Half-cabs · Wagons · Uncut originals · Tasteful restomods.
The early Bronco went from ranch tool to six-figure collectible in a single decade — and the restoration standards rose with the prices. We restore 1966–77 Broncos with truck-grade metal honesty and collector-grade correctness, whichever direction the build takes.
Here's the early Bronco's defining fact in 2026: uncut, original-fender trucks are nearly extinct. Fifty years of tire-clearance surgery took the rear quarters off most of them, and the market now pays an enormous premium for the survivors. So our first conviction on this platform is a warning we deliver personally: if your Bronco is uncut, think very hard before anyone — including us — modifies it. That sheet metal is appreciating faster than almost any modification could.
Our second conviction: Broncos are trucks, and they rot like trucks. The body tub collects water in the same six places on every single one — floors, rockers, inner fenders, tailgate — and half the "restored" Broncos trading hands ride on tubs full of mat and filler. Every Bronco build here starts at the metal bench, with the tub stripped and told the truth about, because at today's Bronco money, hidden rot is a six-figure lie.
The purest trucks: 170 sixes and early 289s, optional half-cab and roadster configurations (roadsters are unicorns now), and details — like the '66-only items — that reward year-specific knowledge. U13 roadster verification matters enormously here.
302 power arrives, refinements accumulate, and the trucks hit their stride. The sweet spot of parts support and drivability — and the years most often wearing decades of trail modifications that need honest evaluation.
Power steering, automatic options, and the '76–'77 trucks with factory front discs — the most usable early Broncos and the market's favorites. Last-year '77s trade at the top of the range; verify accordingly.
Every full build here is frame-off by definition — the tub lifts off the frame easily, and both get restored as separate components. Tub metal runs through our rust repair and fabrication bench: floors, rockers, inner fenders, and quarters, with complete reproduction tubs available when originals are too far gone (a conversation we have honestly, because originality carries value). Frames get blasted, repaired at the C-channel weak points, and coated for another fifty years.
Drivetrains stay in the Ford family through our engine and drivetrain program — 170 and 200 sixes preserved, 289s and 302s rebuilt sweet, Dana 20 transfer cases and 9-inch rears done to spec. Chassis work matters more on Broncos than almost anything we build: these trucks left the factory with quick rot-prone steering and drum brakes, and our brake and suspension program sets them up to drive as good as they look — track bar, C-bushings, and steering geometry sorted so the truck goes straight down I-10, which stock ones never quite did.
Floors, rockers, inner fenders, tailgate, kick panels, and the windshield frame — every Bronco, every time, worse than the photos. All reproduced, all weldable, all priced honestly at bare metal.
Hacked fenders, torched spring hangers, homemade crossmembers, and lift kits stacked on worn parts. We evaluate what's reversible and what the truck's value story wants reversed.
Worn C-bushings, loose track bars, tired steering boxes, and unbalanced 33s — the front-end shimmy that scares owners off driving their trucks. Methodical chassis renewal cures it completely.
Half-cab conversions posing as originals, swapped drivetrains, VIN questions on trucks that lived hard. We verify what's factory before restoration money commits to a story.
Texas Broncos worked — deer leases, beach runs, ranch duty from Richmond to Tomball — and Gulf humidity finished what the work started. Open-top trucks caught rain that pooled in floor ribs; beach trucks from the Galveston side carry salt in every seam; and barn-stored examples rusted from condensation anyway, because our air does that. It's why the local supply of honest tubs is thin, and why our assessment strips to bare metal before anyone talks numbers.
The climate also makes the usability argument: an early Bronco with sorted cooling, ethanol-tolerant fuel systems, front discs, and optional A/C becomes the rare classic that works as a genuine Texas summer vehicle — top off in October, cold air in July, bay fishing trips year-round. That's the spec most of our Bronco clients actually want, and we build it while protecting the sheet-metal originality the market pays for. Every decision gets documented through our build process, because at Bronco values, the record is part of the truck.
Original restoration: for uncut, documented trucks — factory-correct drivetrains, correct colors (the period palette is glorious), and preservation of every original panel. These are the Broncos setting auction records, and originality is the entire reason.
Restomod: the early Bronco may be the single best restomod platform in existence, and our restomod program builds them accordingly — Coyote power, overdrive, four-wheel discs, modern steering — integrated so the truck still reads 1972 at thirty feet. Already-cut trucks are perfect candidates; the fender surgery is done, so the value argument for restraint is gone.
Budget honesty matters at Bronco prices — the numbers work differently than muscle cars, and we walk through them the same way we do in what a frame-off restoration actually costs. Ford truck logic shared with our F-100 program keeps both paths grounded in what these vehicles actually are: trucks, restored truthfully.
Cut or uncut, matching or swapped — the truck's value story gets established first.
Bare-metal honesty on the six rot zones — the real budget appears here.
Concours-original, usable classic, or full restomod — matched to the truck and the mission.
Tub and frame separately, drivetrain and chassis as systems, paint in the glorious period colors.
Sorted on-road and off, documented nose to tailgate — ready for the lease or the auction block.
Scarcity meets nostalgia meets usability: production was modest, attrition was brutal, and the truck is charming, simple, and genuinely usable. The new Bronco's launch poured fuel on it. For owners, the practical takeaway is that restoration quality now moves value by six figures on the best trucks.
Some ceiling, yes — uncut originals own the top of the market — but cut trucks make the best guilt-free restomods, and a well-built one still brings strong money. Quarters can also be restored to uncut profile with new steel when the truck's story warrants it. We'll price both paths.
Completely — it's not a Bronco personality trait, it's worn parts in a known list: C-bushings, track bar, steering box, and tire balance. Methodical renewal ends it. Trucks leave here driving straight at 70, which surprises every long-time Bronco owner the first time.
Uncut and documented: keep it original — the market is emphatic. Cut driver trucks: the Coyote package is spectacular and we build it clean. In between sits the injected-302 middle path that keeps the character with modern manners. The truck's originality decides more than preference does.
Typically 12 to 16 months for a full build — the small body works in our favor, the universal tub rot works against it. Complete-tub replacements and concours documentation hunts extend the range; the bare-metal assessment sets it honestly.
Broncos reach us from ranch country and beach towns alike — barn finds, lease trucks, and the occasional uncut miracle. Bring photos of the floors and we'll tell you what you've got.
Uncut or cut, running or rolling — send photos and the story. We'll tell you what the market says, what the metal says, and what we'd do if it were ours.
(713) 555-0180