A New Adventure Begins!

    Hop in and join me on this crazy ride as I restore my first generation Bronco. This Bronco was my Dad's, and was given to me following his passing in April of 2019. I proudly took possession of her on October 8, 2022. 

    I remember the day Dad brought this beauty home. I was pretty little but I fell in love with her that day. She was light green (think Forest Service Green) and looked so cool! I asked Dad if the Bronco could be my car when I was old enough. Looking back I don't remember his response at the time, but apparently, I'm finally old enough! Thanks Dad! I will forever cherish her and the memories we made that she was part of. I'm excited to get her back on the road and making new memories with my family.

    Not running, no battery, 4 flat tires, getting the Bronco out of Dad's garage to bring her home was a bit of a task in and of itself. To add to the challenge, the garage door had broken some time ago and would no longer open. Knowing the garage doors were soon to be replaced, we were given permission to use whatever means possible to remove the door. Some quick thinking, ingenuity, a grinder, and of course some muscle and we had the door out of our way! She was free from her home of over 20 years. We inflated the very worn tires in hopes they would hold air long enough to get her up on the car hauler. We held our collective breath and gave it a shot. Luckily they inflated but not knowing how long they'd hold we didn't waste any time getting her up on the car hauler. We winched her up, strapped her down and headed home.

Thank you Dan and Kim for your help and the use of your truck and trailer to get her home!

    Once we had her home, on the trailer in the driveway, the next challenge was how to get her off the trailer and into the garage. The final decision was that I'd climb in the driver seat to steer while the rest of the crew pushed us off the trailer. Easy peasy, just don't hit the tree! Once she was off the trailer, we pushed her into the garage. We then jacked her up and put her on 4 vehicle dollies so we can move her around in the garage more easily as we work to restore her.

Successful Maiden Voyage!!

Ziggy made her maiden voyage to our family reunion over the weekend. She towed like a dream. I was super proud as we pulled through a small town and were followed by a police car and didn't get pulled over. I figured that was the ultimate approval and meant that my tail lights were still working and hadn't wiggle loose in the 100 miles we'd driven! When we got to the campground I was quickly reminded why I had wanted a small trailer, she responds so well! She was super easy to swing right in exactly where I wanted her! My Dad greeted us with a trailer warming gift, a new outdoor rug. I'm glad we had chosen this weekend for our first trip out, having a lot of family around proved a smart choice as we did need a little assistance as we were setting up. First thing was that my extension cord didn't have the correct end so I borrowed an adapter and extension cord from my brother-in-law. Then when I hooked up my hose and turned on the campsite faucet, water sprayed everywhere. We unhooked and remembered that I had intended to replace the gasket that was crumbling. Since I had 2 fresh water hoses with us hubby took the gasket from one and put it in the trailers connection and voila, water worked perfect.

SHE'S READY!!

Last night we attached the window rock guard and put in the cushions. She is ready for the family reunion!! So much more than I could have ever imagined her.  I love how all of my ideas and visions came together for a super cute functional trailer. Yes, I have a couple more things to do to make her complete but she is functional and will head out on her maiden voyage this afternoon.

Deadline for road-readiness is tomorrow...

With the road-ready deadline being tomorrow I am proud to say that we ARE READY!!! We've made the deadline. We leave for the family reunion tomorrow afternoon. The only thing we'll be working on this evening is reattaching the rock/sun guard on the front window and putting in the cushions. Last night before I got home from work Chris and littlest took Ziggy for a quick test drive out to the highway and back to the house checking on the new tires, hubs, and exterior lights. Success!! When I got home littlest and I got the rest of the J-rail attached. This morning before work I pulled the making tape and plastic, installed interior light fixtures, and hung curtains (I had installed the rod brackets a couple days ago). We've been working so late into the evenings in 90+ heat I haven't been very good about taking pictures. Hubby took this one this morning.

 

Closing in on completion!

I am SOOOO excited!! This coming weekend is our family reunion and Ziggy will be ready. So many times I've said, "I hope to have Ziggy done for__________". Then watched as that date came and went and still she wasn't done. Pretty exciting to have her maiden voyage be to see people who have provided so much support and encouragement for this project. At this point we have only a short punch list.

