First time Bronco Owner as of yesterday! I have some questions!

[DirtDonk]

Sorry, it's not letting me answer again. Not sure why I run into these road blocks, so I'm going to send you either a Private Message or an e-mail if you're linked up.

I hate it when it cuts me off!;D

Paul

 

[clintonvillian]

Out of general curiosity, how much did you have to pay for it?

What do you think it should cost based on the photos?

 

[DirtDonk]

Sent you an e-mail with my opinions and comments earlier. Let me know if you don't get it.

Paul

 

[B.ranch]

Welcome, my 71 is all the way down is 4 high, up 1 is two high up another is neutral another up another is 2 low and another up is 4 low, move the bronco a little forwards or backwards and try shifting the transfer

 

[clintonvillian]

Sent you an e-mail with my opinions and comments earlier. Let me know if you don't get it.

Paul

Haven't received anything...……..

 

[clintonvillian]

What do you guys think about the roll bar in it? Toss it?

 

[clintonvillian]

You need to spend some time on the vendor’s websites:

Dufftuff.com
Wildhorses4x4.com
Broncograveyard.com
Tomsbroncoparts.com

Almost all of your answers are there. You will even find answers to questions you don’t have yet.

The bolts/studs you see in the floor of your bronco are the body mounts. Yes they sell the shock mounts, BGY below. It does look like you are missing your rear body mounts though. Those dimples in the floor back by the tailgate, should have a bolt head in them.


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Reckon they just couldn't find the right bolts to fit it and used those studs? That didn't come factory with them sticking out of the bed did it?

Out of curiosity, how are the hangers and shock mounts replaced? The frame is boxed, so it doesn't look like you could just bolt one back in place?

 

[Slowleak]

Reckon they just couldn't find the right bolts to fit it and used those studs? That didn't come factory with them sticking out of the bed did it?

Those are the factory installed rear seat belt bolts that are screwed into the floor behind the rear seat. Just take them out.

 

[DirtDonk]

Sorry you did not get the e-mail. It was one of my usual wordy (ten words where three would suffice) kind of reply. For some reason it would not let me reply. Seems I'm using some kind of secret code that gets me knocked off the forum and into an Error 404 screen of temporary banishment.

I'll try to send it in a PM but it might be too long winded.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

And like B.ranch was saying, sometimes you have to rock it back and forth. Most T-shifts are relatively easy, but most J-shifts are a pain.
Does your shifter still have the chrome T-shift handle on it? Does the left side push-button function? It's to unlock the quadrant so you can shift and if it's not releasing the pawl in the slot, you're stuck until you can figure out why it's not working.

If it is working, then you may just have a recalcitrant shifter. Might first get under the rig (or remove the boot/cover and see if you can clean and lubricate the simple mechanism and the rods themselves.
The transfer case shifter does not care whether the hubs are locked or unlocked, so you can mess with the shifter while leaving them unlocked for simplicity and so you can drive it around on the street while you're testing.
It's not actually in 4-wheel drive until it's both shifted into one of the 4-wheel positions AND the hubs are locked. But either of those can be done independently of the other for testing.

As mentioned, 4-low is all the way forward towards the dash. There is no "official" 2-low so don't worry if you can't find it. Mid-way back in Neutral, then the next notch back is 2-high, then all the way back is 4-high.
Other than Neutral and 4-low the distances are fairly small.

Good luck!

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

It let me send a Private Message, so we'll see if it comes through at your end.
I'm going to try here one more time though, breaking it up into two separate replies in case that helps.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Hey clintonvillian, welcome from way over here too!
And thanks for the great pics.

Looks like a great starting point. But be aware that when you see some undercoating on most of the outer surfaces, and especially a slapped-on bedliner on the interior, it's probably to cover up more rust than the PO wanted to deal with.

Those two empty bolt holes just inside the tailgate area of the floor? Those are your rear body mount bolts missing! Not that it's going to fall off, because the other six (assuming they're still there?) will hold it together. But you do want to get some in there if the mounts are intact.
Look underneath to see if the structure is there on the frame rails to put the body bushings in there to get the bolts through. Could have rusted off.

The hole in the lower line of the tailgate is rust-through too, which is typical of a very rusty Bronco. Look at the bottom of the doors and the leading edge of the hood too.
Looks like it "might" have rust in the usual spots in the engine compartment, but with the undercoating it's hard to say. Might have dodged that bullet, but looks like you still have some to deal with.

