Josh's Bronco II Body Restoration Thread

[country0001]

Yeah i just rattlecanned mine. It sees a lot of dirt roads and frequently gets slapped by trees.

Getting ready to repaint with tractor paint. It'll stay blue. I was just tired of the flat black. I've got about ten bucks in the paint job.

 

[baggedcereals]

that looks really nice!!!! Good job!

 

[Shran]

Looks great! Just out of curiosity, how much money did you have into paint?

 

[88B2EB]

Looks great! Just out of curiosity, how much money did you have into paint?

PM sent.

 

[Jraymer360]

PM sent.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/cto/3309724902.html


Looks exactly like yours!

 

[88B2EB]

Looks exactly like yours!

Yeah it sure does The EB's seem to pop up from time to time, always in that color scheme for some reason.

 

[Jraymer360]

Yeah it sure does The EB's seem to pop up from time to time, always in that color scheme for some reason.

and always double the price that i want them for...i'd rather have a B2 Than my ranger!

 

[88B2EB]

Got the buffing thing all figured out today! PetesPonies offered some really good advice that I basically did word for word and it turned out really nice. First thing was to drop the orbital buffer then drop some cash on a nice rotary buffer/polisher by ATD. It's got great reviews and is very comparable to professional buffers but at a lower price ($80). I also ordered a yellow foam pad for it ($15) and some SureFinish compound from Autobodystore.com ($37).

Here's some experimenting on the hood. The left side (passenger) was done with the orbital buffer, the top right was just wet sanded with 1500 grit, and the bottom right was done with the rotary buffer.

This was the temporary shop today. The garage was too dark to see all the sanding scratches that needed to get buffed out so I pulled everything out into the daylight. You can see all the body panels lined up in the garage ready for their turn on the bench.

First step was a wool pad at the lowest setting (1000rpm) with firm pressure (being careful not to burn the clear coat off the edges):

After that I followed up with more compound and the yellow foam pad with firm pressure (always at 1000rpm). Then some water on the pad and very light pressure. Here's all finished:

So paintwork is officially done today! Next will be the slow process of putting everything back together. It's already too cold for pinstriping and decals so that will need to wait till Spring. In the meantime there are some things that make sense to take care of while it's all apart like a new sending unit, fixing a PO's radio wiring disaster, possibly new body mounts (hint), etc. Still a long way to go on the old B2 and will keep you posted.

 

[hende]

VERY nice work

 

[PetesPonies]

It really is amazing isn't it? How nice the finish can work when it's done correctly. Good job!! It's going to look brand new and that is not an over statement. But you realize why it's costs so much to have good work done right?? time!!

 

[88B2EB]

Thanks guys. I hope it looks as good as you say it will Pete. Seeing some of the work by other members like Multiranger's STOTM is really humbling. Here are a few thing's I was able to get done over the past few weeks:

The fenders are on. Have to say I was a little disappointed with the repro fenders. The fit just isn't at the same level as stock and I had to grind down the flanges in the side openings so the marker lights would fit as well as a few other places. I'd recommend dry fitting them before painting, it just would have made it a whole lot easier to grind/bang the panels into shape. Aside from that it just took quite a while adjusting everything to get the fit as close as possible without the door hitting.

Dropped the fuel tank to install a new sending unit. A lot easier than I would have expected but still a pain getting all the hoses and wires hooked back up.

Here are some pictures of the liftgate going back on. I used this same set-up to take the liftgate off and also when my truck box needs to come off, really makes easy work of it. Once the liftgate was mounted it took about an hour to get the alignment right.

Next up is liftgate hardware and door trim. Oh, and I was wondering if anyone's ever had their name put on the truck above the door handle? I used to see that on older trucks but haven't in a while. I think it would be cool to put my family members' names really small under the windows. Was thinking about custom decals or hiring someone to paint them on. Not really sure how to go about it.

More to come...

 

[dieseldane]

That b2 is looking gooooooooooodddd. Let me know when you're finished so I can send mine your way.

I've seen the name thing on semis and race vehicles, but I don't think I've ever seen it on a regular daily driver.

 

[88B2EB]

Thanks man. Yeah, I guess it's more the lifted 1970's trucks I've seen it on. Would it be out of place on a restored B2?

 

[PetesPonies]

Looks great!! As far as the front fenders . . well welcome to the world of repro parts. It is standard fare . . you have to message them to make them fit correctly. It's why sometimes the repro parts just aren't worth it. But yours look good now.

 

[CarsonChris]

Amazing job. How long did it take you start to finish? I have one BII the same color that needs paint. Just bought another that's clean. Now I'm thinking I should keep red and paint her myself. Did have zero dents but my son put in a few wheeling.