Bronco in a box; building a body

[adamwhatley]

I'm hoping a few people will chime in about the difficulty of building up a Bronco body from scratch. WH and Toms et al sell the "Bronco in a Box" and I need to replace the very rusty body I have. Here are my choices:
5k and do it myself
12 k and have it done

I'm a moderately skilled mechanic and familiar with Broncos. I've replaced rockers, floor pans and even a door pillar--though it was a special kind of hell.

For those of you that did it, what suggestions do you have.

How many hours did it take?

 

[DirtDonk]

Interested in hearing what others' experiences have been as well.
I'm thinking you can do it, but based on that last comment about the door pillar, not thinking it's going to be fun either!;D

Are the $12k estimates legit? Sounds kind of light from what I've heard more recently unless someone is doing them in bulk and has got it down to a science (and is willing to let their labor go for less).

A lot of care to get it just right, but I bet there are a few here that have done it and are finished with theirs by now.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[Rustytruck]

Bronco in a box sounds good untill you have to buy a cherry Bronco to measure from.

 

[adamwhatley]

Bronco

I have Bronco from which I can pull the specs and even make some fixtures. I ended up buying 1.175 Broncos. The one built is my daily driver; the one I'm building is getting an Explorer engine and a not rusty body.

 

[BroncoLuke]

I've been thinking about this same thing while fixing my rust bucket. I came to this conclusion. My time is worth more and when the time is right I will probably go with the Dennis Carpenter body. They seem to have invested in the equipment to get it right. Maybe someone else that has received one can chime in.

Is 7K worth doing it yourself, when you could get to painting a pre-fabbed one and drop it on a lot quicker? To me, if I were doing it full time (which I can't) it would probably take 3 months to get it done right. In reality, I'd probably spend over a year putting the body together and getting it right in the little spare time I have. If I bought a pre-fab I could probably get it driveable within 3 months of doing a little here and a little there.

I just wouldn't want to 'try' and end up with a $5000 paperweight.

 

[sprdv1]

boils down to. You want to take the time and build something yourself. Or you're ready to drive, enjoy one and want to pay someone to get it done quicker

Doing it yourself you will know all the ins, outs of how everything fits, works together and maybe easier trouble shooting issues

 

[rcmbronc]

I cant tell you how it is to build. I am pretty sure I am going to buy the weld together body kit so I will let all know how it goes. I do have a decent tub to use for measurements. Sounds like we could swap notes as we go.

 

[adamwhatley]

Tub

Sounds like a plan. This is a project that's still about a month out. I have to get the Explorer engine and drivetrain all together before I start in on the body.

 

[reamer]

Well 12K is to purchase the Tub and nose only, No Tailgate, Windshield frame and No front fenders, Add on the $800 plus for the steel shipping "Crate" and that add on for shipping too.
That's where 12 grand is truly "shy" of actual cost. There have been numerous reports from new tub owners that they had to Shim this here and move that there, because the new tubs and built on true, square jigs, you original Frame was not!..
So the new prefab-ed tubs are true-er that your original frame. This is where building ON you frame ensures YOU can square things on-site...

 

[Jamie Chriss]

I did a tub in the box, incredibly difficult and frustrating. First step is to build a solid jig based on your frame. Make sure you have all your measurements perfect. Most every body panel is misshaped or too long especially the cowl. Most people replace a fender or two but when you build the entire tub one little mess up and everything else is off. Try and recruit someone who if familiar with Bronco bodies.

 

[T-7ToNewOldB]

If you are going to just use it and have fun could be a fun but rather tedious project. For the non-skilled figure hundreds of hours for the whole bronco.

Also, may make resale a touch harder depending on the condition of the truck. Hard to get it right the first time, or 10th time. Don’t underestimate the complexity and detail required for this type of work. Honestly, it’s probably the most challenging part of a restomod. Assembling a chassis is a piece of cake. Most the good shops use jigs to get this right, and they still have issues. All said and done if you really want to do it, have at it. Just keep doing a ton of research, find a good friend who is a welder and has worked on car bodies. Then get some beer together, call and order an assembled body and just keep drinking till it arrives.

 

[T-7ToNewOldB]

I got mine from LAL. Body and paint were the only two things I did not do on a complete ground up new parts build. Figured there was zero chance I could build a body that wasn’t obviously a home project. Plus it could add frustration and procrastination issues that could have killed getting this done. I did not want to years later look at all the parts scattered on the floor of my shop.

If you were just adding some patch panels that would be a different subject.

 

[T-7ToNewOldB]

Expensive but if you can afford it, and want to do it, this is a good option.
https://www.dennis-carpenter.com/broncobodies

And going this route you will STILL Have fitment issues that will require cutting, grinding, drilling etc. But you will have a cherry body.

 

[jmangi62]

Very expensive either way you do it. But, if I had to do it over again, I would've bought the complete body and went from there, instead of fixing every little area of rust on the thing. The complete body saves you TONS of time and energy. Sure it's a lot of money, but you're in for the long haul anyways so why not save yourself some headaches. Jusy my 2¢;D

 

[T-7ToNewOldB]

If only Early Broncos had good used market value, then you could get a good portion of the money back when it’s sold. . . .

 

[T-7ToNewOldB]

Very expensive either way you do it. But, if I had to do it over again, I would've bought the complete body and went from there, instead of fixing every little area of rust on the thing. The complete body saves you TONS of time and energy. Sure it's a lot of money, but you're in for the long haul anyways so why not save yourself some headaches. Jusy my 2¢;D

I debated very heavily on doing a full resto-mod on a EB in decent shape to start. But I knew the body/frame part would be a major time/money suck and would not return the same value as a new body does, especially since everything else I was doing was new.

For me, metal restoration and rust repair aren’t satisfying and the results (when you aren’t a pro) are highly variable and often dubious. So full body was my decision and I’m very happy with it.

There are a million good reasons to do a full restoration instead of building or buying new, on the body, they just didn’t fit with what I wanted to do and what I wanted to end up with.

 

[reamer]

The biggest problem with "bronco in a box" is there is no Documentation...
IF there was a blueprint with precise dimensions included, that would reduce the frustration, and increase accuracy/sanity by 90%!