Tuesday Tech: Bronco Grills

Making your Bronco stand out from the crowd isn't always easy. It seems so many Bronco owners choose the same aftermarket parts.

One way you can give your Bronco a different look is with the grill.

Bronco enthusiasts know that Bronco grills were almost always painted an accent color. Usually, Wimbledon White or argent silver and in later years even black. While some were painted the main body color

examples below:

If your Bronco was Wimbledon White, then your grill probably matched the body color

In the later years the silver/argent color was used more often

Check out this grill from a Canadian 1966 Bronco, the paint follows the eyebrow trim.

This is the prototype and where the 1966 Bronco probably got its "eyebrows" from. 

another option when painting the grill, put the paint line on the high curve of the grill

As seen in the pictures above, many Broncos (especially the early ones) came with painted headlight rings. Later one chrome rings were installed on many models (Sport, Ranger etc).

This owner decided to gold plate his headlight rings and F O R D grill letters

The Dune Duster promotional Bronco built by George Barris

You could chrome plate your grill, but then it would not match the fenders where they meet. See below

I would like to get a chrome plated one, then remove the chrome from the outside edges and paint those areas body color...

Like this one:

On this one the owner chromed the grill, then painted the outer edges....they took it one step further by blacking out some of the grill bars

Same idea, only in paint only, no chrome

You could black out the whole grill including the lights

Black out and leave just the center bar body color?

You could cut out the center and install a tube grill

Adding screen or expanded metal behind the grill will change its appearance. 

You could build one out of wood.

Or maybe redesign it, update it, these two were done by Velocity Restorations

This is the grill created for the ICON Bronco

Here are a few that use the large FORD letters like the Raptor.

Another one that is completely different

another one that is different....

Someone is now selling reproduction grill emblems that spell out BRONCO....

And Dynacorn sells a reproduction grill with no raised FORD letters, you could make your own custom grill that looks factory.

Something like this:

Another option is to buy a kit or redesign it to look like the new Bronco

The ones below are from Desert Classic Mustangs

Here are a couple from the Zero Labs electric Bronco

Here is the Protofab Bronco, which has retro-fitted square lights, diamond plate and square tubing

Another one

This one is from the Bronco nuts at LAL customs

This one has a serious retro-euro vibe to it

Bronco Barn Finds: 1969 Sport

Starting a new segment here at the blog.....I was reminded the other day that there are still Broncos out in barns, garages and back yards the other day.... 

Not far from my home a man has two classic Broncos in his back yard......I intend to ask about them, I am sure he gets offers to buy them all the time, but maybe if I show up in my own classic Bronco he might see things differently.

Anyway this segment will show you what is being found out there.

This 1969 barn find is in exceptionally good shape, no visible rust.....but veteran Bronco owners know that there maybe more to the story when the vinyl carpeting is removed....

All in all though, a prime candidate for a restoration.

see more here

Bronco of the Day: The Huntsman

 Todays Bronco of the Day comes from Classic Broncos, a company dedicated to restoring and customizing our favorite 4x4.

The folks at Classic Broncos name all of their restorations and this one is called "The Huntsman". With is hunter green paint and ball glove leather interior, the name was an obvious choice.

The 1971 Bronco sits on new springs, progressive rate coils in the front and multi-leaf pack in the rear. The front also featured Stroppe style double shock mounts.

The 9" rear end was swapped out for a newer vintage model, but still wears the factory drums. The Dana 44 up front was given disc brakes. The slight lift combined with front and rear flares provided room for the 33" BFG tires.

The three speed manual and Dana 20 t-case are shifted via James Duff shifters and the interior was completely upgraded with new seats and panels in the aforementioned ball glove brown leather.

To see more of this rig click here