Daughter and Dad '74 restoration

[SuperBroncoDuty]

Long story short, my dad gave my 18 year old daughter his '74 Bronco Explorer that he just quit driving and it's been sitting for over 25 years. Not sure how much of a restoration this is going to be or how long it's going to take but looks like we have a nice project ahead of us. Might just be that we get it running and make it look as good as we can. Due to space and funds, I highly doubt this will be a frame off restoration. Guess we have to take it a day at a time and one part at a time. So far all we've done this week is get it loaded and unloaded and more less cleaning here and there and looking at it lol

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

Sitting in the garage after hitting it with the pressure washer

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

Don't have a clue at what most of this it is I'm looking at but not all it looks pretty lol. The list is going to be longer than I hoped

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

Made some progress last night. Removed the front bumper and winch

 

[Hopstr]

Looks like a great Father Daughter project!
Are those front fenders fiberglass?

 

[cannunz546]

So nice you are keeping this truck in the Family! Looks like a great project and some long days and weekends ahead. What could be better? The combined Bronco knowledge on this site is incredible. I'm looking forward to seeing this project progress. Good luck!

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

The right front fender and hood is fiberglass. He said back in the day a tree fell against the top of the fender a limb mashed down the hood. Not sure why he went with that though. I'm going to go back to metal

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

I'm hoping I can search on this site instead of posting something I need an answer on. There are some major bronco brainiacs here and thankful for and hopefully after this project, i'll add that title to my resume lol

 

[jmhend]

Oh man. Honestly, I have seen worse (heck I have worse in my driveway)..don't throw anything away and take a lot of pictures. It looks great for sitting as long as it did. Where are you located again?


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[JeepGuy]

That is totally awesome and totally scary at the same time. The good thing is you will find just about every part on that thing is replaceable through the vendors on here, or in the classified down below.

Word of caution.... coming from a guy who just recently got back to wrenching on his bronco after having it sit for more than a few years... Try to focus on one issue at a time. I played the game of tearing it all down and losing interest due to lack of progress seen. These things are fun, but bottomless pit is an understatement if you let it get out of control.

 

[admin]

Congrats! That will definitely be a cool project for you and your daughter. Enjoy your time together. It will go by in the blink of an eye!

I noticed that fiberglass fender too. I haven't seen too many of those. The nice thing is it should be easy to patch. Even if you're going back to metal, patch up that fiberglass fender as a way of learning a new skill and practicing bodywork.

I echo JeepGuy's suggestion about focusing on one thing at a time. I have a '68 Mustang torn down in the garage and there's so much to do it's hard to get motivated.

Keep it simple. It will help keep you and your daughter interested in the build if you can actually make progress on one thing at a time. It's not the most time efficient way to go, but unless you're a restoration shop, it's better to chip away at it a weekend at a time as opposed to tearing it all down and having it sit in pieces for years.

 

[admin]

Don't have a clue at what most of this it is I'm looking at but not all it looks pretty lol.

Feel free to ask away about any part that doesn't make sense to you. The folks on this site have very keen eyes and can help spot what's original vs what's been added on over the years.

 

[Revelation]

Mechanical first, pretty second!
Looks like a super fun project!

 

[bsquared]

That Bronco is beautiful! Already has power steering and I am guessing a Dana 44 front end. If rust is minimal, you have quite a gem to start with there.
Best of luck on the build and ask away if you have questions. We all live to Bronco!
Cheers, Bill

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

We need a thumbs up or a like button for comments. Everyone is super nice and so positive. I do want to thank each one of you. I do not know about Dana 44 etc.... Heck I don't know nothing about how a vehicle works and runs. I don't know what's after market or original. I'd like to post as many pictures as I can but I also don't want it to be a bother to anyone. So I've tried the whole turning by hand thing but to be honest, I didn't put much elbow behind it because I just don't know. I removed the spark plugs except for #8 because it's harder to get to. All the spark plugs looked about the same but that doesn't tell me much

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

So then I decided to take the valve covers off but replaced the spark plugs to keep dirt and stuff from falling in the holes. Was going to put some oil on all that stuff but is there a way I can clean all of that before doing so? And how do I approach what's left of that gasket so it doesn't get all over the place?

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

On the top back of the passenger side valve cover is this pile of um......stuff lol. Not sure what all that is about the first pic looks pretty bad. What is that? The second pic, what is that thing that says motocraft on it is on the side of the carburetor. I'm going to rename my pictures to what each part is. And then there is this piece that says D4TE-9D475-A2A 028

 

[fatboy]

This looks like your heater mixing valve:

And this looks like your electronic choke:

This looks like a vacuum port for something:

I'm sure others will chime in.


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[SuperBroncoDuty]

Thanks FB. That was helpful. Now to research each one to see if they are good or if they need replaced

 

[SuperBroncoDuty]

And at what point is one part more critical than another part during the "trying to crank or turn over stage?" I know I should be concentrating on actually getting it to turn over but seems like every single part plays an important roll with all the other parts. What and what not to clean. What and what not to replace etc.....