Copper Top

[broncosbybart]

Ok, more chassis pics. Yes, all heim ends are new and it has Cage long arms. They got new bushings which was a real pain. 2 of the 4 bolts had to be cut off. These arms use bushings between the 'arm' and the cast 'C' part of the radius arm. The radius arms aren't one piece. I don't know why they did it like that, but over time, the round poly bushings wear out, just like a track bar bushing wears. The bushings look identical to a track bar bushing, actually.

With all that done, I stripped the coating off the arms and painted them a gunmetal metallic color and clear coated them. A lot of work, but they look good. Never did take a pic of them after that, but here it all is complete.

The steering setup is a new Duff's extreme duty PS unit, the t-case has the terra-low gears, AA rear output shaft, new bearings, and the WH aluminum inspection cover.

[broncosbybart]

The body was sent to the soda blaster and stripped down. It looks like 'new' metal. All areas of repairs are easliy visible, and the original Ford spot welds look like they just were done. Of course, the tub was in good shape and not rusted to crap, so this wouldn't be the case in all circumstances, but it is cool to see. Here are a few pics of it now.

[broncosbybart]

I have made the windshield frame removable. The hinge is a new stainless hinge that I will try to polish up and not paint. That way the paint won't chip off when folding the windshield down. I welded some 1/4-20 nuts to the underside of the channel that is behind where the dash will be. This will simplify removal/installation of the windshield if need be once it is completed.

I have also started working on the doors. Since the window frames were already hacked off, I decided to purchase a set of Bestop soft uppers and try to mate them up to the hard lower doors. I ended up using DOM tube that was a little bigger than the 2 'legs' that stick down out of the soft upper door frame. The whole concept mirrors what the Heeps do. I'm not sure how sturdy it will be at highway speed, as I've heard plenty of complaints about soft doors flexing and flapping around. The tube that was sunk into the door frame is reinforced to the door and has no movement. The design of the door upper is the part I am not so sure about, but we will see.

Follow along:

The top of the door was already 'plated over' by someone else. I decided to leave that all there and work with what I had. I measure 4 times and then drilled the two 1/2" holes that I needed for setting the DOM tube through the top of the doors. Each piece of DOM was cut to 5" long. You can see the DOM fitting over the 'legs' of the soft uppers in the first two pics.

I taped the DOM to the 'legs' with some electrical tape and slid the whole assembly onto the door. I left about a quarter inch sticking out of the top of the ddor and then tacked the two DOM tubes in place. I then removed the tape that held the DOM to the legs of the soft uppers and removed the uppers to check for fit. They slid in and out of the holes as they should. So I welded the DOM tube in place and then cut the excess off and ground it flush.

The lower part of the DOM (the part inside the door) was reinforced. I cut some 1" square tube to length and welded it down near the bottom of the DOM tube and welded the other end to the side of the inner door. I did this on both the front and the rear tubes. It was kind of hard to get at, but in the end it worked out. The DOM tube has no flex or movement with the upper door in place. I do want to see how it performs on the road. I have my doubts, as the upper seems kind of flexy, but we'll see at some point in the distant future. Enjoy!

[Crawdad]

I hope to be up your way in the coming weeks! I sure do need some shackles like that too!

[Bronco Biff]

Looking good!! I really like those soft uppers!

[jac77]

Looks great👍
Really like the doors.

[broncomatt]

Man you kill me, I had the same idea and even got an extra set of doors to make it happen. I also want to make a half cab soft top to go with the doors. Nice work!

[blazinchuck]

I got a set of doors I started doing the same thing too...looks great. I have to uppers too

Sent using my HTC ONE via Tapatalk

[broncosbybart]

Ok, so here are a few more pics. I've been doing sheet metal work lately.

The truck will have 2x6 boxed rocker guards. In place of the outer rocker panels, I'm fabbing up some 1x1 square stock. I cut away all the outer rocker except for the flat part that goes under the door. Then I followed the original edge of the rocker with the edge of the square stock and welded it in place. Below this piece I added 1 more piece that will follow the original door opening, creating a finished look from the outside. I did all this to maintain structural integrity of the rocker so that it can be stood on without destroying itself and to make it look good. The pics should explain it.

And yes, some previous owner was probably drunk when they cut the inner kick panels. I'll cut those straight and in line with what I did to the outer rocker.

[Crawdad]

Looking good Charles!