

If you are reading this... remember that it takes more time and money than you think to rebuild a classic car. Purchasing parts along the way or before you are really ready for them can crunch you financially. Not to mention opening "Pandora's Box" when you start getting into the inner workings of the body... basically, for the lack of a better way to say it... "PO's and rust f*@&ing suck!"[/QUOTE]

That really sucks because I figured it would take 100 years and a million bucks to get mine back together.

 

[GraficO]

keep the faith mah brutha... it will be worth it in the end!

 

[Devin]

Looks familiar. Nice work! Very true statement about Pandora's box.

 

[GraficO]

ok... so Halloween day of 2007 it goes to the body shop for replacement panels and body/paint....

 

[Dr. Bronc]

Nice thread! Always great to see it step by step. Good work!

 

[GraficO]

So here we are in the middle of January... first coat of primer... the fender flares are primered

She's lookin good!

 

[GraficO]

a few more

 

[GraficO]

so for my plans to do a super-duper custom interior... I needed to put in "nutzerts" in the bed rails to hold the top down.

We got all of the seams sealed...

And my kicker panel speaker box mod hole are cut and ready for my Alpine 5.25" components!

 

[GraficO]

Bring on the bed liner!;D

And still finding new parts... at this point I'm still wondering if the guys that I gave my parts to have chromed are ever going to call me back or if I'll get anything back... 2 days after the bedliner was shot... I got em... see photos of the pieces in the next post....

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

Wow. Nice Build. Keep at it.

 

[GraficO]

Chrome parts and stainless vent windows...

 

[GraficO]

this is what the chrome parts looked like before I sent them to the chromer... big difference

 

[GraficO]

Taking the original elements of the Bronco and then moving some of the things around... this is the final drawing of the dash and console area... currently being fabbed right now! Go NT!;D

 

[GraficO]

more parts in the garage... they tell me the paint will be done next Wednesday... but I've heard "we should have color on it by this Friday" for the last 3 weeks... frustrating...

It has come a long way since Halloween...

License plate arrived the other day.... SWOOPER!