My "Ole Blue" build

[fluffybunny]

Here's my build on my 1970 that I bought in October 2021. I got on FB one evening and one had popped up for sale 2 hours away for $7k. It had been posted a few minutes before I logged on so I immediately sent a PM to the guy and said that I would be there first thing in the morning. As soon as we met the next morning, he told me that his phone had been blowing up. I looked it over and figured it looked OK even though it was a mess. The wiring had been hacked to pieces so he ran a gas line from the fuel pump to a gas can and hot wired it to start it. It ran pretty good so I bought it. Luckily for me, there was a company across from him that rented U-Haul trailers so I rented a trailer and he loaded it buy lifting the rear (it has a huge tube rear bumper) with his forklift and I steered it onto the trailer.

 

[fluffybunny]

Once home, I began looking it over and grabbed a notebook, documented things I needed, and started ordering. I figured I would start with the bodywork and quickly discovered that hidden below the paint was tons of filler. The front fenders and grille had so much that I replaced them. I ordered a pair of front fenders and found a good grille on Marketplace for cheap. Once my fenders came in, I learned that repop parts aren't the greatest. The hood didn't have a prop rod and I got tired of lifting the hood and using a 2x4 as a prop rod so I researched gas struts. I ordered some parts off of Amazon and built my own kit for about $33.

My harness came in so I started on that. Once I had the dash out I discovered that all of the cable controls were frozen so more ordering. Next, I had to choose a color. I found a FJ on the net that I liked the shade of blue and it was painted with Summit Racing paint. Luckily for me, there is a Summit warehouse 50 miles away so I went down and got paint supplies. My plans were to just paint the dash but after spraying it, I had plenty of paint mixed so I shot the grille too even though I need to do a little body work to it.

 

[fluffybunny]

Once the dash parts came in, I wired the dash, installed new controls, and put on some new knobs. I was surprised a the cost of replacement knobs so I opted for some $4 aluminum knobs from Summit. The speedo cluster was a mess so I took it apart, cleaned it, and repainted.

 

[fluffybunny]

I then bedlined the interior. The bed did not have any rust issues and the front floorboards had been replaced with sheet metal. I prepped the interior by sanding, priming, sanding and cleaning that, and then shot it with the kit sold by Summit.

 

[fluffybunny]

I rewired the Bronco and put in the fuel tanks. I had to buy a new rear fuel tank kit and I ran new fuel lines. The aux tank had already been replaced with a poly tank but after putting gas in both tanks, I discovered that aux tank had a split on one corner. I dropped it and my neighbor used his Harbor Freight plastic welder to path it. I filled the tank full of water and left it for several hours and it held so I'm rolling with it.

My brother-in-law owns a 69 Bronco and he bought new seats and gifted me his old pair that he had gotten out of a VW in a junkyard years ago. After a good cleaning, they came out great.

 

[fluffybunny]

I took the old rusty roll bar that came with the Bronco, sanded it completely, primed it with etching primer, and painted it with Summit jet black paint. After putting it in, I saw that it sat lower than the windshield frame. I'm only going to run a bikini top and roadster door inserts. The Bronco has a huge brush guard that had been welded to front. I had removed it and was going to scrap it, then I got smart and decided to hack it up and use some of the tubes to run braces from the windshield to roll bar. I watched a youtube video on how to make some paracord grab handles so I whipped up a couple of those.

 

[fluffybunny]

I had also discovered that the steering column was in bad shape so I rebuilt it and went with a cheap Grant steering wheel. I splurged on the optional $13 Ford horn button. While putting the column back in, one of the rusty brake lines from the master cylinder snapped in half. Not a drop of fluid came out even though the master cylinder had fluid in it. Here we go again, more parts. I ordered new everything from the master cylinder to the wheel cylinders. I pulled the rear hubs and found them to be really good shape and good brake shoes. I'm pulling the fronts today along with fabbing up the passenger side windshield bracket and more bodywork.

 

[awest5321]

I had also discovered that the steering column was in bad shape so I rebuilt it and went with a cheap Grant steering wheel. I splurged on the optional $13 Ford horn button. While putting the column back in, one of the rusty brake lines from the master cylinder snapped in half. Not a drop of fluid came out even though the master cylinder had fluid in it. Here we go again, more parts. I ordered new everything from the master cylinder to the wheel cylinders. I pulled the rear hubs and found them to be really good shape and good brake shoes. I'm pulling the fronts today along with fabbing up the passenger side windshield bracket and more bodywork.

Getting things done. Sounds just like me when I work on my 69. Keep at it.

 

[gnsteam]

Your moving right along and looking good so far.