Josh's Bronco II Body Restoration Thread

[will.moyer]

I'm sure he's happy somebody got it that would give it the same love he did

 

[ab_slack]

That is sad news.

I been restoring mine, I am the second owner. Would love to get some history from the first and find out for certain what the real mileage is. I find many mixed things that suggest it sat for a long time, and others show significant use, others suggest it got some really good care.

 

[swampy]

Dennis passed on February 19, 2014.

Sorry to hear that.


Congratulations on a great job of fixing up the B2..


My 1984 B2 was a complete basket case/rust bucket when my son & I bought it as a project for his first vehicle in 2002 or 2003 - can't remember for sure which.

He drove it for a couple of years, and the motor hatched, so he bought another one (1985 model), and I bought the 1984 from him. I put a different motor in it, and gave it a dark blue Rustoleum paint job, and it actually looks better today than it did 10 years ago.

A handy inexpensive product for automotive adhesive/sealing tasks is urethane metal roof flashing cement. Less than half the price of automotive seam sealers, and works just as good.



P.S.

The paint job looks great, but at age 60, I can attest to the fact that both shiny paint and sex are highly over-rated...

 

[truckerdawg]

Thanks for the restoration thread- I just now found it and read every page. Good work. Like swampy said a brand new good paint job only leads to tears-somebody or someone is gonna scratch it. Was told a few decades ago never paint your vehicle too nice.
but I am glad you did yours.

 

[wildbill23c]

After getting Dennis's voicemail a couple times I finally got a call back from his wife "Dennis is dying. He's got a brain tumor and only has a few days to live. It would mean a lot to him if you would stop over with some pictures of the Bronco." I was all set to stop by when I got the dreaded call "He's taken a turn for the worst and may only have another day. It's probably best if you don't come." Dennis passed on February 19, 2014.

RIP Dennis. And thank you for all the care you put into our Bronco.

Just stumbled back into your build thread and found this post. So sad to hear that Dennis passed away, but at least you got to know some history of your B2.

My B2 is still in the same condition. Seems every time I turn around something happens and money I have saved ends up going someplace else. However, until this past weekend I'd been driving my B2 daily and loving it. Now its sitting again till payday as it needs new rear brakes...holy crap something I can actually do myself :icon_rofl:.

Got my 2 major oil leaks fixed, so I can drive it for at least a month without having to add a quart of oil every 2-3 days :sad:. Only issue now is I have to actually change the oil in it LOL. The more I drive my B2 the more and more I really like it. The body panel issue would be about $1200 to have the local body shop repair, and that's just materials and labor, doesn't even include primering or painting for that matter. My water leak from the roof wasn't the roof after all the whole cowling around the base of the windshield and firewall is rusted through, so every time it rains or snows the water just leaks right into the cab and onto the floor. Hense the lack of carpeting issue is now solved. Drilled holes in the floorboard so the water will drain out LOL. Its a daily driver for me, and will continue to be until it dies which I'm not sure if it will die first or if I'll get in it one day and fall through the floor.

I got new tires for it around the end of last summer, and they did awesome through our several snow storms this winter.

I've seen several other B2's for sale on craigslist but just don't have the money and time to go get them, problem would be I'd have a collection of them LOL. I still like the older 80's B2's and the Rangers as well. Someday there may be another 1st gen Ranger back in my driveway, kind of miss the pickup bed quite often.

 

[88B2EB]

Thanks everybody for the positive comments on the B2. I wish I could have met Dennis more than just the 1 time, and I really wish he could have seen it finished. He knew it would get finished though and would be taken care of for many years to come. I know that meant a lot to him.

Josh

 

[88B2EB]

Just stumbled back into your build thread and found this post. So sad to hear that Dennis passed away, but at least you got to know some history of your B2.

My B2 is still in the same condition. Seems every time I turn around something happens and money I have saved ends up going someplace else. However, until this past weekend I'd been driving my B2 daily and loving it. Now its sitting again till payday as it needs new rear brakes...holy crap something I can actually do myself :icon_rofl:.

Got my 2 major oil leaks fixed, so I can drive it for at least a month without having to add a quart of oil every 2-3 days :sad:. Only issue now is I have to actually change the oil in it LOL. The more I drive my B2 the more and more I really like it. The body panel issue would be about $1200 to have the local body shop repair, and that's just materials and labor, doesn't even include primering or painting for that matter. My water leak from the roof wasn't the roof after all the whole cowling around the base of the windshield and firewall is rusted through, so every time it rains or snows the water just leaks right into the cab and onto the floor. Hense the lack of carpeting issue is now solved. Drilled holes in the floorboard so the water will drain out LOL. Its a daily driver for me, and will continue to be until it dies which I'm not sure if it will die first or if I'll get in it one day and fall through the floor.

I got new tires for it around the end of last summer, and they did awesome through our several snow storms this winter.

I've seen several other B2's for sale on craigslist but just don't have the money and time to go get them, problem would be I'd have a collection of them LOL. I still like the older 80's B2's and the Rangers as well. Someday there may be another 1st gen Ranger back in my driveway, kind of miss the pickup bed quite often.

Bill, I agree with you. Cars reach a point with mileage and wear that it's no longer an 'investment' to restore them. The cost just gets to be higher than the end value. Better to drive yours into the ground doing only the repairs necessary to keep it safe and dependable. Save the money you would have spent on paint and other cosmetic issues for your B2's eventual replacement. Then, if you want to restore your B2 to it's former glory after that you will have a good daily driver to use while the Bronco's apart. I really hate saying to do that with any B2 but I know how hard you work for your money.

If someday you do decide to restore yours, based on the extensive rust you've been posting about, I would definitely recommend finding a donor body and swapping it onto your chasis. Even if you had to repaint the donor it would be far less expensive and time consuming than repairing all your rust holes.

I've actually been battling some firewall rust too. You saw how mild the rust was on the rest of my body was when I started this restoration so the extent of damage on the firewall really caught me off guard a few months ago. I think I'm winning the battle though.:icon_thumby: After all the work that went into the body I wasn't going to tolerate any more rust.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1286950-repairing-firewall-rust-damage.html