Hello!
Just wanted to take a moment to properly introduce myself and my (new to me) 1975 Bronco.
It's been a car I've wanted since high school and my girlfriend's end-all dream car forever, so when the opportunity came up I had to jump on it.
I'm in the process of selling my highly modified 2001 BMW M5. (Photo below) It's supercharged and well spec'd out. Puts down 501rwhp at 430ft lbs. She goes! I've been building that car for a long time and it's pretty hard to let go of, but my girlfriend and I have some very clear vision with this bronco and I'm really excited to get to our end goal.
Here's a couple photos of the parting BMW:
And now for the good stuff!
This is Betty, our new '75 Bronco. Got her for a steal and she seems to be in relatively great shape. I pulled the interior out last night and didn't find any problem rust spots. A little bit in the driver and passenger floor panels, but that seems to be quite common. I'll have some new pieces welded in just for good measure - if my BMW is any indication, I tend to be pretty thorough.
Betty has a reconstructed title. From what I'm told, she had an engine fire that melted some wiring harnesses and the hood, so it's got that unpainted fiberglass hood replacement, and a replacement 302 that seems to run great. Manual 3-speed transmission needs some linkage adjustment and probably a new clutch but otherwise she drives fine.
Here's some photos of the progress after last night's mini-tear down: (that thermal head shielding material sucks!) I'm gonna try to do as much prep work myself as possible before we eventually get it re-painted. Focusing on some mechanical things first to make sure it's functionally sound and easy/comfortable to drive. (I thought of putting an automatic tranny in it, but can't decide. Any comments or advice on that?)
The suspension is pretty shot - that is the first item I'll be a addressing along with some front disc brakes and a brake booster. Planning on just a simple 2.5" or 3" lift. We want to keep things classy and clean.
I love automotive forums and I'm glad this one exists (not surprisingly) and so I am looking forward to learning a lot from everyone here and sharing my restoration project. My girlfriend and I are going to combine financial resources and elbow grease to get this girl back to show quality. It's my first old car and first experience with early bronco's so I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions! If anyone has some valuable insight regarding things I should check on or address first, priority items etc, I'm all ears. I've already spent a lot of time on tomsbroncoparts.com and found a great shop in my area to do some of the labor that I can't handle myself. Now it's just time and $!
Other interests include: Motorcycle road racing (I do a lot of track days!), snowboarding, surfing, dogs, friends, family, and aviation (I am a recreational helicopter pilot).
Sorry for the length, happy to answer any other questions about the car. Cheers!
-Jonathan
Just wanted to take a moment to properly introduce myself and my (new to me) 1975 Bronco.
It's been a car I've wanted since high school and my girlfriend's end-all dream car forever, so when the opportunity came up I had to jump on it.
I'm in the process of selling my highly modified 2001 BMW M5. (Photo below) It's supercharged and well spec'd out. Puts down 501rwhp at 430ft lbs. She goes! I've been building that car for a long time and it's pretty hard to let go of, but my girlfriend and I have some very clear vision with this bronco and I'm really excited to get to our end goal.
Here's a couple photos of the parting BMW:
And now for the good stuff!
This is Betty, our new '75 Bronco. Got her for a steal and she seems to be in relatively great shape. I pulled the interior out last night and didn't find any problem rust spots. A little bit in the driver and passenger floor panels, but that seems to be quite common. I'll have some new pieces welded in just for good measure - if my BMW is any indication, I tend to be pretty thorough.
Betty has a reconstructed title. From what I'm told, she had an engine fire that melted some wiring harnesses and the hood, so it's got that unpainted fiberglass hood replacement, and a replacement 302 that seems to run great. Manual 3-speed transmission needs some linkage adjustment and probably a new clutch but otherwise she drives fine.
Here's some photos of the progress after last night's mini-tear down: (that thermal head shielding material sucks!) I'm gonna try to do as much prep work myself as possible before we eventually get it re-painted. Focusing on some mechanical things first to make sure it's functionally sound and easy/comfortable to drive. (I thought of putting an automatic tranny in it, but can't decide. Any comments or advice on that?)
The suspension is pretty shot - that is the first item I'll be a addressing along with some front disc brakes and a brake booster. Planning on just a simple 2.5" or 3" lift. We want to keep things classy and clean.
I love automotive forums and I'm glad this one exists (not surprisingly) and so I am looking forward to learning a lot from everyone here and sharing my restoration project. My girlfriend and I are going to combine financial resources and elbow grease to get this girl back to show quality. It's my first old car and first experience with early bronco's so I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions! If anyone has some valuable insight regarding things I should check on or address first, priority items etc, I'm all ears. I've already spent a lot of time on tomsbroncoparts.com and found a great shop in my area to do some of the labor that I can't handle myself. Now it's just time and $!
Other interests include: Motorcycle road racing (I do a lot of track days!), snowboarding, surfing, dogs, friends, family, and aviation (I am a recreational helicopter pilot).
Sorry for the length, happy to answer any other questions about the car. Cheers!
-Jonathan
