Project O'Bronco

[Glamdring70]

EASIEST MOD EVER:

For some reason the keyhole really bugs me. I've been thinking about what sort of firewall grommet or plug can go there. All the stuff on Big Rainforest is bulk packs and over my budget. But I found stuff like this:
https://www.amazon.com/0-625-Button-Plugs-Flush-Type-Heads/dp/B07HLMF9F1
https://www.amazon.com/OGC-10-Pack-Plastic-Finishing/dp/B07HJ3FZRF

I took the time to dig through the hardware bins at Ace and busted out a few Washingtons to take home several possibilities including a nylon plug and a metal faucet insert. 5/8" is the size range. I trimmed some of the extra splines off the nylon foot and put it there. You can pop it out by pushing from behind. I plan to prime the metal button and hit it with touch up paint. I will detail that when the paint gets here. Black alone is an improvement.

Ignore the weird color, as always the camera goes crazy under the fluorescent on this color.

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[ScareCrow]

EASIEST MOD EVER:

For some reason the keyhole really bugs me. I've been thinking about what sort of firewall grommet or plug can go there. All the stuff on Big Rainforest is bulk packs and over my budget. But I found stuff like this:
https://www.amazon.com/0-625-Button-Plugs-Flush-Type-Heads/dp/B07HLMF9F1
https://www.amazon.com/OGC-10-Pack-Plastic-Finishing/dp/B07HJ3FZRF

I took the time to dig through the hardware bins at Ace and busted out a few Washingtons to take home several possibilities including a nylon plug and a metal faucet insert. 5/8" is the size range. I trimmed some of the extra splines off the nylon foot and put it there. You can pop it out by pushing from behind. I plan to prime the metal button and hit it with touch up paint. I will detail that when the paint gets here. Black alone is an improvement.

Ignore the weird color, as always the camera goes crazy under the fluorescent on this color.

Now that is a cool little mod! Really dresses up that ugly little keyhole.

Also, is that paint run on the top of the handle or just some water?

 

[a33maxi]

Now that is a cool little mod! Really dresses up that ugly little keyhole.

Also, is that paint run on the top of the handle or just some water?

Those are meant to be there, it's where you touch to lock the doors.

 

[ScareCrow]

Those are meant to be there, it's where you touch to lock the doors.

My bad, forgot about those things. They don't work in the rain on my EcoSport, any better on the BS?

 

[a33maxi]

My bad, forgot about those things. They don't work in the rain on my EcoSport, any better on the BS?

They work fine in the rain for me, but my door handles are flat plastic, not painted like on the higher trims. I'm not sure if that makes any difference.

 

[JP25]

Mine are painted body color and work fine in the rain

 

[13MikeH]

Well, I'm not a paint expert, but I'd wager that the A51 is totally different from the tri-stage orange and it gets painted differently somehow. Or maybe it was built on a Friday! How can I find those details out?
Perhaps a picture can tell more than words. What would you think if a new car was painted like this? See the green arrow areas? That isn't a trick of light and shadow; that's how the body is painted.

On the contrary, I very much like the car and I like driving it. Nothing I was critical of is on a "show surface", and it should in no way affect performance, but I very much think it reflects poor workmanship and if/when Ford sends me a feedback survey I think they should improve on those points. You can be both pleased and critical of something, like with a marriage.

appears to be quite standard across all lines and models
Motortrend taking apart a bronco

Sidenote, I had a tricolor red pearl, my son has a tricolor red pearl coat dodge...in those same areas there is no pearl coat or clearcoat. Just a rust coat of primer and base coat of color paint. While not appealing...it does what it's supposed to do in an out of eye sight area.

I do like the tree line on the lower rocker/door area that dresses it up pretty nicely. The squatch is a nice touch and seems to be a trending item in the bronco line.

 

[Glamdring70]

Today was a simple change, but a real PITA to apply this. I created a template to go around the console cupholders which took 2 or 3 tries to get right. Then putting it on flat was a bit of a challenge.

The shifter and terrain buttons visually have a blackened area around them while the cupholders were just cup holes and no surround. This vinyl facade brought back that missing surround.

 

[max the dog]

Today I added to the rear. If you have access to a vinyl cutter or a home Silhouette or Cricut craft vinyl machine you can produce a variety of stuff for next to nothing but time. Aficionados will see that the Badlands badge is not a 100% reproduction of a Ford badge/sticker. But the "correct" Ford one at $45 is just more than I want to spend so this is a $1 knockoff creation made at home. I like the better balance with more badging, and the price is right to peel it up and do it over again to make a change. Perhaps making the Bronco horse a carbon grey instead of black.

I am still mulling over the lettering. I don't want the white letters. The options are to paint them or vinyl cover them. Again I am weighing a carbon black color (like the grill) vs. a gloss or matte black. I am also thinking about just coving the faces and leaving the white edges so it's more like the factory Badlands badging.

I'm still messing with the vinyl options and did this as another test idea. I like the life the outline gives to it and I think I am going to shop for some material that is closer to the wheels than the solid color.

Had the dealer remove my BL stickers. Sticky taped a 1988 Bronco II horse to my fender.

 

[Reklussloth]

Wnjoying this... little motivated to start one lol - you guys doing your own /custom designs on vinyl - im thinking id like something similar... but with a ufo involved.

 

[Glamdring70]

Wnjoying this... little motivated to start one lol - you guys doing your own /custom designs on vinyl - im thinking id like something similar... but with a ufo involved.