It's a stock rear seat, so check for bolt holes in the floor that line up. If the Bronco did not originally have one it might not have the holes, but since it has the seat belt holes and bolts, it should also have seat bolt holes.

The reinforced welds on the doors are a result of the window frames cracking, either from repeated slamming (a fact of life with Broncos) or rust damage weakening them to the point that slamming against the hard top did just that much more damage. I'm sure you'll be finding lots of little (and maybe some big) things as you go over it inch by inch.
After all, Bronco sellers have a penchant for re-defining the phrase "rust free" these days.

Very strange looking roll bar. Never seen one quite like it. Almost looks as if they took a mini-truck bed bar and bolted it to the Bronco floor. Got more pics of it?

 

[SteveL]

I would swap out that bar for a cage. Go full family cage if you're gonna run a back seat

 

[DirtDonk]

Part 2

1. Can you guys tell how much of a lift is on it?

Looks like 3 to 4, judging by the size of the block under the rear leaf springs. But the easiest way to tell is to measure the distance between the top of the axle tubes and the bottom of the frame rails. Stock height is approx. 7" in the front and 6" in the back. Anything over that is your lift.

2. Whatsup with that spring hanger welded to the frame? Can that hanger be replaced?

Not sure if you're talking about the welds themselves, but back then Ford truck frames were not known for their precision welds or jigging procedures. However, in the ensuing 49 years anyone with a stick-welder could have made a repair.

3. What are the studs in the bed floor?

Maybe I missed a pic, but do you mean the Allen-headed flat-topped bolts in a line towards the rear? Those are the seat belt bolts. The seat bolt holes would be just ahead of those.

4. Any Idea why that screw is sticking out behind the light?

Don't see which one you're talking about. Can you post up just that pic?

 

[sprdv1]

I would swap out that bar for a cage. Go full family cage if you're gonna run a back seat

Most certainly...

 

[sprdv1]

Okay, I think the shuddering is just the clutch. It seems like the higher I rev it the less shudder there is. It is just weird that it does it more in reverse. I am pretty sure a new clutch would help!

Another newb question is how do I get it into 4x4. is there a procedure? I've tried locking the hubs, shifting to neutral, and I can't get the transfer case shifter to budge.....

gotta go neutral, drive, reverse till you see what works best on yours

Twin sticks, so got to go one direction for front, then rear kicks right in haha

 

[sprdv1]

Sorry you did not get the e-mail. It was one of my usual wordy (ten words where three would suffice) kind of reply. For some reason it would not let me reply. Seems I'm using some kind of secret code that gets me knocked off the forum and into an Error 404 screen of temporary banishment.

I'll try to send it in a PM but it might be too long winded.

You might need to get his # LOL

 

[clintonvillian]

Got her in the shop and started tearing into her today!

Good news, it is in much better shape than I expected. It needs all four corners and rockers at some point, along with some of the crossmembers at the rockers. Floor pans are also a must. I am sure there are other patches on the inner structures I'll need to do, but for the most part I would consider it SOLID.

Frame is in REALLY good shape!

The rear body mount bolt is broken off, I think I can pull the bumper and work it from the bottom.

I have some additional technical questions I am going to post in the other forum.

Thanks for ALL the info here.

A few more questions I'd like your thoughts on are:

1. Is the 3 speed worth keeping, I have 3.50 gears, so if I am driving 65 ill be humming along at 3000 rpms (I had her up to 50 today, and that me a bit nervous), I'm not so sure I'd want her up to 65.....This thing will mainly be on pavement and gravel roads, I don't plan for any super long road trips in it.

2. I have a list of things to do, one of them is getting the turn signals working. I am debating ordering an entire harness and wiring the entire vehicle. Knowing that I will be rebuilding it in about 10 years, Is it worth it to do that now?

3. I plan to replace the steering column with a tilt unit, I'm lanky and the extra adjustment would be great. Again, considering I will be doing a full frame off in the future, is it a waste to go ahead and install a new column now?

I'm struggling a little bit with spending a bunch of money on little stuff now (turn signal guts, pig tails, etc) knowing it will all be replaced later, so maybe I should just do it now.

 

[DirtDonk]

1. Is the 3 speed worth keeping, I have 3.50 gears, so if I am driving 65 ill be humming along at 3000 rpms (I had her up to 50 today, and that me a bit nervous), I'm not so sure I'd want her up to 65.....

This thing will mainly be on pavement and gravel roads, I don't plan for any super long road trips in it.

