13x10 - 1976 Mercury Capri MK2

[bunniefuu]

If you're looking for vintage off-road
adventure, then look no further than the.


popular. They were back in the day,

and they are now. It's 4.9 litre
engine was not built for speed with a


but it was built for fun.

This is what it's all
about, getting out here in

nature. Parts are pretty
cheap and easy to source,

which is great news if your Bronco is less
than perfect. That's not even 50% Bronco.

Look at the state of
the body. It looks like it's

been rolled. If we cannot
just bring it back to life,

but make our Bronco as good as it was when
it rolled out of the showroom, at least


needs to be replaced.

And there's a very healthy market in
which we can make a very healthy profit.

I'm gonna start ordering hearts.
You start ripping it to pieces.

Cracking!

Me and Ed, we are convinced
that there's a market for people

who want just a bit of adventure
without risking life and limb.

You know, going to the
lake at the weekend, lighting a

campfire, none of this bungee
jumping or swimming with sharks.

So what's the perfect
vehicle for this vintage

adventure? Well, there are
a couple that spring to mind.

You've got the Chevy
Blazer. That'd be very

good. Or the ever popular
Jeep Wrangler CJ5.

Both of those would be fine.

But the real winner for me has
to be the instantly recognizable

and ever popular compact
SUV, the Series 1 or Bronco.

Prices range from $8,000 to $40,000.

Sergio? Mike. How you doing, bud? Good.
Nice to meet you. You must be a realtor.

Why is that? Because you know
how to take a really good picture.

It was like going to see a house when
they say it's got a very nice big bathroom.

But actually when you get
there, it was just taken with

a wide-angle lens. Okay, so
tell me about the good stuff.

So you've done some work
underneath. Well, I have.

I've done the suspension,
the brakes have been redone.

It was already a good
runner when I bought the

truck. So let's look at
the engine. Absolutely.

So 302 motor, no leaks?

No, not that I can really
tell. Well, you would know on

this driveway because you've
got a really clean driveway.

And there's nothing underneath
it as I can see. No. And some

good stuff on the inside as
well. Original firewall, slam panel.

It's nicely straight
around the back, isn't it? It

is. All the parts are there.
And everything is here.

Yeah, bumper, lights, all of
that really important stuff is here.

So what we got down here? Suspension work.
Yeah, there's been a four link in there.

There's been a bit of paint done as well.
The frame's looking tidy.

There's not much rust
underneath the truck that you'll

find. So that's where this
truck is good then. Yes, sir.

Underneath. Look at this, like a museum.

Very antiquated. Does everything
work in here? Absolutely not.

I admire your honesty.
Right, let me take you for

a quick test drive. It's
all yours. Thank you.

Now most of you people have
been thinking, why on earth am I

even bothering to test drive this
Bronco? Most of the body panels

look like they're well beyond
any kind of respectable repair.

Inside it's a mess. None
of the knob switches or dials

work and that transmission,
this three on the tree,

truthfully would put any potential
buyers off. And when it does this,

it means like the rest of
the car, it's a little bit tired.

But none of that matters
because this is a Bronco

and any body panel
or any bit you need for it

you can buy, either
through a catalog or online.

Right, now I've pulled
onto the dirt and already I

can feel every rock, every
Boulder and every bump.

Sergio says he's done some
work on the suspension and spent

some money. I think it
needs a little bit of tinkering.

It's not too expensive to do.
Whatever it is, I'm sure it'd be doable.

This is what it's all
about, getting out here

and enjoying the vehicle
for what it's good at.

And I want to know what's coming up
over the brow of this hill, what's round

the next bend and that's the point of being
out here in adventure. The brakes are good.

I'm going to try reverse.

I'm going to try reverse.
I'm going to try reverse.

No, I'm actually going to try.
That's not it. That's full. There you go.

Always try reverse on a test drive. It's my
recommendation. That's your tip of the day.

I need to get this at a
much more reasonable

price because every
single part of this vehicle

I stare at is going to need some kind of
attention, whether it's the dash, whether

it's the doors, the
paintwork, the bodywork,

the roof, the interior.
It all needs work.

It's perfectly vintage, isn't it?

