It’s gorgeous. Not sure I could bring myself to drive something so mint much, too many yahoos on the road.

@Chairborne

So I went there today for my normal visit and it stopped raining for about an hour and I asked JD to let’s take it for a quick trip down the road and he said NO!!!. You are going to get it dirty.

Everyone that goes to his shop just stare at the Bronco.  Many who don’t like red, really like this one.

My wife bought me this today for the license plate

Bronco is finished, Phase 1.  Phase 2 is finishing the top and installing it.  

Took it for a drive yesterday.  Runs and handles great.









Waiting on the parts for the tire carrier to mount the spare tire.  I have a full size tire and rim like what is on the Bronco.  Debating on if I should get a tire cover, I cant find a tire cover with the words "Ford" and "Bronco" in the early script lettering.  All of these parts are original to the Bronco.  The spare tire carrier is an option to my particular truck according to the original factory build sheet.  As was the front passenger seat, the rear seat and the AM radio, all factory options.  Funny, even in 1977, you could still get the Bronco with only a Drivers seat.

Awesome. That's going to turn some heads.

The next challenge will be driving it. It's almost too pretty.

Very jealous! That's a beauty!

It's impressive they got it all to fit. I was really surprised how tight the engine bay on these are as most of the similar vehicles I messed around with were full size trucks which had a whole lot more room. My hood is crushed and researching those everyone talked about how careful you had to be with intake carb and air cleaner choice because of interference. Then it made sense why so many of these have aftermarket hoods with a raised center section. I like you hood struts too I think I'll go that way when I replace it.

@ARHank
@AKaTom
@ALASKANFIRE

Thanks for the kind comments....this whole journey started in 1996 and I did not ever think I would be at this point.  over 24 years of looking at in my garage, all apart and every day wondering if I would ever see it back together.  

It is almost too pretty to drive, I got on the inetrstate with it yesterday and I will admit, I was nervous, but, I will get over it.  I forgot how much of an old truck it feels like to drive.  It rides very rough, I do have a 3.5" James Duff lift kit on it with enhanced rear springs, no lift blocks.  It is very stiff

As far as the clearance between the air intake and the hood, yes it is close.  I do have an Edelbrock medium rise manifold on it and we did replace the Edelbrock carburetor with a Holley 600 CFM single feed, as the Holleys do sit lower.  

As far as the hood struts, I did a lot of research on this part.  Most of the ones that are sold have a single attachment point on the hood and this is not good.  The Bronco hood is very flimsy and thin.  And with a single attachment point, the hoods will bend and crack after repeated closing.  The best on on the market is made by James Duff, as they supply a long re-enforcing structural member that bolts to the hood and the hydraulic struts are backwards.  The hood closes solid and there is no flex in the hood at all.  I highly recommend the James Duff struts.  You can see the black structural members along the side of the hood in the photo below.  James Duff is the only one that provides these reenforcing members



Thanks again

77Bronc

Yeah I saw pics of a hood that folded because it had no support.

Some Before and After Pics...

Before, March 2021:



After, August 2022:



Before:



After:



Before:





After:  





Before, September 1995 (and to clarify it looked good, but real ugly underneath, bondo and sheet metal over a lot of rust, the top was rotted real bad, I had to get rid of the top).  Ford Candy Apple Red, paint code T from the factory:



After, August 2022 (the rims are new, I matched the ones that were on the Bronco, American Racing Outlaw II's,  I could not find Kelly Safari tires).  2020 Ford Race Red, paint code PQ:

OP, you and JD did a fantastic job on this!

My first vehicle was a '76 Bronco, and those rusted floor pan pics bring back memories. As a poor 16 yr old, I just riveted sheet metal over the big hole, and let the rest act as drains

Thanks for the detailed posts and pictures, I hope you enjoy it.

Please start a new post when work begins on your wife's.

needs mudflaps to keep it clean

And add some clear bra to the rockers to keep chips down from rocks thrown by the tires.

When we start my wifes, I will start a new post....and thanks for the comments.

JD gets 95% of the credit, as he took my all apart, basket case Bronco and turned it into what you see.  I did some work over the years, but he did the real work and he is fantastic at what he does.  

Here is a link to his website, for the most part it is up to date, he is adding my Bronco as soon as he gets a chance;

Deep South Fabrication

I like the idea of mud flaps and clear bra for the lower.  The issue with mud flaps is there is nothing to attach to if you are familiar with Bronco sheetmetal.  The Bronco body is a very flimsy set up, there is not much there.  But good ideas and I do want to protect the paint, especially around here where the local maintenance crew gets their asphalt at a deep discount and they pour that crap everywhere.  

Thanks for the comments

77Bronc (Richard)

Awesome Bronco and I have enjoyed the thread.

Really wish you could make a video so we could hear it running.

Update.

Top is painted and on.  Had to wait on some parts and gaskets to keep the project rolling.  But it does look good.  Thought about painting the top a flat/satin black but after I made some mock ups on the laptop decided to stay all red as originally planned.  

The top is used off of a 1976 Bronco, it was in excellent shape and I got a good deal on it.  Finding an original top for the early Bronco is not easy.  The top that was on my truck when I bought it was basically Bondo over rot.  It was real bad.  So I gave it to a friend of mine to put on his hunting Bronco.  

The next step is to design some sort of headliner...the Bronco headliners you buy are fancy cardboard inserts and dont look good or durable...not sure what I am going to do, but that is the fun part of the upgrades.

Looks great!

Good call on painting the top. I think it looks better and it'll help keep down the interior temps when that sun is blazing.

More pics of the top and lift gate


Original glass and all new rubber gaskets


Toms Offroad pneumatic lift gate struts....one of the best upgrades, installed similiar on the hood

Painted spare tire carrier horn on the tire carrier....JD and I decided to not use this horn and he is going to make one out of SS

I have to say this truck is turning out to be perfect....not shown is all SS hardware on the inside holding the top on...also all new sun visors, wiper motor cover and all SS hardware.  


Update: JD rolled some SS and covered the horn to protect it.  Came out great




With spare mounted….looks great

That thing looks great. I'd be scared to drive it. Have you dinged, scratched or chipped it yet?

That thing looks great. I'd be scared to drive it. Have you dinged, scratched or chipped it yet?

Not yet, but there are some slight imperfections....this is not a show truck, it is a very clean and well put together driver....so there are some areas that we know about but unless we point them out, you would not see them.  

I am planning to get some clear rock guards installed behind each wheel

OP, this thing looks like absolute shit... I can haul it off for a fee Nice work. Alot of people cut these up and modify them. Keeping it stock looking was a good call.

Update:   Been a while since I updated on the Bronco.  It is now at home.  We ran into some slight issues, nothing major and while JD had the truck he made a custom 21 gallon rear fuel tank to replace the factory 13 gallon.  The 1977 Bronco came with dual tanks, 13 rear and 6 gallon front.  I lost the front tank with installing the power running boards.  He had to modify his standard rear fuel tank design to work around the custom trailer hitch I had made 25 years ago.  

It has been a long long road with this truck.  I still have some small things to address but will give me something to work on

Another update

I entered the Bronco in my first car/truck show this past Saturday









Got a first place, show directors over all pick.  I had some serious competition, cherry ‘69 Roadrunner, ‘72 Mustang Mach 1 and some Camaros

Congrats man! Bet that made you proud and worth every penny/hour you’ve got into it!

Amazing work!  I wish I still had my old '68