Im back, sort of

[shift1313]

Hey guys. I was on here a few months back and life got really busy. Ive been restoring a 71 f100 for my cousin and that project is getting close to being done and i might be getting back into my bronco project again soon,maybe.

speaking of which im picking up an 89 tomorrow morning. I planned on using the tailgate and doors, interior and some sheet meta(floors)l to fix my 85, then donating some drivetrain parts to my 89 f150, but depending on the shape i may keep the 89 as a daily driver. its a fuelie 5.0 with an auto. the guy im getting it from started to restore about 5 years ago. front fenders are in good shape, rears have been cut because of rust. doors and tail gate came from the junk yard from a donor. The whole thing is in primer. Ill try to post some pics of it this weekend once i get it home(its only about 3mins away)

If i dont decide to keep it as my daily and sell my truck i may have a bunch of stuff to get rid of, maybe a whole truck minus doors/tail gate, but it sure would be nice to drive a bronco again. mine has been off the road since 05

 

[BroncoJoe19]

Hey MATT!!!

Welcome Back!!! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I really missed ya buddy.

joe

 

[shift1313]

hey joe!

i just got back from messing with the 89. I dont think im going to make a daily driver out of it. While it is better than my 85 its certainly no where close to my truck. He told me the front tires were flat but that they would hold air, one of them didnt and there was no spare. I have two tires off rims that i can put on but ofcourse i couldnt drive it home.

second problem, no keys. He had it towed to his current house because he lost the key and he forgot that(its been a few years)

third problem, beeeeeeeees. huge next under the hood and in the pass door jamb.

the good news. the interior is the same color and trim as my truck. my truck needs a power window motor and power lock solenoids. the bronco is a dual shock front end same as my truck. Hopefully the ball joints are good because my truck needs some

the interior is in good shape, non power seats but the seats have the high back with arm rests. tailgate window is supposed to work and tail gate and doors are in good shape.

the motor has a lot of new stuff(new ish). in 05-06 he put a whole new ac system on. redid the brakes all around, new power steering pump/gearbox and lines. new iac. he said the motor and trans ran great(drove it from chi to VA). Its got the push button 4x4.

Frame is in pretty good shape. ive seen a lot worse and this truck coming from chicago i was expecting a lot worse. The body has been worked over once so there is bondo on a lot of the truck he told me. The floor has some holes so the main areas i wanted for my bronco arent of use to me except the doors/tgate and interior.

I got the column dropped so i could start the truck without the key, grabbed the battery so i could charge it and im going to have to round up a good spare. Ive got a spare with a good tire on it but the rim isnt that great.

Hopefully ill get it back to my house later today and take some pics.

 

[dhpt99]

Welcome back! And id like to see some pictures

 

[BroncoJoe19]

third problem, beeeeeeeees. huge next under the hood and in the pass door jamb.

Hmmm, could you say it is a "honey of a truck?"

Well it sounds like you've got a good donor truck there... Its a shame that you can't use the floor panels etc. Your '85 really needs em.

 

[shift1313]

well i got it running. funny story actually. It runs fine, im sure the old gas isnt helping. After i got it started and tried to put it in gear i realized that the autos, the key lock cylinder also locks the shifter. Ive never worked on an auto truck before! Well the guy also had another car that i helped him get going and he found the keys inside that car! So i have the key which currently i only use to unlock the shifter The tire that wouldnt hold air also wouldnt come off. the lugs were kind of rusty so im going to go back with some penetrating spray and my impact so i dont round the lugs off. Also the truck had been sitting on a slight hill in park(parking brake cables are both broken). After i moved it around a bit i put it back and park and the park gear is slipping. There is fluid in there but im sure it wouldnt hurt to change everything over. No pictures because its still not here, maybe tomorrow.

the good news is im going to be able to use a lot of it.

dhpt is there something you need? Im not totally sure what im going to use until i get it to my house and really take a good look at it without bees! Im planning on using the seats, windshield, doors, tailgate. and i might steal some suspensions stuff if its in better shape than my truck but im going to keep this thing a roller for sure. I dont want a big lump sitting in my yard that wont move.

the truck was originally dark blue so the top is blue, dash is blue with wood grain trim.

this is my truck but its the same,

 

[shift1313]

well i finally got the 89 back to my house today. after several attempts with the impact, penetrating ***** and a torch i broke out a 2ft breaker bar and put my back into and the lugs broke loose like almost nothing!

here are the pics









































i found out this was a plow truck in chicago. the frame isnt bad but most of the other steel under the body is starting to peel away like the strut/shock tower, control arm brackets etc. This may be a good donor for a SAS up front.

