Ok need help very confused

[Nest]

Here is the deal at current I have a 1994 fullsize bronco and love it. However It is killing me in gas, 33gal tank+10 MPG+70 mile round trip= no $. I have always wanted a classic bronco and my twisted mind has decided I need to sell the fullsize and get the classic. My friends and wife call me crazy, say there ugly and just all round negative about the idea. But I can't help it something keeps pulling me to the eb's. So i need some information to make an informed decision. Average MPG, how much gas do the eb's hold single tank, dual tank? Would it be a wise decision? Please all info and commits accepted. good and bad. Please help me make the right choice. thanks

 

[ca1a73]

I always wanted one. I was in the same boat as you were. had a full size blazer, but still wanted the EB. I found one totally restored near my house. Very Very rear for the Northeast. So I talked my wife into buying it. It is not my daily driver, so i can tinker around with it, and only drive it on nice days. It stays garaged during the winter. I can only tell you that when you drive that thing, you should see the thumbs up and comments people make. They love it. Especially those jeep guys, they're all jealous...hahahhahaha. Anyway i have a fuel injected 302 with 33" tires and c4 tranny. 3:50 gears and im running about 12-14mpg. My opinion. its not a daily DRIVER. But, I have a 35mile commute, each way to work.

 

[meathead333]

well my engine needs to be tuned up or maybe even rebuilt. i dont get good gas mileage at all. i have dual tanks(total 20 gal) and have to fill up once a week. dont know my miles per gallon, but i drive maybe 20 miles aday to work, to and from. but all i can say is that its worth paying for more gas just to drive an EB and get lots of stares ;D

 

[70_Steve]

I tend to be a little conservative, so expect my comments to be just that.

Sounds like you want this classic bronco to be, or to replace your daily driver. Not sure that's the best idea. First, you'd probably spend as much for a daily driver quality Early Bronco as you'd be able to sell your current Bronco for. Not nearly the ammenities that your current Bronco has. Gas mileage varies with equipment and driving styles. I've heard of some with EFI getting close to 20 mpg, but that's far from the norm. Stock main tank is 13 gal, aux tank is 10 gal. You can buy aftermarket tanks larger than stock. I just purchased a 24 gal replacement main tank.

But your wife and friends are very wrong!! They're not ugly!!

 

[dpmerrill]

I love mine, and I wouldn't trade an eb for any utility vehicle I can think of.

But it's 20 years older than your full size, so it's not really going to get any better gas mileage, it's a noisier ride and it's probably going to be more maintenance. I don't know what the weather is like in H-Town, but it probably won't have a/c either.

To me, the negatives are no problem but you should know what you're getting into... But it probably doesn't matter anyway. Once you start feeling yourself drawn to them, it only gets worse. Stop fighting it, and join the dark side.

 

[Bart]

My opinion here. As with all old vehicles an eb shouldn't be used as a daily driver. I have a '57 Fairlane and the '66 EB. Neither one is a dd. The eb gets out of the garage 10 times more than the 500. Why because I can go play in the eb where as I only drive the Fairlane from here to there and back. Yea, it's nice to look at, and fun to drive, but.............. I'd sell 'em all except the eb but the wife won't let me. Kinda backwards here isn't it. She wants to keep 'em and I want to sell 'em.

 

[ca1a73]

I only have an 11gallon take on my 66, or close to 11gallons. I was putting 8dollars a day in it to go to work. and thats when gas was under 1.80$ gallon. But its worth every penny to me, while driving it. I was thinking of seeling it a few times, because it was just sitting in my garage during the winter, but i couldn't part with it. Way too cool of a vehicle to let go of.

 

[flint_knapper]

I have owned a couple of eb's, the one I own now I've
had for around 14 yrs. I would NOT commit to driving it
EVERYDAY 70mi. 5 days a week. I have used it as a daily
driver (30 mile round trip) years ago, but I had a back up
vehicle just in case. I would get an early 90's econobox
along with it. Drive the miles in the econobox then use the
eb on the weekends. I have never got better than 10-12 mpg.
in the eb. so you won't be saving any $$ in gas, remember these
are 30+ yr. old vehicles, sometimes they will need some attention.

 

[broncnaz]

If your only getting 10mpg with your 94 then something is wrong thats pretty sorry for a fuel injected engine. torque converter slipping maybe, did you swap gears when you put on the 33's if not that could be part of the problem.
As the others have said your probably better off keeping what you have. Unless you have a line on an EB thats in daily driver condition. I would look at upgrading your current engine. headers, Mass air conversion, Camshaft, and gears that match your tires. That should wake up your engine and get a few more MPG out of it

 

[KJHill]

I suggest you keep your 94 BB & figure out a way to buy the EB also. This way you can drive the BB daily & work on the EB nightly (sounds bad, but you'll learn to love it!) ;D

 

[sstlaure]

I'd sell the BB and get an EB with the $$$ to play with, and a high mileage commuter car for that commute. You'll save money in the long run. According to your calculations, you are burning 14 gal of gas/day = $28/day*30 days = $840/month. That's plenty of money to get both (In my opinion.)

