Bronco Restoration Recommendation

[duffymahoney]

What are your goals?

 

[Ryan_M]

You should visit the websites for the vendors already listed. Read up on them and on their products.

Coming on here and asking very vague/general questions and then giving non specific responses, such as assume lower 48/assume no budget, seems lazy and or trollish.

 

[Super Bob]

You should visit the websites for the vendors already listed. Read up on them and on their products.

Coming on here and asking very vague/general questions and then giving non specific responses, such as assume lower 48/assume no budget, seems lazy and or trollish.

I have already spent months exploring all of the websites of each of the vendors. I don't care where it is built (I will have it shipped). There are a lot of businesses out there that seem to have similar products and I am concerned about quality of the job. Anybody can do a restore with high-end parts. What I am trying to find out it what differentiates one from the next. Obviously putting a Coyote motor changes the whole look/feel of the vehicle as opposed to a 302. I am intentionally being vague as I want honest opinions of these guys.

There have been a lot of recommendations NOT to use someone, yet when you go to their websites, their high end products look awesome and they have magazine articles and testimonials to back them up. People who are more in the business clearly know something that I don't and are steering me away from these places and I would like to understand why.

 

[duffymahoney]

If you use a local shop you could inspect every stage of the build. Give them a build list. Things you want. If you want it built soon that's probably your best option. Find a 1-2 man high end shop that will spend the next .5-1 year building it.

Find the cleanest bronco you can. That's where you should start.

 

[half cab]

Any auto dealer is gonna tell and try to show they are that best and so own same with some of the Bronco builders.

This is the classic bronco site and no other Bronco site like it period! You don't see Rockey Roads at a high praise on here nor will you sure not see built a bronco and a few others. There is a reason for this as over the yrs we have seen to many end up here with a very sad story way after money had exchanged hands.

Search or ask about any one builder / seller and you can trust that the people on this site will steer you to or away .

 

[hyghlndr]

Other than ICON (as they are a different animal) differentiates the ones you are recommending (Nickstrix, Bigsky, etc.) vs. the ones you are not (classicford, RockyRoads)?

There are a lot of reasons, I will try to name a few.

Quality of the build, will it stand the test of time?
Paint - obvious but what is underneath, metal vs bondo, quality paint & primer, correct techniques, will rust appear in a year or two?

Rip me off ? Quality isn't cheap but when you look at RockyRoads and classicfordbronco you are getting hosed.

Pictures don't mean much, well they do but if you look at beautiful pictures then the real thing in person there are often BIG differences. (my example of Elite and their white, red and blue Bronco - pictures great, in person...not so much). What is acceptable in a 15-35k bronco is NOT acceptable in a 80K+ bronco.

High end parts help but they are not the whole story. Look at the classicfordbronco with $59 dollar steering wheel on a $125k Bronco
High end parts make sense in key areas and smart builders know where they are needed.

Sorted out or pieces & parts - does the whole build come together and how is the drivability? For big bucks, you want a turnkey and enjoy. Letting the wife drive 200 miles for a weekend trip should be an enjoyable experience. Unlike the buildabronco buyer, who was scared to drive more than 25mp/h and never left his development because it was awful...then there is the hard working UPS guy that bought one from EM2 Bronco again beautiful in pictures (even underside - they painted the bottom of the exhaust and other parts simply to deceive, while the top half was all rusty), spent thousands to try to getting it running and sold at a huge loss.

We have nothing to gain from whoever you buy from, so our advice comes from seeing their Broncos in person and the countless "newbies" who come here with their pleas for help.

 

[Super Bob]

There are a lot of reasons, I will try to name a few.

Quality of the build, will it stand the test of time?
Paint - obvious but what is underneath, metal vs bondo, quality paint & primer, correct techniques, will rust appear in a year or two?

Rip me off ? Quality isn't cheap but when you look at RockyRoads and classicfordbronco you are getting hosed.

Pictures don't mean much, well they do but if you look at beautiful pictures then the real thing in person there are often BIG differences. (my example of Elite and their white, red and blue Bronco - pictures great, in person...not so much). What is acceptable in a 15-35k bronco is NOT acceptable in a 80K+ bronco.

High end parts help but they are not the whole story. Look at the classicfordbronco with $59 dollar steering wheel on a $125k Bronco
High end parts make sense in key areas and smart builders know where they are needed.

Sorted out or pieces & parts - does the whole build come together and how is the drivability? For big bucks, you want a turnkey and enjoy. Letting the wife drive 200 miles for a weekend trip should be an enjoyable experience. Unlike the buildabronco buyer, who was scared to drive more than 25mp/h and never left his development because it was awful...then there is the hard working UPS guy that bought one from EM2 Bronco again beautiful in pictures (even underside - they painted the bottom of the exhaust and other parts simply to deceive, while the top half was all rusty), spent thousands to try to getting it running and sold at a huge loss.

