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Ive always wanted a sheet metal brake, but never really had the room to store such a big piece of equipment. Well, now that i have a decent workshop, and a pretty big project to work on (the bronco rebuild) i decided it was time to get one. But, didnt want a big press taking up space, so i decided to try and build a smaller compact press. So this is what i came up with: One piece of 3" angle iron bolted to bench top, with a 2" piece of angle iron attached to that via 2 4" hinges. Both are 36" wide, which gives me 28" between the hinges. Thats got to be plenty big. The 2 ½" bolts secure it to the bench.  So this is the basic motion. Those 2 3/8" studs sticking up with springs on them, will hold another piece of 2x¼" angle iron, which serves as the jaw that clamps the sheet metal in place  Some slight trimming of the jaw to clear the hinges. Wing nuts to clamp it down w/o needing any special tools, and the springs will lift it back up when loosened to remove the piece or put another in.  On the underside of the hinged piece of angle iron, is 2 pieces of pipe welded in place, for a pair of handles made out of ¾" bar stock  test bend!   Removed from bench for 'storage' (actually i was cleaning). The handles fit under the clamping jaw for storage.  Set back up, and im now ready to resume work on the bronco!  Looks like its gonna work just fine!  Tragedy! I was moving the front clip, and bumped into one of my shocks. It fell over and this happened:  Guess ive got no excuse now, were upgrading the shocks. Front clip reinstalled! Wheel well is pretty big now.  I installed the fender liner (Yes its actually bolted into place in this pic). Its gonna need some work if im gonna reuse it!  Also got my riv-nut tool, so i can start installing the nuts for the flares!  Im gonna start working on the fender liners next i think. Gotta get a game plan going. Currently thinking im gonna roll the seams on the firewall, then trim up the fender liner, and maybe make a piece that will seal the back to the firewall. Dunno yet. Long term use proved the tubbed wheel wells i did last time were a nightmare for shedding heat, so this time i want to make sure i leave as much open space under the hood as i possibly can. So i pulled the front clip back off. The first cut to the fenders that i made, was the bare minimum to fit the cutoff flares. Now the plan is to remove two more inches, which is about as much as i can remove, and still be able to reinstall the original fender liners. So here we go! Line drawn, and a whole ton of tabs cut  The process of bending them over begins:
All tabs bent, heres roughly what the fender will look like when the flare is removed  after a whole sh*tload of welding & grinding, both fender panels are now rewelded  This shows you how much more material is removed.  Made a template of the new wheel arch, and transferred it to the other side  A ton more cutting, bending and welding!   Finally got some primer on them the other day.  If all goes well ill be able to get the front clip reinstalled sunday, and i can then begin working on the fender liners. Theyre gonna need to be trimmed up a bit now that the wheel well is bigger. I also need to install rivnuts for the flares. Hopefully i can get both done by the end of next week, we'll see! So on Sunday i was over a buddies house. and scored some more parts!  Got another tach cluster, a spare dash bezel thats in way better shape than mine, and the missing parts (Servo/bracket/cable) to complete my cruise control install! Considering pretty much my entire commute to/from work is on the open freeway, its super awesome having cruise control in this thing! Met a fellow Ford nut who lives up near Rausch Creek, and got some parts off him! One tach cluster, and a set of chrome mirrors  and some new badges & dash trim to replace the XL badges  I swapped my speedo into the the tach cluster today and got that installed in the bronco. Not yet sure if i want to run chrome mirrors on this one or not, still debating. Im digging the Custom badges, theyre pretty hard to find, and IMO they suit this mishmash of a bronco. Ill get em installed in the spring when its warmer out. Gotta find some good 3m.    Looks awesome. Really freshens up the front end and gives it a more modern look. I really like the look of the black reflector, probably going to put them on the diesel next year as my clears are yellowing. But, the housings i bought didnt fit for crap. Next time i will get a different brand. I initially put the LED headlights in, but ended up taking them out, as it was easier to aim the headlight housings with my Silverstars in there. So in the next couple days ill get the LEDs back in & get em dialed in. So me & a 20% coupon went to Harbor Freight, and bought their trans jack. Its actually pretty nice.  Dropped & split the tcase.  