'81 Bronco Copycat

[JonFoster]

Hey all,

Here, I decided to jump into the Micro crowd. I'm putting my CC-01 Bronco on hold and starting on this little guy. I'll show my progress from the last few weeks of working on it intermittently up until its current status. I'm pulling the build thread from a forum for the 1:1 Broncos that I posted this too so it may be a bit choppy and I have to resize the photos from there to meet RCC's guidelines.

Originally, I wanted to build just a beast of a BKO with the knowledge that it may get bashed. That kinda changed. Here's the inspiration for the project:



It was my dad's old, used-and-put-away-wet 1981 XLT Bronco. 302, C6, some gnarly transfer case, with a D44 and a 9" that housed 4.56 gears. It rolled on 35x13.50R15 Mickey Thompson Bajas on 15x12 American Racing Modular wheels. No lift, but it had some heavier duty coils up front and F250 leafs out back. Dad had originally planned to throw some Bushwacker cutouts on it, but only got around to trimming the rear quarters and the 35s tore up the front fenders. It was originally silver, but the previous owner painted it white and red to match his boat. The interior was the infamous porno red with a Ranger XLT woodgrain dash. This picture is how I remember it before we donated it in 2005. My idea for this project is to create a "What If" of his old truck. And he's just as geeked about it as I am.

[JonFoster]

I started with Losi's Micro 4x4 Trail Trekker. It was definitely purpose-built and not some hodge-podge of parts. The body has something that could be more sought-for, but then again, if really it did, I wouldn't be doing this project. I previously had a couple Bronco kits made by Revell/Monogram. I'll be using the electronics, axles, and suspension hardware from the Losi Trail Trekker and mounting them on the chassis that came with the Bronco kit. And I'll be doing an interior as well!

It has a fair amount of flex seeing as it's stock...


Chillin' with the two Bronco models I already had (the first part is admitting you have a problem, right?). The white one doesn't suspect a thing.


Mock-up. That wheelbase has really got to be shortened.


Managed to heave the cap on.

[JonFoster]

Swapped tops! This thing is gonna be HUGE.


Got the muffler and the frame mounted tank out (not correct to this model, but oh well) and separated the R/C drivetrain from the chassis.


Mocking up the axles. May have to trim the fenders a bit.


Found a couple of dollarstore pullback toys and built some leaf springs for the rear (that is a helluvan arch!) and was playing with those coilovers. They had to go. They were messing with travel horribly.


Coilovers are gone. I'm gonna have to fab up some anti-wrap bars because these springs are flexy!


It's up! Rear is done for now....


....now it's time for the front axle.


Threw the gray body on for giggles.


I'm liking the way this is lookin'


Before I forget.... obligatory "goodbye" shot of the TTB. (Anyone doing a SAS on a 1980-96 Bronco or F150/250 will know)


What really hung me up was how to mount the front axle. I tried going the radius arm route using the coilovers similar to a TTB or SAS setup. I couldn't mount leafs the same way I had on the rear due to clearance issues with the steering. After many a hour of tinkering and flipping along with some choice words, I decided on going with what it was originally set up for: four-link. You can also see my motor/trans/transfer case mount in thise picture too. Just low enough to make sure there isn't binding at full droop.


I kinda forgot to take pictures of the completion of the front suspension, but here's the first run with it on it's own weight with some of the heavy baggage inside.


Mocked up the push bar and front bumper to see how it looks compared to the real one.


And here's a comparison shot.


Nose to nose.


Yup, it's tall. I'm having images pop into my head of my buddy's Bronco parked next to mine in real life and he only has 11 inches of lift!


As of right now, the scale specs are:

Stock:
Tires: 30x10.50R16.5
Ride Height (from ground to rocker): 19.5 scale inches.

Lifted:
Tires: 48x16.50R24
Ride Height (from ground to rocker): 49.5 scale inches or 30 inches of lift. She might be too tall.

Now onto the body work!

[JonFoster]

I did a base coat of white to help get rid of the plasticky look, then masked the hell out of it an laid down a few coats of red. The red seems a tad bit darker than I had hoped, but it's as close as I can get without going insane. Unfortunately, it appears that some of my masking has lifted and some bleeding occurred. I'll just weather it up to be on par with the original. I also sprayed the top with a dull clear coat to simulate the flat finish of the top. The interior piece also received some porno red as well.





I did take her for a spin with the body just press fit into place and this thing looks awesome rolling around all painted up.

