POs suck: Red Pill or Blue pill... down the rabbit hole

[GraficO]

Ok... when I got my 68 it might as well have been covered in silicone sealant from top to bottom.

I noticed that the entire length of the windshield frame hinge was goobered up with it and just thought that it would be just a pain in the arse to clean up. All around the wing windows and the window felt was also goobered.

Looking under the hood, the vent cowl had been sprayed with that yellow foam insulation used for around windows and doors. So after I scraped that away I found that the area between the driver side vent cowl hole and the windshield frame was rotten away. The foam crap was used to cover it and apparently to seal it up (hmm wondered why my gauges didn't work they had essentially be rained on for god knows how many years...)

So at some point the PO changed out the windshield hinge... but he must have cold chiseled the old one (no spot weld drilling) out didn't weld up the holes that got torn out of the cowl where the hinge attaches.When he put the new hinge/frame in he BRAZED it... not welded it in (could have just used the welded nuts on it originally and bolted it in). So I have to clean up the brazing, weld in the holes and reattach the hinge so it won't leak into the cab. The way the PO chose to fix the hinge left it totally exposed to letting water in through the underside of the hinge and straight into the cab and to destroy all the dash components, gauges, stereo, etc.

Now that I'm fixing it the right way... I just wanna smack that dude up-aside the head and ask him what in the world was he thinking?!?

I'm sure that this is a common experience.... I guess I just needed to vent...

Down thew rabbit hole I went... just to see what other wonderful F---ups I get to find in the restore...

 

[Gummi Bear]

When I bought my Bronco, it had a fiberglass half cab and bulkhead that were fastened in place by nothing but silicone. That was in October of 96, I still haven't gotten all of that crap off of there.

When I helped bigjhoov get his taillights working right after he bought his 66, we spent a ton of time chiseling the expanding foam out of the rear corners (no idea why it was there in the first place ?:? ) so we could fix the wire, and replace the socket.

People do weird stuff, really weird stuff.
;D

 

[ObscureMachine]

my PO, who is claims to be a professional bronco builder, did endless stupid things to mine. He decided to spray the engine bay and underside with Line-X. But, he didn't mask anything, he just sprayed it everywhere. It's covered my radiator drain plugs, brake bleeder valves, got in the alternator, covered the starter solenoid, etc., etc., etc....

 

[grabbermach]

The P.O. of my 73 used that spray foam to fix the rusted out tailgate and rockers. Just shoot it in, sand it down and paint with some crazy camo pattern. I guess we all just have to live and learn.

 

[airman]

I got a little spray foam too. I've said it before but I know I removed 40 feet of #10 red wire from under the dash too. Thats another reason why I can not ever sell the Bronco. Can you imagine the Sh*t that the new guy would be talking about my handywork?

 

[TN1776]

No spray foam here, but I've got one to top them all... Apparently a PPO (previous, previous owner) of my rig decided they wanted to fix the rusty floors and (I can only guess) deaden road noise, so they glued in some 30-year comp shingles, gravel side down, to every single square inch of the floor in my rig. This was hidden by two layers of felt carpet padding and a stock-looking rubber floor up front, and two layers of carpet in the back. You are reading this right...

My driver's floor pan was toast, but the passenger's side wasn't actually too bad (I was able to fix it without fully replacing the whole panel). From the joint where the rubber floor met the carpeting, the entire rear of the tub (once all the junk was removed) was preserved in almost factory-original condition. There was barely a scratch to be found and absolutely no rust whatsoever.

My rig's PO also had a particular fondness for bailing wire, electrical tape, and crimp-on wire splices...

Gotta love previous owners... You can only guess what was going through their heads.

 

[csjr]

I looked at a Scout once with floorpans MADE of the heavy duty asphalt roofing shingles.

My PO installed a Ron Francis wiring kit and didn't shorten any of the wires. Instead there is a shoebox-sized plastic box screwed into the interior firewall on tha passenger side just FILLED with a rat nest of wires. I'm afraid to touch it until I do a rewire and tear the whole thing out. Oh, he/they also installed 1/4" steel plate with what appears to be seam sealer or some super heavy duty glue in the passenger and driver's foot wells. At least the roll cage is welded to it...

 

[Chief Master Sergeant]

Look at the bright side. At least now you have the opportunity to fix what he screwed up and you know it's right because you did it. Opportunities...you have to love them.

The PO of a 74 I owned a couple of years ago used cut beer cans to patch holes in the floors. I think he used JB weld to get it to stay and I wouldn't have even noticed had I not been under the vehicle and saw "Bud". It covered the holes well, but how ghetto is that?

