Disassembly started with removing the seats so that we could gain better access to the interior while removing all the fasteners securing the hardtop. But prior to removing the hardtop, careful measurements were taken for use when fabricating a roll cage (see below)

With the top removed and the seats out, quick work was made of the remainder of the interior. While the carpet and side panels had appeared to be in good condition, upon removal it was obvious that moisture had taken its toll on the soft goods of the truck. With the carpet and side panels removed, we were better able to inspect for rust damage. Surprisingly, the main floor behind the front floorpans seems to be in reasonable condition. We had already assumed that the front floorpans were shot, but were still surprised at the "repair" someone did at one point by using duct tape to hold down a sheetmetal "patch" and then painting it black. We also discovered a good deal of rust-through inside the rear quarter panels in the junction between the upper and lower sections. One nice thing about having the top off and the interior removed is that it started to smell a bit better.

Next the doors and front clip were removed. This provided us with a view of even more rust damage. Just as we had suspected, the inner fender wells had the same rust damage that we first encountered on Project Buckshot, and then again on Big Red. In fact, on all three Broncos, we found rust-related problems in the front inner fenders, A-pillars, floorpans and vent window pivots. These will certainly be key inspection points on any future Bronco projects.

In order to gain full access to every inch of the body, after we remove it from the frame, we will mount it on our rotisserie. With early Broncos, doing a frame-off restoration poses certain challenges if you're planning to mount the body to a rotisserie because the body itself has no true structural integrity. Even just lifting the body off of the frame (using our two-post lift) leaves the body subject to collapsing in on itself unless we provide it with some sort of structural support. With Project Buckshot, we had the luxury of a full 8-point roll cage that had already been fabricated for that Bronco. So, the question was posed to Swamp Thing's owner: "Fabricate a temporary & disposable support structure to facilitate mounting it on a rotisserie, or build a custom roll cage that can be utilized as part of the final build?" The answer was an emphatic "yes" to a roll cage. So, Rick Webster from 4X4Review Offroad Magazine came out and built a cage for Swamp Thing that is very similar to the one he built for Project Buckshot. Once we get it bolted down, we'll be ready to pull the body off the frame.

After about 8 hours of blasting, the entire body shell was down to bare metal. The hood, doors, front fenders and tailgate still remain to be blasted, but we'll wait until we're closer to getting everything into primer before we blast them. With the body now free of all paint, body filler, undercoating and road grime, it's easy to see all the areas where rust has taken hold. There's some serious damage to be sure. But, with body panels for the Bronco being so readily available, there's little doubt that we can make it whole once again. While it might have been nice to purchase a Dynacorn replacement body, they're not yet out of R&D and we're not likely to see them available until late fall at the earliest.

Have a look at the videos of the sodablasting and you'll see just how effective this process can be.

So, what do we do?

Well, Dynacorn is working on a replacement steel body shell for the 1966-1977 Broncos. As of early 2011, they claimed that the new body would be out of R&D by late spring of 2011 - and then the first 3 shells would go to Ford for evaluation and approval. Even if they're able to hold to that schedule and if we were somehow able to purchase their very first production shell (unlikely as they were very noncomittal), we'd be looking at late 2011 - at the earliest - before we could get our hands on a replacement shell.

Then there's the "Unassembled Body Tub Kit" from Jeff's Bronco Graveyard. They claim that the kit includes "all the pieces to make a full steel body tub".

Given that it could easily be a year or more before Dynacorn's replacement body is available for purchase, after lengthy discussions with Swamp Thing's owner, we opted for the body tub kit. The plan is to first mock-up the body kit on the frame (using new body mounts) using sheetmetal screws to hold everything together and see just how well everything lines up. We have diagrams with most (if not all) the key meausurements and we always have the original body tub still sitting on our rotisserie for reference. If everything lines up well, then we'll start welding the new body tub together. If the kit's pieces don't go together as well as we hope, then we'll look at replacing nearly everything on the original body in a step-by-step fashion. But, assembling a new body "should" take far less time than cutting and patching the original body. So, we're very hopeful that we'll be able to build a completely new body tub from this kit - giving Swamp Thing a fresh start.

Getting everything to fit and align properly was the greatest challenge. With the frame leveled, we had a solid refrence point. In order to keep us from forging ahead blindly, we first mocked-up the entire body using self-tapping sheetmetal screws. Once we got it assembled and square, we mounted the replacement hardtop our client had purchased to ensure we had everything aligned.

As you'll see in the slideshow, we first welded the front clip support assembly together and removed it from the frame. Next, the firewall assembly was welded together and removed. That left the two rear quarter panels (with the lower outer panels and corners to be welded during final assembly), followed by the rear floor pan (which got stiffeners after being removed) and finally the front floorpan subassembly.

Once all the subassemblies were ready, they were reassembled on the frame and welded together after quite a bit of final trimming and alignment.

Being a '77 model, Swamp Thing came equipped with gas filler cap doors. Since this was the only year that came with these doors, nobody makes a reproduction quarter panel with the door openings. So we had to graft in a pair of recessed door openings into the new panel. One of the openings in the original tub was rusted out, but we were fortunate enough to be able to have Bronco Hut cut the required section out of the quarter panel of one of their parts Broncos. The openings were lipped for a solid fit, then spot welded and then leaded to a smooth finish that will require only a minor amount of body filler.

The slideshow below also shows just how badly one of the Chinese rocker panels fit - and the one shown was actually the better of the two.

We also discovered that none of the tub kit parts (aside from the A & B pillars) included any of the caged nuts. So, we had to salvage what we could from the old body and fabricate what we couldn't. Mostly, these were all the mounting points for the tailgate and hardtop fasteners at the rear of the vehicle. But, we're also going to have to add some for seat mounts, seat belts and a few in the firewall.

The final result is one very well built Bronco body with nice door gaps (~3/16" all around) and even tailgate gaps (< 1/4"). Even the reproduction front fenders fit well (after some minor modification) and mate up nicely to the original front grill.

Altogether, when Swamp Thing is finished, the only original steel in the body will be the grill, hood, tailgate & hardtop. To our knowledge, nobody else has successfully completed one of these body tub kits. Would we do it all again? Sure!

When Rick Webster from 4X4Review Offroad Magazine originally built the roll cage for Swamp Thing, we knew that we'd wind up having to modify it a bit to account for the repairs we knew we'd have to do to the body tub. But, when we set it back in the new tub assembly, we were amazed at just how much adjusting we're going to have to do. It's a sure sign of just how far off the original body was. Rick promised to come back and make the final tweaks when we're done, so he'll be getting a call. Besides, we still owe him some final trim paint work on Project Buckshot.

All we're waiting on now is a visit from Swamp Thing's owner so that he can inspect our work and give us approval to move forward.