70 Sport resto/mod

[CityHick]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

Wow, two months since my last update! I'm slacking!

The new rear bumper is coming along pretty well. As you'll see in the pictures I bobbed my rear quarters and BC quarter guards. It hurt to cut perfect sheet metal off, and even more to cut those $$ BC guards but in the long run I think it'll be worth it.

This bumper is my take on the "stealth" bumper. It's 2x6x1/8" with some strategic reinforcements - and is considerably lighter than my previous bumper. The hinge is the AtoZ Fab 1.5" spindle which is extremely beefy. I spoke to AtoZ a while about my plans and they told me that they have not had a single failure with the 1.5" spindles but that many 1" spindles they sold had failed in the past. Let's hope mine stays in one piece.

The bumper wraps under the rear sheet metal and should provide good protection. I plan to add braces from the ends of the bumper into the frame for an even more solid mount. I still have lots of work to go on this thing but I figured I'd post a little progress. My latch is almost stupidly simple but is very solid. I took a test drive earlier and had absolutely no rattles or vibrations, plus the swing-out rides nice and tight to the body.

Future plans include a jerry can rack for the other side, likely a dual jerry can rack similar to Highlander's.

Without further ado, here are the pictures...

[Bronco Brian]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

Looks good like the latch simple
Brian

[crawlin68]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

Looks awesome Tony! I like it a lot. Good job.

[House]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

Noice!

[Spaceburger]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

This just adds more fuel to my jelousy Tony - damn nice work! What did you pay for the 2X6 X1/8 steel and from where?

[California Monkey]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

I like it. The bumper also seems big enough to be a nice step for getting into the back. Most bumpers tuck up too tight and are thin so they make horrible steps.

[CityHick]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

Thanks for the compliments guys. I think this is bumper #4 for me...

1. Stock
2. Doug's tube bumper that ended up not working
3. The tank that's now headed to Tito
4. This one.

Hopefully it's the final answer, however I do enjoy building stuff like this.

This just adds more fuel to my jelousy Tony - damn nice work! What did you pay for the 2X6 X1/8 steel and from where?

If you're looking to build something similar, we could have a fab day one day. My design is extremely simple and if you'd like you're welcome to steal some of my ideas.

I paid around $7 or $8/foot for the steel a few weeks back at Pleasanton Steel in Livermore if memory serves. Whatever it was, was a whole lot cheaper than steel prices a year or so ago. It is not a normally stocked size there, but when I was there they happened to have a bunch of it.

[hotdog]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

Good lookin design! A new rear bumper is on my long list of things I'd like to do. I might have to steal a couple of your ideas when that day comes.

[CityHick]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

As I've been meaning to do for a while now, I finally took the rig in to check the alignment. My front tires were starting to show a little wear with about 2000 miles on them - I was expecting that it was my camber doing it to me but it turns out I had my toe-in set way too far in. They took it out to about neutral and measured my camber. The camber was a little off side to side but was nearly neutral. The mechanic and the shop owner both told me not to worry about further adjustment on the camber and advised I drive it a while with neutral toe and if I didn't like it they could bring it in a hair. A little road testing this afternoon showed an improvement in handling and overall it just feels better. I might set the toe in a little more but overall I'm pretty happy.

The caster was set at about 5.5 degrees which they told me was a little less than ideal but acceptable. I think it's about the right balance between caster and pinion angle, as I have no binding on my front joint whatsoever. Much more caster and I'd probably have problems there.

[CityHick]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

No real progress update here... but I just realized it's been 3 years and one day since I caught the Bronco illness. Thanks guys for all the ideas you've helped put into my head!

[Broncrick]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

I just realized it's been 3 years and one day since I caught the Bronco illness. Thanks guys for all the ideas you've helped put into my head!

Damn Newbies

[CityHick]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

Made a little more progress on the rear bumper and swingouts this weekend. It doesn't look like much at the moment, but there's been a lot of design-on-the-fly, weld-cut-reweld going on.

The original plan was to build a second swing-arm to carry two jerry cans, similar to Highlander's, but I just couldn't come up with a design that I liked. My first pass just seemed like it would be getting hit constantly on tight trails. I ended up cutting it down and just building a single jerry can holder. It's not totally done yet - you'll notice the top looks a bit unfinished. The plan there is to either build a cooler rack, or a rack to hold a small toolbox to keep certain tools very accessible - things such as my air hose, air-down kit, screwdrivers, utility knife, and maybe a few small spares, etc. I am on the fence and not sure which way to go with this. It has become very obvious to me that I need a place to store commonly used tools that won't get buried under everything, however moving a cooler out of the vehicle affords a lot more floor space. Decisions, decisions.

Anway, a few pix...

[earlybronco72]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

This may be a silly question, but how do you get the can out. If you have to lift it out that is going to be way up there, and if you put a cooler rack or tool box above it, what then. I would think that if you made it open up on the inside of the rack you could open the swing out, and then take the can out without lifting the fourty or so pounds of gas over your head. Oh yeah, that whole set up is looking great, but I wouldn't expect anything else from you.

[CityHick]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

The can gets slid in from the top. I have seen others set up this way and I figure as rarely (hopefully) as I will be using the jerry can, its not a big deal to lift it in and out. Whatever rack sits on top will have an access hole for the can. I do however like your idea to make it open from the back - I might have to devise something along those lines for it eventually.

FYI that gas can is full - I've lifted it in and out a few times and its really not that bad. If I were any shorter or if I planned to use that can often I'd definitely come up with a different way to put the can in.

Thanks for the idea Marc! And thanks for the compliments!

[kman67]

Re: 70 Sport resto/mod

Hey Tony, what car did you get your AC compressor out of?

(Post 669)
I'm trying to find a sanden and all the ones I've seen have the mounting holes that go perpendicular to the body of the compressor instead of parallel like the one you have. I haven't actually found a Sanden, I keep seeing the Visteon ones though.
Thanks,