Bronco Hardtops?
- Thread starter wattsdan
- Start date
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Broncobill78
New member
The 66-77 hardtops are interchangable within those years, 78/79 tops are identical & can be swapped and 80-96 will also interchange among themselvs (the later models have the 3rd brake light and provisions for a shoulder belt instead of the lap belt but they still swap)
Broncobill78
New member
Nope, sorry to harsh your buzz but there are 3 different & distinct styles of Broncos, you have the 66-77's, the 78/79's and the 80-96's. Each series will interchange most parts within the family but not outside of their given years. 80-96 tops will most assuredly NOT fit a 78/79. The 78/79's have the distinction of being the largest & toughest Bronco's ever made. The 66-77's are awesome rock-crawlers (when properly setup) and will follow a Jeep anywhere and the TTB 80-96's have a nice comefortable ride while also being tough enough to pull most Chevy & Mopar rigs out of a ditch but I have to state that I feel the 78/79's are the absolute cream of the SUV crop and it'll be a long time before anyone builds a better machine. They are dimensionally the largest Bronco ever made and also the toughest (you just CAN'T beat a straight axle and gear driven Xfer case). Unfortunatelt none of the parts from an 80-96 machine will interchange with a 78/79 (except for drivetrain componants and even those require fabrication of creative parts combinations. I had an 80-96 with a 400 but that's another story). The tops for the 78/79 & the 80-96 are visually very similar since the 78/79's set the basic style for everything to come but there are dimensional differences that you just can't get around. The 78/79 tops are marginally wider & longer and the bolt pattern won't line up. Even if you had one it just wouldn't bolt up and would never be weather-tight. I won't lie here, you *might* get away with a 78/79 top on an 80-96 since it would be a C-hair larger and might maybe sit on the tub if you used a drill & some self-tapping sheet-metal screws but an 80-96 top on a 78/79 will be a bit oo small. I GUESS that maybe with a grinder a drill and abox of self-tapping sheetmetal screws you could maybe, perhaps, possibly force an 80-96 top to actually SIT on a 78/79 tub and stay there while you drove it around I doubt it would look very good from anything less than 30ft and I can't imagine it being weather-tight.
I'll admit to you (and anyone else reading this for that matter) that I've never *personally* tried to interchange any 80-96 and 78/79 parts myself so maybe I'm talking out my a$$ but nothing else interchanges and the 78/79's are larger in every measurable dimension so no, I just can't see the tops interchanging.
If you're really stuck maybe just pickup a cheap fastback softtop for it for the time being, just a thought.
brandcole73
Member
I tried to put my 85 topper on my 78, it was in better shape. They do not fit!! The angle of the rear of the cab is different.
Broncobill78
New member
Cool, good info. I knew they were different enough to not fit but I'd never had 2 of them side-by-side to ck for myself just what the differences were. Out of curiousity how did they match up as far as the width went ? If I had to guess (and without having them here I do) I'd say the 78/79 has less of an angle & the 80-96 is steeper. Looks thatway to me anyways. Just how close did they come to lining up ?
