72 Bronco Rebuild

[Big Red Dog]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and new to rebuilding. I've been kicking around the idea of a rebuild for about 10 years. Originally I wanted to rebuild a mustang. But I work with three guys who are rebuilding vehicles and they suggested I rebuild a classic Bronco. They told me it was a box with a frame and fairly easy to work on and that I could buy just about every replacement part I needed/wanted. I'm a Ford guy as my father worked in a Ford assembly plant for 38 years so I was sold on the Bronco.

So about 2 months ago I finally got off my butt and bought a 72. I drove up to NY and trailered it back to Northern Virginia. I know it runs (or used to) as we started it and drove it onto the trailer.

I would love to tell you what it has but I have no idea how to tell and I'm not sure if it's all original. I know it's 4 wheel drive, has power steering/brakes, two tanks (one is missing) and is automatic. I think it has a 302 but I don't know what transmission I have or gear ratios.

I have a 10 year old son who wants to help. I'm hoping I can finish this in two years, drive it a few years then let him drive it when he's old enough. So while I want to do a frame off I don't plan on showing this Bronco. I want to be able to drive it and maybe do some mudding....

The more I read about this the more questions I have. So I'll start pinging everyone over the next few weeks for opinions.

I'm so looking forward to this project!!

Thanks,
Cliff

 

[Explorer]

Welcome aboard. You made the right decision avoiding the Mustang. Trying to do one for my youngest son and it's three times harder than a Bronco. You'll get all the help you need here.

 

[Scoop]

Welcome! Where abouts in NoVA? Lots of Broncos in the area. You are in the middle of Mid-Atlantic Early Bronco country - MEB is one of the largest and most active early Bronco clubs in the country.

Looks like a good project. Great that your son is interested - good father and son project. I've done couple with my kids.

I'd be happy to stop by sometime and help you figure out what you have! PM me if you're interested.

 

[sprdv1]

Welcome to the site Clifff, great to have you with us. Looks like a good rig to start off with.

 

[Nightstick]

Looks like a pretty solid rig to start with. Most people will tell you to fix the little things enough to get her running, and drive it while you do the rest. I would take scoop up on his offer to come take a look at what you have and to do an inspection of your rig. There are areas of concern with these trucks that you can't see if you don't know what to look for.

I wouldn't be scared of doing a frame-off, but be prepared to spend some money as one fix leads to another, and can snowball you pretty quick. It's a good idea to replace all the body/suspension/steering bushings unless they already have been. 72s didn't come with power steering/brakes so you lucked out there, and if the PO installed a 23 gallon tank you got lucky there too (as long as all three were done right.

Decoding the VIN will help you determine what gear ratios you have unless the PO changed them, and if you post a pic of the tranny the guys here could tell you which one it is.

Welcome to the best site around and good luck on your build... post lots of pics!!!

 

[Big Red Dog]

Thanks for the comments. You guys sure are making me feel at home!! I have SO many questions.

Little more background. I'm going to do a frame off. I've been working about a month on the tear down. I've been "trying" to take lots of pictures but somehow I feel like I keep missing some. Everything I take off I put in a bag and lable it. The problem is I'm not really sure what to keep and what to replace!

I've removed the doors, tailgate, softtop, entire interior (dash, steering column everything except the 4 wheel shifter), one fender, grill, entire wiring harness in the front, front bumper and some misc engine parts like the alternator, radiator, power steering and fan assembly. I'm working on taking the steering box out but needed to buy a pickle fork first. So hopefully I can get that out tonight.

The frame looks to be in good shape but won't know for sure until I pull the body off. The body is rusted pretty bad. The PO sprayed the entire interior with a bed liner type material which made the floor last for a while but it's also rusted bad now. So I'm concerned that when I go to lift the body off it will crumple. I've seen from other builds where folks have welded in temp rods across the door jambs to increase strength. I'm wonder if/where I should weld other temp supports. I'm also wondering if I should build (out of wood or metal?) a cradle of some sort to rest the body on....

I found a place in Manassas, VA that will sandblast the frame and powder coat it. The question I have is should I powder coat the frame? Or have it sprayed with an enamel. Guy at work suggested I cover it with the same stuff he used that actaully has bits of rubber in the paint....

My father has a really good shade tree mechanic up in PA. Thinking about pulling the engine/tranny and having him rebuild it for me. Or should I just buy a new engine in a crate? Should I have the axels rebuilt as well? Should I replace the transfer case with an Atlas or just rebuild the one I have? Stay with carb or switch to EFI? See I have SO many questions...

Thoughts?

