I call Donnie and he's on the road headed back from NY. The CL ad was kind of funny and he was a super nice guy. We talked for 30 minutes and he sent me more pictures, seemingly telling me straight about the Bronco and it's few issues. Paige and I agree they both seem legit, and I commit to a 12 hour drive to meet him at 10AM Sunday morning when he gets home to Surprise, AZ. I burn out of Santa Clarita at 4AM Sunday in the truck & trailer headed east, realizing I'm rolling the dice a bit. Donnie's in his driveway with the shiny white XLT when I pull up. I now understand why he's selling it after two weeks of owning it.....he's a 78/79 Bronco fanatic and thought this would fill their need to tow a trailer for camping if they left it alone and wheeled in the lineup of other custom Broncos he had going. Apparently another 79 came for sale that Donnie would rather have to tow, so after already buying parts for the 96 he put it up for sale to gather cash for the other.
Doors open, tailgate down, hood up......everything works and I mean everything.....brand new battery. Brought my trusty creeper and under I go. Other than what looks like every other late model Bronco in reasonable conditions, the only bad I see is a crappy muffler/tailpipes and a wet spot at the rear main. Everything here is otherwise unmolested and untouched OE Bronco. We start on the list of known issues:
* Tailgate delamination - yep it's the fault of the spare tire. I'll deal with it.
* Dented front fender below the antenna - hopefully paintless repair but if not oh well easy to R&R.
* Some old and some new with dry rot 32" BFG all no good - BFD we need 33" anyway.
* Misc other nicks and dings need touch up - what the heck it's 20 years old.
* New 2 1/2" lift needs alignment.
* Both gray leather seats are hammered.
Donnie was telling the truth. We fire it up and go for a spin.....he tells me to put it to the wood. All good and sounds tight. We got to the dirt lot and some piles to test the transfer case and hubs. All good and LS working extremely well with little to no spin. Lock to lock in circles I hear no creaks, knocks, lumps or wobbles. Back to 2WD and dirt burnouts confirm the LS works. Nice quiet electric transfer case shifts compared to Jim & Paige's Bronco. Back to the house for more inspection.....under the hood and inside - all is again unmolested and untouched with new AC compressor line to replace the leaky one. Donnie shows me the new parts he's giving me that need to finish up the new lift kit. All in original boxes a dash mat, urethane bushings, eccentric alignment cams, Moog ball joints, a window motor, sway bar ends, spare door handles and other tidbits. He also gives me three spare OE alloys and an OE steelie spare.
I don't see that Donnie is hiding anything.....we're done here. I trade him $5,100 cash for the title and a bill of sale, and we load it up. Through a Palm Springs dust storm I pull into the driveway at home 6:30PM. Tired.
Mom & Dad's Thanksgiving Bronco in hand - check. Now to prepare it for DD use, and a few mods I may need GFB advice or recommendation on since I've never done a stock Bronco before. All good and we're happy.....mostly looking forward to HPR in November with the Family in the dirt.
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