Front tub bent, top doesn't fit

[Broncoholics]

Has anyone tired to pull the front body tub area back into position?

My 74 seems to be pushed slightly forwards at the windshield area so the top isn't fitting by 1". Fire wall is also very close to the drivers side valve cover. The door on pass side kinda fits. The door on drivers doesn't fit at all, 1" off.

I'm thinking of using a come-a-long to seeing if I can pull it back into position.

This rig was in a wreck at one point in my eyes due to the front fiberglass clip and beefed up frame at the front bumper area. I think the guy ate dash or the impact bent it forwards.

Any ideas where I should pull from, windshield is out.

I have my 68 for measuring but can a few others send me some measurements for reference from the top of the inside windshield frame to the door post where the rear bed meets the door. Measure just past the weatherstripping metal tab. Mine is cut back a bit so the main body is a good location. here's a photo of it. I know, I know, I have to get rid of the bondo, just haven't got to it yet...

 

[mwood]

Hi Bronco Guy

You might be able to Square up your door jams and fire wall by shimming or un shimming some body mount pucks. When you shim up the front pucks near the radiator the fire wall will move away from the engine and the tops of the door jams will come together. The bottom door jams are kinda stuck at the length of the rocker panels. Also I believe the Jeffs Bronco Grave Yard has some pages in their Free down loadable catalog that show all of the bronco's mechanical body specks and dimentions.

Ak Mike

 

[DMichael5]

MW is on the right track...you need to start with the frame however. if the truck was in a wreck.. then what you may have is a frame rail out of position. you need to check that first. If the frame is down on the drivers side, that could pull the firewall forward...well really it would twist the Tub which would move the windshield frame out of position making it hard or impossible to set a top on it. I would start there. If the Frame is sqaure and level...I would look out the cross measurements of the door openings.. but different from the measurement that you photo showed. go from the firewall just below the windshield frame on the passenger side to the 1/4 panel side of the door opening on the Drivers side and then make the same measurment the other direction drivers side firewall to passengerside 1/4. This will tell you if the firewall is out of position assuming that the tub is symetrical. I would also measure the door openings themselves this would tell you is your problem was lower or upper firewall...All measurements would be comparitive if the first measurement gives you 2 diffenert distances you will know that the shorter distance shows the firewall is in. The second measuement will tell you how far you have to move the fire wall.

Even though the problem shows itself when installing the top the problem most likley is not in the W/S Frame ... and if you use the W/S Frame as a control point then your measurements can be off due to the hinge on the window frame try to take all measuremnets from the structure of the truck instead of bolt on parts.

Hope this helps

DM

 

[DMichael5]

Sorry had another thought...How does the hood fit? With the way that the hood mounts..I would expect...If the Firewall was forward on the drivers side that the hood would want to overlap the right fender unless the front end was swung to the right as well...so You might want to measure the hood opening for square as well.

Again I hope this helps

DM

 

[Broncoholics]

Thanks for the info, I'll try the cross measurement tonight. Its spread at the top of the door posts by 5/8" on the pass side and 3/4" on the drivers side. I'm doing a size comparison with my 68 Bronco thats in great condition sitting next to it. The windshield frame isn't bent and fits correctly. The frame rails seems to be staight after a few measurments.

I wouln't think a frame rail would be pushed due to the firewall touching the engine. The body mount is not bent and the frame has no bends. There's no way for the body to get that close to the engine without a bend in something. I first though the body bolt was bent. Nope.

The front end is completely fiberglass and hinges on the front grill (opens in reverse).

So I can position the front clip almost anywhere I want it. The front body mounts are cut off (not needed). If I did have the mounts still I can't see how shimming both up would push the cab back. This will only raise the front nose of the truck and give misalighment between the fender and door. I'm 99% sure the cab is pushed forwards at the firewall area. I can see it when installing the doors. There's a nasty gap at the top windshield to door frame. I'm thinking of using the hood bolt holes on firewall to connect some chain to and pull back the cab a bit.

