“CB's Chassis & Engine Restoration”1995 Ford Bronco

The story

Client: CB
Number of owners: 2
Vehicle State: the Bronco is from UTAH (rusty chassis)
Color: Currant Red
Tires: Michelin LTX 31x10.50x15
Shocks: Rancho 5000
Springs: NEW "STOCK" SPRING front coils from JBG
Rear: Bought new "Stock" Rear Leafs, jacked the rear end 3.75", no return allowed, reinstalled original rear leafs on new bushings
Ride Quality: rather stiff
Steering: New Moog tie rod ends, new upper and lower ball joints
Steering Quality: vehicle "loose", wanders, needs a new steering box
Chassis: RUSTY.

CB bought this ultra clean '95 Bronco from the original (female) owner. The truck was a daily driver. The truck drives out nicely, strong motor, smooth transmission. The interior is in beautiful condition. The paint is above above average. The problem is the rusty chassis.

Story: After buying the Bronco, CB had many of the suspension parts replaced at a local 4x4. He was sorely disappointed at the quality of work. While in the parking lot, he was complaining to another customer who informed him of DAVE'S TRUCK SHOP and gave him our business card. The card clearly states that we specialize in Repair and Restoration of Ford Trucks and Broncos.

STAGE 1 WORK: Originally, CB hired us to detail the Bronco chassis from the transmission crossmember back. We removed the rear suspension, fuel tank, rear fender liners and trailer hitch, disconnected the fuel lines and moved them away from the frame, drilled the rivets out of the exhaust heat shields and removed them, leaving the exhaust in place.

We sandblasted the entire underside of the Bronco and the frame rails. We disassembled the suspension and sandblasted the individual suspension parts.

After the chassis was down to bare metal, we brush painted the chassis and suspension parts with black POR15 rust inhibiting paint. We top coated the POR15 with chassis black for UV protection and to obtain the proper satin chassis sheen. We undercoated the truck body with 3M undercoating.

We reassembled the vehicle and called CB. He was pleased enough to return 3 weeks later, after consideration, and hire us to finish the chassis detail.

STAGE 2 WORK: For the second round, CB hired us to detail the chassis from the transmission crossmember forward, including the engine and engine compartment. We began by removing the hood and disconnecting components from the inner fenders and radiator core support. We removed the front clip as a unit to preserve alignment of the fenders with the core support. We removed the transfer case, disconnected the exhaust, and stripped the motor of accessories while it was in place. Once bare, we pulled the motor and transmission as a unit.

We further stripped the engine, removed the transmission, and and sealed all openings into the engine. We carefully sandblasted the block and heads,purposefully avoiding the intake. After blowing residual sand away, and while the engine was still sealed, we applied POR15 to the clean block and and heads. We top coated the POR15 with 500 degree Duplicolor engine Clear Coat for UV protection.

Before we removed the the valve covers, oil pan, water pump, and intake plenum, we took other 5.8 engine parts out of salvage stock and prepared them by sandblasting and painting with POR15, top coated with Aluminizer Silver metal flake paint. We finished these parts with 500 degree Clear. Once these parts were ready to install, we carefully unsealed the engine by removing these parts.

We used a case of carb cleaner to clean and rinse the engine internal areas exposed by removing the intake plenum and valve covers.

After preparing the gasket surfaces, we carefully trimmed individual Felpro gaskets to fit the parts exactly. We installed the lower intake plenum, water pump, and oil pan. We had the local automotive paint shop mix single stage paint by the paint code. We ordered extra metal flake. We shot the valve covers with this blend. We installed the valve covers.

We sandblasted the exhaust manifolds and bolts, trimmed the exhaust gaskets, and installed the exhaust manifolds. We blasted, painted, and hand lettered the upper intake plenum, installed it, and wrapped the engine in cotton sheets to protect it.

We disassembled the individual engine components...throttle body, EGR valve, harmonic balancer, pulleys, power steering pump, air conditioner compressor, alternator, smog pump, and emissions system. With great care, we blasted; and painted each component, and put them in temporary storage. This included removing the case from the alternator, painting, and reassembling it.

We drilled holes in a sheet of plywood and made a bolt board. We sandblasted the nuts and bolts and painted them with POR15 and topcoated the bolts with appropriate color 500 degree engine paint in either black or silver.

After removing the flywheel and torque converter, we stood the transmission on it's end and sealed the tail shaft opening. We cleaned the oily buildup from the transmission with mineral spirits. We plugged the transmission cooler openings, moved the transmission to the sandblast pit, and sandblasted the transmission.

We sealed and blasted the drive shafts and transfer case. We removed the transmission pan, changed the filter and gasket, reblasted and repainted the pan. We set the transmission, transfer case and drive shafts aside.

We removed the entire front suspension from the vehicle. We separated the TTB at the axle slip joint and sandblasted the TTB while it was still still largely assembled. We painted the TTB in POR15, knowing that when further disassembled, we'd have some further sandblasting and painting to do to the formerly hidden areas. — DavesTruckShop