- Joined
- Sep 21, 2017
- Messages
- 629
Hi y'all. I'm a newbie Bronco owner, proud nth? owner of a 1974 U15 Explorer. Haven't pulled a Marti report or anything yet, but am staring at my winter project.
I've been consuming as much knowledge as possible the last 2 months from this forum. great stuff. I find myself checking daily, craving new build threads while digging up old ones that are relevant.
So I decided to start my own thread.. mainly for selfish reasons to get some sage guidance on how far to take the "Great Pumpkin". My late father owned a 1976 EB rust bucket, tore it down and tinkered with it for 10+yrs and unfortunately passed away before he could finish it. The family finished it and we still have it, hence my itch to pick one up, but not leave it in parts for years before I get to enjoy it.
I scored The Pumpkin locally, and it has had a few resto-mod improvements from the PO's through the years. I'm partial to keeping it this way but getting it rust & dent-free w/ some fresh paint, semi-restomod, keeping front/rear cut w/ some warflares, etc. Some decent upgrades:
So while I crave a full frame-off resto, i'm afraid of it sitting for years and costing 5x my budget. I've got a heated shop, welder, tools, and some basic welding experience. I have access to a lift and am strongly considering taking the body off to thoroughly clean & POR15 the frame, clean/paint the engine, replace lines, etc
Where I struggle (for now) is how far to take the body panels. ie, replace or repair? Here is where I could use the most guidance on where to get them to good driver quality before I have a paint/body guy tackle it.
I'll start with some pictures and follow up with a few chaser posts.
I've been consuming as much knowledge as possible the last 2 months from this forum. great stuff. I find myself checking daily, craving new build threads while digging up old ones that are relevant.
So I decided to start my own thread.. mainly for selfish reasons to get some sage guidance on how far to take the "Great Pumpkin". My late father owned a 1976 EB rust bucket, tore it down and tinkered with it for 10+yrs and unfortunately passed away before he could finish it. The family finished it and we still have it, hence my itch to pick one up, but not leave it in parts for years before I get to enjoy it.
I scored The Pumpkin locally, and it has had a few resto-mod improvements from the PO's through the years. I'm partial to keeping it this way but getting it rust & dent-free w/ some fresh paint, semi-restomod, keeping front/rear cut w/ some warflares, etc. Some decent upgrades:
Painless Wiring Harness
Flaming River Steering column
Front disc brake conversion
Rampage soft top (no hard top included)
15" wheels w/ 33" BFG tires
Edelbrock intake and carb (I just recently rebuilt it..running much better after sitting for 2yrs)
Beefy rear bumper w/ tire rack and jerry can holder
Roll cage
So while I crave a full frame-off resto, i'm afraid of it sitting for years and costing 5x my budget. I've got a heated shop, welder, tools, and some basic welding experience. I have access to a lift and am strongly considering taking the body off to thoroughly clean & POR15 the frame, clean/paint the engine, replace lines, etc
Where I struggle (for now) is how far to take the body panels. ie, replace or repair? Here is where I could use the most guidance on where to get them to good driver quality before I have a paint/body guy tackle it.
I'll start with some pictures and follow up with a few chaser posts.
Attachments
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1974 bronco polished.jpg159.7 KB · Views: 197
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passenger rear.jpg76.4 KB · Views: 133
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rear.jpg43.1 KB · Views: 137
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front.jpg78.9 KB · Views: 146
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drivers rear bent 2.jpg56.9 KB · Views: 153
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drivers quarter.jpg64.1 KB · Views: 155
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drivers front angle.jpg77.9 KB · Views: 161
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drivers angle.jpg94.5 KB · Views: 175
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grille.jpg88.7 KB · Views: 117
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engine.jpg82.7 KB · Views: 138
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drivers seat.jpg92.8 KB · Views: 141
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dash.jpg110.9 KB · Views: 172