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Body Repairs

From 1983 Ford Bronco “That dirty old truck” — documented by Steve83.

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1983 Ford Bronco - Just to see how difficult it is & how the spray cans turn out, I scuffed the fender that I plan to replace. 1983 Ford Bronco - Just to see how difficult it is & how the spray cans turn out, I scuffed the fender that I plan to replace. 1983 Ford Bronco - Just to see how difficult it is & how the spray cans turn out, I scuffed the fender that I plan to replace. 1983 Ford Bronco - Using state-of-the-art masking & paint booth technology, I put a few light coats of primer on. 1983 Ford Bronco - After a few seconds, I put on the first topcoat. 1983 Ford Bronco - Then another topcoat. 1983 Ford Bronco - After a few minutes, it looks OK. ...at least as good as the rest of the truck. 1983 Ford Bronco - I picked this beauty up at a local junkyard for ~$30. What a steal! 1983 Ford Bronco - The used 120-grit pad wasn't cutting it, so I switched to a used 80-grit. When that started coming apart, I put on a new 80 & got down to s… 1983 Ford Bronco - It took ~3/4 can of primer to get a few light coats on both sides & inside. 1983 Ford Bronco - This isn't marketed for paint, but it's good enough for this truck. 1983 Ford Bronco - I didn't expect show-quality from this, but I thought it might save some time. 1983 Ford Bronco - It's actually a REALLY good-looking spatter finish. :) Too bad that's not what I want. :( ******************************** UPDATE: Turns ou… 1983 Ford Bronco - After a failed attempt with the mighty Wagner HVLP deck stain gun on the inner face, I switched back to the rattle can. With the remains of… 1983 Ford Bronco - It's building up slowly, and not as bad as I expected. 1983 Ford Bronco - I've emptied & pressure-washed this '95 door, and I'm about to sand it. The factory trim strip removed some of the clearcoat along the lowe… 1983 Ford Bronco - The clearcoat is surprisingly tough - it stood up to the 80-grit sanding better than I thought it would. 1983 Ford Bronco - Since this paint was in MUCH better condition than the fender, I only primed where I hit metal. 1983 Ford Bronco - Since this paint was in MUCH better condition than the fender, I only primed where I hit metal. 1983 Ford Bronco - The first LIGHT coat of paint. 1983 Ford Bronco - The first LIGHT coat of paint. 1983 Ford Bronco - Finished with the black. The light, hazy areas are reflections. I'll (probably) do the tan after it & the fender are installed. 1983 Ford Bronco - Finished with the black. I'll (probably) do the tan after it & the fender are installed. 1983 Ford Bronco - The lower rear bolt (13mm) and the one in the door jamb (10mm) are out. With the hood supported, remove the lift-arm bolt (13mm) and finall… 1983 Ford Bronco - First, I removed the battery, tray, starter relay, PA, coffee can, 2ndry air intake, & wheelwell for better access to the fender bolts. 1983 Ford Bronco - With the wheelwell gone, the six 8mm (5/16") bolts at the front of the fender are much easier to access. The top 2 are already gone, and th… 1983 Ford Bronco - The core support rotted out long ago, due to leaking batteries. But that section only holds the forward edge of the wheelwell, so it's not… 1983 Ford Bronco - The fender then comes off easily. While it's off, I'll fix the exhaust leak. But the original reason for removing it is to make access to t… 1983 Ford Bronco - The cardboard on the body horn is the shim for adjusting the height of the fender to the door body lines. The wires going thru a grommet in… 1983 Ford Bronco - This is the only reason I'm replacing the fender - the nuts for the battery tray ripped out years ago. I can't imagine why... 1983 Ford Bronco - With the fender removed, the hinge bolts are EASY to access. For door alignment, see this post: http://www.fourdoorbronco.com/board/showthr… 1983 Ford Bronco - The last time I worked on the hinges, the fender was in-place, and apparently, I forgot to tighten the front 2 bolts. For door alignment, s… 1983 Ford Bronco - The door has been emptied, and the wiring is loose inside it. It's ready to come off. For more about Doors, see this album: http://www.supe… 1983 Ford Bronco - The door has been emptied, and the wiring is loose inside it. It's ready to come off. This is an '80-81 door that I modified to use a '92-9… 1983 Ford Bronco - The wiring connectors fit out the hole in the door, but the harness can also be unplugged from the passenger kick panel & fed out of the bo… 1983 Ford Bronco - The doors use captive nut plates for the hinge bolts. The body's hinge nut plates are similar, as are those for the door strike, t/g strike… 1983 Ford Bronco - The '92-96 door panels interfere with the '80-86 dash slightly, which is why the pad is dimpled & displaced, and the dash skin is abraded.… 1983 Ford Bronco - I got the orange-peel almost PERFECTLY even. :D With the fender off, aligning the door will be VERY easy. The orange wire nuts beside the b… 1983 Ford Bronco - This is just about where I want it. The weight of the internals should bring the door down just to where it needs to be. All of that color… 1983 Ford Bronco - The door doesn't fit the opening exactly right, but considering what the body has been through, it's better than I had a right to expect. F… 1983 Ford Bronco - After a little massaging, the door fits even better. For door alignment, see this post: http://www.fourdoorbronco.com/board/showthread.php?