Building a Dream '74 Bronco From the Ground Up

(Marc)>> You're watching Powernation!

(Marc) >> Today on Music City Trucks, we kick off our 1974 Bronco project by... (Brandon) >> Putting together a Beach Cruiser Bronco dream build.

(Marc)>> Piece by piece. ♪ [engine revving] ♪ Hey everybody! Welcome to Music City Trucks. It's a big day for us because we get to introduce our newest build.

(Brandon)>> This is probably our favorite project of the season, not only because it's a first gen Bronco and they're super-hot, but Marc and I are huge Bronco fans.

(Marc)>> Yep! I've got my '73 and my '74 here.

(Brandon)>> I have my '82 bull nose, it's pretty much a wood's toy.

(Marc)>> So needless to say... we are super excited to tackle this project.

(Brandon)>> Now this '74 Bronco has put nearly 50 years' worth of work in and Marc and I decided it's time for it to retire into a life of relaxation. So, we came out to his property to put in its last day of work and have some fun.

(Marc)>> Brandon, what do you think of this thing?

(Brandon)>> This is only the second time I've ever been in a first gen. The first time was our intro.

(Marc)>> Wow! And this is a lot different too, no top.

(Brandon)>> This one's definitely different, no top, no doors a little bit rougher.

(Marc)>> Yeah but it's character. Let's just hammer it out. What do you want to do to this thing?

(Brandon)>> I'll be honest, I'm more traditional in the Bronco sense of the full top. The s-u-v. I would do that, but I like having no top. So, I would say... half roadster with a full the top. I know this isn't a roadster body. It just has no doors.

(Marc)>> Or top.

(Brandon)>> But this is cool.

(Marc)>> Do you have a list of must haves?

(Brandon)>> A must have list... something overhead cam.

(Marc)>> Wow! You're throwing that out there first. I would buy a chassis and I would build the chassis ground up, full running drivetrain before I would do anything. Let's build a bucket list Bronco then.

(Brandon)>> Let's do it. ♪

(Marc)>> We've got our Bronco lined up with the lift here because real soon, we're going to roll this thing forward and lift the body and split off of the frame. Probably for the first time in this vehicle's life. But before we do that, we've got a bunch of stuff that needs to get unbolted off of here. Practically going to destroy this thing.

(Brandon)>> Good things it's missing some parts.

(Marc)>> These bolts weren't even in anything. They were just sitting in there. [metal clanging]

(Brandon)>> Oh! It's going to fold in half.

(Marc)>> Save these shims. That's valuable.

(Brandon)>> That piece helicoptered into my thumb. Almost broke it. [drill popping]

(Marc)>> Probably would've been easier if I took the steering shaft off huh? ♪

(Brandon)>> You got it?

(Marc)>> Yep! [dismantling noises] You can say things are getting pretty serious now. ♪

(Brandon)>> Well, that was easy.

(Marc)>> Let's just leave that thing right there and get it out of our minds for now, because we've got enough here to focus on.

(Brandon)>> Man this tub's pretty rough. I think the next thing to do is get it squared, put it on the rotisserie and blast this thing. Well, we're outside with the Bronco on the rotisserie. We've got the tub all braced up, so it doesn't move on us. But we did have to cut the front clip off because of all rust and the damage on the passenger side. We were going to have to replace the sheet metal anyway. So, we went ahead and cut it and put it on this next set of mounting holes.

(Marc)>> And now it's time to get this thing blasted all the way down to the bare metal, that way we can see exactly what we're starting with. [blaster hissing]

(Brandon)>> There are basically 3 main reasons why we blast: one, to remove unwanted material like paint, seam sealer and body filler. Two, to reveal body damage and remove rust. And three, to have a good base to prep for either paint or welding. [blaster hissing]

(Marc)>> Well Brandon, I'm going to give you my seal of approval on your dustless blasting job you did on this thing, but unfortunately it revealed what we feared the most, and that was more rust than we had originally anticipated. But that's why you blast right?

(Brandon)>> Yeah! This body is extremely rough. Now, anything's rebuildable but, with so few parts that are good that's left on this thing, it just doesn't make any sense to tear it apart and put it back together, especially when new parts are readily available and super cheap. So, I say ditch this tub of Swiss cheese and move on to something else.

(Marc)>> So, that means we're going to be building our own tub basically from a Bronco in a box. And we're going to start with everything you that see here on the floor that we got from Dennis Carpenter.

(Brandon)>> So why do we care so much about building such a nice Bronco?

