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From Bronco to ROCK CRAWLER????

Alright people I need some opinions. Let me start off by saying this will be a long-term project and I will be working on it in stages.

I've got a chance to purchase a early 80's bronco for $500. The engine is blown and the body is crap(rusted out). The frame, transmission, and current suspension is in decent shape.

Here's what I want to do:
1. Scrap the body and build a Tube cage/body welded to the frame.
2. Swap out the TTB front end with a D44 or D60
3. Keep the 9" Ford rear end, Lock front and rear.
4. Ditch the leafs and go for Coil-Overs front and rear
5. Atlas 4:1 transfercase
6. Drop in a brand new crate motor( Not sure what? )

I've got more, just got to go to work now. So what do you guys think? Like I said this wuold be a long-term project that I would work on as funds come in. Ideas or Suggestions?

THANKS!!!
 



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I'm not concerned about being street legal. It will most likely end up being a trailer queen until it get to the trail. I want to wheel it, I'm not worried about looking pretty.


It would be sweet to drive down the strip and watch the ricers pulling over to get out of your way though.:D
 



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It would be sweet to drive down the strip and watch the ricers pulling over to get out of your way though.
what is almost as fun is being in a parade or toy run with a police escort :D

Valid point about keeping the body..... may wanna look into a sheet of 3/16" alum checker plate to replace the floor boards, as for the rusty body...... "hellow Dr sawzall.... ya i want 44"s with a 4" lift" :D
 






come over to fullsizebronco.com, the message board is awesome. im wes over there. there are a lot of members who are very knowledgeable, and have some very capable rigs. from what i gather, you are wanting something along these lines:

getfile.php?id=91432&toggle=fullsize&f=pa280139.jpg


getfile.php?id=91433&toggle=fullsize&f=pa280140.jpg


it is a 79 bronco that he rolled and decided to scrap the body. he is still running the dana 44 in front with ctms and warns, and a 9 inch out back, all on 39.5 inch boggers. it is a nice ride. here is a link to his superford site.

NAMELESS's Bronco Buggy the "Bruggy"

wes
 






THANK YOU HOTWHEELS!!


That is exactly what I want to do, only with a coil over setup.
 






dont thank me thank wes8517

nice pic's man
 






Also dont forget to check out pirate4x4, you can learn ALOT and read for hours about building ANY type of rig, especially a rock buggy, frame or no frame.....
 






dont thank me at all, i was just passing on some info. that guy is from utah and is on the fullsizebronco.com message board, so i just passed the pics on. he has said he is having troubles with the internet right now, so you may not be able to contact him now, but i would try, he and a few friends did the fab work on the tube. also check out his superford site that i added the link to, there are a lot of pics of the buildup there, it may help you out quite a bit

wes
 






I'm already ahead of youy guys. I've been going through his buildup on the SuperFord site for the past couple hours now.

It looks like he cut the body off leaving the floor and started from there. Which isn't a bad idea, but it won't work for be since my floor is rusted out. He also kept the stock fuel tank, which I'm going to junk in favor of a Fuel Safe Drag cell, so that I can trim the rear of the frame a bit. I'd like to be able to get a 90 degree plus departure angle.

Thanks to everybody for the info, keep it coming!!!!
 












you could still keep the floor. once you cut the body off, you could very easily cut out the bad sections of floor and replace with sheetmetal. we did this with my dad's 76 F100 mud truck when i was a kid. the driver's side was rusted out and well, lets just say there wasnt a passenger side. ;) didnt take much work at all.
 






I though about that, but it would take the same amount of work to fab up a new floor the way I want it as it would to replace the factory floor after I cut the body off.
 






Cut the floor out. I garuntee you that Fred Flinstone never rock crawled with a floor.

-Justin
 






In which case I'll most likely go with another Detroit Electrac in the rear to match the front.

It's been awhile since I checked, but I don't think the Elec-trac is out for the 9" yet... ?????
 






its not. only for D44 and D60.
 






Thats ok. I didn't have my heart set on that locker, its just the first one that came to mind. I think I'm going to stick with the spool for now anyway, unless something better comes to light.
 






so did you end up buying the bronco? if so, and you are still goin to build it up, the guys at FSB would like to see the buildup too. just lettin ya know, over there we live and breathe broncos just like you guys do exploders. let me know if i can be of anymore help

wes
 






I bought the Bronco its over at my in-laws right now. I just bought a house and don't have a garage yet. I'm going to be pouring some concrete and building a large shed for my tools soon. Once thats done the Bronco is coming home and the fun begins.
 






I finally took some pictures of the starting point of this project.

The begining
 






looks good. its even got a 9". looks like someone used 3 tubes of RTV on the tranny pan... thats probably why its leaking. :D
 



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As far as I know the 9" rear is in good shape with the exception of a blown seal on the drivers side. In one of the pictures you can see where it dripped down the rear tire.

Hopefully I'll be able to dig into this project soon.
 






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