 Before this weekend:

• Stove back splash
• Diamond Plate rock guard
• J- rail
• Door knob
• Curtains
• Touch-up paint
• Buff front

For final completion:

• Window rock guard
• Tape and paint inside of door

This past week has been a flurry of accomplishments. I put the hubs, with the new bearings and seals, back on. Littlest and hubby put on the new tires, Littlest installed knobs and hinges, Hubby and I installed all of the windows and the cargo door. Hubby helped me install all of the cupboard doors. I put the back bunk back in, We dry fit the diamond plate rock guard so it is ready for installation tonight.

Bearings

We chose to totally replace the bearings, races and seals. So I learned how to remove the old ones, seat the races and pack the bearings. That's a LOT of grease.

Progress, progress and more progress!!

Ziggy is finally painted inside! It was super hot over the weekend so painting her interior was grueling but it looks AMAZING! Thanks to hubby for his help and encouragement when I was in tears because I was having issues with the spray gun, it wasn't spraying right and was leaving huge runs everywhere. I thought I was going to have to go back and sand them down and start over. We finally decided to just roll it. That decision was made none too soon as we were able to roll out all of the runs and clean them up. I spent Sunday doing all of the corners and trim with a tiny roller and brush. It looks so crisp and clean!

Chris' accomplishment list might be a little longer than mine. Besides spending Saturday helping me paint the interior, on Sunday he used the grinder and cleaned up the back bumper then painted it, removed the wheels, pulled the bearings, masked the exterior furnace vent, and started wire brushing the under side for rust reformer. All while I worked on painting the interior, when I was done painting I worked some on the underside as well. I DO NOT like doing that, in fact it is probably my least favorite part of this restoration.

 

 

 

 

Today I will get the new bearings and spend the evening painting doors and drawers.

Doors and Drawers

Got a good layer of KILLZ on the doors and drawers!! 

This stuff is awesome, the entire trailer had an "old" smell to it when I first got it and the smell lingered even after I demoed and rebuilt much of the inside. I can say that having the windows out and coating the entire interior of the trailer with Killz has completely eliminated any old smells. Ziggy will have a "new trailer smell" when she's complete which makes me very happy!

Upholstery lady (Amie) came out and got the cushions over the weekend to get started on the covers for them!! I am super excited to see how they turn out!

I've also removed every bit of j rail and the awning rail to clean and straighten. I was going to leave the back-top and the awning rail but while I was buffing I realized that the old putty tape was getting pretty dry and chunks were missing. I now have a few more piece to take care of  but I'd rather remove, clean, straighten and replace with new putty tape and add a couple days work to the trailer than have a leak in old trim and have it ruin all my work on the inside. How depressing would that be?

I'll be working the next couple days on those extra couple pieces of trim and any other little things I can do in the evenings after work. Littlest has a basketball tournament over the weekend so I won't have time for working on the trailer. Hopefully I can have things buttoned up so I can pull Ziggy out of the garage and paint the interior next week.

July 2017

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. We certainly did! been pretty busy getting things done on Ziggy too! In the last couple weeks I've

• Finished up all of the trim/ moulding and caulked all of the seams.
• Dry fit the windows and trimmed the openings accordingly. 
• Cleaned all of the aluminum window trim. I hadn't realized how dirty it had gotten of the past few years sitting around in the garage waiting to be reinstalled. They are now ready to be installed once I get the interior painted.
• Cleaned and buffed most of the back of the trailer
• Started work on cleaning the j-rail. I had to clean off all of the old putty tape and remove all of the old nasty aluminum sealer that was slopped all over it. The only thing I've found to remove that crap is brake cleaner. Unfortunately that stuff is hard on the hands. I know this from when I cleaned all of the windows. I use brake cleaner to get off the old sealer then mag cleaner (also hard on the hands) for a nice shine. They are turning out pretty good for the shape they were in. I have most of them clean but it's been too hot lately to do too much in the garage so last night I set to straightening the cleaned pieces of j rail with vice grip clamps. They are really looking good now!

Waiting for the upholstery lady to have time to come out take measurements for the cushion covers before I paint. I don't want her to have to work around wet paint. Once she's comes out I'll get the interior painted and start getting things put back together. My to do list is dwindling!