(Marc)>> Sea Foam's been a great partner of ours here at Powernation for a long time and we've done some really cool builds over the years, but now it's time to take it to the next level. We're excited to call this project "The Beach Cruiser Bronco". It's going to be the perfect blend of classic styling and modern technology, that will be able to cruise the beach, scream down the interstate and... everything in between. And the coolest part is... when it's all done, it's going to auction, with the proceeds going to Sea Foam's charity of choice, Warriors Heart.

(Brandon)>> So, you guys need to come back and watch us build this Bronco, literally from the ground up. ♪ ♪ Coming up next... Smell that? It's a new car smell.

(Marc)>> That's a new car smell?

(Marc)>> Now last time, we made the difficult decision to just build this truck from the ground up. And we're going to be doing that with this full custom chassis here and of course, all new sheet metal, like you see here on the floor along with some other stuff that you don't even see yet. This is exciting huh?

(Brandon)>> Yeah! I'm stoked! ♪ After getting the front floor mounted, we mount the rear brace to lay in the bed floor. ♪

(Marc)>> Well, we're busy building a body for our '74 Bronco here, and we've some pretty good headways so far as you can see. We got a little bit of extra help here. We've got two extra people. We've got Mark Coats, from ABM Restorations and we've got Steven Hamilton, he's a master fabricator and both of those guys are from Kingsport Tennessee. Now, we put them to work immediately and of course we've got Brandon and Chad's still plugging away on what they've got going on here. And we figured while we got all this help, we need to get as much accomplished as possible. ♪

(Mark)>> Let's let it down.

(Brandon)>> Let's pull it out.

(Mark)>> OK. [hammer tapping] [assembly noise]

(Marc)>> This really gives you and appreciation for how simple these trucks are. [metal clanging]

(Brandon)>> Gonna fit first time watch. [metal clanging]

(Marc)>> It's pretty good over here.

(Steven)>> We're good here.

(Marc)>> Dang! This is almost flush up against here.

(Brandon)>> Let's just self-tapper the bottom. After Steven worked his magic on the firewall pieces, we got it all clamped in so we could finalize the door fitment. ♪ That's not bad. [metal clanging]

(Marc)>> Alright, what's the over under on this?

(Brandon)>> Moment of truth.

(Marc)>> Let me get my fingers out of there. ♪

(Brandon)>> Seems pretty solid. Oh yes! Look at that.

(Marc)>> How's your gap?

(Brandon)>> That's a good three sixteenths right there. [hand tapping]

(Marc)>> I'm not hating it. [hood clanging] Alright! Nice gap over here right now.

(Steven)>> My gap's great!

(Marc)>> Well, we've been busy doing a bunch of welding on our Bronco here, we've got the a-pillars welded in completely, along with a bunch of other structural stuff. We don't have the firewall and cowl completely welded in yet, but we can get to that later.

(Brandon)>> We have enough of the truck welded together that is structurally sound, so while we still have Steven, we're going hang all that new sheet metal, including that top. [metal clanging] Pick it up just a little bit. [metal clanging] Man! We're pros at this now.

(Marc)>> Can you go over and fix that? Yeah! Even though we don't need to bolt on the front clip right now, it's important for assuring all of our body lines are perfect before we final weld everything. ♪ This is very exciting. ♪ This side. I think for now that's...

(Brandon)>> That's not bad. Before we put the top on, we need to get that windshield frame installed. Then, we can get the top side panel pieces clamped in. [metal clanging] I can smell the beach already.

(Marc)>> So, what's next now?

(Brandon)>> The top?

(Marc)>> Well we've recruited some help.

(Jeremy)>> Oh I'm here.

(Brandon)>> This is like the cherry on top.

(Jeremy)>> That's legitimate right?

(Brandon)>> Literally the cherry on top.

(Marc)>> It is by far the heaviest piece too.

(Brandon)>> Oh it's beefier than the factory one for sure.

(Jeremy)>> I still can't believe you guys put a whole Bronco together. Dude you're sitting in it. You're sitting in it.

(Brandon)>> Smell that? That's a new car smell.

(Marc)>> That's a new car smell? When we started this and we put the first piece of sheet metal on here, I did not see us being this far this soon.

(Brandon)>> No! I have to thank Steven and all the help we had. This thing wouldn't have came together as fast as it did if we didn't have this awesome team.

(Marc)>> And that amazing machine and the right sheet metal.

(Brandon)>> And the machine?

