| My 1985 Ford Bronco |
Wow, looking back on this page after so long I see numerous errors in the writing and the formatting was an absolute mess so
I decided I'd revamp the entire thing today (3/26/06).
On October 3rd of 2001 I bought this silver and grey 1985 Ford Bronco from a rather sleazy used car lot for $1200. I had been
eyeballing 4x4 vehicles for quite a while since my Beretta was pretty during the long winters up at school in Bemidji, especially
considering all the hunting and fishing I was doing those first couple of years of college. Looking back on it, this Bronco was a
fun vehicle, but I'm really glad I didn't keep it any longer than I did. It had a ton of electrical problems, terrible brakes, and it got
between 5 and 8mpg. Paying to feed it was bad enough back when it was 1.20 a gallon, I can't imagine having to drive it now
that fuel bounces between $2 and $3 a gallon.
Anyway, it was a fun playtoy like I said. It had a hot built 351 Windsor in it, complete with all the receipts for the work. It had a
9:1rebuild with a Summit midrange cam, worked heads (milled down and ported valves), an Edelbrock Performer intake, and
an Edelbrock Performer 600cfm manual choke carb. A lot of the fun came from the sound, since the exhaust ran back into 2"
true duals (generic glasspack mufflers) that side exited right behind the rear tires. It had the distinction of being one of the
loudest trucks I've ever driven because the downward angle of the pipes gave the exhaust tone extreme resonance off the
pavement.
Aside from the engine it didn't have much done to it, just a 2" body lift so they could stuff some 32X11.50 BFG All Terrain TAs
mounted on some 15X9 or 10" steel Cragar clones.
Unfortunately I didn't have it long before I fucked it up pretty badly. On October 28th of 2001 I was on my way out to go fishing
and the throttle stuck, with the end result being a nasty crash into a jackpine. After that it was never the same since the frame
was twisted and the front end of the body compressed. I got it straightened out well enough to drive it, and then set out trying to
sell it soon after since the price to fix the frame was way beyond what I could afford. On April 14th of 2002 some guy paid me
$435 cash and drove away with it, and that was the last I ever saw of my Bronco. I'm guessing more likely than anything it had
an electrical fire and burned, or the guy pulled the engine to swap into something else.
In hindsight I really wish I would have kept that engine, it would have been a nice swap for some other car or truck in the future.
In short, that is the tale of my Bronco. I have some pictures of it below, but they're all after the wreck since I didn't have my first
digital camera until Christmas of 2001. As you can see it was twisted up pretty badly after the wreck, which was a damn
shame. Hell, I might have kept the thing for a playtoy and fixed it up if I hadn't wrecked it... the body was pretty junky but the
interior was nice. Most of the trouble would have been in sorting out the clusterfuck of a wiring system it had in it... there were a
lot of cuts and splices in it from lights, CB, radio, etc that had never been done properly.
Anyway, pics are below.
I decided I'd revamp the entire thing today (3/26/06).
On October 3rd of 2001 I bought this silver and grey 1985 Ford Bronco from a rather sleazy used car lot for $1200. I had been
eyeballing 4x4 vehicles for quite a while since my Beretta was pretty during the long winters up at school in Bemidji, especially
considering all the hunting and fishing I was doing those first couple of years of college. Looking back on it, this Bronco was a
fun vehicle, but I'm really glad I didn't keep it any longer than I did. It had a ton of electrical problems, terrible brakes, and it got
between 5 and 8mpg. Paying to feed it was bad enough back when it was 1.20 a gallon, I can't imagine having to drive it now
that fuel bounces between $2 and $3 a gallon.
Anyway, it was a fun playtoy like I said. It had a hot built 351 Windsor in it, complete with all the receipts for the work. It had a
9:1rebuild with a Summit midrange cam, worked heads (milled down and ported valves), an Edelbrock Performer intake, and
an Edelbrock Performer 600cfm manual choke carb. A lot of the fun came from the sound, since the exhaust ran back into 2"
true duals (generic glasspack mufflers) that side exited right behind the rear tires. It had the distinction of being one of the
loudest trucks I've ever driven because the downward angle of the pipes gave the exhaust tone extreme resonance off the
pavement.
Aside from the engine it didn't have much done to it, just a 2" body lift so they could stuff some 32X11.50 BFG All Terrain TAs
mounted on some 15X9 or 10" steel Cragar clones.
Unfortunately I didn't have it long before I fucked it up pretty badly. On October 28th of 2001 I was on my way out to go fishing
and the throttle stuck, with the end result being a nasty crash into a jackpine. After that it was never the same since the frame
was twisted and the front end of the body compressed. I got it straightened out well enough to drive it, and then set out trying to
sell it soon after since the price to fix the frame was way beyond what I could afford. On April 14th of 2002 some guy paid me
$435 cash and drove away with it, and that was the last I ever saw of my Bronco. I'm guessing more likely than anything it had
an electrical fire and burned, or the guy pulled the engine to swap into something else.
In hindsight I really wish I would have kept that engine, it would have been a nice swap for some other car or truck in the future.
In short, that is the tale of my Bronco. I have some pictures of it below, but they're all after the wreck since I didn't have my first
digital camera until Christmas of 2001. As you can see it was twisted up pretty badly after the wreck, which was a damn
shame. Hell, I might have kept the thing for a playtoy and fixed it up if I hadn't wrecked it... the body was pretty junky but the
interior was nice. Most of the trouble would have been in sorting out the clusterfuck of a wiring system it had in it... there were a
lot of cuts and splices in it from lights, CB, radio, etc that had never been done properly.
Anyway, pics are below.