1984 Ford Bronco Project

[M Rose]

I hear ya… mine was pretty bad as well, although I never got mine quite that clean.

I probably got a little excessive on cleaning the outside but turned out pretty good.

No such thing as excessive cleaning when it looks that good

 

[AggieOE]

Your progress is looking great!!

 

[Dakota Houligans]

I got started on the rear seat mounts. We are using some much more comfortable seats out of a midsize Lincoln suv. After setting them in place I have some work to do.



Just too tall. So I removed the mounts to see what I have to work with.



That would be a better height.



Time to cut some things and lower the height.







Had to add a weld to make sure the seat would lock in the upright position.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Made some progress on rear seat mounts. I made a frame to mount to the factory bolt locations.





Then reinforced some areas and finished welding.





And a bit of primer and paint.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

I did the driver seat mount today but forgot to take many pictures. I'll have to do better on the passenger seat.

The initial test fit on stock mounts was way too tall.



So I shortened and adjusted its location with the help of my seat testers.



Ant the finished and painted mount.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

I finished the passenger side seat mount. And remembered to take some pictures this time.

I removed the electric motor and slide from the seat.



This is what's left under the seat.



Then I cut the upper sliding parts off the original mount.





Now I added a flat base to attach the new brackets to for the front.



Then I extended the slide bracket so I had enough room to attach rear bracket.





Now time to weld on the brackets after a test fit.







And finally some primer and paint.

 

[Kajun Sparkle]

man that's a lot of love put into that old Bronco! Good to see new life breathed into an old truck! Well done!!

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Finally managed enough free time to get some color on the Bronco. Cleaned and prepped for paint.





















I put 5 coats of a supposed to be more scratch resistant high solids clear. Figured that way I'll get a chance or 2 of wet sanding and buffing scratches out.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Also managed to get it outside to see it in the sun. Turned out alright for some guy in his garage.













I managed to paint it before the bugs and dust showed up for the spring which was nice. Now just to work on everything else...

 

[AggieOE]

Wow! Based on the pictures, the paint looks great!

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Wow! Based on the pictures, the paint looks great!

It's not perfect, but I will probably end up scratching it up anyway so figure we'll save the heavier wet sanding for that time.

 

[AggieOE]

So what's next? After all the updates, it looks like you're getting closer to the end of the tunnel.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Putting wiring back in. Then dash and interior. More underhood wiring and plumbing. Some rear suspension parts and bump stops. Should build a rear bumper... Pretty long list yet.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

A few parts got installed the other day. The front now has bump stops.



Painted and installed the mounts.





And then installed the bump stops themselves. Pretty simple install. I went the easy way and just bought the mounts.





Also got the steering linkage installed.



Now to do some wiring...

 

[Dakota Houligans]

I am adding a house battery in the back for the fridge and power accessories. Along with a dc/dc and solar charge controller, fuse box, and relays. I cut a board to fit the area we wanted them and went about figuring out how to fit it





Fits pretty good. A little snug but doable.



Added some zip tie tabs for wiring.



Then sound deadening and another test fit.



I drilled holes and put some stainless nutserts in to mount the board to. And had some assistance bolting it up.





And started adding the wires.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Put in some sound deadening material on the floor and the driver side. And got some more wiring doneish

 

[M Rose]

Looking good @Dakota Houligans . Are you making custom rear panels, or going with the stock panels in the back?

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Looking good @Dakota Houligans . Are you making custom rear panels, or going with the stock panels in the back?

Both. I'm Going to use the stock panels as far back as I can and them make something to cover the rest. I actually picked up some 2'x4' pvc panels the other day. I'm thinking I'll see if I can make some covers and rear panels for the cargo area out of that.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

I made some adapters for my rear speakers out of 1/4 inch pvc panel.



A little trimming and drilling of the mounting holes.



Then I used a hole saw to make room for my new/old speakers.



Time for some paint after screwing them together.



And they are back in place.



I should probably put the speakers in too. But I'm getting old and tired tonight.

 

[M Rose]

Looks good buddy. Unfortunately mine is going to be heading the reverse direction as I pull it back to stock and get ready to list it for sale. Life changes have me moving in a different direction.