Carpokes Porsche Forum

Arne, here's a newish listing at Hagerty for a 1969 Bronco. No reserve. It's at $30,500 bid with 2-days left.

I didn't look at any of the features, conditions, descriptions, etc. Just saw it and thought I'd post it for you as another comparison to follow.

https://www.hagerty.com/marketplace/auc ... d568259d8a

blueline wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 10:16 am Arne, here's a newish listing at Hagerty for a 1969 Bronco. No reserve. It's at $30,500 bid with 2-days left.

I didn't look at any of the features, conditions, descriptions, etc. Just saw it and thought I'd post it for you as another comparison to follow.

I looked at Hagerty's completed auctions, and my initial impression is that Hagerty does not have enough (or the right) audience for selling Broncos. Quite a few RNM, and most that do sell seem well below what I'm seeing on BaT and elsewhere. Might be an OK place to BUY a Bronco, but doesn't appear to be the right place to SELL one.

Arne2 wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 9:45 am

blueline wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 10:16 am Arne, here's a newish listing at Hagerty for a 1969 Bronco. No reserve. It's at $30,500 bid with 2-days left.

I didn't look at any of the features, conditions, descriptions, etc. Just saw it and thought I'd post it for you as another comparison to follow.

I looked at Hagerty's completed auctions, and my initial impression is that Hagerty does not have enough (or the right) audience for selling Broncos. Quite a few RNM, and most that do sell seem well below what I'm seeing on BaT and elsewhere. Might be an OK place to BUY a Bronco, but doesn't appear to be the right place to SELL one.

Makes sense. It seems they have a really wide set of offerings from the very desirable down to "who would want to buy this?" kind of vehicles. My guess is that they are in a growing phase as they try to ramp up business. No idea how it will turn out in the end but there have been what appear to be some successful sales for both sides of the coin. They bought Broad Arrow Auctions to create and/or grow the business.

My post was mainly to show another Bronco of that gen that was for sale. I'll follow the sale as I'm curious what the final price will be.

More progress. Rebuilt and installed both the gas pedal and the main pedal box. The throttle and clutch both work great. Also fitted the left fender. Fit up really nicely, great door gaps all around.

I also picked up a lightly used power brake conversion, a pair of stock exhaust manifolds, and a dual exhaust kit.

And that's when I got derailed by one thing leading to another.

I started looking at installing the brake booster rather than hooking up the seized original master. Setting it in place for mock up made it obvious that if I mounted the brake parts now, I'd just need to pull it back off to get the mis-matched header off the driver's side.

So I decided to at least swap the left side header for the cast manifold, and move then back to the brakes so that I can move the Bronco, as I'll need to turn it around to have room to fit the right fender and door.

Got the header out and the manifold on, so I went back to the brakes. Quickly found that pretty much every flare nut fitting I touched is seized, and I'll need to cut them to remove. This is not a horrible deal, as I planned to replace all the hard lines later anyway, but I wasn't planning to do it now, but later when I do the front disc conversion. Oh well, ordered the lines and center hoses today.

While I wait for the new brake lines, I went back to the exhaust replacement. Got both cast manifolds on, the old exhaust removed, and have begun mocking up the new duals. So glad to have the old stuff off. Really poorly jury-rigged set up, and way wrong choices. Who would have decided that headers into a full 3" pair of duals was a good idea for a stock 302 2BBL? And who tries to cram dual 3" piping under an early Bronco? Major mess, but now gone. The new exhaust system is looking quite nice so far, especially in comparison.

Current bid on this one is $130k.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-ford-bronco-181/

Tom wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 7:35 pm Current bid on this one is $130k.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-ford-bronco-181/

Note that it was bid to $164k and still didn't meet reserve. That's a super high-end Coyote powered build with a new aftermarket frame and body. Essentially it's brand new from the ground up. I suspect the only original parts retained are the axle housings. Typical new builds from that company are ~$225-250k. Not surprised it didn't meet reserve.

The market for those builds is danged small, and most who want something like that will want to commission one built to spec. I doubt mine will pull a quarter of that amount, but it will sell. Lots more market for my kind of build.

Arne2 wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 2:06 pm

Tom wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 7:35 pm Current bid on this one is $130k.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-ford-bronco-181/

Note that it was bid to $164k and still didn't meet reserve. That's a super high-end Coyote powered build with a new aftermarket frame and body. Essentially it's brand new from the ground up. I suspect the only original parts retained are the axle housings. Typical new builds from that company are ~$225-250k. Not surprised it didn't meet reserve.

The market for those build is danged small, and most who want something like that will want to commission one built to spec. I doubt mine will pull a quarter of that amount, but it will sell. Lots more market for my kind of build.

$225-250k? So kind of the Singer of old Broncos I guess. My good friend had a '74 back in the day -- and it was cool, but not sure it was a quarter million dollars worth of cool. Totally agree with your build philosophy...

Tom wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 6:22 pm So kind of the Singer of old Broncos I guess.

Yeah, pretty much. There's a small handful of companies doing these high-dollar Bronco builds, including one who does both Broncos and FJ40 Land Cruisers. Strictly status symbols. Most never see dirt.

I'm doing what some call a "hunting-fishing-camping" build. Nice to look at, still OK for mild off-pavement use. The other extreme is rock-crawlers, but that's way too specialized and compromised for street use for my taste.

No picture today, not much has changed visually. I made a parts run to the coast last week. Picked up a bunch of parts for both sooner and later in the project. Notably a nice pair of bucket seats to be re-foamed and recovered later, a pair of taller front springs, and an adjustable front track bar. I installed one of the taller front springs as a test, they appear to be around 2½" to 3" lift, and look like they will be a better match with the (apparently) 3" or so rear springs. Should sit much closer to level when they are both installed.

After the brake hard lines and hoses arrived, I returned to working on the brakes. The booster and master are now in place, and the prop valve, hard lines and center hoses also. New rear brakes are going on this weekend—drums, shoes, cylinders, springs and adjusters. Once these are done I'll bleed the system and turn it around so I can do the other front spring and then fit the second door and fender. So far, so good.

Brakes are now mostly wrapped up. No p-brake cables yet (on the way), and not doing anything up front until I do the disc conversion, but not in a hurry on that.

Installed the second front spring, I'm now going to call it about 3" to 3½" suspension lift on both ends. Then adjusted and installed the new track bar. Got the axle centered to the frame within about ⅛". Looks like the uncut fender clearance will be fine with the 7" wide wheels and 31x10.50 tires. New shocks will arrive soon.

Hung the right door and fender, and then the grill. Fit seems reasonable so far, other than the bottom front of the 2 fenders tucking a bit sharper underneath. Will need some massaging to make them match the grill.

Gathering info and testing parts in preparation for the complete rewiring of the truck. A few more parts (mostly replacement switches) are also on the way.