 

[Nightstick]

A lot of those questions depend on what you want the end result to be. If it's strictly gonna be a street cruiser powder coating will be good but for the expense of doing it it's not worth it in my opinion if it's a trail truck. My plan is to sandblast and/or wire wheel the entire frame, coat it with POR-15 and paint it with an oil based paint. But the reason I'm even doing it in the first place is just to preserve the frame not make it look good.

IMO Atlas TCs are very expensive ($2500) and not worth the money unless you plan on doing some serious wheeling. If you want to swap trannys there are other options for TCs such as a ZF (5 speed manual) mated to an NP205. If you're sticking with the original tranny and don't plan on doing hard wheelin I'd just rebuild the D20 and call it good.

Rebuilding or buying a crate is up to you. That question gets posed on here almost daily. If it were me I'd tear it down and see if it's worth rebuilding first. I chose to build my own 351w which so far has been frustrating at times but in the end I think it'll be well worth the time I spent doing it.

EFI seems to have a love/hate thing around here. It's somewhat complicated and more expensive than carb but from what I've seen on here everyone that has it loves it.

 

[ep67bro]

Wow you should stop right now and make a solid plan for your build. Of course things will change along the way but you have to get some direction.
As far as taking the body off, yes Brace the door openings I used a peice of angle iron from the upper door hinge mount to the striker.A cradle to put the body on would be good to do.
As for the frame that depends on how fancy you want the truck to be. A powder coated frame would be slick but would also be alot more than a painted frame and will be harder to touch up if you scratch it.

This is my suggestion of questions YOU NEED to answer before you go any farther:
1. What is your budget?
2. What do you want the truck to do? Street only use, original resto, trail use, or a combo of street and trail.
3. What has to be done? Rust issues? Brake issues? Steering? Wiring? Suspension?
4. What size tire do you want to run? This make a big impact on the transmission , Gear ratio in the axles, and Suspension lift.

I am a big fan of getting a truck on the road before you do a frame off. This lets you know what you really need to do and what you want to do. It also will get you used to the feel of the truck and will make you under stand it all better. I would also take Scoop up on coming over to look at what you got. He knows broncos and is an officer of Mid Atlantic Bronco. Good luck have fun and dont throw anything away!!!!

 

[Big Red Dog]

Rear Axle / ID Tag

Here is a pic of the rear axle and VIN tag.

 

[Nightstick]

Factory gears were 3.50, we need a pic of the tranny

 

[G's Baja Bronco]

great to hear sime one is about to start a build, I am also startin mine, 73 stick 302 to eoller 5.0 aod. I will look at your progress closely, specially since you got a real warm welcome to the forum.

I am still positive that this site will provide me a lot of guidance.

 

[farnorthdan]

Hey, welcome aboard, you definately have your work cut out for you. I also agree that you should get a plan together, figure out what you want and start putting a budget together, these rigs can turn into a serious money vacuum. Seems like on my 73' every time I go to fix something i find 10 other things that need fixing. When I got this one last fall my main goal was to get it road worthy, took me all winter and cost me more than I paid for the rig. Shoot I still have a long way to go to get it were i want but for right now its drivable. I decided to take a break and drive it some while i figure out exactly what i want to do and more importantly gather up some cash....anyways looks like a great project and the time you get to spend with your boy is priceless and something he will remember his whole life......



dan

 

[Big Red Dog]

72 Rebuild Update

So far this place has been great!! I've already gotten a ton of help!!

Here are some pics....

 

[Big Red Dog]

More Pics

More pics....

As you can see I'm starting to collect lots of "parts"!

 

[Big Red Dog]

Question

Almost forgot. Any idea how I remove the window frame?

 

[Scoop]

Almost forgot. Any idea how I remove the window frame?

LOTS of drilling with a spot weld remover tool!

 

[mavereq]

yeah the windshield is a pain. you have to drill out a lot of spotwelds

 

[G's Baja Bronco]

WOW, almost as much rust as mine, lucky for me my brother (who is bartering with me for the bronco) also bought a super rust free frame, and then an almost no rust tub a few months later. it seems that some Arizona broncos are getting dismantled in south cal.

The bad news is that I will have to do a complete frame off restore. I am getting a plan together and budget, but my wife will attest that the budget part flies out the window, just like when i built my ramcharger.

 

[Nightstick]

Jeez, I'm glad I didn't get a Yankee Bronco!!! You definitely have your work cut out for you with all that rust. Only thing I can say is this project will wear on you and unless you're having someone else do the bodywork, a lot of time will be spent doing that. Is your plan to replace the entire panels, or patch everything?

 

[Explorer]

You now have all the problems identified. You still made the right decision, the Bronco is a whole lot easier to put together than that Mustang you were considering.