Perfect is not one of
the descriptions I would

use for this car. It's
going to take a lot of work

to pull it back together.
You want $12,000

for it? Correct. I'll
give you $8,000 for it.

I can't do it. That's what I put into it.
It's a good car. We know it's rare.

We know it's desirable.
We know it's what the

market wants, but this
car is going to suck money

like you can't believe.
You know, even if you

said 85, I'm just not
even going to bother.

I'll take the risk. What do you reckon?
Okay. You're right.

Yes. You're going to
have to deal with me.

Deal. I've just bought
myself a full Bronco.

Ed is going to k*ll me when he sees this.

Ed, you all right? Ready for adventure?

Not a Bronco. Yes, it is. This is a Bronco.
One of the most legendary,

iconic American cars ever. Not a Bronco.

Yeah, I'll see what
you mean. It's not all a

Bronco, but it's a
Bronco. It's 90% Bronco.

I would say that's not
even 50% Bronco. Look

at the state of the
body. It looks like it's

been rolled. 70%. It's
my final offer. Come

on, 70% Bronco. Hold
out your hand. Come on.

Yes, you just agreed to work on our Bronco.
Come and have a look at this. Ignore the

battleship grey, right? Just ignore that.
Just look at the beauty that is underneath.

The state of the wings at the front there?
$200 each.

Carry on, carry on. All
right, I can see a huge

gap in between the
two parts of the tailgate.

So new tailgate, $425.
See, this is the point.

This is a Bronco. These
were really popular in

the 60s. They're really
popular now. There's a

huge market out there
to go and get all these.

bits online or through a catalogue. Inside,
right, if I jump across, it's a bit airy,

but it's not bad, is it? It's all here.
Well, the seats need some work, don't they?

The seats, $250 if we
were to change it, but I

think we can clean
these up. It needs a carpet

kit. Dash pad, right? $230. Knobs,
switches, dials, buttons, all of that.

The other thing about
this vehicle is when I

took it for a test
drive, it keeps dropping

out of second gear,
and the whole gearbox

and transmission is
really confusing because.

that looks like automatic
transmission, but

it's not. That is the two
and four-wheel drive

gear selector, and up
here, it's a manual free

speed, free on the tree.
So what I'm thinking.

is that we change it for
free on the tree for auto.

Okay, probably with overdrive
to make it more modern.

Overdrive is very good.

Right, underneath here,
I think you're going to

be pleased because
this goes all the way back.

Keep going, keep going,
keep going. There you

go. Underneath here,
we've got a 302 Ford V8.

Well, this is the very
same engine that it would

have actually come
out of the factory with.

It's absolutely correct, and you
can see how clean and tidy it is.

Yeah, it's a really good Nick. I love
actually, it's covered in dust everywhere,

but actually underneath, you can see it's
all really good metal and stuff. I mean,

maybe needs a small dress-up
kit perhaps, but nothing much else.

No. These cars is all
about originality, and

that's where the big
bucks is, and that's

how we're going to earn some money. So what
we need to do is to wind back that clock

to make it look factory
fresh. It's going to

look cracking, this,
and we are definitely

going to earn some
money. Start ordering parts,

you start ripping it
to pieces. Cracking.

I'm still not convinced
this is even a 70%

Bronco, but it does need
a huge amount of TLC.

There is not a square inch on this SUV
that doesn't need some kind of attention.

I'm sure that Mike's only doing
this to test my Patience even further.

My work is really cut out for me on this.

Now I love this fantastic
feature of three on

a tree, but of course
these vehicles are rather

lively at the best of
times on road, let alone

off-road. So why, when
you're driving along

with your manual
gearbox, would you want to

take your hand off the
steering wheel? I think

we need to change this
manual to an automatic, but

still retain that lovely
three on the tree feature.

Now as you'd expect under here, things
are very simple. You've got your engine.

at the front, and of
course connected to that

is the gearbox, and then
just like so many other

four-wheel drives, that
gearbox has then got a

transfer box attached.
Now as far as actually

getting the gearbox and transfer box out
of the car, the first thing I need to do

is actually disconnect
the universal joints.

The universal joints
need little servicing,

and years can pass
without being touched,

and a little penetrating
oil is a good idea.