Finish cleaning and straightening j-rail
Finish buffing exterior of trailer
Install J-rail
Clean and install cargo door
Clean and install lower rock guard
Paint interior
Install interior hardware
Install window trim
Install windows
Clean and install window rock guard
Install curtains
Pack bearings
New tires

Still June!

I finished installing the moulding/trim last night!! That feels great! Looks like I have another date with Alex to finish what I've installed since our last evening together.



Alex!! My hot date!!

Then I can move on to the next step which will be fitting windows so I know if any window openings need trimmed so I can get that done and I'll be ready for interior paint. I'll be pulling Ziggy out of the garage to do the painting in hopes to increase my ventilation AND decrease dry time. I'll start with spraying my cupboard doors and drawers to get the hang of my sprayer before I do the inside of the trailer.

June 2017

Been working whenever I can. I have almost all of the trim/ molding installed. I even caulked what is installed and it is looking awesome! I'll be picking up a couple more sticks of 1/4 round for the floor to wall transitions today and will be able to finish that very soon. Trying to keep a steady pace on progress, in hopes of being able to have Ziggy out on her maiden voyage for the family reunion the first weekend in August.

 

May 2017

The cushions are cut and a second layer of Kilz is on the walls and in the cupboards. I was originally going to go with a light tan on the walls to hide dirt but I really like the look of the white walls with the Kilz primer on them so I'm going to switch directions and go with a nice kitchen and bathroom paint to stand up to camping. Sticking with a plain white will also make maintenance work down the road easier if I need to buy a pint or so for touch ups.

Next few items on the to do list are

• covers for the cushions
• primering and installing trim
• trimming the window openings
• interior paint
• installing window trim
• buffing the exterior
• installing windows

April 2017

Finished up the curtains!! Absolutely loving them. They are perfect!! I really like how the dark blue across the top turned out.

In the house to show the full curtain on the rod

In the trailer to show color match in kitchenette

I've also been working on getting all of my knobs, hinges and corresponding screws painted silver. They look really good! I'm excited it is finally starting to warm up so I can spend time working in the garage.
 

Screws inserted partially into foamboard

gold knobs before paint

March 2017

Why is it that winters get away from me every year? I guess the "winter dull drums" aren't as dull as I think, especially having a daughter who loves basketball. Oh well, time spend with my hubby and little is never wasted time!

This has been a super long cold
winter including the new 6 inches that fell a week ago. We still have several feet on the ground making it difficult to work in the garage without my fingers going numb. I had fully intended to have Ziggy ready for camping Memorial day but it's not looking to promising...

While I had intended to have them done by now, I have at least made some decent progress on the curtains. I have 2 sets done! They are turning out perfectly what I imagined, I am very happy with my fabric choices! I spent a great deal of time designing them and creating a pattern to follow, which has been amazingly helpful.

November 2016

Little and I got a coat of Killz on the majority of the interior. We used an entire gallon but all we have left is the inside of the cupboards. I figure the Killz will help mitigate any potential mildew. It sure looks different with everything white. I am excited to get the actual painting done but it's getting too cold so that'll have to wait for Spring. In the meantime over the winter I can work on curtains.

October 2016

Wow is time flying. I work on Ziggy when I can but with kiddo in Volleyball and Basketball along with Girl Scouts and of course school and homework my time is stretched to the max.

Anyhow, I've finished up several loose ends:

• Attached the front piece on the shelf/bunk.
• Drilled the bunk ply and rails for eyebolts to hold the ply in place.
• Completed the paneling inside the street side dinette bench.
• Filled all screw holes around the windows and door with tooth picks and gorilla glue so that the new screws will have something to bite into. I had to laugh because once all of the holes were filled and I was waiting for the glue to dry it I thought it looked like some kind of weird fortress



 

• Installed the shelf below the front window, the l brackets I was using for bracing of the walls and other furniture were too big so I had to get different ones. I still have to secure the shelf with those but it's cut and ready. I did get a better quality wood for that shelf since it won't be painted, I'll polyurethane it instead. I think it will look neat with my butcher block style table top that will sit just below it.

