71 Cali Bronco Build

[71 CA Bronco]

Fold Down Dash

Skipped a step in the pictures. I welded, weld nuts, to the dash side of the brackets. Both left and right side. I also made a round spacer for the upper bolt on the bracket (not shown) to keep it square with kick panel.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Fold Down Dash

This worked awesome. Probably one of my favorite mods to date.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Fold Down Dash

Installed.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Fold Down Dash

Complete. Except then I decided to add a double din stereo with custom defrost ducts. After 4 destroyed dashes I think I finally got it.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Custom Defrost Dusting

I needed clearance for the double din stereo, so I welded in a 1" piece of channel iron in place of the plastic defrost duct. This is similar to the BC Bronco dash that I wanted to purchase but has been out of stock for months. For the record it would have been way easier to purchase their dash.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Custom Defrost Dusting

Cut outs and flange placement. I plan to screw the flanges to the newly fabricated ducting. Also plan to use seam sealer to ensure an air tight seal.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Custom Defrost Dusting

Overall I'm really happy with the final dash layout and venting.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Atlas II install

Have not updated in a loooong time. Installed the Atlas. It was a bit of a bear because I thought I could get an off the shelf crossmember but learned nothing is truly bolt in.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Atlas II

I ended up with a modified BC Bronco crossmember. Had to change the tail housing from Explorer to Ford F-150 to take up the space between crossmember and trans.

 

[suckerpunched]

Im glad to see you are making progress, looking forward to see it going down the road.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Thanks Mike. All of you guys have been a boat load of help and I do appreciate it. I've actually made a lot of progress since the last photos. I just need to get organized and update the site.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

More crossmember pictures. I may need to drop the trans down a bit. I measured the angle made the spacer then later realized the back springs are way high. I took apart the springs to powder coat and they need to settle a bit. I clocked the Atlas on the third hole and used a flat nut. seems to fit well.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Trans and transfer case venting

 

[71 CA Bronco]

My solution to the trans cooler lines and heat shielding. I should clarify "my solution as recommended by others on this site".

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Tub Painted

This is the tub. Finally with paint. Still waiting on the other parts.

 

[.94 OR]

Loving the progress.

Question on the defrost vents. I realize you are in CA so not as big of a deal, but with the method you used for the air manifold, would there be any reason you couldn't make the outlet ports come out more centered of the driver/passenger than more in the middle like stock? I imagine you would have to leave the hose connections in the similar location though.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

You could put them anywhere you want. I just used the stock vent opening location.There is plenty of room inside that upper dash area. You would need to weld up any openings at the top of the dash that you would not want the air flowing then open up the areas needing more air. It would be a bit more work for sure.

My biggest hurdle with the defrost duct was sourcing the plastic attachments that are narrow enough to fit inside the opening. I asked BC where they got theirs and they would not tell me. You wouldn't think it would matter given I had been waiting on their dash for a very long time. Finally caved and built my own.

As you can see from the pictures I ended up finding a set of plastic ducts then cutting the sides off to fit in the opening. I will screw the plastic flanges into the metal duct with nut serts when the dash returns from paint.

 

[.94 OR]

Thanks for the response.

I have a 3D printer for stuff like that now.

 

[71 CA Bronco]

Thanks for the response.

I have a 3D printer for stuff like that now.

Now that would be cool.

 

[MyOriginal66]

Looks great! That color could be my lubr’s twin