It appears the problem is a badly stretched chain. Playing with it on the cart, it appears the chain is so sloppy it falls behind the shift lever that engages the fork for the 4wd engagement, and sometimes prevents it from going in. Explains why it felt like it was in 2-Low the other day. Got a new chain on order, but it wont be here til friday. I went thru the whole case last year, so it doesnt need anything else. Shouldve just done the chain then. Got the trans dropped too:  Trans jack made it super easy. Got the rear main seal replaced, and the trans is already back up in the truck. Sucks installing an E4OD by yourself. Just waiting on the tcase chain now, to finish reassembly. Time for a facelift! First off excuse the pic quality, my phone is on the way out, and i cant get a clear pic out of it for some reason. The OEM headlights leave something to be desired, so its time to do something about it!  LED Headlights from Beamtech. I use them on my F250, as well as my wife's Nissan Juke, and they work good. Theyre also cheap, which is a bonus!  Ive removed the adjusting collar, and trimmed down the OEM lock rings for the headlamp housings. The ones that came with the housings are pretty junky.  Disassembly  the new housings   These are the black/clear housings found all over Amazon. They look good.    Im really diggin it, looks a ton better.   Before you ask: I started aiming the housings last night, need to take it for a drive and see how they look, dont think ive got em quite right yet. HOWEVER, i have bigger fish to fry. The tcase is not engaging 4d Hi or Low. Looks like im gonna have to drop the case. While im in there, im probably going to pull the trans too cuz the rear main seal started leaking pretty badly. So i wont have any good pics of the bronco outside, or of how the new headlights work, until im done with that. Progress! I was trying to install the fender liners to see how i want to finish the cut on the fenders. But, the core support was repaired by the previous owner, and i wasnt thrilled with the job he did, so i said screw it and ordered a new one from LMC. So that delayed me a bit. Ginormous box!    Old core removed...  ...and new one installed!  Modifying the core body mount brackets for tire clearance    While i was waiting for the core support to come, i started on the floorpan repairs. This is the worst spot on the whole body, already cut out:  This is the next worst spot. Once these two are done, itll just be minor repairs.  Well i promised an update on the '88 around Xmas, so here it is: First things first: Reinstalled the brake booster/master on firewall and then removed the steering column in trade for my original column. I also managed to find an 87-91 wheel w/o the cruise buttons which will be going on at a later date  So, then this happened: Front clip + 42s back on!!!  Truck is so big, the garage door wouldnt open if the hard top was on!  The front clip was inevitable. I needed the 42s on though. Since i want it to be a bit more streetable, last year i bought a set of Bushwacker cut-out flares. But, i dont like the look of the 87-96 flares, so i bought 80-86 instead. Since they technically dont fit, i couldnt follow the directions to install them. So instead i needed the tires on the bronco so i could figure out where the flares actually need to go. So, here we go! I started at the rear left, because gas filler door. Cardboard mockup of sheetmetal to be removed:  some rust thats gonna have to go:  Bam! Flare mocked up!  Its impossible to get good pics with this side against the wall. I have the filler door cut and sitting on my work bench, need to get that reinstalled.  Passenger side installed!  Looks good, i really like the shape of these flares  They just barely cover the tires  With the rear done, i can move on to the front:  This shows the absolute minimal amount of sheetmetal you can remove to install the flares. Its mostly in the corners    Flare mocked up  The corner will get cut off, but not till way later down the road, when i get around to building a front bumper   The money shot: This shows how much more material i can remove w/o impacting the install of the flare. More on this later.  Driver-side cut  Rust: repaired  So, here's the plan. Once all 4 flares are 'installed', ill then remove them. Plan is to install riv-nuts in the fenders, and use machine screws to hold them in place. I want to be able to easily remove them when i go wheeling. Theyre too expensive to smash on a tree! So, back to these two pics: This actually looks like a pretty good amount of room for the 42s. Most of the clearance issues i ever had were at the corners anyway, not at the top.  However, as you can see from this pic, theres lot of more sheet metal i can remove, and still be able to reinstall the flare:  So the plan now is to open the wheel wells up a tad bit more, install riv-nuts and then weld them back together again. My goal is to have a nice open wheel well for wheeling, and then install the flares over top of them for when im not offroad. But before i can cut the wheel wells any further, i need to reinstall the fender liners, and see what i can get away with. Thats why im doing the front first; once i get a final shape to the fronts ill remove the rear flares and do the same. Then the flares can go back in their boxes, and the 42s can come back off, until way later down the road. |
