Cheeseball repair finds from PO

[old number 8]

I was just wondering what some of the biggest "WTF IS THIS" repair attempts you have found after purchasing your Broncos? I had floor pans held in with silicone, and 2X2 wood blocks (painted black to hide) for a rear body spacer!

 

[fwilder]

leafs and coils in the rear. Fancy.

 

[garberz]

I had the sheet metal floor pans, held in place with pop rivets and caulking.

 

[Thecrazyone]

My PO, kind of like garberz's PO, laid the Duff style floor pan on top of the existing rusting away floor pans and riveted them in. No caulk on these, though. %)

Also, lifted the bronco with 3.5" Duff suspension. I live with that. But only did the front and left the rear with the stock springs. Kind of like the suspension lean but instead of left to right, this was front to back.

 

[thegreatjustino]

The aftermarket stereo was run off of the turn signal circuit. He had disconnected the turn signals and I soon found out why. Once I hooked them back up the stereo would turn on and off with the turn signal blinker if they were on at the same time. It seems if you know enough about wiring to hook up a stereo you would know enough to not hook it up that way %)

 

[TN1776]

I may not have had a turn-signal stereo (that's classic), but I did have two "mystery wires" dangling below the dash. They were the same color so naturally I thought somebody cut the wire by mistake. Touching them together fired the engine up! I just about put my rig through my fence in the process - as I had left the tranny in gear. Fortunately my reflexes were quick that day...

Let's see - I also had about 4 different trailer wiring harnesses (that were all functional), extra brake lights mounted behind the lenses (wired seperately, via one of the trailer wiring harnesses), and a totally bizarre alarm system (including power lock actuators that were not hooked up to anything - they just clunked pointlessly inside the doors).

Last but not least, sound deadening was provided in the form of composite roofing shingles, glued gravel side down to the entire sheet metal floor of my rig. Covering that was two layers of carpet pad felt, with a rubber floor covering up front and carpet in the back. I will say it was the quietest Bronco interior I'd come across up to that point!

Under the shingles was some rust in the front pans. All has been repaired.

 

[Viperwolf1]

A 2" hole ripped through the firewall right behind the driver's side head, filled with putty to seal it up, kinda. Looks like they used a lot of muscle and a big prybar on the engine. Oh and lots of undercoating which is normally a good thing except they undercoated the entire bottom of the hood. That gives it a nice dutch oven effect.

 

[sprdv1]

Keep finding stuff...

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

The dash on my 66 had been cut for an 8 track at one time, then in another spot for a cd player, then both holes covered with plywood covered in indoor/outdoor carpeting. A home made aluminum ashtray was screwed into the dash like a shelf. The same carpeting was placed all over the interior with liquid nails as an adhesive.
My 68 has its seat belts just tucked behind the bench seat, not bolted to the floor (nice suprise). The frame i just picked up had its shock mounts removed, and sprring mounts removed and radius arm mount removed. Coil springs were mounted on all 4 corners to the axels, imagine how this thing swayed side to side.

 

[DonsBolt]

How about this

 

[lonesouth]

my 73 had a piece a metal roofing, the ribbed kind, as a tunnel cover riveted down. The new one had 31x15.50 ditch witch tires and NO LIFT, scrub much...how about the same new one that was a cherry uncut that the jackass cut and applied said tires only to take it to a mud bog. I got the cutouts, so it may go uncut later. And I love my c-channel bumpers front and rear.

 

[73stallion]

mine had a tree fall on the hard top at some point in time. they had sectioned the top, and put about 50 lbs of bondo on it to smooth it. still had massive rust on the front...

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

These stories are pretty good.

 

[Gud Racing]

My 70 Zebra had this nice 2" lift the PO put on it. I believe each U-bolt is made out of 3 separate bolts? The front was 2" round bar. I think every EB I've ever had, had something "special" about it. The one I am working on now has a rear shock mount that I am not sure what it's out of, but it's brazed in place with a bolt brazed in going long ways to hold it up.

 

[Froggy77]

OMG!! Those gaping holes in the dash make me cringe.

I have to admit to doing my own damage as a know-nothing 19 year old many years ago. I pop riveted aluminum panels over the existing rust holes THEN covered with "Gorilla Hair" body filler. This was around the rear fenderwheels inside. I even piled that stuff right over some rusty areas for good measure!!
Needless to say now that I am doing my restoration I am cursing myself for some additional headaches (and additional rust) this has caused. Live and learn!

 

[Devin]

A couple of good threads for you:

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115465

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88390

 

[ArmyCOL]

The PO had the driveside floor board and kick panel held together with bondo because of all the rust.

Chuck

 

[TN1776]

LOL I guess I told my roofing shingle story on this site before... I must be getting old.

 

[mudduck]

I bought one years ago for parts that the PO used a 4x4 for a door post, lag bolts to hold the hinges on. Oh, yeah , on both sides of the truck. Also had a shoestring from the carb to the broken accelerator rod, and rachet strap holding the radiator in. They were driving this thing around their neighborhood.

 

[Spot]

I really have nothing negative to say about the PO of my rig. He was the son of the owner actually; really nice guy and the truck had been in the family since 1980. He and his father took great care of it and every mod and repair they did was well done.

One homemade fix that does stand out is the utility box they made in the engine compartment. It’s made out of a NO ACCESS road sign but the craftsmanship is so good I left it in there. I think it adds character.