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Fireball's '76 build thread - "Piece by Piece" - PAINTED, ASSEMBLED & ON THE ROAD!

BluebroncoNC

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Jul 30, 2007
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Asheville, NC
QUESTION: what is the male spade connector on the wiper motor for? You can barely see it in the above photo, it faces the front of the car.

!

If it is that Male Spade in your picture #1 & #2 that's coming out of the wire harness, that's for the light on your Wiper Motor Cover. If you're looking at something else, I didn't catch it.
 
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Fireball05

Fireball05

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Oct 7, 2012
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Blue - it's the spade that is on the motor itself. This picture shows it better.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1358826717.480962.jpg
 

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broncoitis

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Jul 23, 2010
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4,449
Nice work! Dash looks great along with the wipers. Wish I could help with the spade but I am not sure. I don't think that mine has a spade connector!

Keep it up. Can't wait to see this thing at Rausch Creek possibly.
 
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Fireball05

Fireball05

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A few more pieces of the puzzle put back together...

I replaced the master cylinder and the rear brake line and had to bleed the system. Had a terrible time and couldn't get the rears to bleed. Thanks to Xcntrk for his help, I finally removed the proportioning valve, took it apart, cleaned it up, and for some reason it started working. So what was going to be a 20 minute session to bleed the brakes turned into the better part of day fussing around and fighting with it.

For the first time in 6 weeks, the Bronco saw the ground! Love seeing the newly painted wheels on it, the fresh wimbleton white looks soooo good! Note the carefully crafted, rarely seen 4 tone paint job: bare metal, white spray can primer, grey 2 part epoxy primer and red finish coat.



Finished up the BCB 23 gal tank install yesterday, and it fired right up. Gauges all seem to work, sending unit tested, ready to go. Need to cleanup the rear brake and TS light wiring, a bunch of hacks from old trailer wiring, going to take it all apart and run everything properly.




Dash is almost complete with rebuilt steering column, new wheel, refurbished gauge cluster and all other switches cleaned and polished. Still need to reinstall the radio, speaker and glovebox.



Tomorrow will be a test drive to check out the brakes and make sure everything is working properly. The interior prep is all done and should be getting a fresh coat of RaptorLiner on Saturday. I ordered seat covers from Broncohut, so will get that sorted out in the next few weeks, hoping to have the interior finished and ready by mid-February for the MEB Rausch Creek gathering.
 

broncoitis

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Jul 23, 2010
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Dash looks good and the tank came out nice as well. Looks like Rausch Creek is a possibility. ;D
 

Tedster100

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Aug 25, 2010
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1,762
Man, you are making great progress and it looks great! Hope to catch up with you at one of the events this summer!
 

xcntrk

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Jan 12, 2012
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Loc.
NOVA
Looks really great! Those wheels turned out super nice...




What's going on in the passenger area in this pic??? What is this equipment?

8427766171_9be30156f4_z.jpg
 
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Fireball05

Fireball05

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That is a Festool vac and a dual action sander. A relic from my woodworking/home renovation days. It's basically a RO sander on steroids, with excellent dust collection. Works pretty well for body panels and for prepping the bed for the liner install.
 
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Fireball05

Fireball05

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My favorite mod to date: cutting the front bumper to fit the body lines. This and the Alice mod has the front end looking sharp!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1360616307.463700.jpg
 
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Fireball05

Fireball05

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Oct 7, 2012
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3 point belts!

A few more quick updates... been putzing around with small stuff and thought I'd post a few photos.

I ordered the 3 point belts from Tom's. They're nice, but the mounting brackets leave a bit to be desired. To get it to work with the stock seats, I had to mount the reel on top of the rollbar mount, and then the other connection on the stock outboard belt hole. I cut this down to make the mounting more solid.

All in all, more work than I thought, but turned out pretty well. Nice having the safety of 3 pt belts. As an added bonus, they seem to work very well, and the passenger side doesn't bounce around or hit the roll bar when noone is sitting there! The attached photos show the driver seat in the most rearward position.



As much as I really love the look of my original seatcovers and the priceless patina they've developed over the years, Melissa at Broncohut sent me these, so get in line now if you'd like a shot at the old ones!

