The Ford Bronco is hot right now with the Dearborn automaker preparing to bring back the popular nameplate. While fans hold tempered expectations, the new model will live up to the ruggedness of the original, restomoded and restored examples of previous Bronco models are making a fierce comeback. Take this 1973 Ford Bronco restomod from Velocity Restorations – it’s immaculate. And it should look like that considering the time spent restoring and improving this 1973 example.
Velocity Restorations took its time with the restoration, spending 1,500 hours restoring the SUV over a nine-month period. The painstaking care directed toward making sure everything was right is astounding.
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“I’ve seen many restomodded Broncos built in 90 days or less and I could never understand how they are completed so quickly until I saw them up close,” says Brandon Segers, Co-Owner of Velocity Restorations. “To build a truly complete restomodded vehicle, you need to put an intense amount of work and man hours into it. There are no shortcuts in this industry.”
The team spent 300 hours on rust repair and metal fabrication, tearing down the vehicle to the chassis and fixing any blemishes – rust or metal work. Once that is finished, the next step is panel alignment and fitment followed by a doing a mock-up before final assembly. But 300 hours is just the start. Once everything is fixed, the team moves onto paint and body where the bodywork is blocked and sanded by hand. This takes 550 hours.
The longest phase of the project is putting it all back together – the suspension, chassis, and drivetrain – a Ford Racing 5.0-liter V8 – are installed. Then the interior is installed, including electric wiring, gauges, and upholstery. The roll bar and exhaust system follow followed by a mechanical inspection, tuning, and break-in period before final prep and delivery.
But the customer gets more than just a finished product. Every week, customs receive build sheets – noted the hours worked and parts used – and photos – up to 600 once the build is finished – as the project progresses. That’s an insane level of customer service. You can have your own1973 Ford Bronco restomod for just $229,000. That sounds like a steal once you know what goes into the project.
Source: Velocity Restorations
Gallery: 1973 Ford Bronco Restomod By Velocity Restorations
THE 1,500 HOUR 1973 FORD BRONCO BUILT BY VELOCITY RESTORATIONS
Pensacola, FL (September 2018) — The 4x4 restoration experts, Velocity Restorations, have built a flawless 1973 Ford Bronco. What makes it flawless? 1,500 hours of painstakingly detailed restomod ingenuity over a period of nine months.
This particular Bronco has undergone a complete frame-off restoration with a four-phase restomod process that includes Planning and Design, Rust Repair and Metal Fabrication, Paint and Body, and Mechanical, each performed by trained specialists who focus solely on their area of expertise.
“I’ve seen many restomodded Broncos built in 90 days or less and I could never understand how they are completed so quickly until I saw them up close,” said Brandon Segers, Co-Owner of Velocity Restorations. “To build a truly complete restomodded vehicle, you need to put an intense amount of work and man hours into it. There are no shortcuts in this industry.”
The Velocity Restorations 1973 Ford Bronco includes:
Drive Train:
- Ford Racing 5.0 Coyote Engine
- Velocity Exclusive Serpentine System
- 4R70 4-Speed Transmission
- Custom 3” 2 into 1 exhaust
Exterior:
- Custom Bumpers
- Custom PPG Paint
- JW Speaker LED Headlights
- New Accessories throughout
- All New Glass
Interior:
- Custom Dash w/ Dakota Digital Gauges
- Single din blue tooth stereo system
- Vintage Air heating and cooling system
- Custom hand stitched brown interior
- Custom hand-built 6-point Roll Bar with LED lighting
Chassis:
- Dana 44 front axle
- 9” Rear Axle
- 3.5” Suspension lift
- Wilwood 4-wheel Disc Brakes w/ Hydroboost
- Custom Stainless Steel Fuel Tank
- Pacer Wheels
- Front/Rear Sway Bars
- Powder Coated Chassis
Velocity Restorations specializes in frame off modified restorations for modern driving, comfort and reliability. With meticulous attention to detail, every piece of the truck was restored, resulting in a rugged Bronco that is comfortable, reliable and eye-catching from every angle.
Price: $229,000
Phase 1: Planning and Design (Hours are not billed or tracked during this phase)
In this initial phase, we meet with the customer and layout their exact needs and expectations. We have a 6-page detailed build sheet that we provide each customer. This detailed sheet allows the customer to pick over the hundreds of available options we offer. During this phase we provide our customers with custom renderings of their future build according to their build sheet, for visual comparison. We can edit and make changes, accordingly. We also look at sourcing the vehicle. This process consists of deciding whether to find a donor vehicle, using an unaltered vehicle we have in stock, or restomodding a customer provided vehicle. While we don’t track or bill the hours in this initial phase, we are probably looking at a good 40 or 50 hours.
Phase 2: Rust Repair and Metal Fabrication: 300hrs
This is where the real nuts and bolts—see what I did there—start to happen. We begin with disassembly and by disassembly we mean a tear down of the entire vehicle. After the frame is removed we media blast to reveal the body and chassis problems, which are corrected after discovery. Next comes the epoxy prime, followed by metal work to repair rust. The next step is panel alignment and fitment, making sure all the pieces line up and fit together. Next, we do bumper mockup and roll cage fabrication. Then we do a complete mock up and fit check in preparation for final assembly. The last part of this phase is the chassis modifications we make for the new drive train we will include.
Phase 3: Paint and Body: 550hrs
After the body has been disassembled and repaired we move onto the paint and body work. All body work is blocked and sanded by hand. In our shop we mean by hand. Absolutely no electric or air dual action sanders are ever used in our process. And because we do everything by hand, our technicians wear gloves 100 percent of the time throughout the body work and paint process. The project vehicle’s final prep and paint is done in our climate-controlled paint booth. We hand wet sand, buff and polish each painted panel. After the painting is complete body and panels are assembled and installed.
Phase 4: Mechanical: 600hrs
Once all the prep work and body work have been complete, we move onto the Mechanical phase. In this phase the chassis, suspension, and drivetrain are assembled and installed. This stage also consists of the Final Body assembly to chassis. After that, all electrical and gauges installed, the final engine bay assembly is complete and the interior upholstery is installed. Next we install the roll bar and exhaust system. We finish this phase with a mechanical inspection, tuning, and break in. All of our builds are quality checked multiple times and road tested for 400-500 miles to ensure flawless operation upon delivery to the customer.
Final preparation for delivery
Once a vehicle has been disassembled, rebuilt and tested, we prepare the vehicle for final delivery. This process includes a professional photo shoot of the completed vehicle, lining up a shipping company and shipment for the customer to receive their build, and if the customer is not local, we create a walk-around video of the final build explaining how to operate each part.
None of our work occurs in a vacuum. We take photos of the vehicle during each step in the process—on average each build produces at least 600 photos. We also complete weekly build spread sheets that outline hours worked and parts used on a particular vehicle. The photos and the weekly sheets are shared with customers in real time during the entire process. In fact, we share photos of the customer’s build twice a week via email link. We do this to provide our customers with peace of mind. We never take money and promise that the build is being complete. We show them their vehicle every step of the way. When the build is complete, there are no surprises. We strive for, and achieve, 100 percent customer satisfaction because of our process.