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FOTY 2014 Vote here !!!

  • OBS Brody

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Captainp4

    Votes: 10 10.4%
  • fartman

    Votes: 8 8.3%
  • BroncoJoe96

    Votes: 44 45.8%
  • oubeast34!

    Votes: 33 34.4%
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FOTY 2014 VOTE HERE !!!

28K views 136 replies 24 participants last post by  Saltlife 
#1 · (Edited)
:beer FOTY Contest has started!! Vote here for the best representative of our faved Bronco! Also to represent the cover/theme of our site for the next year! :beer

FOTY 2014 Contestants !!!



OBS Brody




Captainp4






fartman





BroncoJoe96





oubeast34!








:rockon Congratulations to all for making it this far and good luck. This years FOTY will be ran till December 16th. Enjoy! :rockon








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#2 ·
Hey everyone,
To start off the competition I thought I'd post up a few of my favorite pictures. These are all recent pictures after the rebuild. There's still many more to come and a lot to show :rockon


After a wash this summer


Sitting up on a local road called the Hawks Nest. A lot of car commercials filmed up there and its a blast to drive. I get the privilege to drive this road all the time.

Last up are pictures of some fun in the mud. Can't beat taking these beasts offroad. :beer

 
#13 ·
Last up are pictures of some fun in the mud. Can't beat taking these beasts offroad. :beer


"Can't beat taking these beasts offroad " :beer. Joe. I cannot agree more, looking forward to more shots from you and others of your off-road adventures -- that's where my heart and vote goes. Cheers !
 
#5 ·
So after weeks of waiting, my tailgate and bumper is finally repaired. I am not exactly thrilled about the repair as I had to pay $664 out of my pocket in order to drive my bronco off the lot because the insurance has not paid the supplement needed. Also, they did not replace my 7/4 pin trailer plug at all, so I bought a new bracket, reused the plug, and finished it myself as was easier than arguing over $5.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Ford


Land vehicle Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Tire


They did relocate the Bronco emblem to match the drivers side.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive tire Tire


I will post some photos of the metal work and body work to cap the tailgate later, but here is the end result.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Tire Automotive tire


Automotive exterior Bumper Grille Vehicle Truck bed part


Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Automotive mirror Bumper


Below is one month after I completed my restoration. What a dick! Just having a rough time here lately. Hell, damn muzzleloader had a 2 second firing delay this morning thus missing a nice buck.
Tire Automotive tire Automotive exterior Vehicle Bumper
 
#10 ·
Ted,

I just realized you meant my interior ABS rear panels. I bought a 4'x8' sheet 1/4" thick from Tulsa Plastics for $75 which my wife picked up. I had enough of my original panel board panels left to use as a rough template. Below is the link to Tulsa Plastics. I used a jigsaw to cut the plastic. The trick was to cut real slow to avoid overheating and melting.

http://tulsaplastics.com/

Vehicle Car Automotive exterior
 
#9 ·
I hear ya on muźzle loader. A buddy had 6 wet caps this morning. Good thing in GA firearm has been open 2 weeks. Good looking TG repair.
 
#15 ·
Here are a few shots of the tailgate mods at the body shop. So happy the repair is over with and back in my garage.
Furniture Table Machine


Hood


Automotive exterior Bumper Auto part Hood Vehicle


Vehicle Automobile repair shop Luxury vehicle Car Automotive exterior


And just because I can directly attach 7 files now due to the membership.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Engine


Vehicle Engine Car Auto part Automotive exterior


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Automotive tire
 
#17 ·
BRONCO DRIVER MAGAZINE WRITEUP

Below is the story I submitted to the magazine along with a CD of 500 plus photos. It will be interesting to see what they use. I will be out of pocket on a hunting trip for a week, so figured I would post this for those that would like to know a little more about me and the history of my bronco.

Description/Story/Write up
My dad “Old Bean” acquired our families Bronco in 85 and had only 4,000 miles on her. She was blue inside and out with a white top, tiny tires, 302 engine, 2 barrel carburetor, C6, and 3.00 gears. My dad worked at the foundry and drove the bronco daily to work down the terrible roads of Okmulgee County. After about ten years of abuse and deer hunting she developed a knock and was parked in the corner of our property. I would occasionally grab the key, get her started, and putt around the yard. By the age of 15, I laid claim to her and have kept her going ever since.

