Basket Case Bronco (Needing Door/Cab Measurements)

[rydog1130]

Random placement was manual placement on a rolling assembly line and if the guy actually hit all his spots or had a hangover you never got the same performance on each truck.

My 1974 Bronco the top of the the passengers side rocker was missing about 12 spot welds. Guy probably went to the bathroom or for a smoke. Drivers side lower rocker flange was spot welded out of alignment by 1/4" for the whole length of the flange. Pretty hard to do with a bent lip to locate the part. There were several other assembly errors I found when doing a new paint job.

Must of been built on a Monday or Friday ;D ha ha

 

[Rustytruck]

yep probably the last truck built on the second shift. There were a few other issues and were all body tub assembly issues.

 

[ptwist]

Spent last weekend hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, back home now so I can finally get back to work. Im looking to start working up the floor but have a couple questions.

First: Should I use a rust converter and/or a weld through primer on the existing flange on the old metal that I am keeping. The flanges don't really have any rust on them and I wire wheeled them so they are looking good. If I should prime them what would you recommend? On The Duck Build he used a copper color primer on his flanges but im not sure what it is.

Second: Once the body is back together im going to need to get a new under coating as some of the panels are bare metal and some a in weld through primer. I havent decided if the body should be pulled off or if I should just have it done on the frame.The truck has no electrical or the interior installed. Im expecting some mechanical issues so I wanted to drive it around a little (assuming it will start) so that I could try to see which drive train parts are ok. thoughts?

 

[Rustytruck]

If this was my project all the new panels would be cleaned, metal prepped and epoxy primed before installing any thing. the floor channels would be cleaned and coated with POR 15 and then after the panels are all welded up then I would coat the hidden channels rockers and the inside of the door supports with Eastwoods inside frame coating.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-internal-frame-coating-14oz-aerosol.html

 

[ptwist]

Have a few new questions today.

1. Is the floor intended to be centered over the frame? If I measure from the inner rocker to the frame on the passenger and drivers side are they meant to be equal? (Pic. 1)

2. Should the bottom of the inner kick panel be flush with the bottom of the floor? I don't really see how it could be with the way it is setup now but who knows what was done before me. (Pic. 2)

3. Should the outer rocker nest/overlap the front and/or rear door post? (Pic. 3)

4. My front clip/radiator support to frame mount has two washers between the rubber mount and the body mount, is that correct? (Pic. 4)

 

[DirtDonk]

In your case, it's correct.
There is no correct or incorrect pattern for additional washers, as that's vehicle specific for making body adjustments. However, in your case, those are aftermarket polyurethane cushions/insulators, and the washers are part of the kit.

But any other washers on top of the large gold-zinc plated ones were added to correct for body inconsistencies.
There were very often body washers from Ford on our Broncos. Mine only had them on one mount (right front corner if I remember), but others have had more. They can be stacked and mine had three if I remember.
The factory ones were generally very thin, formed in such a way that they nested on one another without spinning, and were used extensively.
My '79 pickup had several as well.

Paul

 

[ptwist]

Paul, Thanks again for your help. Any thoughts on items 1-3?

 

[ptwist]

Found my answer to Q1. While the floor was made very well, the holes for mounting the floor consumed every bit of the tolerance and then some. I was able to square the inner rocker to the frame (Within .03 in.) but it is off center to the frame by .097 in. and it is not possible to get it any closer than that as it is tight against the floor mounting hole walls.

 

[rydog1130]

#2 - as long as those holes line up you should be ok, those are for your lower fender braces/brackets. You may have a little sag in your dash/cowl. There's a support channel that runs all the way across under the cowel. You should be about 21.5" from the floor up to the bottom side of that cowel.



#3 - I had to trim my rockers back a few but I've noticed on other broncos the rocker does extend past the vertical seam on the door.

I would fix #2 then install your rear door post, hang your doors to make sure everything is square, then mount your rocker panels last...

 

[rydog1130]

ps... I noticed you tacked your door post. If #2 measurement I gave you is off that may affect that door post if you have to move your cowel. Hence screw things in place first...

 

[ptwist]

Haha, Im using a combination of clecos and sheet metal screws. The PO incorrectly tacked the door post. I think that is about the same time he gave up on the project. Over the weekend I hung the door and it was way off. I think the door post I have are the ones from toms that were bad but haven't set down to figure it out. The only thing I have seen about them is whats on Matt's Garage youtube. and it didn't really tell me much except that they were wrong. Thanks again for all your help.