Unbelievable Bronco Story + build thread

[tommyg]

Unbelievable story, and the truck looks tremendous!

 

[wegngis]

I am blown away by this story. You are and were meant to be with this vehicle. All the best to you and your family.

(When can I expect to see the TV movie version released?)

 

[BluebroncoNC]

I am amazed like everyone else... Good for you!

 

[Entourage]

That is a great story and happy you got him back. Great to hear you are loving Florida and doing well. Thanks for letting me know about this unbelievable story. Wish you and your family continued success. Look forward to more pics

 

[xfalcon]

Ad is still up

http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/5321353168.html

 

[904Bronco]

What a great story...
Wishing you continuing success with your illness and many more years of Bronco memories to come.

 

[D.R.Y.]

do not really have words to describe my thoughts other than enjoy all the time and memories you will make now that "Charlie" is back in the family..

 

[Cortez]

OK so after driving Charlie for a couple of years I decided I was ready to start the rebuild and I’ve actually started it about 12 months ago. funny story I saw a nearby bronco buddy (chuzie) looking for body panels to rebuild his rollover and I decided that selling my body parts would be a way to force myself to do my restoration. So I sold fenders, hood, grill and anything else that I could to get me going. I started this resto work in January 2018 so if I can get her done by SC 2019 it will be a 15 month build and coincide with my birthday near end of March which will be the big 5 ohhh! And 10 years since my wife originally bought the truck.

My overall build strategy is to refresh body and paint, fix all the leaks in the drivetrain, replace the leaking exhaust and generally make her a good driver. I like the old school look of the chrome bumpers so I will keep them. She will be a daily commuter and weekend trail truck. Here in Florida we easily get 5 months of good topless weather and the rest is spotty rain/sun mix. For now I don’t plan on adding ac but that may change. I thought about a 5 speed but don’t see myself on the highway much so will stay with the np435.

Geared myself up by purchasing some air tools and a welder at harbor freight...one of the new Vulcan migs (Migmax 215) and started to get busy.

Started with replacing the add a leaf rear suspension with Toms 3.5” 9 leaf and added four Bilsteins to boot. While doing this I set the rear axle back a little 1.25” to better center in the wheel wells.

 

[Cortez]

Next up was replacing the inner fender on passenger side which had taken a hit at some time in the last 50 years. So this was my introduction to spot weld cutters - that’s a love hate relationship for sure....I think I wore out about 5-6 of them on this project. I placed my hi-lift jack between the tire and radiator support then heated up the support and was able to straighten it back about 1/2”. I’m positive that was a redneck move but ya gotta do with what you have. Inner fender was about the best hidden spot to place my newbie booger welds.

 

[Cortez]

Next - I felt a deeper level of commitment was needed so I jumped in with both feet for several demo days. Cutting rear quarters out, stripping the interior, removing tailgate, dropping the fuel tanks. I picked up a 23 gallon tank from a fellow member and sold my oversized aux tank. Which basically netted me a new tank for $150 difference. I love buying and trading parts...scoring new parts from people who didn’t use them has helped me stretch my money.

 

[904Bronco]

What a great story...
Wishing you continuing success with your illness and many more years of Bronco memories to come.

I am glad to see your story continue... So many positive things have happened.

I am certain that Charlie will be as good as new in no time, and as an added bonus, the satisfaction of making him new again, doing the work yourself, and having the support of friends and Family is a great thing indeed.

Doug

 

[sprdv1]

Very good.. Look forward to your progress..

 

[jmangi62]

Looks like your having some fun with ol charlie. When I removed my rear quarters I accidentally cut too much on the drivers side, oops, total noob move. Luckily there's an old grouchy codger ( as I call him), not very far from my house. So I made a template and took it to him and a couple days later he had the perfect replacement panel made for me for a couple bucks. Back home I went and welded in the new panel, I was happy, you couldn't even tell that there was anything wrong in there. Sealed the shit out of it, painted it and done. I got lucky on that one whew. Good luck with ol charlie. Jim
Dam sideways pics ugh! ��

 

[Cortez]

Looks good Jim - something very satisfying about putting new steel on. I think the quarters weren’t too bad, once I got some good steel. I bought some quarters from CJ Pony but when they showed up the lip that mates with the upper quarter was almost a half inch different between each, and even the steel gauge was off...one was 18ga. and the other was about 22 ga. So I sent them back and went with Tom Carpenter quarters and man what a difference they fit so much better.

 

[Cortez]

Next up I did outer rockers from Toms and new door skins. On the doors I was going to take the easy path and order new ones but so many people said they don’t fit well I decided to put on door skins. Came out pretty good but it worked my forearms a lot...did it mostly with a hammer and dolly. I bought a skin zipper but I think it was meant for thinner gauge steel it didn’t work much.

 

[rydog1130]

Awesome story and good job so far... you got about 2 month + some change to get her done. My original Super Cel débuted date was 2 years ago and I'm just finally getting it there this year! Good luck and hope to see you there!

 

[BCH BRCO]

You are an inspiration to all of us!

 

[Cortez]

Thanks guys - this weekend has been a Bronco marathon ...my wife and daughter were visiting family out west so I have been chipping away at my list. Finished patching all the holes that were drilled in my tub over the last 50 years and then Friday I raptor lined the interior and the cage. My whole body hurt on Saturday Came out very nice and got me motivated to work harder. With the raptor liner I mixed the hytech ceramic beads for sound/heat barrier. Saturday I cut the fenders and mounted flares, and mounted my doors back on. Short some hardware for the tailgate so I will hold that for next weekend. I can finally see a truck coming together.

 

[sprdv1]

Amazing how much you can get done w/them gone right.. I know that feeling

 

[jmangi62]

Wow bro, you are killin it! Door skins too, wow! That is gonna be one sick rig, it actually is already, keep it up. I bought all my sheet metal from Toms, just didn't have the patience to shop around, pretty good stuff. Jim