I spotted this on the Bronco Sport FB group. Not mine.

 

[Reklussloth]

I spotted this on the Bronco Sport FB group. Not mine.

Hahhaa yea! Something along those lines... i was imaging it beaming up a little bronco but that one is pretty cool

 

[Glamdring70]

I noticed the front doors have a red reflector to help people not take the door off at night. I got some reflective vinyl and cut more Bronco logos out to supplement the red ones and do all 4 doors. I am a tad disappointed in the reflectance of the material, but it can't hurt, right? Anyways, it was only $4... I compare it to the renewal tags on the plates. It shines about like that. Hard as heck to photograph it too.

FWIW, I think Ford should have gone ahead and put a light behind the red reflector. Someday I might dare to disassemble a door and see about that.

 

[13MikeH]

I noticed the front doors have a red reflector to help people not take the door off at night. I got some reflective vinyl and cut more Bronco logos out to supplement the red ones and do all 4 doors. I am a tad disappointed in the reflectance of the material, but it can't hurt, right? Anyways, it was only $4... I compare it to the renewal tags on the plates. It shines about like that. Hard as heck to photograph it too.

FWIW, I think Ford should have gone ahead and put a light behind the red reflector. Someday I might dare to disassemble a door and see about that.

sidenote...your local auto supply or hardware may have the D.O.T. reflective materials. I've seen it there before (hardware) if you have a cutter, that's an option.

 

[Glamdring70]

Sidemarker lights.

It's bugged me since I test drove the Sport that the red and amber sidelamps don't blink. You can sort of see flashers from the side, but I wanted something more direct. Originally I was going to take the Ford trademark sideplates off and rig up some kind of LED with a Dremel and hot glue. Procrastination paid off with fortune in the form of 3rd party option. I bought a set of premade LED sidelights off Big Rainforest from a seller called DZG.

The lights are such a knock-off item, they failed to remove the molded in FoMoCo and part number on the back that they copied/stole the original molds from. Well, anyhow, you can at least be sure it will be a good fit. The lights came with spring metal clips and a foam backing, just like the OEM, except they have an enclosed LED. Also, the color accent carbon grey piece isn't there. It's just the black plastic. Well, it's give and take to have plug-and-play.

Well, thanks to HugeGuyTheory over on this post we have the schematic:
https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/turn-signals.4186/post-71432

My vehicle is wired exactly like that diagram. Can't speak to all BS ever built or that will ever be built, but pin #2 which is blu/grn on driver side and yel/vio over on passenger side along with pin #8 (ground) provide power to the amber blinker part of the headlight assembly. The power is fed from upstream via a switching relay (the transistor marked FET in schematic). When you mess with loads on stuff sometimes you get a goofy result. For my part, I didn't notice anything weird like faster blinking, voltage bleeds or dimmer lights by just tapping those wires.

I am a bit pedantic about auto electrical. It's just never fun when it has an issue or when something faults. So I tried to do as much as possible to make the install clean and secure. I invested in some convoluted wire loom from Harbor Freight, but you can overpay for it at most hardware stores and DIY supply houses. I don't know what Ford did, but there was a lot of papery, black, masking tape like stuff on the factory harness and it was doing nothing. So I just took it off. Then there is the harness loom. It is (partially) in a sort of fabric wrap. No wonder rodents think modern cars are a buffet! Anyways, I hot glued the wires at the LED opening to better secure them and then shoved the entire length into the convoluted stuff and used a few points of electrical tape to hold it all together. Here is a pic of basically all the tools I needed. I also used a utility knife and a soldering iron:

Here is where the harness connects to the headlamp assembly. If you look at the wire loom, you can see that papery masking tape junk that was on it. You squeeze the tab and pull the connector off. Make sure the headlamps have finished the cooling cycle and the fan is off. I looked at taking the connector apart and splicing inside there, but it is tiny and the wires that are in use fill the space up. So I am going to splice onto the wire mid-loom.

Taking the old accents off is a matter of pinching the spring metal clip and gently pulling. Open the door so you can get on one side. Under the hood there is a (foam?) block that is literally just stuffed in there. You can just pull it back, no adhesive, no anchors. I worked the pliers from inside the fender so I couldn't slip and gouge the paint on the side of the car! Here is the block pulled down and out a bit. The accent piece is right under where that block of foam normally rests where the light is coming through in the pic:

You have to press the insert in and that takes a bit of force. Support the fender and frame with one hand from behind (try not to bend) and press it in until the clip snaps into place. Once that was in, I pressed the blocker foam back and then zip-tied the harness along the fender well where I found good attachment points. I took this before I snipped the ties so it's obvious where some are. I used 4-5 on each side.

Here is the driver side loom. I notched out the insulation and wrapped the marker LED wires onto the harness wires. I strongly recommend this as the best way to splice. Connectors corrode and come loose. But if you want fast and dirty, you can buy snap on splice packs that cut in and do this for you. I offset the wires so the cuts are not on the same spot inside. Then solder the joint, wrap it with electrical tape and all of that gets stuffed into the convoluted loom. Reseat the harness and plug it back in.

Steps are all the same on passenger side except the correct wire #2 is a different color and working around the washer fluid bottle was a little extra challenge. A set of hook nose pliers instead of straight needle nose might be easier to get the bottom spring clip off, or maybe go in from the door side to get it. I managed to do it but it came out with a little more POP than I expected.

Total time invested: 2.25 hours. Total cost: $49 LED pair plus incidentals. Here is the proof shot:

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