Josh's Bronco II Body Restoration Thread

[wildbill23c]

That's a very original looking B2 you got there:icon_thumby: Maybe it's the mountain backdrop but I really like that color scheme. You just don't see it anymore. My B2 will be used for light towing too, although that's moving up from my current '94 2.3L that's been an absolute letdown when towing. 60-65 on the expressway with a snowmobile trailer isn't fun until recently when I swallowed my pride and put a trailer package on the wife's '97 Taurus. Something about using the family grocery getter to do what an RBV can't just seems wrong but that'll change as soon as the Bronco's finished

I found it for sale on Craigslist by accident one day about the middle of August. I had been kind of looking for a smaller vehicle, found this one, called the lady and asked about it, she told me to come on over and look it over. Drove 47 miles to see it, looked at it, drove it around for a good 45 minutes on all sorts of road conditions. Absolutely loved it. Then came my big issue. I don't make much money each paycheck, but I knew that I could make payments and be ok. Well I asked her about payments and she runs in the house with a blanket contract filled in all my info and she's like absolutely no problem except vehicle stays with her till its paid off. I was like I don't care, I'll take it. I was going to haggle with her about the $975 price since the whole stereo system, A/C, and exhaust has been torn out, but after she completely agreed to do the payment thing and no interest and was very willing to work around any payment issues which I've had none, I was no going to argue with the price. At $975 for a 4WD SUV I'm happy, considering once I get it put back together slowly its going to be worth far more than what I paid for it.

This was my first vehicle, I bought it from my grandparents for $1. Same year same engine as the B2, different color and a ranger instead of the B2. I loved that truck and it was a good truck until the local ford garage idiots messed with the carburetor on it, after that it never ran right. That truck was a california model so it had all the california emissions crap on it.

 

[88B2EB]

Thanks Bill for posting the vintage photo and backstory. Rangers run deep for a lot of us here. Back in 1990 my grandpa bought a new model and used to let me work the shifter when we went places. As a 6 year old I felt like I was on top of the world doing that. I've since had an '86, '88, '94, and this Bronco II makes my second '88. It sounds like you got a steal of a deal on your new one.

 

[88B2EB]

It's been too long since posting any progress so I better throw some stuff up so you guys don't think I'm slackin or something. Nothing too exciting but here goes:

Was able to get the front all back together with the new bumper. Aint it shiny?

I read somewhere that cleaning the seatbelts helps them recoil so thought I'd give it a try using water and laundry detergent. I don't know if a previous owner had a thing against shirts but MAN those seat belts were dirty. The water turned so brown and murky with the first belt I had to completly change the water before starting the second. The belts are reinstalled now and seem to recoil slightly better but overall not much change from the experiment.

I am proud to announce the entire interior aside from the dash is back together. Before the dash can get reinstalled the Ranger will be donating its deck with all its modern amenities but since I'm still driving the ranger that step will need to wait a little longer.

 

[88B2EB]

In the middle of a warm weather weekend

 

[88B2EB]

Well I'd been intending to wait till Spring to do this stuff but with the warm weather I just couldn't resist.

All the black trim and accessories were cleaned and sanded for refinishing:

Epoxy primer:

Single Stage:

While the sprayer was all set up I lifted up the B2's rear end for some final spraying in the wheelwells:

I was also able to get about 75% of the pinstriping on.

 

[88B2EB]

Got a new present in the mail. I found a company online that reproduces the Eddie Bauer graphics. Instead of $88 each from Ford I got all 4 for $22. The top one pictured is the reproduction. The quality seems to be pretty good but time will tell how they hold up. Technically the EB graphics are for a '94 F150, not a B2, but that's just between me and you.

 

[PetesPonies]

Wonder if the application is why the decal is slightly shorter?? You can have about anything made in vinyl if you know a good vinyl guy/business and supply the art work. I've done this several times.

 

[88B2EB]

They offer different sizes in 1" increments and unfortunately the original was 9-1/4", but close enough. I wish I did know a good company to reproduce this sort of thing for me. If you know someone I'm still thinking about having my family members' names printed for under the door/window glass (similar font but much smaller). Designing the graphic would be no trouble it's just finding someone to print it. Unless the general consensus is that it's a bad idea.

 

[PetesPonies]

I'll try and get a contact email for you.

 

[88B2EB]

I'll try and get a contact email for you.

Thanks bud. Hows your B2 comin?

