Survey..................How'd you get your EB?

[lil' hotz jr.]

ive wanted one sense dad (yellowbronc) brought his home back in 1990-91'. i was about 5 years old. wanted his, couldnt' have his. ;D dad found mine on this website over a year and a half ago we went down to look at it, and it followed him home, that that is how the b dog came about. :-*

 

[fatcatmatt74]

I guess I got lucky growing up in a bronco family. My dad bought a brand new 77 in jax, fl. I was 3 at the time. he kept it for a while and then sold it.
It was replaced with a 79 fullsize that he kept for several years. his brother bought a 75 in 76 and kept it for about 15years until it finally died completley. so he parted it out and kept the paperwork. in 1990 i was a teenager was about one step from gettin in serious trouble so I was sent to my uncles place for the summer to get away from the crowd that was doing me in. when I arrived i found out he had purchased a 71 fullcab parts truck that was originally used by the state to pull a pto driven highway mower. it was a 6 cyl 3sp truck and it was in bad shape with no title. we spent the entire summer redoing that truck from bodywork to "new" 302 from a late 60's torino that had caught fire at a year old with about 12000 miles on it and had been sitting in a ladys garage since. my uncle was older guy who did things the old ways we brazed up holes and built our own mounts.then we started the paint job that took over a year to do and involved more coats of black and green laquer than i can remember. i credit this project for teaching me the skills and maturity to start to get my S$%T together and stop being a teenage moron. I joined the military and in 2000 i found a 76 that was all stock with only 68000 miles. paid $5000 for it and 3 months later the timing chain spun and I dropped about 3500 in the motor. still have that truck all stock and it will probably never change....
last year my uncle finally gave in and decided to get a toyota to hunt out of.
he called me and offered me the that 71/75 we had built. it was in pretty rough shape after 15 years of dog hunting in fl and being beat thru the woods. but I took it home and have been fixing it as i need to. right now its being used to teach my 12 year old son to drive a 3 spd stick. i hope that the work needed will provide the oppurtunity to teach my son some of the values of patience, attention to detail, and pride in a job well done by your own hands that I was lucky enuff to recieve while working on this truck 15 years ago.
the wife wanted a fullsize bronco to haul the kids around in a so i found her a 79 with a 460 and 39 boggers. 4.88 gears 14 bolt rear disc brakes all the good stuff. the kid that owned it was going to jail and needed cash. 3500 and it was hers. my wife is 5ft 2in tall its funny to watch her climb in this thing and drive it like she stole it. but its hers and hers only I just work on it.
all these truck have a story some good some not but if they could talk i bet they would have some cool stuff to say........

 

[rob wilson]

On a business trip with a dead weekend to kill. Watching a Bronco on Ebay cause I'm in the market and bored. Would never actually buy one on ebay but was learning about what they are/can be worth.

About an hour to go so just for the heck of it, I bid $50 more than the current high bid. Get over bid in 30 seconds so bid another $50 since I know they always get bid up the last few minutes of the auction. So I'm sitting in a hotel room waiting to be overbid. And waiting and waiting.... Yep, I own a Bronco that I've never seen and never talked to the owner. On top of that, I'm in Seattle, it's in Salt Lake City and I live in Flagstaff. Sooo, change my return flight reservations to fly into SLC. PO meets me at the AP and we do the deal. I drive him home, then drive the 500 miles to my house the same day. No tools, no spare parts, just lots of luck. Made it no problem so I feel like I got a fair deal. Still in touch with the PO and keep him updated on what's been upgraded/replaced. Bronco folks are good people!

