BAT Craziness

[toddz69]

Did they come with standard seats like that? Shouldn't it have had cloth centers?
And what's with all these Broncos that have the rear lift gate handle pointed down! Seems like someone was in there and put it back together wrong. I see that almost more often than I see one that is correct.
Wonder if they made these mistakes at the factory sometimes? Kind of doubt it though, since I never saw them like that way back in the day.

Those facts, and the excess black under the hood, made me skeptical that the indicated mileage was actual. But so many other things being original looking, including the pristine floor mat, make me wonder...

Paul

Yeah, I noticed that handle position too. I think the excess black is someone going crazy with the undercoating gun back in the day. The seats are correct - knit vinyl per the Marti Report. No EBs had cloth centers in their seats afaik.

Todd Z.

 

[DirtDonk]

Well, if it's not cloth, then it's something I always called cloth, when you got the Explorer or Ranger packages with houndstooth and herringbone and whatever all those patterns were called. Different from the "patterned" vinyl of the stock parchment seats.
At least I always thought they were.

Not sure I ever saw the "knit vinyl" description either. I was always "parchment rosette" or something like that?
Wonder if knit vinyl was different, or in '77 was just a different name for the same thing.

Paul

 

[SeaVee]

Here’s my original 77 Ranger interior, definitely cloth in the middle pattern and vinyl on the edges

 

[Zeke]

I once owned the orange and white 1977 Sport Decor that sold on BAT a couple of weeks ago (back in the 90's before it was restored). I bought it from a small car lot and knew it came out of PA. It was very original also.....original exhaust with the little "football" cat converter, Firestone spare, interior and parchment floor mat.

Funny, both these 77 Sport/Decor's came out of PA (different dealerships) and both had dual tank doors, but no aux. tank or dash controls (the aux. gas door was fixed from the backside with some kind of bracket). I guess Ford was using up the parts on hand.

Z

 

[toddz69]

Yeah, you guys are right - the Ranger and Explorer inserts are cloth. They're not what I typically think of when I think of cloth material in seats but they definitely are. The Sport seats were always what you see in the pics. I'd refer to them as parchment rosette too. When I think of "knit vinyl", I think of the seats we had in our '77 F250, which was our "family car" for many years and I think the theory was that it breathed better than a regular vinyl seat.

Todd Z.

 

[LUBr LuvR]

The knit vinyl in the 1977s (and 1976s) is a different insert. The pattern somewhat resembles fish scales. I’ll post up a better pic tomorrow.

 

[okie4570]

All the RV and SV codes say "knitted vinyl".

 

[DirtDonk]

Sorry that I dragged it off subject, but for me, this is very interesting stuff!

 

[LUBr LuvR]

Here’s some closeups of the pattern.

 

[fordfan]

Here’s some closeups of the pattern.

View attachment 920254

That's right Mary... and '75s also had the 'fish scale' textured vinyl.

 

[LUBr LuvR]

That's right Mary... and '75s also had the 'fish scale' textured vinyl.

Thanks Dennis, was wondering about the 75s. Maybe it came with the wider spoke steering wheels

 

[fordfan]

Thanks Todd, this will be a fun watch.

Yes. This is a very nice Bronco with one of the best parchment mats that I have seen. The repaint of this Bronco would bother me a bit though. By looking closely at the detail pictures, it's had an all over respray with even the door jambs and door edges sprayed. Most of the tailgate components were also sprayed Bright Emerald. The respray makes you wonder why on a Bronco with this low of mileage. I think the respray quality is the reason why the seller decided to leave it coated in the 'barn dust'.

 

[fordfan]

Thanks Dennis, was wondering about the 75s. Maybe it came with the wider spoke steering wheels

Yes. The '75 was the first year of the fat spoke wheel too...

 

[toddz69]

Interesting details on the upholstery. Thanks @LUBr LuvR and @fordfan for additional details.

Todd Z.

 

[hyghlndr]

Weird that I have seen so many of the late 77 special decor in PA, more than anywhere else but most have been very rusty.

 

[toddz69]

Weird that I have seen so many of the late 77 special decor in PA, more than anywhere else but most have been very rusty.

Does seem to be a lot of them in that region, now that you mention it. Similar situation to a number of the last '77s being in a certain area in TN - @clarrance has mentioned that numerous times - and I think most of the TN late trucks are a dark green color.

Todd Z.

 

[stout22]

That special decor is one of my favorite 77 colors

 

[DirtDonk]

Any chance that mat is one of the new replacements?

 

[Slowleak]

It’s odd that the Marti shows “reduced noise exhaust system” but it has the standard rear pipe.

 

[DirtDonk]

I think Ford was just being euphemistic and was making the standard exhaust sound exotic and worth more money.
When all they meant was that they were actually installing some tubing and a muffler behind the exhaust manifold!