Roacher's Colorado Build is FINISHED!!

[The Roacher]

3 Years later and 3X's the money initially allocated...She's done!!

I will be sharing a couple pics every few days so you can all enjoy the long and satisfying journey it went through...also, I prefer delayed gratification..

Enjoy!!

Week 1 Pics...In PO's back yard... and finally in my shop...

 

[Fireball05]

3x the money originally allocated is pretty much ON BUDGET for a bronco build!

Will look forward to following along.

 

[bronkenn]

Camouflage door panels...

 

[The Roacher]

Step 2...

After getting her home, tearing down the easy stuff and removing not one, but TWO! layers of residential carpet, I realized just how wrong I was the day I bought it and said to myself..."Oh Yeah!! That body in in GREAT shape!!";D

 

[The Roacher]

Step 3...

Yank the old 302 out of there and get her freshened up!!

Pull the body off the frame and get ready to clean 40 years of grime off of it!!

Side Note: If anyone asks you if its possible to pull the engine, tranny and transfer case out all at the same time...by yourself...the answer is yes

With air tools, a torch and grinder, taking everything apart was fun, fast and easy......once the body was off the frame, however, I thought about how its all going to go back together one day...

It was at this point that I realized I have no idea what I am doing...;D

 

[1strodeo]

It was at this point that I realized I have no idea what I am doing...;D

That's a great feeling aint it?? Scary and exciting at the same time, I'll be watching for more pics

....did anyone else try to cheat by going to his Garage pics??? ;D

 

[bamabaja]

Looks like great Bones for ur rebuild. Trust me, tear down is the easy and fast part. Have a detailed, written plan; create a shop plan for ID and storage of ur parts (storage location in ur shop); list of new and used parts; photos and videos of disassembly for future reference. And store ur photos on a several platforms, the cloud (read probably Me) lost some photos. I have critical photos printed at CVS and put in folder by systems, ie steering, front axle, etc; keep a list of work completed. We think we will remember all these things, but months later u may not. And this info is priceless for reassembly, repairs and upgrades, and documentation for future sale. Have fun and good luck !

 

[bronkenn]

That's a great feeling aint it?? Scary and exciting at the same time, I'll be watching for more pics

....did anyone else try to cheat by going to his Garage pics??? ;D

Just did and saw a guy and a dog stuck to the ceiling.

 

[sprdv1]

Outstanding.. Congrats!!

 

[The Roacher]

Step 4...not really a step....

If you wield the "Trident of the Ancient Ford Gods" (Steering Column)...You also hold the power to control all sorts of beasts!!...Case in point: Nala & Auggie being good girls... (if you look close there are 2 pups there)

 

[1strodeo]

Just did and saw a guy and a dog stuck to the ceiling.

If you wield the "Trident of the Ancient Ford Gods" (Steering Column)...You also hold the power to control all sorts of beasts!!...Case in point: Nala & Auggie being good girls... (if you look close there are 2 pups there)

Yeah I’ve seen many 3-legged dogs in my time, but I figured a 5-legger was a stretch ;D

 

[socofn]

Good luck and say goodbye to all your ��

 

[sprdv1]

If you wield the "Trident of the Ancient Ford Gods" (Steering Column)...You also hold the power to control all sorts of beasts!!...Case in point: Nala & Auggie being good girls... (if you look close there are 2 pups there)

LOL. I see one hiding over there.

 

[The Roacher]

Steps 5,6,7,8 and 9...

When I started this project, I thought I could get away with a Gas Monkey Garage style overhaul...just throw in a new drive train, big disc brakes, some paint and your all set!!...quick and easy right?...

Well, the further I got into it, and the more I let my buddies convince me I'm getting in too deep to not "Do it right", the 3 month project I had in my head quickly turned into a full blown frame off Restomod, every nut and bolt eventually got pulled apart, scrubbed and/or replaced... Every inch of her had to be perfect now...I fought the idea for a while because I really just wanted to drive it ASAP...but I couldn't be happier that I took the time and $ to "Do it Right"

Here are some Engine/Tranny/T-Case pics....

 

[svastano]

Looks Good!

 

[The Roacher]

Step 10...Blasting, Body and Bracing...Oh My!!

Took her down to my local blasting shop where they did a combination of sand and soda blasting, depending on the surface...(thanks to everyone here for letting me know the differences and when to use them!!)

I welded a few braces in the door jams for added rigidity...(another tip from ClassicBroncos.com)...the body would have 100% folded up on itself if I hadn't...

They did the tub, underbelly and the frame as well(every inch)...and they did a great job!!

Got her home and got to see all of the previous work that had been done on the body... there was ALOT to see....the upper inner fenders were both shot...and I replaced the tunnel and pans in the driver/passenger area...

Some of it was obvious and I was expecting to see small issues, but the work they did on the lower rear fenders was done so well, I was shocked to see what was lurking under there all the while!!

Next Stop, Patch her back up!!

 

[The Roacher]

Big Step Today!!

I have fond memories of this day...

Got to put the drive train back on the frame...

The frame got new leafs, bushings all around, body mounts, 2 1/2 in lift kit from WH I believe...I eventually discovered that I needed to shim the rear axle to get the correct driveshaft angle,

I also had to the same to the front axle (I used 7 degree bushings) to get enough caster...
**This made SO much difference in the handling**highly recommended if you rig feels a bit squirrely

Believe it or not, the engine ran VERY smooth and quiet when I bought it... so I didn't do hardly a thing to the block, but literally every component that attaches to it was restored to perfect, or purchased new(and upgraded) if it was available...

After what seemed like hundreds of hours of elbow grease up to this point, lost of bloody knuckles and a few cusses....seeing this base come together and having it ready to build off of was extremely gratifying to say the least!!

my buddy (who built muscle cars for a living for years) said he will never forgive me for all the different colors I put on the drive train...he's a "Satin Black" guy

At least I stuck w Ford Blue!!(kind of )

 

[sprdv1]

Love all the pics bud, thanks for sharing...

I hope you get lots of enjoyment out of it

 

[The Roacher]

Practicing Patience Provides Plentiful Peroids of Persistant Pain!!

The ONE thing that I was unable to do on my own during this process was the Body and Paint...?:?

Since this was something that I had never done, I did a ton of research about body work over the months leading up to this step and ultimately came to the conclusion that it would be best to sub it out.(and I'm glad I did)

I could have bought all the tools and spent all the time in the world in an attempt to tackle this myself, but in the end I knew this was out of my skill set and need a seasoned pro to do her justice.

That being said, once I got a shop to agree to take it on.... Well, lets just say their idea of a quick turn around vs mine were a weee bit different...

That was the longest 8 weeks of my life...

...waiting... checking in...stopping by to check progress...waiting...more waiting...I felt like a high schooler sitting by the phone waiting for his crush to call...it was excruciating...

But alas, the sun did rise and set again...and eventually, I headed down with my trailer(and a large handful of cash) and got to take her back home...WITH FRESH PAINT ON IT!!!;D;

I could not have been happier!!

They NAILED everything... the prep, the color, the line-x, the seams...everything looked awesome!!

But you'll have to wait until Monday to see all that..heheh…

I slapped some 35's on it to see how it looked with my 2 1/2" lift...spoiler alert..I ended up going w 33's on some new badass 18" wheels...(not shown here)..these are the old 35's on 18's

Here are some in process pics

 

[bronkenn]

I see your retrofitting a newer front bumper facia on it, can't wait to see how you incorporated it.