Awesome 1971 Ford Bronco

Description

Full MECHANICAL restoration.

I am VERY sad to see this awesome truck go, but life happens and priorities have shifted.

I am the 4th owner of this vehicle after buying it from a fellow in New Haven who never shifted it from his barn. He bought it from his mechanic friend who owned it since 1974 when he bought it from the original owner.

the odometer shows somewhere in the neighborhood of 280k miles, but this number is somewhat arbitrary, as the mechanic owner swapped out the motor for a fresh ford 302 (with about 20k miles on it now) and the complete mechanical rebuild that I finished a little over a year ago.

After relocating it to NYC in 2015 I performed a full frame-off MECHANICAL restoration. My logic was that because it is in use as a Daily Driver in new york that also restoring the body was pointless because of the damage that could potentially happen on the crazy streets here. After the money and effort spent, I didnt want to waste extra money on something which could potentially see some abuse.

I would classify the truck as a resto-mod--I have tried to keep most visual details original while upgrading its functionality and reliability. Unfortunately the second owner cut the rear fenders, but otherwise the sheet metal is in original condition. I have full documentation of this entire process.

THE GOOD

Very reliable. Heat works great, and this thing drives better than out of the factory. Its TIGHT for a bronco and tracks straight and true and jumps through the bumps with nary a jerk of the wheel. I am an artist and professional welder and this truck has many hand made custom parts that I found greatly improved functionality and esthetics.

Work I did:

----->mechanical:

-all new STAINLESS brake lines

-new brake hardware

-new rear brake drums

-machined front brake drums

-new wheel cylinders

-new front wheel bearings

-new brake master cylinder

-new extended parking brake cable

-rebuilt original 4wd manual locking hubs

-new front and rear drive shafts

-new timing cover

-new high volume water pump

-new thermostat housing and thermostat

-new high pressure silicone coolant hoses

-new ron davis aluminum 3 core radiator

-professionally reconditioned intake manifold and passenger side head (valve froze open last winter resulting in 0 compression on cylinder #1)

-new ARP hardware on all new engine parts

-por-15 engine paint on all new engine parts in ford spec factory blue paint

-reconditioned oil pan installed with 1 piece felpro silicone gasket

-new Wild Horses progressive front springs and 11-pack rear leaf springs, both with 4.5" lift (has settled to about 3.75")

-bilstein shocks on all 4 corners

-new rear inboard shock hoop

-refurbished rear axle and differential housing

-new Wild Horses extreme duty u bolts

-all new urethane bushings

-new extreme duty rear shackles

-new front spring cups,

-new front shock towers

-new front spring towers

-refurbished front axle housing (dana 44)

-new Wild Horses adjustable track bar

-frame-off frame restoration with por-15 paint and frame-tube interior rust stopper resin

-new 33” BF Goodrich KO2 all terrain tires (about 600 miles on them)

-refurbished exhaust manifolds with new gaskets and all new hardware

-all new body mount bushings and hardware

-heat wrapped driver side exhaust to eliminate vapor lock

-new Wild Horses extreme duty power steering kit with double-u-joint steering shaft

-new Wild Horses hydraulic steering ram in front steering linkage

I’m probably forgetting some stuff.

--->electrical

-new high voltage headlight wiring harness and new high beam switch

-new alternator

-new heavy duty bosch battery

-refurbished rear wire harnesses

-heavy duty derale pusher fan with in-cabin switch (essential for NYC summer in traffic or trail running)

-new ford DUI coil-in-cap high energy distributor with Livewire spark plug wires and new spark plugs gapped to .055" (and tuned up recently)

-professionally wired pusher fan, fuel pump, and horn

-brand new battery tray

-new battery cables

-àfuel

-new holley 2bbl carburetor

-new phenolic 1” carburetor spacer

-new air filter and rebuilt filter housing

-new fuel filter with sintered bronze cleanable interior

-mechanical fuel pump delete with block off plate

-new in-line electric fuel pump (this thing is SOOOO easy to work on)

-new holley fuel pressure regulator with under-hood fuel pressure gauge. ESSENTIAL for good engine diagnostics

-fuel lines wrapped in heat shields

-custom built fuel sight glass

-New fuel tank and sending unit

-New Filler hose

-all new fuel lines

-all new billet fuel/brake line mounting hardware

THE BAD

-The transmission, clutch, and transfer case will need to be resealed at some point. They function well, but I get the occasional clutch chatter and the transmission is a bit leaky.

-rear main seal is slightly leaky. It takes a qt of oil every 500 miles or so.

-the horn stopped working and I have yet to track down the cause. I suspect that maybe the horn itself is shot, I picked up a cheap one from Autozone and you get what you pay for.

-spare tire is non matching. It is a 31” and I never got around to replacing it.

THE UGLY

As I said, mechanical restoration was my top priority with this project, and as a vehicle from Connecticut, this truck has extensive rust in the body.

The worst of it is in the rear driver side quarter panel and driver side kick panel. The rockers look ok but the floor pans are totally shot. They have sheet metal welded in right now which is fine, but I would prefer OEM style pans.

Hardtop is in ok shape with a good bit of rust in the rain gutters.

ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS SALE:

-ORIGINAL engine!!!!!!

-original transmission and transfer case, along with dana 20 adapter

-an original tire carrier

-an original bronco steel dashboard

-some other stuff which Im sure I’m forgetting

you can check out the full documentation of the restoration on IG. my handle is @butchies_back

Local pickup only please, and come with enough space for the extra goodies.

please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Andre