It does appear the previous owner
spent a lot of time under our Bronco,

as much of it looks in good order.
No surprises here.

Now with our front
driveshaft now out of the

way, it's much easier
to see the three on the

tree mechanism in action.
You've got these two

levers being operated
by the column. The first

one down here obviously
moves one lever. The

second one, you can
actually see if I move

it around, I can feel
it moving the actual

column shifter itself,
which is rather clever.

Now obviously the
idea is when we go back

to automatic, we're
still going to have this

mechanism in some form, but I imagine
it's going to be slightly different.

The three on the tree
shifters were phased out

during the 70s as taste
and transmissions evolved,

and often became sloppy
when linkages began to wear.

Right, well this flywheel is the
last of our manual bits and pieces.

Got the clutch there as well, but this is
what all this is about. We've now got our

Ford AOD gearbox, an
automatic overdrive, so

effectively it's
three-speed plus one extra

one, so four-speed gearbox. Got a special
adapter here to actually fit onto our Dana


need to do now of course is take that off,

bolt it onto there,
then we can fit the flex

plate onto the engine
and the torque converter.

So we've given our little transfer box a
bit of a cleanup. Looks much better now.

I can just do it up
into position, and then

this whole assembly is
ready to go into the car.

Actually before I do
that, I'm actually just

going to pop the torque
converter into position.

because it's much
easier to get it right here

than it will be when
it's actually in the car.

And as we go in here
to rotate it, first clink,

second clink, clunk
and a half. It's all good.

The flywheel has an
offset bolt pattern that

will only make to the
crank in one orientation,

so just check you have your holes aligned
properly before introducing your bolt.

Right, so our new automatic gearbox and
the transfer box are back in our Bronco,

so the next thing is
prop shafts. Now the thing

is, the automatic
gearbox is actually slightly

longer than the stock
manual, which means the

transfer box is now
sitting further down the

length of the Bronco,
and that means we have

to change the length
of our prop shaft. So the

rear one has to get
shorter, and the front one

has to get a bit longer.
Now the rear one's

slightly easier, we
can just chop the tube

down, re-weld it, balance
it, and everything's

groovy. But on the front one, we're going
to actually have to chop the tube out all

together, put in a
longer tube in one piece,

and weld everything
back together again. It'll

actually have the bearings
and the UJs themselves

replaced, so everything's
as good as new when it

comes back to the car.
So the next thing I need

to do is actually measure
it, and to measure it

what I need to do is actually lower the car
down onto the axles, so if actually you're

sitting at normal ride
height. Now I've actually

put the yokes so they're
both in a horizontal

position, and then
obviously although I've got

these flat surfaces to
measure from, it's not really

that accurate. I want
to make sure I go right

to the very center,
so I've actually got just

got a socket, bit of
tape, bit of pen Mark

dead in the center, and
bit of tape around the

outside so it kind of
wedges in nicely. So a

really good fit, like so.
And then I just measure,

doing the two, I need
to do it in imperial. So

it's 25 inches and one,
two, three, four, five

eighths. So that's for the front,
and do the same at the back.

I've given our prop shaft measurements to
a specialist who will make up a pair to fit

our Bronco. Meanwhile I can
move on to that steering column.

You can see we've
got our three on the tree

lever here, we have the
indicator column there

as well of course,
and all the other little

bits and pieces that
go with that. So this is

our brand new version
for the automatic gearbox.

So you can see straight
away you've got your

lever there, of course
that's your indicator

for what gear you're
in which is quite nice,

and then this nice little feature here
will operate that, actually adjust the

tilt of the steering
wheel to make it more

comfortable to drive,
which is rather lovely.

Another benefit to
the adjustable steering

column shaft is the
universal ease of fitment.

This is trial fit, our new steering wheel.

That's gonna look great. Let's also
have a look at the column adjustment.

That's pretty cool too, like that.
And of course we now have our three on the

automatic with our
little indicator there in the

middle, and the
indicators, and of course the

hazards. Now I haven't
put everything together

yet because of course
it's going to go away

for paint, everything has to be taken
apart for that, but so far so very good.

