At the urging of others on a separate thread, I will do what I can to make this a build thread. I've been working on this 68 Ford Bronco since around May of 2019.
This is my first ever attempt at restoring a vehicle, so go easy. The most work I've ever done on a car is replacing a brake sensor and installing some lights. So here we go.
My first step was finding what I considered the right vehicle for a restore. I picked this one up outside of Waco. It cranked and drove alright and we trailered it home. It had a gas tank in the bed and the filth in the bed was beyond belief. Seats were terrible - I think the back seat was out of an old school bus. The roll bar was a piece of crap fabricated at the ranch it had been on. This thing was filthy. I kid you not, I found some little holes in the bottom of the frame and the amount of dirt, acorns, sticks and other crap that came out would amaze you. I swear that I pulled out three full wife beater tshirts. I think rats went in the front of the frame and built some nests deep in there.
My next step was to remove surface rust and get the frame in order. Hours of wire brush and phosphoric acid and then covered with Por-15. Any of these photos that show "black" are after photos as it had a lot of surface rust prior.
Soon, I realized the floor, the rockers, the tailgate, the hood were all going to need replacing - they were rusted to hell and were covered by some kind of resin or epoxy. It was ****ed. I found myself starting a frame-off restore without actually taking off the frame. I've got the floor completely removed and ready to replace - just measuring and remeasuring, then clamping, then tech screwing and finally welding because doors need to fit perfectly. To be honest, I'm scared to move on and I'm doing other little things.
These are the cross channels that hold the floor. They were also screwed and will be replaced.
I fixed up the transfer case, replaced some bushings and POR-15'd the **** out of it.
Having this thing level when installing body mounts, the floors and the rockers, etc is so important. So I've got the frame leveled on one set of jacks and the tub leveled on some 2X4s. I've also braced the crap out of it to stop it from tacoing. You can see right here that the chassis/frame is level, but the tub isn't.
here is the leveled tub from the driver's rear:
I did a little work to the passenger door post - welded in some metal and patched with bondo and weldthrough primer. I still need to do the driver's side.
The floors will be covered initially in weldthrough primer, sealed and then finished in Rhino Liner or Lizard Skin (or both). Here is a pic with the first test of the inner and outer rockers and door posts c-clamped. Still need a lot of work on this before welding.
Once the floor is done, I will pull the motor and have the front section and engine bay media blasted. Rhinoliner or lizard skin the interior of the engine bay (or maybe paint - not sure). Fix up the engine, paint the engine, etc.
Then I will be putting front disc brakes and new gas tank, new hood, new windshield, new dash, new seats and new tailgate. Wire harness will be installed. Finally paint job and any unfinished body work will be handled by someone who knows what the hell they are doing.
This is my first ever attempt at restoring a vehicle, so go easy. The most work I've ever done on a car is replacing a brake sensor and installing some lights. So here we go.
My first step was finding what I considered the right vehicle for a restore. I picked this one up outside of Waco. It cranked and drove alright and we trailered it home. It had a gas tank in the bed and the filth in the bed was beyond belief. Seats were terrible - I think the back seat was out of an old school bus. The roll bar was a piece of crap fabricated at the ranch it had been on. This thing was filthy. I kid you not, I found some little holes in the bottom of the frame and the amount of dirt, acorns, sticks and other crap that came out would amaze you. I swear that I pulled out three full wife beater tshirts. I think rats went in the front of the frame and built some nests deep in there.
My next step was to remove surface rust and get the frame in order. Hours of wire brush and phosphoric acid and then covered with Por-15. Any of these photos that show "black" are after photos as it had a lot of surface rust prior.
Soon, I realized the floor, the rockers, the tailgate, the hood were all going to need replacing - they were rusted to hell and were covered by some kind of resin or epoxy. It was ****ed. I found myself starting a frame-off restore without actually taking off the frame. I've got the floor completely removed and ready to replace - just measuring and remeasuring, then clamping, then tech screwing and finally welding because doors need to fit perfectly. To be honest, I'm scared to move on and I'm doing other little things.
These are the cross channels that hold the floor. They were also screwed and will be replaced.
I fixed up the transfer case, replaced some bushings and POR-15'd the **** out of it.
Having this thing level when installing body mounts, the floors and the rockers, etc is so important. So I've got the frame leveled on one set of jacks and the tub leveled on some 2X4s. I've also braced the crap out of it to stop it from tacoing. You can see right here that the chassis/frame is level, but the tub isn't.
here is the leveled tub from the driver's rear:
I did a little work to the passenger door post - welded in some metal and patched with bondo and weldthrough primer. I still need to do the driver's side.
The floors will be covered initially in weldthrough primer, sealed and then finished in Rhino Liner or Lizard Skin (or both). Here is a pic with the first test of the inner and outer rockers and door posts c-clamped. Still need a lot of work on this before welding.
Once the floor is done, I will pull the motor and have the front section and engine bay media blasted. Rhinoliner or lizard skin the interior of the engine bay (or maybe paint - not sure). Fix up the engine, paint the engine, etc.
Then I will be putting front disc brakes and new gas tank, new hood, new windshield, new dash, new seats and new tailgate. Wire harness will be installed. Finally paint job and any unfinished body work will be handled by someone who knows what the hell they are doing.
