Fireball's '76 build thread - "Piece by Piece" - PAINTED, ASSEMBLED & ON THE ROAD!

[WheelHorse]

Ben, where's the pics of her all finished?

 

[Fireball05]

We are waiting for a confluence of events, an aligning of the planets so to speak ......Some nice weather so I can get it all cleaned up and the time to drive it down to the river right around sunset for some glamour shots! Lots of pressure to produce some pretty pictures!

We've had some fun outings enjoying the fall weather. Took it to a small car show last Friday. High 50s and sunny after work driving down but we had yo bundle up pretty heavy for the ride home.

 

[Scoop]

Looks great Ben. Wish I could see it in person. Maybe at the Round Up in June! ;D

 

[JustinFro]

Any updated pics?

 

[Fireball05]

No, unfortunately never got any really good photos with the doors on! These are the best 2 I have, from a car show we went to in October.





I just got the door frames painted and finished, and just yesterday brought the HT to the body shop and will get that painted in the next week or so. It's been cold and snowing and salt on the roads for the past month or so, but I'm excited to see what it'll look like with the HT on and painted!

 

[NGABronco]

Looks mighty fine like it is!!!! Great job!! We will get to see it in person in April right????;D;D;D

 

[rmiller747]

C'mon ... Get some action snow shots. Plenty of snow right

Looking beautiful. Great job

 

[WheelHorse]

Love the door gaps and the over all fit and finish from what I could tell, looks A+. I can tell a lot of love went into perfecting her and it shows.

Good choice in the canine companion. I had two huskies throughout my life.

 

[AZ73]

Fantastic Job. I'm totally jealous. Not just how great it looks, but that you're driving it!

 

[Fireball05]

Fireball's '76 build thread - "Piece by Piece" - PAINTED, ASSEMBLED & ON THE ...

Thanks for the kind words guys, you sure make a guy feel good! I'm really happy with how it turned out, lots of work but lots of fun.

Rich - folks raved over how great the chebby heater motor upgrade is, but I tell you that with a bikini top and 0 degree temps it doesn't work worth a darn

Here's a picture of the new family shuttle/Bronco hauler. Bought it a few months ago and been busy getting it ready for a few spring and summer trips. It spent it's whole life in CA prior to be driving it back here so this is it's first taste of road salt.

The Bronco is still nestled safely in the garage for its long winters nap!

 

[tasker]

BE PROUD Ben....came out fantastic!

 

[Fireball05]

Going to finish the hardtop. Ordered up 3 new glass seals , will be getting the glass tinted at 30 percent to match all the door glass.

Stripped out all the old seam sealer and applied DP to the bare metal. Scuffed the top and have the self leveling seam sealer ready to apply when the primer dries.

 

[half cab]

You did a fine job thats fo'sho

 

[Fireball05]

Here's what $150 of self leveling seam sealer looks like :

All ready for paint. Should be able to seal and shoot it this afternoon.

 

[texastreasures]

looking good

How did you remove the texture from the top was it by sanding or did you have to use chemicals or blast. Bronco Really has come along way Ben. Looks great.

 

[Tedster100]

Here's what $150 of self leveling seam sealer looks like :

Looking good! That self leveling seam sealer is expensive for sure. Nobody I knew had a gun so I had to spend $85 on that on top of the seam sealer. That's going to look really good when it's on!

 

[Fireball05]

Fireball's '76 build thread - "Piece by Piece" - PAINTED, ASSEMBLED & ON THE ...

Once I'm all finished I'm going to add up the total cost of painting and finishing an already good condition hardtop and hope my wife never reads it It's going to be a shockingly big number.

Texas - the texture is still there. I just scuffed it with a red pad prior to painting. I actually like the texture, it's pretty subtle and a bit unique.

I got to spray the top! My first time spraying anything that didn't come out of a rattle can or a garden hose. Apparently my vast experience in those two arenas transferred nicely to actual painting. Or perhaps I only got to paint this because it's really hard to screw up with a huge flat horizontal surface with texture

One coat of sealer, 2 coats of single stage Wimbledon White.

One small tip for those playing along at home: don't hang the liftgate by the hinges. We almost did this, but then realized wouldn't be able to spray the visible part of the hinge when liftgate is closed.

Thanks for playing along guys. I know we've all seen about a thousand white hardtops so thus isn't exactly riveting stuff !

 

[tasker]

I will say I am impressed! The mask is a huge improvement!;D

 

[xfalcon]

Awsome bronco and Build thread is a Great Read..

 

[broncoitis]

Well Ben, truck looks great. You should definitely be proud of what you accomplished. Way to go. ;D