 

[Madgyver]

I vote for the Blue pill................ ;D

 

[Fishbone]

;D My floors were patched with a sheets of galvanized sheet metal (over existing rust of coarse) glued in place with some spots brazed also.

To reform the 90's where the floor and platform meet they used aluminum heat tape, and undercoating over that.

The kick panel and inner fender area was patched (again over rust) with flashing tins and Bondo. I've always thought body filler was for minor imperfections, not gaping rust holes and huge dents...boy do I feel dumb.

This was supposed to have been restored%) seven years ago. The damage was camouflaged, would be more like it. People can get pretty creative when they're half assing stuff.

I restored a truck years ago that had chicken wire and styrofoam stuffed in the rust holes to give the Bondo some backing.

It's not so bad if they just don't know any better and aren't planning on selling it, but when it's done with the intention of burning somebody, that pisses me off.

The guy I bought my EB from didn't know a lot of this had been done (he hadn't owned it long), it was one of the better cover ups I've seen. Lucky for me he was a standup guy, and made things right even though the deal was done and he had the money already.;D He's another one of those good Oklahoma EB guy's. I'd gladly deal with him again, he may be a member here. Anybody know a guy named Dean near Tulsa?

 

[Madgyver]

Blue Pill all the way.....................%)

 

[ransil]

MY PO also glued / siliconed in metal over the old rusty floor pans, they finally rusted out and you can see the glue/silicone hanging from the bottom. On top of that my PO laid fiberglass on the entire floor over the bolts too. Glued in carpet is on top of that.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

If you crawl under my truck and look way up there above the np435 , you'll see a stop sign used as a tunnel cover.
I suppose it will never rust ....

 

[ObscureMachine]

If you crawl under my truck and look way up there above the np435 , you'll see a stop sign used as a tunnel cover.

Wow

 

[GraficO]

heh... I found another anomaly... pink bubblegum "sealant" around the fill tube on the main gas tank.

Literally...

 

[Tito]

If you crawl under my truck and look way up there above the np435 , you'll see a stop sign used as a tunnel cover.
I suppose it will never rust ....

And if you are rolled over then the spot light will find you with the reflective sign shining back ;D

Actually regshawn picked up 4 good sized signs we are trying to figure out what to do with. Maybe door panels or something, I think they are pretty cool and like you said wont rust ;D

Some of the factory stuff was pretty questionable as well. When we flipped Shawn's tub over, found a chunk of seam sealer so big that there was a totally discernible thumb print right in it. There are a few body gaps that were just gunk filled on these. But hey, we've made them last a heck of a lot longer than Ford thought they would!

 

[fitpays]

i don't even know where to begin. just suffice it to say, i have all you guys beat. i am literally at a loss for where to start. my P.O. was a great guy, but not really mechanical he said. it was the P.P.O. (previous previous owner, as they called it earlier) that riveted sheet metal all over this thing and then bondo'ed over that. i was cutting out the rockers and actually ran into a big spot that was covered with two layers of it. on the other rocker, one patch bubbled but the other didnt. -one was steel and the other was aluminum. ugh. also, i share the other guys pain about the 1/4" steel on the floor. also got the "silicone blues" as well as "POP" and "POPOP" and "POPOPOP" -paint over paint over paint over paint...... get it? ugh.

 

[csjr]

Some of the factory stuff was pretty questionable as well.

Right. This past weekend I finished an extended radius arm install. One of the reasons I didn this was that my passenger side factory stock radius arm bracket was not intalled properly. It looked bent up about 5 degrees. I once tried to persuade it back with a 10 lb sledge but I thought I'd really break something if I kept at it. It was VERY solid. I don't think there's any way it could have gotten bent on a rock or anything without destroying the frame at that spot. Besides there were no blemishes on the bottom of the bracket. It was probably just the 4:30 on Friday part that went on the truck and it got slapped on a little off. The truck always seemed to "dig in" when taking a left hand turn. It no longer does this...

 

[NYLES]

Primed duck tape under the seat! nobody will ever see that in a 1/2 cab..yea right!
Bullet holes in floorboard!.....rifle and shotgun (Found on a tub I bought)
Roofing tar in floorpans.....good luck gettin that shit out!
Siliconed vent windows!
fiberglass for body filler Ok but where does it stop?

Those are just the ones I remember!

 

[Devin]

When I got mine, the PO had just put a brand new Duffie 3.5" lift kit on it. The right rear shock mount was stripped. Instead of fixing it, he installed the brand new shock on it with bailing wire. %)