You know in this fast
moving world it's easy

to sit at home and just
buy any part you need

for a collector car. You
just click your mouse

button and it gets
sent to your house, but

I like to have that
face-to-face communication,

particularly when
you're going to buy parts

for something like this,
a Bronco, because I

like to touch, feel the
metal, and have that

communication and
see if I can put a deal

together. Plus it's also
going to be a pleasure

to talk to a man who's
made all of this his

life, and his name is
Tom. Tom how you doing?

I'm Mike. Very nice to
meet you. Glad to meet

you. I gotta say when
I walked up it looks like

a full dealership from
the 1960s, all these

cars on display. So why
Broncos? A hobby turned

into a full-time business
and now we're now

we're here 40 years later. So can you
show me what you got? Sure come on inside.

Lonnie nice to meet
you. I'm Mike. Fantastic.

Cheers Tom. Well already
I'm excited in your little

area here. Yeah we've
got the new speedometer

cluster with all the new
gauges, dash bezel for

around the steering
column. Very nice. Light

bars. Oh look at that.
That feels like it was

just in a showroom in


One of the neat features
that we have is this

period-correct radio. It's
got the AM FM Bluetooth

capability. Is the dash
pad available? Yes.

It is? And how about
an actual dash itself?

Yes everything is
available new. What kind of

money are we talking
about? You're gonna be

around a thousand dollars.
Oh I'm already getting

excited about the money
I'm gonna spend here

today. That is fantastic.
But before I get it

looking right I need
to get it driving right

and so I'm gonna need
some help with suspension

parts. You want to go
stock or aggressive?

Well I think stock. Well
before you make that

decision let me show
you something outside.

Cool. Mike what we're
looking at here are two

uncut early Broncos.
This 73 has got the stock

suspension on it and
that's how it would have

rolled off the showroom
floor and the 66 over

here has got the two
and a half suspension lift.

I'm still with the original looking Bronco.
I like the way it comes out the factory.

The market agrees
with you there but they're

looking for a little bit
more height and the

drivability that the two
and a half suspension

brings. You can see
right there where the skirt

and the tire meet you've
got plenty of clearance

if you're going to go
off road but over here on

that stock truck if
we go off just a little

bit we're going to rub
right on the tire. So

if I was to go for the two and a
half inch lift kit what do I need?

Mike this is the 2.5 suspension lift. What
it consists of is new rear leaf Springs,

new front coil Springs
and all four new shocks.

Cool. It also has the
degreed sea bushings here

to get the pinion angle correct. Fantastic.
So that gets it off the ground by two and a

half inches. What's
these other two bars for?

This is the adjustable
tracking bar. As this

suspension goes up the frame is going to go
up here and then this is going to pull over

kind of cantilever and then this tire
is going to stick out of the Fender well.

So to counter that this
bar is fully adjustable

it's going to push this back and bring this
kind of down and then get the front end

centered underneath
the chassis. I got you so it

brings it all the geometry
back into line and

then this bar? That's
the adjustable drag link

for the steering box.
When all this is going

on the steering gear
tends to get out of whack

and that's going to
allow you to fine tune the

steering gear so you got full left turn and
full right turn. So once you get it back

down on the ground
you can trim it all up and

get it true and straight. Correct yes. How
much does it all come to? We can get you

into a kit for like $899.
So can you button it

up and ship it to Ed
as quickly as possible?

You got it?

Now I've sent off our
prop shafts to be modified

because as we know they
connect the transfer box

to both the rear axle
and the front axle. The

next thing I'm going
to work on are the hub

locks. Now they're only
on the front axle and

as the name suggests
they actually connect

or engage the front
hubs with the drivetrain

inside the front axle.
Now they're invented

in 1948 by a guy called Arthur Warne and
his idea was to actually make the constant

four-wheel drive wheelie
street into a two-wheel

drive option so it
was actually faster.

on the open road and
also didn't actually kind

of wind up all the
mechanicals. Now in this

particular vehicle the idea would be that
obviously you've got your two-wheel drive

four-wheel drive lever inside the cab. In
four-wheel drive all the wheels are driven

of course but in two-wheel
drive the rear axle

only is going to be
driven but because the

front wheels are
touching the ground they're

still going to rotate and
if these are engaged

what's going to happen is your drive shafts,
your diff and your prop shaft are still

going to be moving around. Now of course
that means you're going to be using extra

energy to do that and
of course they're going

to be making extra
noise so the idea is by.

disengaging your hub
locks then of course

all those moving parts
in the front there are

going to stop moving
and that means you're

going to save a little
bit of miles per gallon

they're going to save
a bit of noise. Now

bear in mind this engine
can manage a massive.


useful that is but one thing's for sure

if they fail you can't ever get four-wheel
drive. Let's have a look at how this works.