 

[NORK2BG]

Grandpa bought one gave it to my dad, My dad then gave it to me

 

[hucktruck]

I bought my first Bronco (1971 w/ 351W and 4 sp. toploader) in 1988 from my Dad's co-worker , Ronnie McCrey (SP?). I paid $3000. It was my daily driver for 9 months before I was cut off by a drunk driver in Mississippi into a ditch and I rolled it. I still have it at in my parent's garage but mostly for the parts.
My second one (1966) I bought in 1989 from another guy my dad worked with for $800. I was going to use some of the body parts for my wrecked 71' but it just sat on my Gandfather's farm in Arnold, MO. I sold it in 1993 for $500.
My third Bronco (1976) was sitting at a gas station in south St. Louis in 1990 and I paid $900. It was my daily driver for many years. I sold it to Dan Jones for $1200 in 2003. I should've kept it for the parts.
My fourth (1971) and by far my favorite was found on Bronco.com. I bought it from a guy in the Army at Fort Cambell, KY for $5500. I've got more time and money in this one than I ever spend on the others combined. Back then I didn't know much other than how to drive the crap out of them. I've learned so much from sources like this website and EBML. Thanks everybody!

 

[bstallion69]

I was planing to drive a couple states away to get a decent bronco. I went with my brother to go pickup parts for his Jeep at the local parts store and a guy had four broncos siting next to his garage behind the parts store. So we went over and asked him if they were for sale. I had a choice between two cut 66s a 69 and a 72 that were uncut. I chose the 69 because it was the one that ran the best and the guy had all the body panels that needed to be replaced in the back along with a new interior and grill. I later bought the bronco for 2900 which seemed pretty good for it. When we drove it home i had to put some bungee cords around the gas tank so that it wouldn't fall off but it made it home just fine.

 

[agent_orange_71]

Definitely some cool stories.

I got mine out of a local trade paper. It along with the parts 74 i later bought were sitting out beside his garage. $500 and it was mine. Running on 2 cylinders, no brakes, and not much of a body. I guess the best part of the story is that I bought it on a thursday, and he was going to take them both to the crusher on saturday.

 

[galen1970b]

I ahd just gotten through paying off a personal loan for my little 4 banger Nissan sentra, when i drove through the lemon lot on Elmendorf AFB AK. the second i saw it i was on the phone with my bank getting another loan, shes still kinda of a lemon...(still having engine problems) but ive rebuilt her entire drive train, with 4.11s and soon to cut out the entire front floor board to replace it. next summer is going to be a good summer.

 

[teqoso]

I always liked the early bronco, ever since my dad almost bought a new one in 77, but mom made him buy something more for the family - volkswagon microbus. Well, as the years went buy, and I was able to put a little money away, i started to look for a bronco. Found my baby for a little more than 4 grand. She only had a staight six, no lift and a lot of rust, but she was my bucket.

I went to grad school and figured I was going to use it as my daily driver and dog hauler from the beach. One fateful new years eve a taxi ran a red light and almost totaled the front end and me. One day, sitting in front of my apartment pondering what to do with my now busted bronco, a guy pulls up and asks what I was planning to do to fix her up. After spending the afternoon discussing what potential I had in her now, he takes me to his place and letss me pick thru the four parts trucks he had to fix her a get her road worthy. Two weeks later I moved in with him and started a comlete frame off resto on his and mine.

Now 12 years later I am still working on the same beast I bought, but know it definitely is closer to what I was originally thinking. Until next month....

 

[BoltBuster]

Was searching for a while and ran across alot of good and bad, came across mine in Nagshead NC. under a beach house, you would think it would have had alot of rust but it didnt. He started at $1200 and a year later I bought it for $600. Two days later and I started it up and drove it after replacing all the rubber and a clutch. ;D

 

[mxpaz]

I dont have a Bronco, I thought this was a Scout site. :-*

 

[Naildriver111]