We have nothing to gain from whoever you buy from, so our advice comes from seeing their Broncos in person and the countless "newbies" who come here with their pleas for help.

This is the type of clarity I am looking for. Thanks for taking the time. I would love to hear others' opinions as well.

 

[fordguy]

This is the type of clarity I am looking for. Thanks for taking the time. I would love to hear others' opinions as well.

Take what he said and go look and talk to Nick. I would start with time and money estimates from Nick and compare the rest to him.

 

[ObscureMachine]

Be wary of any builder in north alabama. No offense to anyone other than he who will not be named.

 

[AFLtCol]

Since budget is not an issue, Chip Foose may be available since he's done with Overhaulin'.

 

[fordguy]

Since budget is not an issue, Chip Foose may be available since he's done with Overhaulin'.

i like chip foose, but was not overly impressed with his bronco builds. i have seen people on this site do as good or better.

 

[ezbngreen]

Super Bob,

It makes some people uncomfortable to bad mouth vendors on a public forum over and over. If you want to dig up the dirt, search this website using the vendor name. It won't take you long to find a lot of horror stories. Another good way is to PM the people who are steering you away from a place. They will be more open in private. Good luck.

John

I have already spent months exploring all of the websites of each of the vendors. I don't care where it is built (I will have it shipped). There are a lot of businesses out there that seem to have similar products and I am concerned about quality of the job. Anybody can do a restore with high-end parts. What I am trying to find out it what differentiates one from the next. Obviously putting a Coyote motor changes the whole look/feel of the vehicle as opposed to a 302. I am intentionally being vague as I want honest opinions of these guys.

There have been a lot of recommendations NOT to use someone, yet when you go to their websites, their high end products look awesome and they have magazine articles and testimonials to back them up. People who are more in the business clearly know something that I don't and are steering me away from these places and I would like to understand why.

 

[Rox Crusher]

I think we are talking about "restorations" in the general sense and not a true restoration (to like original) ? If so, I can offer.........

I have only seen one Nick's Tricks restoration in person. It is an older build and I can tell you his work is impeccable. He was doing these long before the Bronco's resurgent popularity supported all these new specialists.

The build I am familiar with has some innovative enhancements and the work has withstood the challenges of time without any rust reappearing. I think they have the bodies dipped and then sealed to guard against this. Of course it helps that the owner treats it with the respect it deserves.

http://www.nickstrix.com/builds/mtn_hi/mtnhi.html

I would also say that I have been through Bronco Hut's place a lot lately and they always have several restorations in process. Hard to say restoration, per se, as they build the truck to the quality level determined by the customer. They pay attention to detail and do some very nice body and paint work.

I can't speak to the others beyond some of the heart brake stories that are posted on the board from time to time

good luck and whatever you do, post up the progress as we all love to live vicariously through other people's builds

 

[half cab]

What has happened to 66alride I believe this was his handle on here? He use to put out top notch builds.

 

[ajonesny]

Super Bob. Did you talk to any builders?

 

[ChrisC74]

I think we are talking about "restorations" in the general sense and not a true restoration (to like original) ? If so, I can offer.........

I have only seen one Nick's Tricks restoration in person. It is an older build and I can tell you his work is impeccable. He was doing these long before the Bronco's resurgent popularity supported all these new specialists.

The build I am familiar with has some innovative enhancements and the work has withstood the challenges of time without any rust reappearing. I think they have the bodies dipped and then sealed to guard against this. Of course it helps that the owner treats it with the respect it deserves.

http://www.nickstrix.com/builds/mtn_hi/mtnhi.html

I would also say that I have been through Bronco Hut's place a lot lately and they always have several restorations in process. Hard to say restoration, per se, as they build the truck to the quality level determined by the customer. They pay attention to detail and do some very nice body and paint work.

I can't speak to the others beyond some of the heart brake stories that are posted on the board from time to time

good luck and whatever you do, post up the progress as we all love to live vicariously through other people's builds

I am glad I read the whole post before typing a duplicate. See what Rox said about how Nick preps the frame, body, etc. before he starts back. You have not really said much on your plan of use but it sounds like you have plenty of money and want quality. The big difference it what is under all of the shiny bolt on parts - Nickstrix is second to none as far as the established bronco shops go.

I am not as familiar with the shops on the west coast.

 

[D ROCK]

When I last checked w/ Nick, he was not taking any more work as he was booked well into 2018. Quality no question...His work speaks for itself.

 

[Tom Hartz]

Check out my build " Tony's 69 ". I have relocated to Concord North Carolina and when I get my garage/shop built I am thinking about doing more projects.

Thank you,
Tom

 

[69broncofun]

I vote for Nickstrix

 

[bigcountry]

Another upstart that does good work is Lick creek restorations. He is englewoodcowboy on here and he has a thread of his bronco build "The Duck". Look it up and you can see some of his work. I believe he got a lot of advice from Nix and his bronco is really nice. He just about has finished another one. He had them both at supercelebration and they are really nice.