We've got this plastic
hub knob there and as you

move that around you
can see there's this kind of.

ramp effect here.
Now that if I just put this

to the side get rid
of that bit it's actually

acting on that bit of
metal here so as you wind

it in because it pushes
this collar against

the spring and let's take
that bit away you can

then see we've actually
got these little bits

of metal so you can
see that so that bit is

actually disengaging
or re-engaging our little

hub locks there. So
I'm going to replace the

old unit with this new
one from Warn. The guys

actually invented it
in the first place. Now

I'm just going to wind
that up and as you see as

I wind it up a spring
appears at the top now

that spring acts upon
this little set of cogs

here so I'm now just
going to push that down

and inside there there's
some little teeth and

they're going to engage
with each other and that

locks everything together
but the point being

of course even if you
haven't got full engagement

there then the spring
is going to pop it into

place as soon as you start moving so you
get much better engagement with this device

than you might with
that one. This is a simple

swap and at a cost of
just over a hundred dollars

it's well worth a little
bit of time and money to

assure we have four-wheel
drive when we need it.

So that is the second
hub lock in position

let's actually prove it
works so it's currently.

in the lock position so
you can see that arrow

joins up with the
lock position on there.

we now rock our hub
or our drum backwards

and forwards you can
see that the yoke on the

differential is spinning
around so that means

that even if we were in
two-wheel drive mode just

the motion of those
front wheels in the lock

position is actually
going to move the drive

shaft the differential and
of course the propeller

shaft as well so we
now disengage it spin

it all the way around
so you've got into the

free position there
and then suddenly when

I rotate it you can see
the yoke has stopped

moving because all
those mechanical parts

are no longer being dragged along
as we drive along so it works a treat.

Ed you all right son?
All right mate. How you doing?

Yeah not too bad. How's our little
Bronco getting on? Looks good.

Well it's actually going
pretty well obviously

now our throw on the
tree is actually operating

an automatic gearbox.
So we've gone from a

manual to an automatic
that is going to make such

a difference. Very very
good also we've now got

a tilting steering column
which is quite cool too

and we've got new
lockers as in like you know

somewhere to put your
lunch somewhere to put your

clothes lockers hub
lockers but I'm actually

really worried about
the bodywork because

obviously I can only
work with what I've got

and this stuff it's just
hopeless I mean you

know we need to sort
this out pretty soon. I

don't just spend all day
going around looking

at cars I'm always
shopping for parts and the

missing 30% of this
car the bits you need are

in the back of my car that's why all those
boxes are in and it's loaded up don't worry

they just bolt on and
bolt off. Yeah but it's

not as simple as that
particularly on this rear

quarter you can't just
unbolt it and re-bolt

you've got to cut it off
you've got to reshape

some stuff weld it
back into place it takes a

lot of work to get it back
the way it should be.

No all you've got to
do is take these panels

do your laser cutting
thing with your laser

cutter put these ones
back on it'll be as good

as new. Have you got
me a laser? What do you

mean you've got every
kind of tool imaginable

you've had a laser
in the past just use the

one I've got now get the end of
this box and I'll get this end come on.

At least 70% of this


replaced there's nothing
much else for it so

I'm going to start at
the front on my way

back. The state of our
Bronco sheet metal is a

real concern the exterior
panels might source

may just not cut it because I have a
feeling our issues are even deeper rooted.

Now of course the wings did have to
come off but look at the horrors beneath.

got rust kind of all
over the panels more on

the a-pillar here and
look down here there's

all kinds of metal
actually missing and then

deep inside what looks
like filler might actually

be chewing gum to
make some kind of terrible

repair inside there
and of course you know

very well that Mike
won't have gone to the

trouble of finding me
these panels but the ones

he has such as the rear quarter who knows
what I'm going to find underneath that.