[JonFoster]

I painted and mounted the push bar and lights to the bumper but haven't mounted the bumpers permanently yet because the body isn't yet mounted. I did a india ink and alcohol wash on the grille and mounted the headlights, marker lights, and tail lights. I also painted the scripts and emblems on the hood, fenders and tailgate along with the door handles and lock cylinders. I didn't grab a picture yet, but I also did a quick dash detail and got the interior cobbled together and the interior tub mounted to the chassis. I'm also working on a way to mount the cap with magnets to make it removable!

Here some photos to check out.











To do:
-Paint interior roof on body and cap
-Mount body
-Mount bumpers
-Mount on/off switch in engine bay
-Work on wheel weights to lower CoG
-Mount mirrors (after figuring out how to drive it without toppling)
-Finish cap mounting system
-Cap windows (kit ones look like :barf)
-Weather to mimic 1:1
-Build tow pig



And that's where it sits for now. If I have some time tonight after work, I'll work on it a bit more and see where we come out at.

[JonFoster]

Last night, I painted the trim around the windshield and partially paint the trim on the side of the body. Tonight I'll go over with a plasticky looking satin/semi-gloss black to top it off. I also painted the interior roof red to match the rest of the interior as well. This was the last major step that I wanted to get finished before mounting the body to the rest of the interior tub/chassis.



I also got a shot of the interior. Nothing too detailed cuz I ain't crazy enough to do the simulated woodgrain. You can kinda see the A and B pillars painted and barely part of the dome light (Sidenote: I hate hate hate using the flash, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do)



I got word that my RC4WD Micro Crawler Wheel Nuts were delivered today as well. Anyone have any luck with them?

[Hammer!]

im digging this build! I'm not a ford guy but still...

[JonFoster]

Thanks Hammer!

Not much to report and no pictures, but got the body mounted. The way Monogram developed this to fit together is weird. The body mounts to the tub, which in turn mounts to the chassis via 4 pins. I used the normal model glue to glue the tub to the chassis, but I reinforced it with some 5-minute epoxy. Once the model glue dries on the body-to-tub, I'm doing to reinforce that with some more epoxy. With that, the theory is, in the event of a big tumble, the major parts stay held together. I'm close to the finish with this one!

[JonFoster]

I decided to make some wheel weights to keep this thing wheels-side-down. I had some spare washers that were floating around in the workshop. They were small enough in diameter to fit within the stock Losi rims, but the bore was too small for the center post to come through. I ended up milling the centers out with a small stepper bit I have. I had just enough to stick four washers in the two rear tires, but dang, they make a world of difference. The rear leafs are really bouncy and don't have enough "droop" to allow the axle to drop a lot, but the few ounces I added really helps! Here are some pics I grabbed:

Rear of the stock Losi MTT Wheel...


Bead ring off..


Washers. I had equal amounts of two different sizes so I stuck two and two in each wheel.


All snug!


The added weight makes all fours touch the ground at full extension. Not sure if I should add some to the fronts or not. I still gotta grab some pictures of these installed. They kinda look like rear disks!

[dubfreak]

looks realy good

[JonFoster]

Thanks!

[DirtTrixx]

Killer build man love it

[JonFoster]

Hey guys! I got a smallish update for ya!

I had to take a small leave of absence, but I brought some pictures back to give ya a small idea of what has been done on the Bronco.

I finally was able to permanently mount the body to the chassis. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of that adventure as I was focused solely on sticking it all together. I also printed out some custom license plates for this guy and for the F350 as well. They're printed with a color laser on large sticky back mailing labels. I also printed a test sheet on normal paper for mock up purposes.

The full sheets.


Plates for the Bronco.


F350 got plates, too.


The plates for the Bronco: USMC for the front, stock issue tag EQY 455, then the customized plates BRONCO and 81BRNCO.


USMC posed on the front bumper.


Stock issue mocked on the rear.


81BRNCO sitting on the seat. BRONCO must have slipped between the seats....


We had a nice day back in January, so I decided to take a run in the woods, following the abandoned rails back there.

Across the bridge.


There was some blockage just past the bridge, so we had to turn back.


Into the mountain!


Last month we had gotten some fresh powder, so we took her for a spin in the snow to see how she handles. It was so-so. Definitely need a better set of shoes!












And back in to melt the snow.


I have some custom made Fungi wheels on the way for her along with some RC4WD Mickey Thompson Baja claws. There are a few things left to do, but then, is any project truly finished??

[LMallette]

Id like to see more pics of the front setup if you have any?!?! Guys like you make it hard for guys like me to quit this addiction! Haha. AWESOME JOB!!!!