The Bronco may have played a hand in me becoming an Electrical Engineer as one day the ignition switch broke in the running position. I opened the hood and began to go thru my options on how to turn the engine off. I thought about using a rag and plug the carburetor, but decided it would be easiest to take my handy pair of pliers and yank the spark plug wire off of the distributor cap. That was fine and all except there was a piece of insulation missing on the handle of the pliers. I got zapped about six times and could not let go of the pliers. I must have launched the pair of pliers about 50 yards by the time I mustered bodily function control. I later learned that the easiest way was to remove the negative battery cable.

One of my favorite memories of my dad and Bronco was leaving our high school’s football game when I was in middle school. My brother and I complained how weak the Bronco was to which my dad showed us what 4-LO can do. He did a 100 yard burnout and left one heck of a smoke cloud which we thought was cool.

In 1995, I began saving every penny I could and with my dad’s help we began getting her road worthy again. First, we pulled & rebuilt the 302, repaired the leaking radiator, new hoses and coolant, brakes, u-joints, ball joints, steering tie rods, 4x4 hubs & bearings then pack with grease, Rear axle bearings, seals, and gear oil. Next, the metal gas tank was rusted out and leaking so we put in a plastic tank. Finally, we changed out the Dana 44 pivot bushing, replaced the radius arm riveted brackets and bushings PITA, and installed new shocks.

In 1996, she got the best paint job $3,000 could buy. The glass in the tailgate never worked properly, so we gutted the tailgate and capped it and installed a white pickup style tonneau cover. She also got new chrome American Racing wheels and 31x12.50R15 wheels and Cooper Discoverer ATS tires as well as a new tailpipe with glasspack muffler and echochamber.

By 1997, I was dubbed “The Beast” playing basketball which naturally transferred to my Bronco. So it was time to make some performance enhancements to the 302. First, the Beast got some Hooker Long Tube Headers and dual exhaust with Flowmaster 40 series mufflers. Next, we put a big cam in there with an Edelbrock RPM intake, MSD blaster coil, platinum spark plugs, new distributor, plug wires and Holley 600 electric choke and vacuum advance 4 barrel carburetor. The Holley carb came with an inline glass fuel filter which I thought was awesome until it cracked, sprayed fuel all over my engine, and was ignited by the air conditioner throttle advance solenoid. Lucky she did not burn to the ground that day. Soon after this upgrade, the 9” rear end had to be rebuilt as was clanging badly. Also, the NP208 transfer case had to be rebuilt as the shifting forks were shot and the chain was stretched so badly. And to top it off, I was being dumb showing off for friend’s fish tailing down a gravel road and lost control and hit the ditch damaging the front fender. For the remainder of high school, the only additional upgrades changes were a Smittybilt front bumper, new polyurethane body mounts, steering stabilizer shock, and aftermarket front seats with center console.

Fast forwarding to 2001, the Beast and I went off to college near St. Louis, Missouri. I got some 31x12.50 Super Swampers which looked great but were the worst tires I have ever owned. My Bronco did great in Missouri and was very reliable. The only major repairs I recall fixing was a leaking wheel cylinder, master cylinder, brake booster, and rebuilt the transmission for the first time. And there was the time it was snowing heavily and my buddies wanted to go wheeling so I took them and ended up busting my steering stabilizer shock. It was snowing so hard we did not see that the steel cable was up and the Beast crashed thru the cable and ripped the cable out of the wooden posts. Missouri sand and salt on the roads really did its toll on the Beast while I was up there for three years.