My spidey rust sensors
are tingling as I continue

to peel back the layers
the state of the metal

is only getting worse.
Cutting the rear quarter

panel wheel arch openings to accommodate
monster-sized tires was a popular Bronco

modification we preferred
a factory look and our

plan is to reintroduce
standard quarter panels

unfortunately these
are not simple bolt-ons

as found up front.
The final bits of sheet

metal left behind are
spot welded to the body

and using a mini belt sander
makes light work of the removal.

One of the unique
features of the Bronco is

its tilt forward windscreen
unfortunately it's

no easy task removing
the piano hinge as it's

spot welded to the
entire width of the frame.

This Bronco is
beginning to feel like a lost

cause the more I dig
the more nauseous I feel.

Now things often have
to get a lot worse before

they can start getting
better and our 70%

is probably down to
about what 25% but at least

we know what we're
dealing with which isn't great.

Okay Ed yeah leave it
with me mate I'll sort it.

Oh well that's bad news
from the big man he's

cut away the body work
on the Bronco there's

too much rust too much
rot stuff that we couldn't

see and he says we
need to find a solution

to shortcut the problem.

I have phoned everyone
in my little black book

of contacts that I got
for California I've called

him friends favours
everything I could possibly do

to come up with a solution
for our Bronco problem.

Now the only solution that
may have come through

is the guy that owns
this company behind me

because apparently
somebody's put a Bronco in

here for paint and
they've never collected it

and it's in his way so wish me luck.
How you doing I'm looking for Sergio.

That'll be me.

Sergio Mike spoke to you on
the phone I'm very excited because

of this Bronco body you
spoke about so tell me the story.

Well it's a 1972 Bronco and a customer
brought it in he said I just need to get.

four thousand dollars worth of body and
paint we polished that out it's all painted.

now he doesn't have the
money to come and get the car.

So uh can I see it where is it?

Yeah it's under the cover.

I don't believe it seriously I don't believe
what I'm seeing here is this for real?

Oh I know this colour
it's a coir brown that's

actually a factory colour
me and Ed we're going

to go for the orange
with a white top who can

argue with this and at
four thousand dollars

we would have spent
probably that or more

anyway on trying to
pull our car back round.

No this is definitely coming
back to the workshop with me

I can't wait to see the look on Ed's
face when he sees what I got him.

Mike has managed
to turn disaster into a

triumph by finding us a
nearly new looking body.

Despite the four thousand
dollar outlay we've

saved big here
countless hours of my time

and plenty of our money
not having to fabricate

patches and install
sheet metal prep for paint

and having to get the car resprayed and
while I had a bit of extra time I took the

work on the engine and
another massive time

saver there is nothing
wrong with the chassis

the replacement body
came with so I've taken

advantage of this
added value and attached

the new suspension mic source from Tom's
Bronco to that meanwhile the sparsely laden

interior needed some
help so I sent it out

to have a new headliner
and carpet installed

and then I fitted new
dash trimmings suddenly

we're no longer behind
the curve but ahead of the

game now we set
out to bring our Bronco

right back to stock but
it has been very very

fighty and sometimes
you do have to roll with

those punches now in
this case thankfully Mike

has managed to find me
this rather pristine body

shell that's been ready
painted another bonus.

is that it came with this power master
cylinder so I've also tried to make the most

of that by actually
upgrading our front drums to

discs so we now have
vented discs on the front

which is actually
going to help this thing

stop nicely because
after all if we are going

to take our little four
by four on an outdoor

adventure tackle a
couple of hills then it's

really important that
we know we can go down

safely before we try
and get it up the hill.

Now our engine has always run well at this
point the only thing left under the hood

that we want to upgrade
is the cooling system.

A standard copper
core radiator will handle

most driving styles
and conditions but a little

extra protection is
never a bad thing the

increased cooling
capacity will give us that

bit of added security
should we test the limits

of our Bronco. Right
from the start it was clear

this Bronco needed a
lot of taming but it's been

bucking and biting all
the way to the finish.