 

[richard booth]

I also have had good success w duraglass repair, use the rust neutralizer where necessary and let the filler cure thoroughly, seal it all the way around like jim oaks said and the process you are doing will be a success. Your attention to detail will reward you, looks good. Also a skilled semi truck body guy showed me that thinning filler w resin works nice as the curing catalyst is generally the same, he would mix a little resin into the duraglass filler, then use the hardener for the duraglass and it flowed like cream and cured like normal. Always do tests of course.

 

[88B2EB]

I also have had good success w duraglass repair, use the rust neutralizer where necessary and let the filler cure thoroughly, seal it all the way around like jim oaks said and the process you are doing will be a success. Your attention to detail will reward you, looks good. Also a skilled semi truck body guy showed me that thinning filler w resin works nice as the curing catalyst is generally the same, he would mix a little resin into the duraglass filler, then use the hardener for the duraglass and it flowed like cream and cured like normal. Always do tests of course.

Thanks for the tip Richard. I've been working on a list of how to do it better 'next time' and will make a note to give that a try:icon_thumby:

 

[88B2EB]

Almost there...

Next is to clean up the new trailer wiring then put on the bumper and tire rack.

On Wednesday I'm heading to the local junkyard in Howell to find some stock radio connectors. What's in there now is a mess. Then I can put in the deck out of the ranger, finish up the dash and install the passenger seat.

 

[PetesPonies]

Spray your dash too Decals look good.

 

[88B2EB]

Spray your dash too

Yeah it looks pretty bad huh? What you can't see in the picture is the top's badly cracked. Luckily the truck came with one of those tan plastic covers that I'll be putting back on.

 

[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.

 

[bobbywalter]

4x4 sticker is turning my stomach.


the rest looks clean as it can be.

 

[wildbill23c]

Man that B2 looks awesome after the repaint. I really wish I could afford to get mine back to original condition or at least close to.

Thanks Bill for posting the vintage photo and backstory. Rangers run deep for a lot of us here. Back in 1990 my grandpa bought a new model and used to let me work the shifter when we went places. As a 6 year old I felt like I was on top of the world doing that. I've since had an '86, '88, '94, and this Bronco II makes my second '88. It sounds like you got a steal of a deal on your new one.

Well I'm not so sure it was a steal, but it does run awesome now. With work and the cold weather and no warm dry place to work on it, I have been letting a kid I know in high school use it as a shop project, he dialed in the carburetor since it wouldn't even run at idle and was very erratic running on all accounts its running awesome, I disconnected the computer on it and well the next project is all the rust on the passenger side which I know for a fact is completely out of my scale of being able to DIY this one.

It runs and drives pretty well, got a few other issues to take care of, tires and matching wheels for sure, a small leak in the cab somewhere that's running down the passenger side and onto the floor boards. Then the interior needs gone through as the PO removed the carpet, and from the leak in the roof destroyed the headliner. Plus I have to weld in a new floor pan on the driver's side and a couple of issues with the driver's seat. Other than that for being a run around town and goto the hills truck I still don't think $975 was really too bad especially given the lady I bought it from let me make payments on it.

I had a fuel leak on it when I picked it up but 5 seconds of tightening down a fuel line clamp fixed that. The alternator wasn't charging, PO didn't hook up the wiring properly, fixed that in a few hours and the help of some fellow TRS members.

My boss at works calls my B2 a bumble bee, so maybe I should repaint it the same color, but I don't know I kind of like red or blue myself.

I also have the Bronco Horse emblems, are those standard on all models? I'm missing a Bronco II emblem on the passenger side so I need to find one to replace it. The Bronco Horse emblems have me scratching my head though because I don't see them in any pictures of others' bronco 2's on here though.

 

[Ultraspontane]

The quality of your work looks excellent.

I keep seeing trucks online that have those visors installed over the windshield. I never see any trucks on the road here in Colorado that have those. What purpose do they serve? Keep the sun out of your eyes? One thing I love about my BII is the big, big windows, great for checking out scenery on road trips. I feel like those visor things would encroach on that a bit. Not a criticism, the truck looks great.

 

[88B2EB]

4x4 sticker is turning my stomach.

Looks kinda funky through the gas cap? My only defense is that's exactly where the previous owner had it. Honestly never thought about it but now that you mention it... yeah.

This was taken when I bought the truck:

This is where the decal was meant to go: