Josh's Bronco II Body Restoration Thread

[The Fonz]

Awesome restoration, great finished product. Makes me want to go give my red eddie bauer some lovin! And its funny you saw that VW Bus, I have 3 and my one rocks quite often

 

[88B2EB]

How's the rig comin?

The old Bronco II has been treating me well. I drove it all last summer then tucked it away in the garage for the winter and am back in the '94 until the salty roads clear up. Currently midway through replacing the body mounts along with new front frame-body brackets and am throwing in a 2" body lift while I'm there. When the carpet got pulled back to access the mounts I noticed some rust holes in the firewall so I'll likely be purchasing a MIG and learning that whole process. Here we go again.

Thanks for the kind words Fonz. I've always thought those old VW's had a lot of character. Looks like you've got a lot of toys.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Bummer about the rust! You gonna replace the floor board/firewall area or cut the rust out and patch the holes? It'd be a little more work but I'm sure you could get it done!

 

[88B2EB]

Bummer about the rust! You gonna replace the floor board/firewall area or cut the rust out and patch the holes? It'd be a little more work but I'm sure you could get it done!

Not sure. I've been working to get the new body mounts installed before moving on to the firewall. One thing at a time you know? If replacement firewall panels are available then I might have to think about that route. Much learning to be done on that front.

Josh

 

[stickboy697]

Just stumbled across this thread, and I would like to say that I am impressed with your work! Great looking B2! Still plugging away at my 4.0/dash swap in mine but that is what toys are for right!

 

[88B2EB]

Just stumbled across this thread, and I would like to say that I am impressed with your work! Great looking B2! Still plugging away at my 4.0/dash swap in mine but that is what toys are for right!

Thanks! And yes that is what toys are for. I finished this build a year ago but it's still never finished, know what I mean? Hope you're enjoying swapping the engine/dash. From what I hear the 4.0 is a big improvement.

 

[88B2EB]

I had an interesting visit the other day. Going through the documents and records that came with the truck I kept seeing this name over and over. One time it had the address so I sent the guy a letter "If you had a Bronco II and think this one might have been your's I'd be interested to hear what you know about it". He stopped by just two days later and we probably talked for an hour and a half. It was great to hear where my old truck had been. Working on the Bronco over the past months finding evidence of 'good' repairs everywhere it's been obvious to me that somebody had really cared for it but having the actual guy that had done the work point out everything he'd done was eye opening. He owned it from 2000 to 2010. In that time he put in a rebuilt engine, restored the interior, and a whole list of other things. But it started getting rusty so he sold it to the person I would eventually buy it from. He also mentioned that before him it was owned by a fire department in North Carolina and apparently used for search and rescue. I promised to stop by when it's all finished. He only lives a few blocks away.

After getting Dennis's voicemail a couple times I finally got a call back from his wife "Dennis is dying. He's got a brain tumor and only has a few days to live. It would mean a lot to him if you would stop over with some pictures of the Bronco." I was all set to stop by when I got the dreaded call "He's taken a turn for the worst and may only have another day. It's probably best if you don't come." Dennis passed on February 19, 2014.

RIP Dennis. And thank you for all the care you put into our Bronco.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Dang that's a bummer!

 

[PetesPonies]

Prayers and thoughts . . nice story though.

 

[tidmarshsmiths5]

Sorry to hear the fella passed!

That is an awesome restoration job though! Perfect!

 

[will.moyer]

I'm sure he's happy somebody got it that would give it the same love he did

 

[ab_slack]

That is sad news.

I been restoring mine, I am the second owner. Would love to get some history from the first and find out for certain what the real mileage is. I find many mixed things that suggest it sat for a long time, and others show significant use, others suggest it got some really good care.

 

[swampy]

Dennis passed on February 19, 2014.

Sorry to hear that.


Congratulations on a great job of fixing up the B2..


My 1984 B2 was a complete basket case/rust bucket when my son & I bought it as a project for his first vehicle in 2002 or 2003 - can't remember for sure which.

He drove it for a couple of years, and the motor hatched, so he bought another one (1985 model), and I bought the 1984 from him. I put a different motor in it, and gave it a dark blue Rustoleum paint job, and it actually looks better today than it did 10 years ago.

A handy inexpensive product for automotive adhesive/sealing tasks is urethane metal roof flashing cement. Less than half the price of automotive seam sealers, and works just as good.



P.S.

The paint job looks great, but at age 60, I can attest to the fact that both shiny paint and sex are highly over-rated...

 

[truckerdawg]

Thanks for the restoration thread- I just now found it and read every page. Good work. Like swampy said a brand new good paint job only leads to tears-somebody or someone is gonna scratch it. Was told a few decades ago never paint your vehicle too nice.
but I am glad you did yours.

 

[wildbill23c]

After getting Dennis's voicemail a couple times I finally got a call back from his wife "Dennis is dying. He's got a brain tumor and only has a few days to live. It would mean a lot to him if you would stop over with some pictures of the Bronco." I was all set to stop by when I got the dreaded call "He's taken a turn for the worst and may only have another day. It's probably best if you don't come." Dennis passed on February 19, 2014.

RIP Dennis. And thank you for all the care you put into our Bronco.

Just stumbled back into your build thread and found this post. So sad to hear that Dennis passed away, but at least you got to know some history of your B2.

My B2 is still in the same condition. Seems every time I turn around something happens and money I have saved ends up going someplace else. However, until this past weekend I'd been driving my B2 daily and loving it. Now its sitting again till payday as it needs new rear brakes...holy crap something I can actually do myself .

Got my 2 major oil leaks fixed, so I can drive it for at least a month without having to add a quart of oil every 2-3 days . Only issue now is I have to actually change the oil in it LOL. The more I drive my B2 the more and more I really like it. The body panel issue would be about $1200 to have the local body shop repair, and that's just materials and labor, doesn't even include primering or painting for that matter. My water leak from the roof wasn't the roof after all the whole cowling around the base of the windshield and firewall is rusted through, so every time it rains or snows the water just leaks right into the cab and onto the floor. Hense the lack of carpeting issue is now solved. Drilled holes in the floorboard so the water will drain out LOL. Its a daily driver for me, and will continue to be until it dies which I'm not sure if it will die first or if I'll get in it one day and fall through the floor.

I got new tires for it around the end of last summer, and they did awesome through our several snow storms this winter.

I've seen several other B2's for sale on craigslist but just don't have the money and time to go get them, problem would be I'd have a collection of them LOL. I still like the older 80's B2's and the Rangers as well. Someday there may be another 1st gen Ranger back in my driveway, kind of miss the pickup bed quite often.