 

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broncoitis

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Jul 23, 2010
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A few more quick updates... been putzing around with small stuff and thought I'd post a few photos.

I ordered the 3 point belts from Tom's. They're nice, but the mounting brackets leave a bit to be desired. To get it to work with the stock seats, I had to mount the reel on top of the rollbar mount, and then the other connection on the stock outboard belt hole. I cut this down to make the mounting more solid.

All in all, more work than I thought, but turned out pretty well. Nice having the safety of 3 pt belts. As an added bonus, they seem to work very well, and the passenger side doesn't bounce around or hit the roll bar when noone is sitting there! The attached photos show the driver seat in the most rearward position.



As much as I really love the look of my original seatcovers and the priceless patina they've developed over the years, Melissa at Broncohut sent me these, so get in line now if you'd like a shot at the old ones!


I don't know why you would recover those seats! They look to be in GREAT condition! Send the new covers up to Tasker. Your being way too picky about those current covers. They really aren't that bad. :eek:

Besides the unnecessary covers, the raptor liner came out Awesome and the 3pt belts came out really well also. Good job and keep at it!
 
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Fireball05

Fireball05

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Oct 7, 2012
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Hardtop nut holders

When I took the hardtop off a few weeks ago and fumbled with the 30odd bolts that secure it to the Bronco, I thought there should be an easier way. I've had a few Miata's in my day, where you could throw the soft top down at speed by opening two latches, or if using the hardtop, release 4 latches and lift all 45 pounds of the fiberglass HT off all by yourself.

The Bronco HT is a bit more complicated. This isn't a huge time saver, but it's nice to have. Just took some 1/8" thick steel and welded the nuts to it, made one per side to attach the 7 bolts to either side of the quarter panel.

I secured them to the tops of the quarter panels with two small recessed button heads, so they can stay in place all the time. Planning to build some cover plates to go over the quarter panels and cover all the holes in the summer when the HT is off. I got some cheap aluminum at Lowe's for this project, will sand and polish it up and hope it turns out nicely.

 

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Fireball05

Fireball05

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Tire rack installed

Last update for the day....

Got a few more minor things done today which brings this current. Installed two new belts which eliminated the PS belt whine at full lock, had to cut down the 2 middle rear seat belt bolts so they don't hit my new 23gal tank, played around with my door alignment, and went to test fit the OEM spare tire rack that came in the back of my Bronco when I bought it.

Thought putting the spare tire rack on would be a quick an easy job, I had all the parts assembled and was ready to go. Got the brackets ready only to find out I had two upper hinge backing plates and zero lower hinge backing plates! Grrrr.... Then went to put the rack on and find that its twisted. Must've either backed into something in it's 37 year past, or gotten rear ended by something or someone.

So out came the torch....


And got it straightened up:


Went to install the bracket/hanger that the tire rests on, and found that was bent again. No worries, back out came the torch, and a few minutes later:




Also added some chrome headlight surrounds and side marker bezels, added auxillary grounds to the rear taillight housings and some chrome back there as well. Looking good and should have it ready to tear back apart again and continue with the painting process!





Piece by piece!!!
 

Kniteopp

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Apr 27, 2012
Messages
107
Loc.
Kennewick WA
Fireball, very much enjoying your build. Sincerely appreciate some of the questions you have asked and all the pictures you have posted. I am still a few weeks from my first but not only have asked questions that I am sure I would end up with, your pictures are clear and precise, leaving no doubt as to what you are talking about.
You are doing great work...I am biting at the bit to finally bring one home and have as much fun as you are!
 
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Fireball05

Fireball05

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Knite - thank you for the nice comment. My build thread pales in comparison to most on here, but I'm enjoying the process and the documentation of such, and hope that others will find it helpful! Lots of good info on this site, and super helpful members, so I'm hoping to add just a little to the mix.

Good luck with your search - hoping you find the right one soon!
 

tasker

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keep after it.....looks awesome! can't wait to see it in person. love the painted steelies
 
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Fireball05

Fireball05

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Got an email today from UPS with a tracking number for 181.6 pounds of excitement....my 2.5" lift kit and other bits from JBG will be here Thursday!
 
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