Carlos83 1983 Bronco
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 12:09 am
Hello all.
Let me introduce myself.
My name is Carlos and I live in Tijuana Mexico.
My Bronco has been with my family since 1988. it has been mine since 1991. it is a 1983 custom that originally came with a powerful (not) 2bbl 302, auto trans, dealer installed A/C that never really blew cold air, and those low bucket seats with rubber mat.
Through the years it suffered several changes. some of them cosmetically only, others functional. (yes, in the 90s it had one of those idiot looking bug deflectors on the hood, an array of KC Hi lites, a Kraco stereo, and so on)
in 2004 I swapped the mustang 5.0 I had put five years earlier for a 351W 0.60. I also put a hi stall converter. got myself a Rancho 4" lift, had the car painted red, added a roof rack with Pro-Comp lights, and drove it like that for a while in the sand dunes.
here is a pic:
then i got bit by the go-fast bug.
I wanted a decent reliable 4X4 vehicle that I could drive around in the desert at a slightly higher speed than your average Bronco.
Unfortunately I had a bad experience with a local fabricator. ended up having my former drivable bronco put on pause for more than a year.
also because this stinky economy is not helping much.
After talks with a new to me fabricator, my project was restarted:
gotta have a good foundation
- I removed the carpet i put in 99.
- I sprayed bedliner to the floor and walls
- threw my rusted doors away, and got myself some 95's (hence late model mirrors)
- replaced the body mounts with poly.
widened the front end and putting 16" King CO:
a cage is in the works right now.
It is missing sections and gussets that will be put when i get my seats.
for the rear, I have Deaver F53's, and King 16" smoothies (trough the floor and attach the cage). Right now they are almost vertical (no stagger) and I am having second thoughts on this.
I had installed a 92-96 dashboard in 2002. i got rid of it and got a fiberglass dashboard.
right now it has no gauges or other items mounted
***Pending items***
Short Term:
-Install Winters shifter
-dual battery base
-figure out spare tire attachment
-limiting straps and bump stops
-extend/re-route brake lines
-fix the wiring spaghetti!!!
Long Term:
- Build a trussed, locked 9" to replace my current 8.8
- get some Autofab 80-86 fiberglass fenders! I made a temporary hack cut to the fenders while I save the coin for the fiberglass.
So as you can see this is a work in progress
I will update this thread as things happen.
Let me introduce myself.
My name is Carlos and I live in Tijuana Mexico.
My Bronco has been with my family since 1988. it has been mine since 1991. it is a 1983 custom that originally came with a powerful (not) 2bbl 302, auto trans, dealer installed A/C that never really blew cold air, and those low bucket seats with rubber mat.
Through the years it suffered several changes. some of them cosmetically only, others functional. (yes, in the 90s it had one of those idiot looking bug deflectors on the hood, an array of KC Hi lites, a Kraco stereo, and so on)
in 2004 I swapped the mustang 5.0 I had put five years earlier for a 351W 0.60. I also put a hi stall converter. got myself a Rancho 4" lift, had the car painted red, added a roof rack with Pro-Comp lights, and drove it like that for a while in the sand dunes.
here is a pic:
then i got bit by the go-fast bug.
I wanted a decent reliable 4X4 vehicle that I could drive around in the desert at a slightly higher speed than your average Bronco.
Unfortunately I had a bad experience with a local fabricator. ended up having my former drivable bronco put on pause for more than a year.
also because this stinky economy is not helping much.
After talks with a new to me fabricator, my project was restarted:
gotta have a good foundation
- I removed the carpet i put in 99.
- I sprayed bedliner to the floor and walls
- threw my rusted doors away, and got myself some 95's (hence late model mirrors)
- replaced the body mounts with poly.
widened the front end and putting 16" King CO:
a cage is in the works right now.
It is missing sections and gussets that will be put when i get my seats.
for the rear, I have Deaver F53's, and King 16" smoothies (trough the floor and attach the cage). Right now they are almost vertical (no stagger) and I am having second thoughts on this.
I had installed a 92-96 dashboard in 2002. i got rid of it and got a fiberglass dashboard.
right now it has no gauges or other items mounted
***Pending items***
Short Term:
-Install Winters shifter
-dual battery base
-figure out spare tire attachment
-limiting straps and bump stops
-extend/re-route brake lines
-fix the wiring spaghetti!!!
Long Term:
- Build a trussed, locked 9" to replace my current 8.8
- get some Autofab 80-86 fiberglass fenders! I made a temporary hack cut to the fenders while I save the coin for the fiberglass.
So as you can see this is a work in progress
I will update this thread as things happen.
