imported from Houston

[jbickhart]

Bought and drove-home my first Bronco today. A '71. Normally, I don't consider a new toy 'mine' unless I restore it myself, but after 1291 miles, it feels like mine.

I was extremely happy about the purchase. I bought it before 'seeing' it from a CL ad..... first time I saw it in-person was at the Houston airport, 2 minutes before I started the trip home.

Discovered a few things to work on: front DS rubs the exhaust in 4WD which was annoying considering I needed 4WD for over 400 miles!!! Detroit locker with mud tires is really annoying (nearly fatal) since I needed 4WD for over 400 miles!! Zero weather stripping is really anno.... you get the idea.... it was a LONG trip.

[akaFrankCastle]

That is a great looking truck. Throw up some specs on what she's got in her when you get the chance!

[Entourage]

That is simply gorgeous truck. The two tone is just beautiful. Love the wheels - great looking truck. That is great that it made it home from Texas.

[Justin]

Looks great! I'm jealous. Part of me really wanted to buy a Bronco from far away so that I could have a great story to tell...sounds like an adventure!

[Moab Mike]

Plumbdoctor, your twin has arrived!

[Kinder]

Beautiful and welcome.

[jbickhart]

Thanks guys. It was a heck of a ride...

I can't complain too much: NV3550 with 35" and 4.11:1 so I could run 70-75 on good roads. But, I flew-in to Houston last Friday.... some said it was the worst time in 10 years to drive back, so there weren't any 'good' roads. Or, any open roads.

Full hardtop was nice, but no weatherstripping made for a cold ride. It was 13F across most of NM..... I figure it was 14F inside. I took the cooling fan off for most of the trip, but it overheated in San Antonio and in heavy traffic somewhere in New Mexico. I blocked-off 3/4 of the radiator (aluminum roasting pan from Walmart) but still had trouble getting the engine warm at highway speeds.... large Howe aluminum radiator. I'm betting there are some holes drilled in the thermostat.

Overall, I got more than expected, for once: the "stock" rebuilt engine has a mild cam, aluminum heads, holley 4 barrel, MSD, all new accessories and it will pull 5th gear at 1400rpm all day. I couldn't be happier with the tuning on the Holley. New complete Centech harness. All new steering from the wheel to wheels.

The dual stick shifter needs some work and after adding about 200' of weatherstripping it'll be my driver for a while.

[airbur]

Nice find!! I really like the color scheme and the matching hard top.

[PonyCorral]

What a great find!

[jbickhart]

I would have never found it without a search engine that will look at Craigslist from any / all cities at the same time.

www.searchtempest.com

Search string: "+bronco (1967|1968|1969|1970|1971|1972|1973|1974|1975|1976|1977)"

it also searches Ebay if you wish.

[Entourage]

That is a great tip. I will have to check that site out.

[PonyCorral]

Indeed! I will also have to check that out.

[plumbdoctor]

There goes my plan on painting the hard top the same color!??! Kiddin' ya a bit, Very Nice!!!

[jbickhart]

The PO picked me up at the airport .... 2 minutes later I was driving away. I had already paid and had the title so there wasn't much reason to look it over. I checked the oil pressure and temp gages, made sure the brake pedal was firm and headed out.

I just looked...... Centech wiring harness and new switches everywhere. The motor is way overkill for a truck. Dart Pro 1 Aluminum 195cc heads with roller rockers. Full length Hedman ceramic coated headers, 7 qt. pan, MSD R-to-R, etc. Is it possible to look through through the pushrod hole and look for roller rockers. Gotta admit...... this is my first Ford, ever.

[Jesus_man]

Wow, that's a great way to bond with your rig. First Ford? soooo, first bronco too. Boy, you're in for a wild ride!!

I think I would have stopped in at BC broncos (betting you drove right by) to get some weather stripping.
http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&cl ... 16&iwloc=A

Great looking rig tho and if she can make that trip relatively trouble free, that's quite a feat.

Oh, and I wouldn't be so certain you have thermostat issues. I have a 3-core radiator (not alum) and I have trouble too. Changed the t-stat out a few times, but have just dealt with it. The alternative is worse.

J.D.

[jbickhart]

Jesus_man,

Yep. I've been a non-Ford guy until now and I've done quite a few restorations. I'm working on forgetting all the F-O-R-D jokes. They dont' seem to apply anyway..... I'm very impressed with my new buy.

You might be right about the thermostat. But, even with the fan removed, heater control valve shut, 10 minutes of idling and then 2 hours on the interstate at 70mph and the temp hadn't moved at all. It was 15 degrees that day. 3 hrs later, engine temp was 150.

[ZOSO]

sounds like no t-stat installed at all.

[Rox Crusher]

that thing is beautiful, nice find and welcome to the club

[rtreads]

Dude thats a sweet looking truck!!

[Jesus_man]

You might be right about the thermostat. But, even with the fan removed, heater control valve shut, 10 minutes of idling and then 2 hours on the interstate at 70mph and the temp hadn't moved at all. It was 15 degrees that day. 3 hrs later, engine temp was 150.

The ONLY time I can get my bronco up to temp is on the trail on a hot day or pushing hard doing some snow bashing. I spent three years in TX and wheeled quite a bit down there and NEVER overheated even tho we wheeled in the middle of the summer quite often.

I overheated once last winter because I had cardboard covering the radiator and was headed up a steep grade to get to a trail. Pulled off the cardboard and the temp came down immediately. But during the winter, if I don't put cardboard up there, I don't get much heat, as you well know!

J.D.