Moving ahead to 2003, I transferred to Oklahoma University Boomer Sooner! I was pulling a trailer with my Intro to Engineering project (Pumpkin Chunking Canon) down 44 to Norman when unfortunately I was going up a steep hill and the C6 downshifted into 2nd going 80mph. The result was I broke the cast crank in half which went thru the timing cover and left a big streak of oil down the highway. My grandma, mom, and dad came to the rescue. I borrowed my grandmas brown Ford pickup and continued on to Norman. The following weekend, my dad found a good engine for a core and bought me a remanufactured 302 short block. We took the timing cover and oil pan off the core and transferred the heads, intake, and everything else over to the new engine and installed and I was back in business. About a year later, the rebuilt 302 rear main bearing started going out. I attempted to drive it 120 miles back home to pull the engine but only made it 70 miles. The engine was vibrating so badly and I could only do 55mph and it broke the center out of the flex plate. It was funny because the engine was still running but would not move. It was a sad day for the Beast as my uncle’s Chevy came to my rescue. He parked about a ¼ mile down hill and around a curve. I got a 35mph run at the trailer and she went right up. It was kind of crazy with no power steering or power brakes. My dad had decided that we were going to put in an engine that would last so then came the 302HO with steel crank out of an 88 Mercury Cougar. This engine got an awesome Comp Camshaft, Ford Racing GT40X aluminum heads, and DUI Distributor. This engine ran great and is still running today in a 90’s Fox Body Mustang. It was time for a new exhaust system so I went with 2 ½” dual exhaust with Spintech mufflers, H-pipe, and new tips.

After college, I got a job at a refinery as a contract Instrument Engineer. The first days of work involve OSHA and site specific safety training, which is a big deal. So I left in the Beast on my official first day of work only to have the transmission go out on the 1-2 shift. I put her in manual 1st then 2nd and would not move, but for some dang reason she had reverse. Being only 2 miles from the training facility and not wanting to be late, I hoped on the highway for 1 mile and drove the Beast in reverse to the safety training facility. To this day, I am not sure why I was not fired on the spot. After training, I drove back to my camper in reverse. I pulled up to the stop sign on the highway and a Highway Patrol about broke his neck seeing me sitting at the stop sign in reverse. I waited a bit then filled in behind him, but he never turned around to pull me over. Well, my grandma came to the rescue again by sending my brother up with her brown car as a loner. So I am in debt (student loans and camper) up to my eyeballs and have not even earned a check yet and not I got to get the Beast fixed. Found a local shop that would fix the C6 for $600 and my grandma loaned me the money. Well, my brother and I set off to drive the Beast to the transmission shop in reverse. We were getting close to the highway when I came up on grandma and grandpa doing 20mph and my brother was behind me in the brown car with the flashers. I looked up at my brother who had a big grin and was shaking his head “NO”, but I was shaking my head “YES” then proceeded to pass grandma and grandpa in reverse. I will never forget the look on their face when I went around and we looked at each other thru the front windshield noses of the vehicles facing each other. So my brother stayed with me until my Bronco was fixed and on his last day I came home to the camper after a long day of work and all I heard was mumbling from the inside. I reached up and turned the knob only to have the whole door fall off the camper. Apparently, it is really windy in Ponca and my brother opened the door and the wind ripped it right off earlier in the day. Instead of re-attaching the door properly, he just shoved it back in the hole.

In 2007 after working 6 months, I bought my dream vehicle which was a big blue 2008 F-250 FX4 diesel pickup truck. I regularly drove the Beast for fun, but she was falling apart. My wife said the Beast had stage 4 cancer. In 2011, I bought my first house with a 40’ x 60’ shop which I had planned to use to restore my Bronco. August of 2012, I pulled the trigger going full bore on the restoration. My inspiration was to make the Bronco look similar to my F250. First, I got new tires and drove here to my gear guy who installed 4.10 gears, Detroit locker, and posi-trac units. Next, I purchased and installed a GT500 fiberglass hood, Rear Bumper, Reverse Switch, Blinker Switch, Steering Wheel, MasterCraft Seats, SoftTopper, and 2008 F250 center console. Feeling excited about the restoration, I ordered my dream engine which was a custom built 427w Stroker engine. After the engine was on order, I stumbled upon an 85 Bronco at a local salvage and purchased for $850 dollars to use for parts, cab swap, and AOD transmission. I pulled the AOD and sent off to be rebuilt then began stripping everything off the 85 down to the cab. After inventorying everything, I made my wish list and began acquiring parts and pieces from LMC truck, Bronco Graveyard, Ebay, and the Internet.

