Revitalizing a Legend: The Restoration of a 1972 Early Bronco Short Roof
- oldautorestoration
- Oct 20, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 9
Join Old Auto as we start a new restoration project on a 1972 Bronco featuring a short roof.
So, get this - the missus, who already had her hands on a shiny new Bronco, suddenly decides she wants an old-school one! And guess what? We snagged one at Fall Carlisle in 2023. Now, we knew it'd probably be as rusty as a shipwreck (thanks, northeast weather!), but hey, no biggie - replacement parts are just a click away! So, buckle up and follow along as we tear it down and kickstart the restoration shenanigans!
The Patient
Meet the patient - a 1972 Ford Bronco short roof with the bulkhead. With a 170 6 cylinder and 3 on the tree. Looking decent from a distance, but up close, it's a whole different story! Turns out, this poor thing was supposed to be a long roof in a flashy red hue, but instead, it got a makeover with what seems like a whole tanker's worth of filler, topped off with a black primer and some questionable pinstripes. The tailgate? Well, that's from a full-size truck - probably because the original one rusted away in the Jurassic era. Last inspected in 2005, this Bronco has been chilling in the West Virginia weather ever since, collecting dust and squirrel nests in the muffler. I Managed to wake up the engine from its slumber, only to discover that the clutch decided to take a vacation too. Oh, the adventures of a vintage Bronco!
The Plan
Alright, here's the game plan: we're cooking up a moderately spicy 351w engine and teaming it up with an overdrive transmission. Why? So, we can cruise down the highway without sounding like a jet taking off, and still have the pep in our step for some light off-roading adventures. We're throwing in a mild suspension lift and giving it a little boost with at least a 1" body lift. Now, those original 4.11 gears? They might be a bit too much muscle for this operation. Our calculations (done with a calculator and a crystal ball) suggest that 3.50 gears, paired with either an AX15 or an NV3550 overdrive manual transmission would be just the right amount of sass!
Selection of Engine
We unearthed a 1969 2bbl 351w from its dusty tomb. It was supposedly a smooth-running, all-original engine before it was taken apart and stashed away, or at least that's the tale we were told!
So, get this: when we took a good look at the rings, we saw that they were totally hammered, with a fancy raised inner edge. Like, seriously, those piston ring lands on the pistons are so worn out, they're practically on vacation. And guess what? We wouldn't even think about reusing them because those original pistons are notorious for throwing a cracking party in these vintage engines. Talk about drama!
Check it out, folks! The second valve guide decided to go for a more oval look and needed a replacement. The seat was feeling a bit hammered and decided to shape-shift into an oval too, so we had to swap it out along with 7 of its brothers. We replaced all the valves with our valve kit and lapped in the seats for a smooth finish. And voilà, in the middle picture, we have the heads looking all fresh and fancy straight out of the machine shop!
Get ready for some fancy upgrades! Meet the Silvo Lite Hypereutectic Pistons - the cool kids with flat tops and 4 valve reliefs, here to replace those old-school 2-barrel pistons from '69 and '70.
Our heads needed a little makeover - they got decked 5 thousandths of an inch to say goodbye to pitting. We even gave them a CC makeover, now rocking those 58cc chambers. With our math skills, we're looking at a compression ratio of around 9.8 to 1 - not too shabby!
And let's not forget about the connecting rods - the Eagle Steel I-Beam Rods, complete with those snazzy ARP Wave Lock Cap Screws. Talk about fancy pants!
We will re-visit the engine later.
Building the body cart
We needed to make sure the body could go on a little adventure after we unhitched it from the frame. So, we built this nifty cart to give it some wheels and let us tinker with it like mad scientists!
The rolling chassis looked like a skeleton on wheels after we yanked the body off and plopped it onto the cart. We'll be using the leftover parts of the body as our trusty cheat sheet for piecing together the new body.
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