It's a good little transmission, if you can ignore the fact that it's got pretty crappy gear ratios for happy truckin' on the street with larger tires.
With no long trips planned though, it's hard to justify a new transmission with overdrive. At last for the short term.
But you are saying it's yours for the long haul it sounds like. So in that case, a different transmission could be totally called for, if just for added fun while driving around town.
Better gearing equals more smiles.

Once it's dialed in, you should be able to cruise at much higher speeds. I never thought twice about going 75 or 80 for short bursts, and 70 all day long (relatively speaking).
Never even occurred to me that it was anything but safe and secure. So it sounds like there are plenty of other things to deal with right now, but in the end you should be able to drive it any where, any time.

2. I have a list of things to do, one of them is getting the turn signals working. I am debating ordering an entire harness and wiring the entire vehicle. Knowing that I will be rebuilding it in about 10 years, Is it worth it to do that now?

3. I plan to replace the steering column with a tilt unit, I'm lanky and the extra adjustment would be great. Again, considering I will be doing a full frame off in the future, is it a waste to go ahead and install a new column now?

Yes, and no.
What is the general condition of the wiring overall? If the only thing acting up right now are the turn signals, it might be a simple and quick fix that costs 30 bucks in parts.
If that's the case, then it's totally worth waiting.

If you start to find other things, such as the steering column needs a total rebuild, then you're better off getting the tilt column now, which will come with a new turn signal switch and all the wires.
The good news is that the column wiring is completely independent of the rest of the harness, so you can go either way and not make a bad decision.

The replacement harness is a lot of work. But it's totally worth it for peace of mind and having everything work as expected. If you start messing with wires and find that their outer jackets are just dried out and splitting when you try to move the wires, then in my opinion that moves the new harness install up to near the top of the list.

I'm struggling a little bit with spending a bunch of money on little stuff now (turn signal guts, pig tails, etc) knowing it will all be replaced later, so maybe I should just do it now.

That's not the wrong decision in almost any case. But it's all about how long before you do those other things.
Frankly, most modern replacement parts are lucky to make it ten years in the real world. So you might just wear out another turn signal switch while you're waiting. And then you can install the new harness and the new switch the next time around.

But the argument for doing it any time, and even after buying other new parts that might get tossed, is that you don't have to toss the parts.
There are so many people doing full restorations, many from literally a Bronco-in-boxes, that there is a demand for used parts. So you can literally re-sell your rebuilt steering column with new switch to someone who's struggling to get their rebuild done, give someone a good deal on a hard to find part, while making a little money on the side getting rid of your old stuff.

It's like putting in a new ring-&-pinion gear set now to get a good ratio, then deciding later to buy a whole new 3rd member with new gears and a locker and a new housing. Some of that money can easily come back when you put the new parts in, because someone is always looking for a good used rear end to put in their project.

So some of the negatives can be overcome.
I know that just makes your decisions harder instead of easier, but at least you know the results won't always be painful!

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

Good luck. Just tackle what you can and don't overwhelm yourself

Got her in the shop and started tearing into her today!

Good news, it is in much better shape than I expected. It needs all four corners and rockers at some point, along with some of the crossmembers at the rockers. Floor pans are also a must. I am sure there are other patches on the inner structures I'll need to do, but for the most part I would consider it SOLID.

Frame is in REALLY good shape!

The rear body mount bolt is broken off, I think I can pull the bumper and work it from the bottom.

I have some additional technical questions I am going to post in the other forum.

Thanks for ALL the info here.

A few more questions I'd like your thoughts on are:

1. Is the 3 speed worth keeping, I have 3.50 gears, so if I am driving 65 ill be humming along at 3000 rpms (I had her up to 50 today, and that me a bit nervous), I'm not so sure I'd want her up to 65.....This thing will mainly be on pavement and gravel roads, I don't plan for any super long road trips in it.

2. I have a list of things to do, one of them is getting the turn signals working. I am debating ordering an entire harness and wiring the entire vehicle. Knowing that I will be rebuilding it in about 10 years, Is it worth it to do that now?

3. I plan to replace the steering column with a tilt unit, I'm lanky and the extra adjustment would be great. Again, considering I will be doing a full frame off in the future, is it a waste to go ahead and install a new column now?

I'm struggling a little bit with spending a bunch of money on little stuff now (turn signal guts, pig tails, etc) knowing it will all be replaced later, so maybe I should just do it now.