I began calling and visiting every local paint shop and none of them would take on my two broncos to make one project. I eventually found a place in Tulsa that would do it on a time and materials basis. March of 2013, I loaded up the red bronco and away we went. After 900 man-hours of labor, funds were drying up and I pulled the plug on the restoration shop after bodywork, paint, drive train, brakes, cab, body panel reassembly, wet sanding, and buffing. I brought my bronco home on December of 2013 with a ton of work to do myself. Of course the first priority was getting everything in place for the first start which happened January 2014. My satisfaction was at an all time high when she came back to life knowing that I did the work and saved a lot of money. Unfortunately, I was plagued with new engine/drive train issues which were out of my control such as the transmission was stuck in reverse when started, incorrect shifter linkage installed, developed an oil leak from the intake manifold, incorrect flex plate destroyed the AOD, and finally after several AOD repairs we had no overdrive. I worked through all the bugs and my restoration was 100% as of July 2014.

I got to enjoy my new ride for 1 month until some idiot rear ended me while I was taking off from a stop sign in August of 2014. Luckily, only the tailgate and rear bumper were damaged. So I am in the middle of the insurance claim and found out I had been nominated for F.O.T.M. September. I competed in the 30 day competition up against some amazing broncos and somehow pulled out the win. The repairs to the Beast from the rear ending are well underway and I cannot wait to get her back.

It has been a real pleasure sharing my story. Special thanks to FSB for putting on the FOTM competition and for those who voted for my 82 Bronco.

Sincerely,

Johnny Dulaney Jr.
 
#19 ·
About a year and a half ago I was nearing 16 and started my search for my first vehicle. After a little bit of searching I decide I wanted a Ford Bronco and my dad was behind the idea as long as it was one of the newer ones with a few safety features. We weren't against having to do some work to one to get it up to snuff, so to searching craigslist we went. I found a black '96 with a 6 inch suspension lift, 3 inch body lift, and a set of 35s and 42s that were slashed and barely fit and it hit all the criteria on my list. We went to check it out and of course me and my dad were hooked but it did have a couple problems. The transmission was blown, the windshield was cracked, the check engine light was on, there was an exhaust leak, a broken axle shaft, mismatched gears in the diffs, torn seats, dry rotted tires, and more rust than we thought possible everywhere. We saw the truck's potential but in all honesty it probably should have been scrapped after we realized all the problems. But we didn't even consider that, instead we for the most part went over the entire truck rebuilding and modding from bumper to bumper. I don't want to get into anything to deeply yet but I'll post up a few before and after pictures for now.


 
#21 ·
Towards the end of the Bronco's rebuild my dad and I decided we wanted to build a custom rear bumper. We wanted something that looked good and also held a spare and neither of us wanted to put on the pitted stock bumper. So we got to brain storming using this 2 inch square tubing we had gotten from a friend of my dad's, and added in a few more features and this is the result:
During the build/brain storming:








After some paint:



Installed on the truck:



After a couple of days we were thinking and decided it wasn't a bad idea to make a grill mount so we used an old grill off our boat and made a mount that goes into the hole for the pin that secures the swing out carrier closed. We also added in a little table that doubles as a step when the bumpers closed.



 
#22 ·
Getting ready to head out, but wanted to share some more old photos my mom found which I scanned and made electronic. We went to a drive thru zoo in the bronco a long time ago. All I remember is one of these monkeys grabbing my brother by the hair and beating him against the window. It was hilarious.

Vehicle door Windshield Mode of transport Tree Driving


Motor vehicle Vehicle door Windshield Vehicle Driving


Old world monkey Macaque Beard Photography Facial hair


Snout Nose Wildlife Zoo Terrestrial animal


Here are a few more old ones that my mom found.

Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Tree Vehicle door


Motor vehicle Vehicle Car Tree Landscape


And last, found one of my wife to be in the bronco. Pretty sure she is not going to like me posting a picture of her even if it was 13 years ago.

Face Vehicle door Beauty Driving Mode of transport
 
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