1974 Ford Bronco

Rockcrawler Convertible

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

U15GLT15908

Gasoline

Now you can own Miss January from the 2009 Classic Broncos. Com Calendar Here is the story as reported in Issue #33 of Bronco Driver Magazine http://www.broncodriver.com/contents.html#33 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 74 BRONC All I really wanted to do was change the carpet…….. I first noticed Broncos in the late 60’s when one graciously pulled me out of a mud hole that my 2WD F100 had come to rest in. It would be almost 30 years later when I acquired the 74. It was in fair shape for the $2,700 it took to convince its owner that I needed it more than he did. It was the brown color that only a mother or root beer drinker could love. It is a Ranger with the nicer interior. I tried cleaning the carpet and it started coming apart. I will order a new carpet kit, repaint it a non brown color and be happy thought I. Once the carpet was out it needed one floor panel replaced. While I am at it I will just take the seats out and maybe the door panels and then maybe the rear bed panels and what the heck, that headliner is kind of ratty. Any true Bronco owner is already ahead of me at this point. Within 2 days all that was left together was a rolling chassis. I wanted a capable off road rig that I could still drive to work. After sand blasting and painting the frame I installed Duffs ultimate 3.5” suspension with a 2” body lift. The rear 9” got a Detroit and the 44 an ARB in 4.56 flavor. The stock 302 was OK but, the sickness had incubated and demanded something with more power that could run upside down. I picked up a wrecked 89 Mustang GT, snaked out the 5.0 and had it rebuilt. The C4 was rebuilt, the Dana 20 cleaned up, and all were reinstalled with new mounts. The rest of the chassis associated lines, tubes and steering were either rebuilt or replaced. The body was painted white, accented in blue, and lifted onto the frame. Now there was enough room to fit 35” ProComp mudders on aluminum rims and we were off to Moab. My son who was competing in UROC at time said he would show me a few trails. I had hiked there before, but never wheeled. Over the next two days he introduced me to Cliffhanger, Moab Rim, and Pritchett, in that order. After a few more trips I was starting to wish for a few crawling type upgrades on the Bronco, but like my daddy used to tell me, “You can wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which gets fullest the fastest”, so I got to work. I wanted a little more flex so I ordered a set of Cage arms and coils. The stock front axles were in pieces so in came some Superior Alloys with CTM’s. I pushed the rear leafs back to the end of the frame rails which gave me another 7.5” of wheelbase (in Moab a longer wheelbase is usually your friend). The rear wheel wells needed to be cut, moved back 8”, and then filled in. The rear fender openings for the wheels now looked tacky so I welded metal in the front to make the new opening look like it belonged. The new 23 gallon tank that was put in only a few months ago was cut to fit up into the bed through the frame rails so the rear diff would clear. A cover was made out of 16 gauge to go over the tank and make a base to mount a tool box on. All of this cutting and trimming made room to move up to a set of 37” MTR’s on 17” Champion bead locks. With new bumpers from D & C Extreme and a Warn winch I was happy for a trip or two. With 37”s and 4.56 gears the Dana 20 was now not low enough, so look under the couch cushions, clean out my truck, swallow hard, then Mr. Visa and I ordered an Atlas II in 4.3. The Atlas was well worth the money and since I could stand to lose 20# I really only need one meal a day. My son was winching up a waterfall when the front bumper bolts tore through the frame rails dropping my baby far enough to bend the 9” housing . A friend made me a deal on a Tera 60, so Rock Logic in SLC did a 4 link with Fox coil overs to move the rear to the next level. (Note to self: Weld the bumper to the frame in addition to bolting). A few years later while going up Escalator on Hells Revenge a stub shaft on the Dana 44 cried “Uncle”, and left me in 3WD for the rest of the trip. Time to move up to a front Dana 60. Rock Logic set me up with a HP 60 and linked it with Fox coil overs again. We trimmed the front a little and gained another couple inches of wheel base. Next step?..............40”s. Ben Hanks Racing created the custom tube flares and rock sliders. I was a little concerned that welding the tubes to the body would cause problems when flexing things out, so a little twisty type crawling trip was taken. I was more than a little surprised when it all held together perfectly. It was time for some fancy body work to make the tubes blend into the sheet metal. While South County Collision was massaging the tubes they ironed out 10 years of dings, dents, scratches, and rock related carnage. My six sons and one daughter have all taken turns at seeing how close they could come to rocks, some more successfully than others. We instituted a policy of making them sign their dents to keep things straight. Thankfully over the years all the damage has been to the Bronco and not the passengers, although the shiny side has been down and the greasy side up a couple of times. Several of my friends said that it would be a sin to repaint it plain white so we took a vote and the blue / silver won. Along the way there have been a lot of custom touches. The functional air scoop is unique. I saw the scoop on ebay and it called to me. I have a sheet metal shop so we bent up the air box. The Mustang donor motor had AC so we converted the compressor to on board air for the ARB and tires. I had on old Coleman air compressor tank laying around and it fit perfectly where the battery used to go. The interior was all redone with custom dash, seats and bed panels. It is a vicious cycle. I will be happy if I go up to 33” tires. Oh, oh, I just broke something. Fix it. I really need 35”s. Dang it, broke again. Fix it. Repeat process to 37”s and 40”s. It is a vicious cycle, but one that I enjoy. It would have been a lot cheaper if the Bronco was built like it is now the first time, but I enjoy the process as much as the end results. After all is said the Bronco is really only a cold, (expensive), piece of steel. What has been priceless are the experiences and sharing enjoyed by the people that have helped build, spot, ride, encouraged, screamed and tipped back over. What started out as new carpet has turned into 10 years of tinkering satisfaction. Oh, wait a minute, I forgot the carpet! It comes with 2 sets of tires and rims:40" Maxxis Stickies on Champion Beadlocks (one ride) 37" MTR's on steel wheelsQuestions?More Pics?Ask away Jeff On May-07-11 at 13:57:40 PDT, seller added the following information: A few additional notes and answers to questions. There is some rock rash on the rear fender from our last outing, (my son did it so I made him sign it). Winch is a Warn 9000i with a synthetic rope. Hydraulic bump stops at all four corners. Bikini top as well as full soft top with doors is included. Integral tool box stays with Bronco. Maxxis tires are yellow label. JUST ASK FOR PICS IF SOMETHING IS NOT CLEAR. Call if you need Jeff 801-830-1616