Brian's '96

[yikes]

We've got the lower v's in. I'm working on a battery mount betwen the frame rails. Mark's dad is getting the dash ready.

[economig]

Looks awesome. Big kudos to Mark on the quality/timeframe! I heard mastercraft has a really nice line of racing milk crates if you don't wanna go with the 5 gallon buckets!

[yikes]

Looks awesome. Big kudos to Mark on the quality/timeframe! I heard mastercraft has a really nice line of racing milk crates if you don't wanna go with the 5 gallon buckets!

Haha! Nice!

[yikes]

Still at it. Couple more hours to go...then 2hrs drive home. In bed no later than 2am. Woohooo!

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Holy crap B! Its down to the wire!

[bajascott]

last minute ...its what the best of us do!! go guys go!!

[yikes]

Just made it home. Plenty of time to get a shower and pack before we have to leave. Sleep will have to wait another day.

[Deleted Account]

VIVA MEXICO!

[ChaseTruck754]

heck if you weren't sleeping before leaving this morning then my guess is you could have at least taken a few minutes to post up pics! I'm disappointed in you...

I guess I'll just have to wait til you get back stateside to see the pics then.

Have a blast down there & eat some tacos for me!

[Copykat]

heck if you weren't sleeping before leaving this morning then my guess is you could have at least taken a few minutes to post up pics! I'm disappointed in you...

Same here! Sleeps overated anyway.

[yikes]

She's fast now!! Just need some HP and a seat that keeps my butt in check.

[yikes]

I know nobody likes to read long winded speeches, but please indulge me...


Four weeks ago I discovered some cracks in the Bronco's body that were enough to sideline it until proper repairs could be implemented. These cracks were due to repeated beatings; not to mention modifications I made in preparation for a cage. Let it be said that a cage-ready Bronco without a cage is not trail worthy at all. Just my opinion. Now, in short, the reason I never built a it is purely time and money, but I chose to beat on the poor thing regardless and paid the price. With last weekends Baja trip quickly approaching I was in panic mode. Whatever it took to get this thing fixed, well, I was prepared to do it.

In the 12 years I've owned the Bronco, nobody other than myself has ever laid a hand on it for fabrication, maintenance or repair (aside from the trail repairs that many have graciously helped with). I was nervous about taking it anywhere. My expectations are high and my confidence in others work, well, not so much. I called Mark Kiefer at Southwest Performance because I knew him, I've seen his work and liked it. We discussed the issue and he expressed that he had a full schedule, but was positive he could get the job done before the trip. As is typical in the fabrication world, not everything went as planned and the other projects took more time than anticipated. Move forward to last Saturday. Mark and his Dad were finally able to begin work on my cage; less than one week to Baja. Oh no! Now, I only requested an A and B pillar, which was the bulk of the work, knowing I could easily take it from there. Mark suggested I have him do A, B & C for many good reasons and after seeing the process I completely understood why. His goal was to send me on my way with a complete cage that I would not have to add to before the trip. From my perspective it was a daunting task and I was very nervous that it would not be finished in time.

As with many projects, this one threw him a few curve balls. I would say he spent no less than 25hrs repairing the cracked and mangled firewall. It was terrible. The step-up to the rear seat/cargo area was cracked and buckled and had to be massaged back in to shape. The floor board was cracked and bent on the driver's side. There was all kinds of discouraging damage. I heard more than once "I've never seen a crack there before" Haha!! Ooops!

Mark and his Dad worked tirelessly 12-16 hours a day for the next 5 days to get the Bronco back in shape. They fixed all of the electrical issues before pulling the dash to ensure there were no problems during assembly. This included removing unused components and cleaning up the wiring harness. Steps most would not care to take. After fabbing the A pillar as I requested, re-installing the dash was a nightmare, but they pulled it off!! Can not say enough about their collective efforts. Wow! All said and done, they built a very useable, SCORE legal cage (sans a few tubes) that's tucked up tight to the body and left me with a Bronco that was ready to run. In fact, thanks to them, it's running better than it was when I brought it to them. Service you just can't get just anywhere.

On D day, there was soooooo much left to do. I joined them Thursday and the 3 of us began work. I took Mark's suggestion and built a mount for the battery to go between the frame rails behind the t-case. I figured that would keep me out of their way for a few hours. He probably figured the same. Haha! Sometime in the afternoon the finishing touches on the cage were done and it was finally time to begin re-assembling the interior. Thinking we were home free, it turned out to be a challenge in itself. We worked through the night. I was really running out of steam around 11pm, but Mark and his Dad were still going strong. Mark's attitude the entire time was positive. He kept saying that nobody has missed Baja on his watch yet and he didn't intend to start now. Awesome!!! Around 12:30am we wrapped everything up. Even at that late hours, Mark insisted that we give the Bronco a quick wash. "Nobody leaves my shop with a dirty Bronco". That was bitchen and actually a great way to wind down the intensity of the day.

All said and done...I just came back from an absolutely awesome Baja trip and guess what? I didn't have to fix anything!! Not one broken, damaged, cracked, bent or unhappy piece on the Bronco. Thanks to Southwest Performance, I had a great time. Mark senior and Mark junior truly went out of their way to make sure I didn't miss a vacation. Who does that?! We're not talking prepping a race car here. Thanks for making my first experience with a shop a positive one fellas. Job well done!!