Got my 1976 EB in Jan. 2005, I've have had my eye on it since the summer of 1981 when my oldest Sister married the owner Keith Manderson. I have tried to buy it over the years, but always got the same answer IT WILL NEVER BE FOR SALE! And when his health started failing him about 15 years ago, and he wasn't able to drive it or even maintain it. I offered again to buy it at any price but he still said no, but he did ask me one day if I would restore it for his Son Daniel when he got up a little money, of coarse I said yes because I just wanted to bring it back to life and see it driven. But that never happened, Keith passed away in November of 2002.
A few weeks later my Sister asked the same favor of restoring the Bronco for my nephew Daniel who was starting collage soon, she had the money from a life insurance policy and couldn"t wait to get started, we were both pretty excited. But that never happened either, Daniel was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few days later. He left this world to be with his dad and our Lord in May of 2004.
Now to get back to Jan. 2005, My Sister called me up one night and asked me to help sell the bronco for her, I was blown away. I had totaly forgotten about the bronco because it had been towed to her brother-in-laws house a couple years earlier to get it out of the yard. I said name your price, and she asked if $5000 was too much, of coarse I said no and got the money from the bank and hauled it home the following weekend. Now after a few thousand dollars and alot of blood, sweat, and tears it is finaly complete. I feel like I have a part of Keith and Daniel now, and I think they would like the restoration, My Sister sure does, and shed a few tears when she saw it. And I now understand his answers after all these years, because IT WILL NEVER BE FOR SALE!

 

[Coob]

Got mine a couple of years ago. I have wanted a Bronco for the past 10 or 12 years and I finally had the means to begin a project such as this. Bought my '77 and had her towed home. Wife said "are you sure you know what you are getting into?". I told her hell yea!

Little did I know I was in way over my head. However, its been the best stress relief money can buy.

 

[Delta4WheelDrive]

got a wild hair in college and traded my 69 fastback mustang pink for pink for the 73 EB. The EB was a sweet ride before I got ahold of if...wish I would have know that gone in 60 seconds would make the 68 worth 20+ thousand.

 

[1977]

Got my 1976 EB in Jan. 2005, I've have had my eye on it since the summer of 1981 when my oldest Sister married the owner Keith Manderson. I have tried to buy it over the years, but always got the same answer IT WILL NEVER BE FOR SALE! And when his health started failing him about 15 years ago, and he wasn't able to drive it or even maintain it. I offered again to buy it at any price but he still said no, but he did ask me one day if I would restore it for his Son Daniel when he got up a little money, of coarse I said yes because I just wanted to bring it back to life and see it driven. But that never happened, Keith passed away in November of 2002.
A few weeks later my Sister asked the same favor of restoring the Bronco for my nephew Daniel who was starting collage soon, she had the money from a life insurance policy and couldn"t wait to get started, we were both pretty excited. But that never happened either, Daniel was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few days later. He left this world to be with his dad and our Lord in May of 2004.
Now to get back to Jan. 2005, My Sister called me up one night and asked me to help sell the bronco for her, I was blown away. I had totaly forgotten about the bronco because it had been towed to her brother-in-laws house a couple years earlier to get it out of the yard. I said name your price, and she asked if $5000 was too much, of coarse I said no and got the money from the bank and hauled it home the following weekend. Now after a few thousand dollars and alot of blood, sweat, and tears it is finaly complete. I feel like I have a part of Keith and Daniel now, and I think they would like the restoration, My Sister sure does, and shed a few tears when she saw it. And I now understand his answers after all these years, because IT WILL NEVER BE FOR SALE!

What an unfortunate way to get an EB. At least it will always be in the family, and it will always mean something to you.

Great Post!

 

[rubberneck]

I was in the Marines, stationed at Camp Legeune. I just got back for Okinawa Japan, and bought a '84 ford pick-up for $1000. It was in fair shape. I spotted a '69 EB at a used car dealer out in Jacksonville NC. And it was love at first sight. They were selling the EB for $1200. I traded that sucker my truck for the bronco. After I got the EB I got orders, MSSG 22, on ship to the mediteranian. I saved every last cent earned when I was out at sea. When I got back state side, I pulled the EB out of storage and parked it at the hobby shop on base, after studying James Duff, K Bar S, Summit, etc. catalogs, I knew exactly what I wanted. Dumped all my extra time and money in that thing, it was great! Then I rolled it on a tank trail, and was back to square one. Had an EB every since.

 

[1977]

Then I rolled it on a tank trail, and was back to square one.

OOOOOORAH!!!

 

[mountain14er]

Reading this makes me jealous!

