“Lula Mae”1978 Ford Bronco

Original '78 tailgate severely rusted due to Indianapolis salt Owner Dented but the trim looks great. Owner Rust holes had once been went over with Bondo but rusted through. Owner This retainer clip is attached to the acorn nut that hold the trim on. These nuts are on the far ends of the tailgate. There are four of th… Owner The other tailgate trim retainer clips look like this. Owner The letters can be removed by prying either side of the letter with a small flathead screwdriver. Notice the prongs and the holes that they… Owner This is what the window looks like when it's sitting down in the tailgate. Owner This is the window holder with the window removed. Removal is easy. Just undo four nuts and lift off. Remove the old grease and use new gre… Owner Here's the lock cylinder. To the right you can see the window track which is held on by two bolts. Owner This is the window track once it's removed. Owner The tailgate endcaps have no practical use other than covering up some ugly poorly-painted metal. Owner Window mechanism and motor removed. Engine degreaser and dielectric grease will make these things look brand new. Owner The lower door post and floor of a red vehicle show significant rust damage, with a black seat in the background. AI caption Test fitting of the replacement panel Owner Notice the pile of dirt underneath. It came from behind the panel. This picture doesn't do it justice. Owner Cleaned up. Owner Close-up of a used window regulator mechanism, likely for a vehicle door. AI caption Close-up of a vehicle's tailgate latch mechanism, showing internal components and signs of wear. AI caption The internal mechanism of a vehicle's tailgate latch shows significant rust and wear. AI caption This is the tailgate lock cylinder as viewed from the top of the tailgate. Notice the retaining clip located half way up the cylinder. To r… Owner Tailgate lock cylinder as viewed from the side. Owner The tool chest was my gift to myself for surviving seven months in western Iraq. I got the air compressor for $200. It's a 6hp, 25 gallon C… Owner Got this intact door from a junkyard for $75. It was in much better shape than mine. It had slight surface and a few dents but the bottoms… Owner The bottom is intact and that was really all I cared about. Note the aftermarket door panels. Owner Minor rust. To get the rust out I sprayed Naval Jelly inside, scrubbed it with a small, stiff brush and sucked it out with a shop vac. Wash… Owner To remove the panel start by unscrewing the handle. Owner Next unscrew the window regulator. Owner A lot of people forget to unscrew the door cups. Owner Remember this is an aftermarket panel. The stock panels don't have these types of fasteners but the concept is still the same. Pry, lift an… Owner Lift off the panel and you now have access to the guts. Here you see the window regulator which is fairly well rusted. Owner Close-up of the window regulator mechanism. I'll scrub it with Naval Jelly and wash it off and it'll look new again. Owner Here you can see where water collects at the seam and rusts the doors. A few passes with a wire wheel will fix the rust. Owner Naval Jelly is great stuff. Spray on liberally, scrub it in real good, let sit for 20 min and go over with a wire wheel. Rust gone! Owner After sanding with 80 grit. It had so many layers of paint that 80 grit didn't take it all the way down to metal. Still, it did get through… Owner These holes will require fiberglass filler to close. Owner The window moulding on this truck was so brittle that it just fell apart in chunks. Just use a flathead screwdriver and pry upwards. Owner Next use a flathead screwdriver to pry loose the lower window molding. It's held in with clips so there will be an audible "pop" when you l… Owner Close-up of one of the clips. Owner Here's what the entire strip looks like. Owner This is the cylinder lock. All that remains now is to pry out the retaining clip that holds it to the tailgate. Use a small screwdriver. Th… Owner