Im taking a lot of parts off of it. Im going to use almost the entire interior minus the dash, headliner and some other pieces. the tailgate, doors, windshield im suing for sure. Other than that Im not sure i want much else. I was going to cut parts of the body up to help my project along but if someone is interested in whats left(before body cutting) ill let it go for cheap. the bumpers look to be in good shape. the top, some of the trim i may take but i doubt it.

a friend of mine might want the engine but he hasnt taken a look at it yet. so if there is something you want speak up now so i can keep you in mind

 

[shift1313]

well i told myself i wasnt going to touch this truck for awhile but i just couldnt help myself today. I went out there to mount a tire on one of its rims(since both fronts leak) and it turned into me gutting the interior(part of it). I was so curious as to how bad the floors were. Good news is there is a lot of metal i can use out of the floor. Other good news, glad im not driving this thing! one of the drivers seat bolts was rust out and not holding anything and another wasnt far behind. check this out.

drivers side floor/sill



Pass side floor/sill



behind the drivers seat







behind the pass seat



and near the rear



some parts werent as bad as my 85 but others were way worse. I cant believe how much is missing under the driver!

I did find a new in box starter in the truck, as well as a new belt and new rear shoes plus an extra horn/cruise part of the steering wheel.

 

[shift1313]

ps the rear carpet was already cut out and missing but the front carpet was there(and nasty). i ended up having to cut around the drivers seat belt because i broke two T50 torx bit off trying to get it out.

 

[love_my_bronco]

Hey Matt! ya i've been gone a long time too. so both the matt's are back sweet stuff. how are ya joe. i just got the idea that i'm selling my 84 for an 86 but i'm keeping my dash. everything else.. all that hard work on that electrical that i finally finished ... all gone. the motor is about done her time so i have no choice really.. motor rebuild costs more than a 86 that has no rust.

 

[BroncoJoe19]

Hi Matt!

Welcome back!

Yeah, I'm afraid that we'll be losing a lot of broncos becuase as they lose value they'll get junked for smaller and smaller problems.

I remember your dash... you did a nice job of it.

Yeah... all that electrical really had you in a tizzy for a while, but I'll bet that you learned loads!

Stuff that you learn on your truck today is knowledge that you will carry with you for a life time.

 

[love_my_bronco]

Hi Matt!Welcome back!

Yeah, I'm afraid that we'll be losing a lot of broncos becuase as they lose value they'll get junked for smaller and smaller problems.

I remember your dash... you did a nice job of it.

Yeah... all that electrical really had you in a tizzy for a while, but I'll bet that you learned loads!

Stuff that you learn on your truck today is knowledge that you will carry with you for a life time.

thanks yea i mostly got that figured out. and im not junking the old guy.. never junk a bronco. im just stoing it so i can have one for fun and one for bussiness. the 84 i have now will be the monster.

 

[shift1313]

i stripped her down a bit more today

Pulled all the trim, doors, tailgate(almost got killed with the tension rod, still dont know where the bolts went but the retainers was like 60ft away). All i really have left from this truck that i want is the windshield and im going to cut some body parts out. Ive decided im going to make fiberglass flares for my bronco, but maybe more of a widebody molded flare, not one you just bolt on like a jeep. im going to use the fenders off the grey truck as the base to work off of, make the parts so they bolt onto my bronco so hopefully i can cut out all the rust!

 

[shift1313]

oh yeah i also found something interesting in the truck. There was a toggle wired up behind the hood release. It went to the ignition system as a "security" device. If you flip the switch it grounds the coil That is the second care ive had like that. My 68 camaro had a barrel key in the door jamb that did the same thing! crazy people

 

[JLasvegas]

Matt, would you be willing to sell me the plastic white ring that goes on the radius arm, its a spacer for the bushings

 

[shift1313]

is that part not available new? Ill have to take a look, this thing came from chicago and the suspension wasnt in the best shape. I know rockauto has bushing kits for $5-$25.

 

[JLasvegas]

I was told by a few members that the part is not avail , all I have been able to find is the bushing kits but they dont appear to have the spacer

it would probably be a Pain in the u know what to remove some of those components for a spacer lol

 

[shift1313]

thats really odd for ford not to make it. Ill take a look at it first chance i get.

 

[shift1313]

hey jlasvegas, someone told me they are going to take the whole thing and they need it to be drivable, sorry man.