I bought my 73 with new 32" BFGs, ps, np435, and a built 302 for $3500. I thought that was good. Then I realized the front axle was a dana 30 w/ 4.10s while the rear has 3.50. That's what I get for buying it from an estate. So far I've put in new seats, shoulder belts, a roll bar, bikini top (all totaling about $75) and a $400 dana 44. Bittersweet.

 

[cbearly]

I started wheeling in an 82 F250, and pretty quickly reached the limits of what it would do in the mountains of Colorado. Too big and too heavy.
Then we had a couple of kids and the F250 didn't fit the family very well. We wanted something that we could get all four of us in, and that would do better on the trails. Looked at the heeps, but after you get 2 adults and 2 kids in one there is no room for anything else. Besides that it seemed like everybody had a heep. I've pretty much always been a Ford guy, so we started looking at the Broncos, and I really liked the EB's. Didn't know much about them, and ended up buying one of the first one's I came across in the paper a 1970 Sport. I wish I'd known a little more about what to look for. It was pretty much stock, and had more rust than I first thought. A couple years later while looking for parts I ran across a 72 that had a blown motor. By then I knew a little more about the EB's. This one already had a lot of extras like power steering, power disc brakes, an automatic, 4.88 gears and lockers, and had almost no rust on the body. I picked it up for a good price and swapped the 302 out of the 70 into it. I've got a few more things to do to it and then I can run it on the trails while I do a frame off build on the 70 sport.

 

[KuttySark]

My Truck's story (long winded)...

During my first year at UC Santa Barbara I ended up in a dorm with a guy named Andrew. He had a cherry 65 Mustang Coupe, one of the cleanest Stangs I’d ever seen, and we became good friends. I’d always loved cars but hadn’t been able to make everything add up to restore one of my own. Drew was the opposite – he and his dad had spent years wrenching on his Stang, amongst other rides.

But what Andrew really loved were Broncos, specifically Baja Broncos. He had an incredible collection of news clippings, accounts of the history of the trucks, a few VIN numbers, lots of photos. Late in the school year Andrew found a Baja for sale out in Texas, and drove it back to SB. We’d work on the truck throughout the next year, well, he’d work on it and I’d sit around watching.

I knew I wanted a Baja, but had no idea how I was going to be able to afford one.

A year or so later, 1996, I headed home to San Diego for the winter break. Flipping through the Autotrader, I found an ad for a 71 that had what looked like a Stroppe rollbar. I went and looked at the truck, and my jaw hit the floor. Although the truck had been restored to an off-yellow color, the VIN numbers fit in with other trucks Andrew had confirmed as Stroppes. Tons of Stroppe parts, a built motor, just a gorgeous truck. The owner had restored the truck without knowing what a Stroppe was. He was asking 10K, which it was fairly worth without its Baja history. I went to the banks, to my family. I tried to trade my car for it, bargain the owner down. I was a poor college student after all and just couldn’t scratch up the cash. So I clued the seller into what a Stroppe was and walked away,

In the past nine years I’ve worked hard, started a small business, saved up some coin. I’ve never lost my love of Broncos and would spend hours digging through this site, looking at trucks on eBay, or perusing Autotrader.com.

Back in May I found a truck for sale down in La Mesa, in San Diego. It looked awfully familiar.

I sent the ad to Andrew. Drew called the guy up and we matched the VIN. I paid $8500 cash the next day.

<img src=” http://creative-output.com/kutner/bronco/yakbroncodan.jpg”>

If that link doesn’t work, you’ll have to cut and paste. Please excuse my stupid mug.

http://creative-output.com/kutner/bronco/yakbroncodan.jpg

The owner I had dealt with in 1996 had NOT told his buyer about the truck being a Stroppe, or the kid had forgotten.

She’s in decent shape. I’ve rebuilt the power steering system, the flex plate just got switched out. Still working on getting the turn signals, brake lights, and reverse lights up and working. The hard top that was on the truck back in 1996 is MIA, so I picked up a replacement to get me through the winter. I hope to have it restored back to the original Baja colors in time for the FFF ’06.

Andrew Norton’s website is www.bajabronco.com