 

I mentioned back in September that I had decided to forgo replacing the street side bench back cupboard and to build a removable cupboard. Well that plan has changed, at least for the time being. I was at my favorite wine and beer store and noticed that a lot of their decorating was done with the wooden shipping boxes for wine. I asked the owner if he ever had any of the wooden boxes that he would part with. He asked what I was wanting them for and I told him that I was upcycling a vintage trailer and that I thought they would work quite well on the shelf to hold camping gear. He thought it was such a cool idea he looked around to see what he had. He had 2 quite large ones that he said he gave me for free!! I was ecstatic!! I went home that night and set them on the shelf and they looked so cool. Then it hit me, these are just about as deep as the space I need to fill up front. I set them on end with the opening against the wall and sure enough they are gonna work slick. The only thing was that 2 didn't fill the entire width, I was going to need exactly one more. So back to the store (Of course I bought beer each time I went!) and asked if they had just one more box. He had one and was happy to give it up to such a great cause. These boxes will work at least temporarily so I can focus on other things to get Ziggy camping ready. I'm thinking they'll be perfect for the bedding for the dinette bed and when it is a bed they will slide under the table nicely.

 

 

Been working hard!

Over the past couple weeks I've gotten quite a bit done on Ziggy.

I started the work on the back bunk. My screws to attached the front piece were too long. Thank GOD I double checked before I used them. Any kiddo sleeping up there would have hated me FOREVER... I picked up good ones yesterday and look forward to finishing out the bunk the next time I get to work on her. Originally the back bunk was awkward and unusable when not folded down for sleeping. Since it will only rarely be used for sleeping I have built it much like the gaucho. It will be an open shelf when not being used for sleeping or the front piece will pull forward and another piece of ply wood will fall in behind to create a 32 inch wide bunk.  Just need to attach the front piece that will keep things on the bunk and shelf! Don't want any little bodies falling off!!

 

During my research and decision making process I found this roll-up guest bed. It cost half what it would have cost to get 2" foam to fit the bink. I ordered and received it this week. (It will be great to have around the house for kiddo's friends too.)

I made the bunk to fit the width and realized in the process that when folded up as a shelf my aluminum gun case will fit perfectly! Priorities...

Last night I also finished reinstalling and securing the front upper cabinets. They are super solid and ready for lots of fun camping gear!

 

Once those were in place I worked a little on finishing the paneling on the inside of the street side bench seat. One more piece and that will be done.

I also picked up a tension curtain rod to place in front of the back bed to create a bit of a privacy screen. Brown chicken, brown cow....

Dinette

I got my bench lids sanded and placed and built the new framework for the back part of the street-side bench where the small cabinet used to be. I finally decided to go ahead and forgo reinstalling that cabinet so that when the dinette is folded down as a bed it will actually be a full-length bed rather than about 4 inches short. I will be building a removable cabinet that will act as a spacer so the back cushion will fit in the proper position when set up as a table and benches.

Newport, WA Vintage trailer rally

So hubby, little and I were on our way home from a day trip to Metaline Falls to ride the Ione train when we saw signs for a Trailer rally. I talked them into letting me drive the outskirts of the park to peak at the trailers. OMG was it exciting to see other trailers in really life. All I usually get to see are pictures online. We weren't even up close but man was it fun! I think it even got the 2 of them excited for what I'm up to in our garage! It really adds to the motivation to get Ziggy done!

Gaucho Complete!!

Super excited about how well my gaucho turned out! I had been thinking a lot about how I would create the front lip so that it would have a finished look rather than just using a plain 1x2 or 1x4. I was laying in bed a few nights ago and had an epiphany. I had kept the original pieces for reference so why not use the original front lip? If I could pull it off the original sliding piece without destroying it I could save wood, time and money and have a nice finished look.

Sunday I started by trimming down the cross pieces that I had cut 1/8" too long the prior weekend then attached them to the back of the sliding plywood. Next I pulled apart the original sliding piece to see if I would be able to salvage that front lip. Since a PO had attempted to strengthen the supports with several nails it took a little longer but I was able to get it taken apart. I sanded off the old glue and smoothed out some nicks and scratches then attached it to the ply using a few "L" brackets for added strength and support. I sanded the rough spots of the ply and set it in place. I also cut and sanded the piece that drops in behind when the sliding piece is pulled forward. I drilled 2 holes and inserted a strip of mule tape to use as a handle to lift it when pushing the sliding piece back. The gaucho is now complete and looks great!!



Building sliding piece

Gaucho finished

We have a place to sleep !

Fit test!!