If you improve mileage, here's your savings:
20 mpg - $480/month
30 mpg - $280/month

So if you can get a vehicle that gets 30 mpg (not that hard), you can get a brand new (i.e. low maintenance) car cheap, with the $560 you save each month on gas, that should more than cover payment/insurance.

Just my .02

 

[SaddleUp]

Like the others have mentioned the gas mileage isn't a very good reason to upgrade to an EB. They can be set up to make nice Daily Drivers but you will not see a huge mileage improvement. With 35" tires and a 90 5.0 EFI I was getting around 15 MPG. With the current 5.8 and the same tires I could maybe squeeze 16 mpg out. With the current drivetrain and tires I might get 12 or 13 MPG. I imagine with 30" tires and the right gearing I might be able to push toward 20 MPG if I could keep my foot out of it. You can probably squeeze 16 to 18 MPG out of the one you already have if it is set up right and you make some performance mods to it.

The real reason to get an EB though is that they are much more pleasant to look at. Don't pay much attention to anyone that says they are ugly. More likely they are jealous and are just trying to talk them down because they don't have one. (Wives are a bit different because they often see it as the other woman who will take up all of your spare time) Like the others mentioned above all I need to do is run mine down the street and heads turn. Anytime I pull into a parking lot there is a good chance I will not make it more than 20 feet before someone stops me to admire it. That is just a bonus though because the main reason I have mine is because it is a toy I can take out and play with. I do not rely on it as a daily driver though.

 

[supermottl]

I was in the same boat your in. I was driving a 92 BB 60+ miles a day and I wanted something sporty to buzz around in the traffic, so I gave my BB to my old man, and picked up my 73, and took a small loan out for a used saab 9-3 turbo. Now I get 28 mpgs during the week, and a 0-60 time around 7 secs, and i get my 10 mpgs, and thumb's up on the weekends. best of both worlds!!!

 

[Mike C]

I am finally in a position where my EB is not my daily driver and I love it.
If I break something I don't have to worry about how I'm getting to work on monday. The large expensive tires last much longer as well as the rest of the components on the vehicle.

If at all possible keep a daily driver and find a way to get an Early Bronco in addition to that.

 

[Nest]

Wow thanks for all the replies. Yes it will be replacing my BB as a DD. I have no$ for 2 car/truck. Infact I'm in the process of trying to sell my 67 coupe (-minus the 302&c4). The thought process was sell 67' sell BB, Buy EB in good DD condition and would then have a spare motor and trans on hand for any major breakdowns. I looked at a 70' half cab yesterday, newly rebuilt 302 like 600 miles, new ac, front disk, pS, PB, Drive train looked awsome and very little rust, but its a half cab and I really need a back seat as I have two kids.
How much is the average cost to convert to full cab?

 

[sstlaure]

I think the bulkhead unbolts, as does the roof. Then replace with either a hardtop (can be hard to find a decent one) or a soft-top. With your long drive, you'll get less wind noise with the hardtop. Rear seat and seatbelts.

Not sure the cost of these items, but that's about all you'd need.

 

[ghost66]

Broncodarksider

First of all there are rules for EB owners, changing a half cab to a full cab is a NO NO there were very few of these made and you will need a majority vote from all of us on this site to do so.
Second if you choose to buy an EB you have to be prepared for life changing situations, every time you drive her people will stare at you and try to buy it from you, your wife will undoubtably become jealous because the EB will become the other woman,you will wake up every day with a smile on your face and your wife will want to slap it off you, you will become a frequent participant on this website and at every EB event you can afford to go to, you will spend lot's of money on her to keep her running and pretty (almost like having a girlfriend on the side)and last but not least you will have an uncontrollable urge to own more than one.
Stop and think about this! Can you handle this type of shake up in your life? If you can't just post where it is you found the half cab for sale so we can save you from yourself.

 

[pooterpot]

when i turned 16 my parents gave me a choice between a 1970 mach1 and a bronco. i chose the bronco! true story. they are not ugly at all they look better than any suv. true story

 

[ken75ranger]

when i turned 16 my parents gave me a choice between a 1970 mach1 and a bronco. i chose the bronco! true story. they are not ugly at all they look better than any suv. true story

I wouldn't give a 16 yr old a mach 1. You made the right choice.

 

[pooterpot]

ive got 2 tickets since then in the bronco. imagine how many i would have had in the mach 1