Now although I was happy with the original
suspension setup we're in light of our new

direction of stock plus
I've actually upgraded

both the Springs and
the shock absorbers front

and rear of the car
and that's mainly to

accommodate these
chunky new wheels and tires

and you can see they've
actually got tread around

the sidewall as well
just to get you through

the gnarliest of craggy
rocks and they come

wrapped around some
period correct slot mag alloy

wheels. These tires do
push the boundaries of

what our new factory quarters can
accommodate but without being too overstated.

Now you might notice we've now got
a really good proper duty roll bar which

is going to make all the difference
should we get a little bit tricky

off-road but also the upholsters have
done a fantastic job of both the headlining

and the carpet so
all I have to do now is

actually install all the
side panels and the

seating. As with most
American classics parts

are readily available
from a number of vendors

and typically don't
require you to remortgage

your home as prices
are very reasonable.

This Bronco was a
major undertaking and it's

not until now do I feel
the fruits of my very

trying labor. The final touches
suggest the end of this project is near.

Now this Ford came into the workshop a bit
of a lame donkey we managed to transform it

into the bucking Bronco it
always should have been and now

it's time for a cheeky test drive on the
road before we take it out into the wild.

We went looking for a 4x4 that could
deliver old school adventure and a

modern-day profit a


bit of an insult to
actually call it a Bronco

it didn't drive great
I'm gonna try reverse

I'm gonna try reverse
and it looked even worse

do you know how to
take a really good picture

it's like going to see a
house when they say

it's got a very nice big
bathroom but actually

when you get there it
was just taken with a

wide-angle lens but the
potential was there all

that needed was to
install a new transmission

steering column fix the
hub lockers disc brake

conversion new suspension
and all the other bits

I bought on my shopping
trip can you button

it up and ship it to ed
as quickly as possible

you got oh and those
minor bodywork issues

which may have involved
me buying a whole new

body who can argue
with this wow it may have

been an unorthodox
journey but just look

at the destination it's as good an example
as you'll ever see but there's a price for

perfection the car itself
was a bargain at eight

thousand dollars new
transmission drive shaft and

hubs 2673 steering column
suspension and brakes




body four thousand
bucks bright work and other

parts 2449 2061 for
the interior wheels and.


dollars around 20 000 pounds and a massive.


i think is the most time

we've ever spent on any
car that's come through

the workshop what do you do when you've
created a pristine concourse quality car.

you take it off road
and up a mountain of

course i mean seriously
wow doesn't it make you

want to just climb inside
and go on one great

big adventure well
actually it's been a bit of

a great big adventure
trying to restore this

wonderful American classic
i mean the journey that

I've been on with this
first generation bronco

right from when it
first turned up at the

workshop till now has
been a long and winding

road mate well it's
very rare that a car

warrants such lavish
attention placed upon it

but this car did and
look at the color as well

i think it's brilliant
this color is absolutely

wonderful it gives the
car a kind of rugged

and yet refined feel tell
me what it's like under

the bonnet well that
wonderful small block v8.

now really does look
the part any collector is

going to come and
say this car is just going

to want to have it so if we'll agree that
this car looks fantastic should we give it

a nice mechanical
test to see what its

abilities like I'll tell you
what you can do the

honors I'll sit in the
passenger seat navigate

us around any obstacles
we're going to find in

this amazing part of the world
we are actually trailblazing here.

this is what this car was invented to do it
coming up here in the majestic mountains it

was about recreation
it's now something that

every single manufacturer
today has a vehicle

in their stable that basically
copies what this vehicle is.

there's two things that
are fantastic about it

number one i'm in a
series one bronco with you

yeah number two is
i'm so comfortable i can't

believe just how good
that suspension is and

that is a big bump and
this feels very compliant

well the thing is
because you went out and

found those suspensions
those stiffer Springs

totally sporty the
shock absorbers the car

looks a little bit
tougher but mainly just

makes it more capable
which is wonderful and

the grippy tires are
making all the difference

fantastic i mean look
how bumpy this road is.

one of the really cool things about this


i actually think it would spare pretty
well and of course that's why you come

to the middle of nowhere to look
at the stars have a nice simple life.

we got to talk about changing that
gearbox because it was a free on the tree.

