Well, it finally happened....

PeteSC

Registered User
After six years of driving my SC, the headgaskets finally blew a couple nights ago leaving me on the side of the highway. I had it towed to the mechanic and he said that it wouldn't be worth it to fix the car. I plan on towing it home and putting it in my garage so I can slowly tear the car apart and hopefully fix it myself, but in the meantime, I need a new car.

I would like to get something to get me through these tough New England winters, so when I get my car fixed I can just put it in the garage for the winter. I thought this old Bronco was cool, but I didn't know how practical it would be for a daily driver. I figured you guys could give me some good advice.

1969 Ford Bronco

Thanks for the help.
Pete
 
That is too bad.

I am not sure why a set of blown headgaskets means you have to scrap the car?

That would mean that almost every person in this club and on thsese forums should have their car(s) in a junk yard.

-Steve
 
I would go with a Late model Jeep Grand Cherokee or Cherokee(if you wanted a 5-speed). You can pick up the 98-2001 pretty cheap. You could also try to find one with the 4.0 straight 6 instead of the v-8, it will last forever. :)
 
Whats up PeteSC i live 15 minutes away in Pembroke. I drive through Brockton every day to go to school in Canton. Yah you definately need a good snow car cause Brockton thinks they don't need to plow their streets when it snows out. Anyways good luck with your car and hopefully i'll see you out driving it soon.

Rick,
90 SC 5-speed
 
I don't think that Bronco would be what you need right now. I used to have one and you would love it, but that's overpriced and you would be trashing it driving it in the salt.
The jeep idea wouldn't be bad.
An early 90's Bronco would be a good choice too. You should be able to get one in real nice shape for 4-5,000 no problem. I think you would like it better than the jeep, probably not as good of mpg, but those jeeps won't get better than 17-18mpg driving around town.

Kurt
 
I average 10-15 in town if there are a lot of lights. 15-17 if there are little lights. 21-24 on the highway.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll look into the Jeep Cherokee and 90s Bronco.

And my mechanic is far from a jackass, Jason. The headgaskets weren't the only problem with my car. My transmission is crap and there are so many other things wrong with my 1992 with 200,000+ miles that I knew it wouldn't be worth it to fix it right now. It would have been fine if I had a nice SC with no problems and the headgaskets just blew, but I did my best to maintain that car and everything kept going wrong. When the cost to repair everything is well over the value of the car, I think my mechanic was right to suggest finding something new.

Anyway, this is getting away from the subject of my post. Any other opinions on the Bronco??
 
Looks a little too nice to put through the harsh winters. And the price seems high althogh it looks like it is in nice shape. I guess it is just up to you. It would be easy to work on though and parts would be cheap if you can find them.
 
PeteSC said:
.. there are so many other things wrong with my 1992 with 200,000+ miles that I knew it wouldn't be worth it to fix it right now.
Can't dissagree with the economic analysis. 200K is a lot of miles even on a well maintained car.. such as mine for example. Mine should make it to 200 in good shape, but if I hadn't kept it up and found SCCOA advice, I would probably have sold it already. But if it were just HGs, thats a relatively easy job to do. Well, relative is a relative term. When people say "Easy", what it means is they know what not to do if they ever had to do it again. ;) ;)
 
For that price I think it should be flawless. If you care about originality, most of the options listed weren't available in 69'. The auto is a highly desired addition even though it is not original. The dual tanks are essential if you want to go further than 150 miles. I loved my 70' but I wouldn't pay more than 5 or 6 grand for one of these.

Kurt
 
Looks good. The only thing here is your personal preference and if u can afford it (for payment and gas). But that goes for any car. Its raised so u could go off-roading a bit too ;)
 
the jeep thing would have been good up untill chrysler got involved. my wife has a 99 cherokee sport i think it is a piece crap. the tilt wheel dosn't tilt enough, the right parts are tough to get. if your big like me (6 feet 245lbs) it is kinda cramped. we had an 85 and it was much better all around. we will never own another.
 
That is an awesome Bronco, that's for sure. I wouldn't pay that much for it though. That doesn't mean it's not worth it, but I wouldn't give up 12 G's for a Bronco. Wouldn't buy a Jeep that Chrysler was involved with either. The older Jeeps are cool as hell, there is one around town here with a 5.0 engine in it. Anyway, I would try and find a newer Bronco II, they're not to bad, decent gas mileage, and you can buy them cheap!:D
 
I just noticed your Jeep has Camel interior 1BADSC. Is it similar to cow leather or more bumpy. How many camel's does it take to do a Jeep interior?:D
 
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