… 1983 Ford Bronco - It's barely visible, but there's a tapering gap between the door & body seal, indicating that THIS edge of the door isn't aligned. Since th… 1983 Ford Bronco - I've re-adjusted the hinges so the lower front edge of the door seals evenly. To make the rear edge match, I'm using the towel as a lever s… 1983 Ford Bronco - To complete the alignment, the latch & strike must be installed. This later style of lock motor must be installed onto the latch before the… 1983 Ford Bronco - The '95 door lines match the '82 body lines perfectly. There was actually NO change to the door lines from '80-96, and the only change to t… 1983 Ford Bronco - PERFECTION!!! 1983 Ford Bronco - I got sick of seeing the all-black door & fender faster than I expected, so after hunting through ~5 stores to find the Rustoleum tan that… 1983 Ford Bronco - I didn't feel like painting the whole thing at once (& I couldn't find enough newspaper), so I just started with the door bottom. I actuall… 1983 Ford Bronco - The door was easier than I thought, so after supper, I moved the masks to the fender & shot a few quick coats onto it. 1983 Ford Bronco - The door was easier than I thought, so after supper, I moved the masks to the fender & shot a few quick coats onto it. 1983 Ford Bronco - After a few minutes, I pulled the masking off. 1983 Ford Bronco - Good enough for me! 1983 Ford Bronco - Good enough for me! It'll be spread across the rocks & trees at the SuperLift park in Hot Springs soon, anyway. 1983 Ford Bronco - For the past ~5 years, I haven't been able to open my tailgate. I knew what caused it - these 2 & another that was even harder: [url=https:… 1983 Ford Bronco - For the past ~5 years, I haven't been able to open my tailgate. I knew what caused it - these 2 & another that was even harder: [url=https:… 1983 Ford Bronco - The polyurethane body mounts aren't collapsed or compressed, but the body crossmember that rests on them obviously isn't right. On this sid… 1983 Ford Bronco - This is the L outboard end of that body crossmember. It holds the bedrail upright & supports the quarter panel's outer skin. Since it's mad… 1983 Ford Bronco - The polyurethane body mounts aren't collapsed or compressed, but the body crossmember that rests on them obviously isn't right. On this sid… 1983 Ford Bronco - This is the R outboard end of that body crossmember. It holds the bedrail upright & supports the quarter panel's outer skin. Since it's mad… 1983 Ford Bronco - Before the frame shop worked on it, I couldn't get the t/g this far open (which still isn't all the way) to see the arch in the threshhold.… 1983 Ford Bronco - The main bend in the body crossmember is close to the R body mount, where the visible kink is. 1983 Ford Bronco - To repair it, I'm going to use this I-beam (because I have it), but it has to be the right length. No bandsaw - just elbow grease. 1983 Ford Bronco - The hooks on this ratcheting cargo strap fit perfectly, and the body crossmember is strong enough to do the job. 1983 Ford Bronco - I laid the long beam across the bedrails & put my heaviest ratchet strap over it. The strap is just tight enough to stay in place, and the… 1983 Ford Bronco - As tension rises in the strap, there's a lot of groaning. The short beam is directly above the kink in the body crossmember, INboard of the… 1983 Ford Bronco - The strap started off just snug, so it's stretching noticeably. The rags are being cut by the immense force, which is why they're there. No… 1983 Ford Bronco - Yes, the beam is bending, too. And there's a real risk of the jack shooting out from under the beam & strap if the handle is operated too f… 1983 Ford Bronco - But the body is bending the way I planned, so it's working. For the first time in 5 years, the cables are getting tight. 1983 Ford Bronco - Despite the progress I made with the first pull, I decided to reset & use another jack. This time, I'm bending the crossmember OUTboard of… 1983 Ford Bronco - I was surprised at how easily I was able to bend this 48" Gorilla Bar. Maybe it wasn't designed to have ~240 lbs bouncing on it. :D So… 1983 Ford Bronco - This isn't making as much visible progress as the first pull, and I eventually put so much pressure on it that the jacks shot the I-beam ou… 1983 Ford Bronco - After the explosion, I reset the cribbing & put a laminated wood board under the short beam to allow more bending in the crossmember. The o… 1983 Ford Bronco - The rubber pad on the bumper lid is now barely touching the t/g trim panel, just like when I installed the t/g ~7 years ago, and the cables… 1983 Ford Bronco - It's not visible, but the rubber pad on the bumper lid is now barely touching the t/g trim panel, just like when I installed the t/g ~7 yea… 1983 Ford Bronco - The apparent change is 1/2" on the L & 1" on the R. 1983 Ford Bronco - A vast improvement. 1983 Ford Bronco - It's obviously better, though not quite as flat as I had hoped. But the gap between the t/g & bumper is now ~2x what it was this morning, a…