every time you put it
in second gear i had to

hold it in second gear
so what's this feeling

like the automatic is
actually very capable it

just makes the whole
off-road experience a lot

easier i mean obviously
you're going to get

some of the purists who
are going to argue with

that but i think you
know this is really a

recreational vehicle
and that's you know it's

about having a nice easy
time of it and it means

you can concentrate
on the off-roading rather

than what gear you're in
and also the new column

is very comfortable it
means i can actually

get a driving position
which isn't too grotesquely

uncomfortable but also
the seats the interior i

mean like that new
headlining obviously this

lovely soft carpet and
they've got the nice

seats as well and of
course the panels just to

smarten everything up
also the features inside

this lovely period dashboard
the dash pad we've

got a radio that's got
Bluetooth connectivity

so we've got some
modern convenience as well

since we haven't got
like cup holders and

heated seats and
stuff but all that is about

simplicity isn't it
and that's one of the

charming features i'm
glad you stopped because

it is looking a little
bit steeper ahead the

next thing we can do
is actually engage the

diff locks just twist it
around until it clicks

yeah done that job done simple we're
now invincible good job you feed them.

all right so here we
go this is the loose

ground coming up
hopefully our diff locks are

going to mean that all
of our wheels are moving

pretty much in the same
direction at the same

time so we might slide
this a little bit we should

be okay it's amazing
isn't it technology the way

that works come on baby
you can do it come on

there she goes plow
through it as if there's no

trouble whatsoever go on go on you can
do it around the corner go on go on go on.

no I've got boulders
to the left of me I've

got trees to the right
and here i am stuck in

the bronco with you
look how far up we've

come we must be well
we're at six and a half

thousand feet i can tell you that
and this is a proper off-road course.

this looks like the top.

oh look at that stop there perfect.

hell wasn't that worth
it coming all the way up

here for that view that
is pretty glorious that

is spectacular this
genuinely doesn't look like

the same vehicle that i
come into the workshop

with it looks absolutely
brilliant also i don't

think I've ever seen a
bronco so dirty but don't

worry because i'm
going to clean it up when

we get back to the
workshop and get it ready

come sale time enjoy the view son
because I'll tell you you've earned it.

now that's got to be
the most work we've ever

done on the car well
at least in a very very

long time and just think
about where we started

and how it looks now
because it's phenomenal.

now the thing is this
vehicle has taken so much

of our time we've put
so much effort into it it

does owe us a pretty
price now the guy behind

me he's called Chris
he's been Princess drive.

he likes it thing is it
owes us about twenty

five thousand dollars
that's about seventeen

thousand pounds i
got it advertised for forty

thousand dollars and
that's what i need to get

so let's see if i can close the deal down.

right then sir so you
like it i do it's a great

car so why do you want
one so i i'm a horse guy

and uh this is a perfect
truck for us at the

ranch we can tow a
horse we can go to the

Polo matches and tailgate
out of the back we can

even four by four around
the ranch it's perfect.

oh it's going ever so well seriously you're
gonna ruin it that's what it was made for

and at the end of the day it is a collector
car so we're gonna take care of it good

well I've advertised it at forty thousand
dollars the amount of work and the amount

of love we put into it is worth every penny
what do you think so i think 35 is probably

a better price for
it I'll say again the

price is forty thousand
dollars i'd say this

truck's got a little
bit of age on it and

some of these have
a little bit of rust on the

inside trust me i
know every inch of this

vehicle it is as good
as you're ever going to

find one and this
vehicle because it's a first

generation bronco the
value of these are just

increasing all the time
and just in the time that

me and you have been
having this conversation.

it's now gone up to
forty two thousand five

hundred dollars oh my
i don't know about that

keep talking it's gonna
go up to 45 grand

it would stand in long
enough trust me these

vehicles are so sought
after and i can sell

this over and over and
over again i wish i had

ten of them it's worth every penny of forty
thousand dollars don't miss it come on.

okay yes top man you
just got yourself a cracking

bronco well done don't
ruin it absolutely not

now this bronco was full of surprises
unfortunately for us but the biggest surprise

of all is just how nice this car turned
out this vehicle also delivered me and ed

a nice tasty profit and so it should do
the amount of man hours that went into it

if you want to see
more iconic cars like this

bronco being turned
around by me and the tall

guy join us again soon
on Wheeler dealers.