PROJECT:  1984 Ford Bronco Full Sized:  aka "Brutus".

"She may not look like much, kid.  But she's got it where it counts."

 

Brutus and I

Here is me and my Bronco.  I love this truck.  It's big, green, and brutal.  The ideal Ogre Truck if you ask me. Its name is Brutus.

The only problem with it is that it's an old abused 1984 rig that never got any love from any previous owners.  I've been giving it plenty of love.  To make the rig legal and drivable... well, lets just say that I'm into it 5 grand now and I'm not done.  There is still work yet to be done on it before I even start on making it civilized.

Thinking on it further, I'm not sure if I want it actually "civilized".  I'm going to keep it brutal, and maximize the ruggedness in it.

I'm going to need some suspension work... it's in need of a 4 inch lift.  It's also going to need some new bushings all the way around underneath.  An Add a Leaf in the rear and a tow hitch.

In fair weather, Broncos like to be driven topless...

You can see the beast needs some good wheels and tires.  On the back is a pair of BFG AT's.  Not bad, but I want some bigger ones when this is done.  But pretty wheels and big nice tires (or tyres if you are reading this over in England) are the final touch.

You can see the dash needs some help.  I have holes on top and in the face where there used to be a stereo.   Also, that old fashioned pencil thin steering wheel has got to go.  I like the steering wheel to be girthy.  Now let's take a look at the rest.

One thing about rolling with the top down... you can really hear the throaty rumble of that Earth Killing 351 Winsor V-8. 

 

Had to be done... Got that off RightWingNews.com... Oh crap... look at that... paint flakes.  Shit.  Well it's an 84. You gotta expect that.

Inside you see the seats are pretty torn up, but the are still functional.  I'm either going to recover them or replace the seats with some Recaros or something.  The sides are torn out, and that's how I got the rig.  I'm thinking about replacing that panel with diamond plate.   That center consol it handy and useful... but I'm probably going to fabricate a replacement that's a bit bigger, longer, and lockable.  What's that under the seat? Candy bar wrappers?  BOYS!  (&#^$(&^!!##()$*()(@)#$&#(&#!(#^!!!!!!!!!   Man, with 5 miniature grunts back here, what can you do?  Those door panels are going to need to be redone too.

Big enough back here for 3 or 4 bodies... Er... lots of stuff.  But it's ugly... slippery (shit slides all over the place back here) and smells like tranny fluid.  That little blue bit there on the bottom left... I had to do some wiring work back there in that tailgate.  Believe it or not, it works!  Anyways, this area needs to be redone too.  The sides, as I said before might get the diamond plate treatment.  I'm also thinking about sealing the floor and sides, and rhino lining the floor, then putting in a rubber mat on top of that.  That way the back area is water proof and Ranger proof.  That tailgate is probably going to get swapped out with a newer unit from a junk yard because while I got the window to work a little, inside the whole mess was a rusted out hell hole.  I'll get a newer unit and CorrosionX the inside to protected it.

This little unit here in the photo above is the Edelbrock Pro-Flo 1000.  The old air cleaner unit was oversized, extremely restrictive, and the intake tube was broken and flopping around banging into wires and crap.  It had to go.  I looked around and found this unit for the same price as stock air cleaner unit.  However this one being so small, allows me to get to the carb easily and it flows more air than a wind tunnel. (some say more than a K&N)  I wasn't expecting any performance gains in the engine with this, but I have them.  The Bronco feels very spry now... energetic.  I don't know if this is a testament to the new air cleaner, or an indictment of the old one using a Fram standard air filter.  Take it for what it is.  I'm well pleased with this unit.  Notice I am not running a belt over the A/C unit. I didn't like it robbing engine performance. That and the unit is DOA anyways so it didn't matter. 

Stay Tuned.  More to Follow as the restoration progresses.

If you wish to make a donation to the project, Bronco parts or accessories, that would be lovely.  Things I'm wanting to do: (If I win a lottery or something)

Custom bumpers front and rear.
Warn 16.5 Ti, one front, one rear.
Soft Top with matching rollbars in a Humvee Fastback style.
Flex-A-Lite cooling fan - dump the clutch fan.
Dual battery set up.
K&N air cleaner.
SAS.
4 inch lift with aggressive articulation, Skyjacker maybe.
Rear shackle flip.
A pillar spotlight.
full spread off road lights.
New bushings... body, chassis, suspension, steering.
Custom radius arms.
New tailgate window assembly.
Herculiner the inside floors and cargo area walls. Rhino the outside and everything else.
35" BFG M/T's on nice wheels with bead locks.
In Dash GPS system with web based monitoring.
XM radio with CD/DVD Audio/MP3 player.
CB radio, 10 foot whip and a linear amp.
Rockers and Sliders.
Lockers.
Landcrusier style rear seats (side facing & folding).
Roof rack, side racks, and a rear swing out spare carrier that holds 2 Jerry Cans. (that wont interfere with the Warn winch)
New seats, Either Recaros or new ones from a newer Bronco or Explorer.
Holly Offroad Avenger carb.
Custom cam and multi angled valves.
Super Charger.
On Board Air and Arc Welder.
Aluminum triple core radiator.
Ice Chest - full of Cold Ones.

 

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