[ChaseTruck754]

Good to hear & this story reminds me of everything I've ever heard about Mark - going the extra mile to do it right!

Glad baja was fun





NOW WHERE'S THE DAMNED (pardon my french) PICS?!?!?!?

[yikes]

Haha! I'll get some in a few if you don't mind dirty pictures. Dohh!!!


And just to add...I drove that thing hard!!!! Bottomed out many times on all four corners. She's a beast now!!

[ChaseTruck754]

If I don't mind dirty pictures... you ain't talking to Tony here Brian!!!!

[yikes]

BEHOLD!!!!!

[ChaseTruck754]

Looks good! I like um duuuurtay!

[tcm glx]

If I don't mind dirty pictures... you ain't talking to Tony here Brian!!!!

I'm rubbing off in Brian, he asked to borrow cleaning supplies while we were at the border wait and started cleaning up the beast!!

She was definitely performing top notch, I was able to come behind in line and Brian was definitely hauling the mail!!

[greaslife]

I know nobody likes to read long winded speeches, but please indulge me...


Four weeks ago I discovered some cracks in the Bronco's body that were enough to sideline it until proper repairs could be implemented. These cracks were due to repeated beatings; not to mention modifications I made in preparation for a cage. Let it be said that a cage-ready Bronco without a cage is not trail worthy at all. Just my opinion. Now, in short, the reason I never built a it is purely time and money, but I chose to beat on the poor thing regardless and paid the price. With last weekends Baja trip quickly approaching I was in panic mode. Whatever it took to get this thing fixed, well, I was prepared to do it.

In the 12 years I've owned the Bronco, nobody other than myself has ever laid a hand on it for fabrication, maintenance or repair (aside from the trail repairs that many have graciously helped with). I was nervous about taking it anywhere. My expectations are high and my confidence in others work, well, not so much. I called Mark Kiefer at Southwest Performance because I knew him, I've seen his work and liked it. We discussed the issue and he expressed that he had a full schedule, but was positive he could get the job done before the trip. As is typical in the fabrication world, not everything went as planned and the other projects took more time than anticipated. Move forward to last Saturday. Mark and his Dad were finally able to begin work on my cage; less than one week to Baja. Oh no! Now, I only requested an A and B pillar, which was the bulk of the work, knowing I could easily take it from there. Mark suggested I have him do A, B & C for many good reasons and after seeing the process I completely understood why. His goal was to send me on my way with a complete cage that I would not have to add to before the trip. From my perspective it was a daunting task and I was very nervous that it would not be finished in time.

As with many projects, this one threw him a few curve balls. I would say he spent no less than 25hrs repairing the cracked and mangled firewall. It was terrible. The step-up to the rear seat/cargo area was cracked and buckled and had to be massaged back in to shape. The floor board was cracked and bent on the driver's side. There was all kinds of discouraging damage. I heard more than once "I've never seen a crack there before" Haha!! Ooops!

Mark and his Dad worked tirelessly 12-16 hours a day for the next 5 days to get the Bronco back in shape. They fixed all of the electrical issues before pulling the dash to ensure there were no problems during assembly. This included removing unused components and cleaning up the wiring harness. Steps most would not care to take. After fabbing the A pillar as I requested, re-installing the dash was a nightmare, but they pulled it off!! Can not say enough about their collective efforts. Wow! All said and done, they built a very useable, SCORE legal cage (sans a few tubes) that's tucked up tight to the body and left me with a Bronco that was ready to run. In fact, thanks to them, it's running better than it was when I brought it to them. Service you just can't get just anywhere.

On D day, there was soooooo much left to do. I joined them Thursday and the 3 of us began work. I took Mark's suggestion and built a mount for the battery to go between the frame rails behind the t-case. I figured that would keep me out of their way for a few hours. He probably figured the same. Haha! Sometime in the afternoon the finishing touches on the cage were done and it was finally time to begin re-assembling the interior. Thinking we were home free, it turned out to be a challenge in itself. We worked through the night. I was really running out of steam around 11pm, but Mark and his Dad were still going strong. Mark's attitude the entire time was positive. He kept saying that nobody has missed Baja on his watch yet and he didn't intend to start now. Awesome!!! Around 12:30am we wrapped everything up. Even at that late hours, Mark insisted that we give the Bronco a quick wash. "Nobody leaves my shop with a dirty Bronco". That was bitchen and actually a great way to wind down the intensity of the day.

All said and done...I just came back from an absolutely awesome Baja trip and guess what? I didn't have to fix anything!! Not one broken, damaged, cracked, bent or unhappy piece on the Bronco. Thanks to Southwest Performance, I had a great time. Mark senior and Mark junior truly went out of their way to make sure I didn't miss a vacation. Who does that?! We're not talking prepping a race car here. Thanks for making my first experience with a shop a positive one fellas. Job well done!!

If only all shops were that way.this would be a much better sport.

[yikes]

If I don't mind dirty pictures... you ain't talking to Tony here Brian!!!!

I'm rubbing off in Brian, he asked to borrow cleaning supplies while we were at the border wait and started cleaning up the beast!!

She was definitely performing top notch, I was able to come behind in line and Brian was definitely hauling the mail!!

Sitting at the carwash waiting for the Bronco to come out of the magic tunnel. Only have a week and a half to the next off road trip. Woohooo! Fishin the high lakes in the Sierras. Can't wait!