Ford Bronco "woody"

DickB

DickB

Member
I picked up this late 80s Marathon cart from a neighbor for next to nothing. It had this hideous "body" on it, but I had some ideas on that. The seller claimed it ran, but it had no batteries so no way to tell. I took him at his word. BTW carts are new to me.

before.jpg

First order of business was to strip off the body and remove some additional framework that had been added to support it.

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After that, I just wanted to see if it would run. The seller was not quite accurate in saying that it worked. The solenoid was bad and in fact the coil was not even wired. Battery cables were also missing. I jury rigged a test setup with a 12v battery and verified that the motor ran, on jack stands, forward and reverse.

Next was to refurbish the electrical system. It is a resistor cart. I may upgrade down the road, but for now I just wanted to get the thing running. I cleaned up and painted the resistor box and F/R switch, installed new batteries and all new cables and wiring. Cleaned up differential and checked oil. Added battery hold down clamps which were missing. New solenoid. I added a temporary floorboard, battery cover, and seats. At this point I had a running cart.

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DickB

DickB

Member
I drove the cart a bit and also gave the mechanicals a good inspection. The brakes were not great and the cables worn. The steering had a lot of play. Front shocks were missing and the rears looked like they were probably original. The front suspension had a 4" block-type lift kit on it. The aluminum frame was in good shape, but all of the steel parts were rusty.

I rebuilt the steering box with a new rack and boot. Replaced all of the ball joints. The brake shoes were badly worn with one broken, so new brake shoes and cables. I cleaned rust off of accelerator pedal, brake pedal, and linkages, and painted them. Kingpins worn, so new weldment and new spindle bushings. Removed rust from springs and painted them. Removed the lift kit. New shocks all around.

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S

Shootrig

Cartaholic - V.I.P.
Nice, you may be new to carts but you are moving along like a pro. What about that old body, it almost looks like it was built from wood from the pictures - is that the reason for the "woody" title?
 
DickB

DickB

Member
Yes, the "woody" part. Before I bought this cart, I had seen classic car body kits such as '57 Chevy and Ford Bronco. I considered going this way, but the body kits are a bit pricey. I am a woodworker, so I thought why not build a Bronco-like body? A true "woody". Been working on it for several weeks. I have nearly finished the front clip so far.

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I also did the floorboard and under-seat panel to hold the charging jack, so I can drive it as is.

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