(Marc)>>And that machine. Everything came together the way it's supposed to and just look at the finished product. It speaks for itself.

(Brandon)>> A brand new '74 Bronco with no rust.

(Marc)>> I didn't think we would be doing this, but here we are. ♪ ♪ Up next... We begin fitting our new suspension from James Duff.

(Brandon)>> And our Bronco becomes a roller.

(Brandon)>> We've got the Bronco cut off the fab table and over here on the lift. Now it's time to make this Bronco a roller and that means mounting and installing our suspension and we've got "Monster" Mike, from James Duff, here to help us out. Thanks man for coming.

(Michael)>> Hey Guys! Man, look at the mess you guys made over here. It's a good thing I showed up.

(Brandon)>> So when looking for a suspension, we wanted something that would go fast, go slow and go anywhere, because it is a beach cruiser Bronco. So, what did you bring us?

(Michael)>> Well Brandon, this is the Dual Sport Monster suspension system from James Duff.

(Brandon)>> And what does this kit actually consist of?

(Michael)>> Well, this is the high-performance package and it's for a two-and half inch lift for an early Bronco and the front actually consists of these t-rex arms, which are a standalone product that you can buy as well as the coil springs, shock towers, the high performance shocks and then from there, we've got the adjustable track bar, heimster system and a front sway bar.

(Brandon)>> What about the rear setup?

(Michael)>> For the rear, you've got a dual triangulated 4 link and that also has high performance shocks, coil springs. It's got upper and lower shock mounts, coil buckets and of course a universal sway bar system. [drill popping]

(Marc)>> Yep! Right on it now. Now, while that's sitting on the ground, is that when you tighten these in?

(Michael)>> That's right! Slow and easy is the way. [ratchets clicking] [metal clanging]

(Brandon)>> We've got the radius arms on our Crate axle and now it's time to get it on the frame.

(Marc)>> Let's get it up here Brandon. ♪

(Michael)>> You know... what's really nice about this whole system is that you can use with an after-market frame or a factory frame and everything just bolts in as long as you coil buckets are in the factory location.

(Brandon)>> That's pretty cool. ♪ Keep going [lift humming] Alright stop. Alright! I'm going to torque the radius arms to set the front wheelbase, what's left?

(Michael)>> From there, we're going to go ahead and get the track bar installed and then we're going to do the steering and head to the back. [hammer tapping]

(Brandon)>> Now, with the buckets tacked in place, we move on to the front link mounts. [welder crackling] [hammer tapping] Alright! Got the axle set where we want it. Got the links in, all the brackets tacked into the frame. Now we just got to get the coils in. ♪

(Marc)>> Let's do it. ♪ You good? Alright come on down Brandon. That will hold it up. This installation is super easy.

(Brandon)>> Now that the vehicle's supporting its own weight, it's time to mount those shock mounts, shocks and sway bars and this thing's going to be what everyone wants to see... a roller. ♪

(Marc)>> This kit actually comes standard with two shocks in the rear, but you can upgrade to this quad shock setup, which is what we chose. ♪ Let's get the innards in. They recommend this upgrade if your Bronco's making 500 horsepower or more. Plus, it just looks cool. Alright! Let's do the other side. Put that bolt in for me. [hammer tapping] That made it go. That looks amazing! There you go. The last piece of the puzzle is the anti-roll bar, which is actually a really cool piece. Once we get it tacked in, we'll put the arms on for the links. ♪ [drill popping]

(Michael)>> Alright! So last is these sway bar stops, but we're not going to put them in during mockup, but they do stop the sway bar from moving left to right.

(Brandon)>> We'll so that after we go to final assembly, right?

(Michael)>> Sounds good.

(Brandon)>> What's next? Wheels and tires?

(Michael)>> Heck yeah!

(Marc)>> Well you guys probably got a little sneak peak at our wheel and tire earlier, but let's talk about exactly what we chose. Now since we went with that nice big lift from James Duff, we're able to fit a 35-inch tire under our Bronco which is pretty cool. For our wheel, we went to Custom Wheel Outlet for a set of Methods. Methods are kind of the go to nowadays. They're the modern version of a classic wheel. This is a cast wheel. This is a 305 NV, so it's actually an off the shelf wheel, but it looks really nice. It's got a matte black lip with a machined face. And then for our tires, General Grabber X-3. This is the latest version of the mud terrain from General. It's kind of a tire that does a little bit of everything and plus it looks really nice. How could we not run those red letters out? This is just a great looking tire, 35x12.50 R17. I think's it going to be a winner. Let's get them on here and get this thing on the ground. So, with the wheels and tires finally going on, we're calling it wrap. ♪ ♪

(Brandon)>> Up next... I give our tub a nice coating of bed liner on the underside and then it's time to marry that body to the frame.