 

[DMichael5]

/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> you are probably right...I look at wrecked cars all day so your problem has peaked my interest. However not being able to take a close look at yours I am just guessing. I did take a look at my drivers side valve cover. It is not touching the firewall but is a 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch from touching. With the Fiberglass nose on the truck the only body line you can use as a reference would be were the hood / fender assy lines up with the door which creates a problem cause you can't get the doors on. If the Fender aprons are still there you could check over all length ie. coresupport to firewall if the firewall is forward something will reflect it with a bend or short measurement. I guess for me I just picture hitting the firewall hard enought to move it an inch or so...man that poor soul had to have been in a body cast.

Stupid Question time!

did you check your door hinges for bends?

what about the door shells themselves?

when you try to install the doors do you feel pressure on the door before the door would be completly closed when you try to close it?

Is the door gap normal at the bottom and wide at top? on Both doors?

good grief I will let you be I have probably thought about your truck today more than mine...and the wife would tell you I think on mine alot...

good luck let me know how it turns out

DM

 

[Broncoholics]

Well I'm getting more ideas. I went home for lunch and measured the cab in the cross directions. Measured 1/8" off from one side to the other. I'd say thats close to straight. I do have raised Edelbrock valve covers so maybe thats a bit of the touching problem. I don't think it should be touching from all the other rigs i've seen.

What I did find while eyeballing around the windshield area was the piano hinge looks great but I can see a weld mark like the fire wall might have split a few inches below the window frame on the inside cab area and pushed forwards slightly.

The only way to tell is to take off the dash pad and see more.

Maybe this is the problem area. What a nasty place to get to.

Like you said, its tough to tell without front fenders or anything else to align with.

My guess now is the firewall is bent outwards slightly just below the windshield frame. Looking at the front of the windshield frame and below it is flat so I think its cracked on the inside and the original owner pulled it back as close a possible and welded it up. Will see...

Maybe I'll try and do the doors after the fenders and hood are on. The front fenders do not bolt down to the door posts like stock as the front clip hinges in reverse. Here's some photos before I started... Now its totally taken apart for cleaning and painting. I'll have those photos tomorrow I hope.

 

[DMichael5]

Great pics... You might check the front floor of the tub...look to see if someone may have jacked the truck up using the floor instead of the frame. the wieght of the engine and suspension and the wieght of the rear end could have bent the floor opening up the door opening. with there only being an 1/8th difference between the measurments you wouldn't think that that would be it. But with both sides being out...does the measurement match the 69 that you have?

 

[Broncoholics]

Never got around to the photos last night. A few friends stopped by and I ended up getting a bit loopy for photo taking :wacko: . Perhaps tonight... I did notice when my buddy pushed on the firewall like a mad man with 12 beers down that the firewall would flex 1/4" away from the valve cover thats touching it. Seems like thats the room I need to get the doors to fit. But how the **** can I keep the cab back in that location? Maybe a few pulls of the come-a-long?

The floors are in great shape, no bends, rust or anything else odd ball. The rocker on the drivers side has bondo all over it so maybe thats the kink in the body? I'll have to cut them off to know for sure. Was thinking of adding 6x3 rock ski's in place of the rockers like I did on the 68.

 

[DMichael5]

You will need to move it I guess an inch at least to pick up the 1/4 gap...with your roll cage attached to the frame you could use it to pull from. you had mention pulling from the hood hinge bolts, you might see if you can find a bolt with an "eye" in it that fits the windshield bolt holes useing the windshield frame to pull with. Of course you would need to keep a close eye on it to make sure you don't damage the framing or hinge. With all of the equipment inside the cab you could even hang the doors to check progress and confirm the progess being made is the progress you want. Just be sure to roll the door glass down just in case something breaks loose when pulling. You did say, I think, that the windshield was already out

Have Fun and keep me posted

DM

 

[Broncoholics]

Windshield is out and I can add some angle iron to protect the lower window frame from damage while pulling. I think the doors have to be off while pulling so I can pull it forwards just slightly more than I need to account for spring back.

I'll tell you what, if this becomes more of a problem I'm going to add fiberglass door inserts and some STC half doors with a bikini top and caller good. I'll be selling this rig as soon as I'm done. Its no rush to get it done, I just got a real good deal on it I couldn't refuse for resale reasons. I'm also thinking of keeping the motor and swaping my 302 for the 383. That would be fun with my 5:89 gears!

 

[Broncoholics]

Here's a few picts of the engine touching the firewall... b-(