Quint's '78 Bronco Project

Project Goal:

Transform a 1978 Ford Bronco into a modern SUV without the $35,000 price tag.

Disclaimer: Do not attempt any of the procedures shown on this site. Improper modification of vehicles can lead to serious injury or death. This is not a "how-to" instructional site. The reader (that's you) accepts full responsiblity for any damages or injuries resulting from following the steps documented on this site.

General Status of Project:

The transformation of the bronco is nearly complete. It is essentially a 2004 F-150 in a 1978 bronco body and frame with solid axles front and rear. I'm driving it daily to and from work with almost no issues. ABS is fully functional. Once the seats are installed I can start thinking about carpet which should make the project look much more complete. Please take some time to look through the site. Virtually every part of the project has been documented with pictures. I even have a selection of video clips if you don't mind downloading a 2 Mb file. Also feel free to send me an email with comments or questions if you like.

Most Recent Update:

November 21st 2009:

Once a project vehicle is roadworthy the motivation to work on it wanes significantly. Hence I haven't touched my website in nearly three years. I have however done a couple of improvements worth documenting. Here they are:

This is one of the tail light housings from the bronco. Ford still uses the same twist/lock design in 2004 that they did back in 1978 for the bulb holders. However the bulbs have changed such that the brake/turn signal light bulb is much taller than the originals. Hence when I tried to install the brake light the bulb contacted the inside of the housing before the twist/lock mechanism engaged. I just rigged the bulbs to just hang in there until I could find the time to do it right. That time has come. The socket on the left is where the bulbs have been hanging loosely for three years. The plastic is clearly melted from the heat of the bulb. Between the two sockets are adapters I've machined to copy the twist/lock feature but spaced out to allow room for the new bulb.

Here they are installed in the new housings. I estimated I'd need about a 1/2" spacer and I had just enough material in 2" diameter to make two of them. Did I mention I've acquired an old milling machine and retrofitted it with CNC controls? It's very difficult to cut a complex shape like that without a computer. Now that I have such a machine it's going to make the rest of the project much more interesting.

Here it is all put together. I built the twist/lock feature based on dimensions I took with digital calipers, but it fits and works perfectly. Tail lights done!

Another common issue with old broncos is the tailgate window mechanism. The arms that lift the window disengage from the track and the window sags on one side and binds. I've repaired this with new window rollers only to have them wear out again. I decided to redesign the rollers in a way that doesn't necessarily require special tools.

Above is the end of the factory lift arm. It's just a stud that's supposed to snap inside the plastic wheel that rides in the track at the base of the window.

I rounded off the head of a 1/4-20 bolt in my lathe. One could do this with a sanding belt, as long as they took care to get it relatively round. Of course a lathe is the best way to do this.

Above is my method for recycling the existing window roller. I drilled it out with a 7/16" bit to fit the rounded head of the 1/4-20 bolt. You could probably do this with a drill press, but again a lathe is the best way. I only drilled it deep enough to hide the head of the 1/4-20 bolt. If I went all the way through it wouldn't work right.

Here are the components that will make up the new roller assembly. I had a piece of aluminum tubing that I cut to length to act as a sleeve inside the wheel. It supports the head of the bolt so you can tighten it down and still have the roller spin free. A shoulder bolt does this in one part, but I didn't know if I could find one with the right dimensions and thought it would be more fun to build it from scratch like this.

This is the point of no return. Once I cut that stud off there's no replacing the factory wheel and reassembling as normal. I used a dremel to cut off the stud then punched it through. That hole happens to be the right size for a 1/4" bolt!

This is where it all comes together. I used the channel lock pliers to keep the bolt from turning while I tightened the nut with an end wrench. One could use the dremel to carve a slot in the top of the bolt and use a screwdriver instead. This took the least amount of work.

Above is the finished product. The sleeve is supporting the bolt head so the wheel can spin freely. I did this on both arms of the bronco tailgate almost a year ago and it's worked great. I have more detail in a Word document I can post somewhere on one of the bronco sites if anyone wants it. I tried to give examples of what tools could be used if you don't have a lathe.