(Marc)>> This is a doozy of a build and if you're just joining us, we started with a brand-new aftermarket chassis, bare and built it up from there. We got this brand-new body that we built from parts, right here in the shop. We added all new suspension, Crate axles and it's looking like something. But it's still a long ways off from where we're headed. We're excited to call this project "The Beach Cruiser Bronco". It's going to be the perfect blend of classic styling and modern technology that will be able to cruise the beach, scream down the interstate and everything in between. Well, we obviously wanted to set the bar really high with a build like this and we're going to do that with all the components and the engine is no exception. We went with Edelbrock's supercharged Coyote Crate engine. This thing has 785 horsepower, 660-pound feet of torque. This thing is no joke. But it's not just a Coyote Crate engine that they slapped the supercharger on. This is a fully built bottom end forged cranked, forged h-beam rods, forged pistons and of course, it's got the 2650 TVS Edelbrock supercharger on top. It's got a full 8 ribbed belt drive, so you don't have to worry about anything like belt slippage. And then it comes with all the other components that you need to get this thing installed: the controls and the wiring and everything like that. So, you just hook up a few wires, add some fuel and this thing is going to make our Bronco scream. But we're not stopping with just this engine.

(Brandon)>> Like I said, we went with a 6 R-80, Ford's been putting these behind Coyotes since 2011 and they're great transmissions, but this one's a little special. This one's a level 10 bullet proof 1,000 horsepower transmission. So, it's going to be able to take all the power that our supercharged Coyote can give this. ♪ Snug them down.

(Marc)>> Let's see how much of the inner fenders we need to clearance ♪ Watch the radiator support too. Let's just go down a little bit and see what happens. [metal clanging] Let's make some marks of where we want to cut. [blade cutting] ♪ Ok! Go ahead down.

(Brandon)>> With the engine in place, the header slides right in. [metal clanging]

(Marc)>> Oh yeah! With room to spare too. Everything else looks good. ♪ Power steering pump clears.

(Brandon)>> Valve covers don't touch.

(Marc)>> Headers are free and doesn't hit the firewall.

(Brandon)>> It's tight, but it fits. [grinding humming] ♪

(Brandon)>> So I'm working on our pre-bent cage for the Bronco and this is specifically made for early Broncos. But it is a you-weld it kit, so you have to do some measuring, trimming and you can tell by the door bars that obviously it's a little long, so we're just going to have to take some measurements and start cutting. ♪ I'm starting out with the mounting plates and main hoop, getting it centered in the truck. ♪ Then I'm going to tack the plates in so they don't move while I measure for the rest of the tubes. ♪ This works. ♪ Since no two Broncos are alike, some of the tubes are left long so you can fit it how you want in your truck. [welder crackling] Alright! The windshield's still kind of floppy. [welder crackling] Alright! Now that I've got all the tubes tacked in place and everything where I want it, I'm going to let Marc finish weld this because I've got other stuff to do. ♪ Now that mockup's done, we tear everything out. ♪ Is the floor or anything moving?

(Marc)>> Dude! Nothing moved. Dude! This is a very big moment. Just think, this is the first time this body has ever been off of that frame. ♪

(Brandon)>> Masking up for bedliner is a tedious process because you don't want to get it where you don't want to get it. ♪ This sprayable bedliner is great because quite honestly, it's hard to make a mistake. [sprayer hissing] Alright! Well, here's the finished product. It looks really good. Now this kit does a full-size bed but apparently it also does the complete underside of the Bronco which is really nice. So, now the next step is to just get it on that frame. [ MUSIC ] Well, our Bronco's married to the frame forever. It's never coming back off. We also got all the panels bolted up and our gaps pretty much roughed in where we want them.

(Marc)>> Yeah! It looks like a Bronco now and it makes me want to just like throw all the axles, suspension back under there, and the drivetrain and just like go take it for a spin. But we can't do that yet can we?

(Brandon)>> Not yet! Next time we work on this thing it's going to be a big show. We've got some experts coming in, helping with body work and we're going to get this thing painted in a week.

(Marc)>> Yeah! That's no joke. But for now, I'm just going to enjoy it.

(Brandon)>> I'm going to enjoy it.