Early Bronco Restoration - Bronco Connection LLC

We know 4x4, that's all we do.

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A customer in Tennessee has shipped us this very nice 1977 Bronco for a full frame off restoration and upgrade.

Some of the planned upgrades include new fuel injected 302 engine, 4 speed automatic transmission, 4 wheel power disc brakes, custom interior

Check back from time to time on our progress on this build.

Disassembly has begun

Driver side floor, kick pan and door post need replaced

Door post and kick pan is rotted through

Passenger side floor is rotted through also and will be replaced.

Several floor panel seams are also showing signs of cancer. We will see what they look like after the tub is blasted.

Even the hard top has a few spots of cancer that hopefully have been caught in time

We will kill this rust and decide if it needs to be cut out after the top is media blasted.

Dash is removed and the tub is very close to being ready to lift off the chassis.

Engine compartment is also ready for the tub to be lifted off.

After 33 years the body comes off the frame.

Chassis is ready to be disassembled

Ready to get started on the body

We have removed rusted panels, replacing front floor, left kick pan, left door post and left inner fender apron.

The frame has been blasted, coated and painted.

Ready for the suspension and reassembly of the chassis.

Kick pan, door post, outer rocker panel and inner fender panel have been removed and we are ready to reassemble.

New factory correct body panels are installed. We install the door and other outer body panels before final welding to ensure the proper body panel gaps are correct.

We place the tub on our newest rotisserie

The panels are ready to prep for paint.

The body is ready to be blasted

All body parts are blasted to bare metal.

All of the sheet metal is done!

Body is primed and ready for final body work to prep for paint.

The customer has decided to use one 23 gal rear tank so we will shave the front fuel door.

After three coats of primer/surfacer are applied it is time for final block sanding to be done to prep the body for paint.

Through the paint booth door window the final color is applied

BMW Kalahari Beige this customer picked a sweet color

The hard top and fender flares are prepped and primed, ready for final blocking. They will end up semi flat black along with the grill inset.

302 V8 has been completely overhauled, bored .30 over, crank is good just needed polished, valve job on the heads, mild cam for great low end torque and drivablility. Set up for fuel injection kit.

Chassis is completed. Frame is blasted, POR 15 coated, chassis black enamel applied, 2.5" lift kit, Long arm radius arm kit assembled, Bilstein 5100 shocks,

Engine is installed, Rebuilt AOD 4 speed auto transmission installed, T shift T case installed with SS twin stick shifters, New BFG AT 33x12.5x15 tires installed

All stainless steel brakes lines, braided brake hoses, stainless steel pressure and return fuel lines, frame wiring harness is installed, 23 gal fuel tank with intake high pressure pump.

We fit the body to the chassis. The AOD trans is larger than the C4 and the body floor is reworked to clear the trans and shifter assembly

The tub is masked and we have applied spray on sound deadener to remove up to 20db of road noise.

Then we apply a coat of ceramic insulation. This will help cool in the summer and heat in the winter.

The final coating of urethane is applied to the underside and inside of the tub assembly. The body will now be able to withstand just about anything for the next 40 years.

The body is back where it belongs!!!

A/C condenser is installed

A/C compressor, new aluminum radiator/shroud with cooling core for the 4 speed AOD is installed

Silicone hose kit and 5.0 EFI fuel injection intake manifold are installed

The body is wet sanded and buffed to a mirror sheen

Firewall pad and underdash hardware is being installed

New A/C -Heater unit is installed

Before we go any further with assembly we pull vacuum on the A/C system to ensure there are no leaks.

It is time to get the custom dash ready to lay out.

First we remove the center section, which we may use parts of later, then we install a new 18 gauge piece of sheet metal to we have a blank dash to work with.

Next we will lay out where the customer wants the switches, power outlets, radio etc...

New smoked glass is being used for all the windows. The stainless steel vent window assemblies have been rebuilt with all new weatherstrip and glass. New door window glass is fitted to the roller track. All new door felt kit is installed for the window guides and anti rattle kit installed in each door. This customer has opted for elec window kits so we are installing them as well.

Retro radio with IPOD connector and MP3 connection will be installed in the new dash.

Custom dash laid out with new steel custom a/c vent portals is ready for paint

Dash is ready for components and customer wiring harness is built.

New dash is installed

New black dash pad is now installed also

We have installed a new chrome tilt steering column to finish the dash installation.

New door mirrors, new tinted windshield and trim are installed

New black door panels complete the doors. Electric window switches will installed in the center console to keep the door panels as clean as possible.

Our new fuel injection system install begins with injectors, fuel rails and fuel pressure regulator installed on the 5.0 intake manifold..

Our new MPFI system uses 5.0 hard parts and a new computer system that is sealed and mounted on the firewall behind the engine.

Extremely easy to hook up, only four wires to have to deal with. The rest of the entire harness is plug and play!!

No more drilling holes in the firewall and trying to stuff the computer under the dash.

Speed density system does not need the big ugly Mass Air Flow sensor.

And Yes, It Runs!!!

Just a few more things to finish up and the engine compartment is complete.

New carpet and hold down kit is installed, the rig is ready for the new seat set and rear inner quarter panels.

Aftermarket front and rear seats are installed. Yes, they were ordered to be black, but showed up grey. I guess our definition of black is different from others. We will have to recover them to match the rest of the truck.