Chapter1. Restoring My Classic Ford Bronco: My Overland Adventure on the Verge of Inception

"What are your options?"

REPAIR OR REPLACE

The first question with any restoration is do I repair or replace. Let's start with repair. Is the part restorable or reparable? In my case I quickly relized my orginal metal top was too far gone to be repaired. Replacement was the only option, but what are my options?

OPTION 1: HARD TOPS

Well, you can buy a bunch of OEM Bronco top parts from the leading Bronco parts stores, like Toms Offroad or Dennis Carpenter or CJ's Classic Trucks and weld them together. That is, you know how to weld and have a welder. Cost, around $4,000.If not, you will have pay someone to weld it. Cost, around $7,000.

Because of the recent popularity of the classic Bronco you can't find hard tops online like you could a few years ago. If you can find an unrestored used one, they will vary widely in price and quality. Original ones that are in mint condition are super expensive as well as high-end custom OEM hard tops.

Or, you can buy a complete custom Bronco that comes with a hard top. Cost, starting around $120,000.

OPTION 1: SOFT TOPS

Finding a basic soft top is much easier. There are a ton of aftermarket companies with varying prices and quality. Picking the right one for you can be confusing. Here are a just a few options; BesTop Supertop Classic , WildHorses Rampage Soft Top, Toms Offroad Vinyl Soft Top. Cost, from $650-$1,200.

Well there is the bikini top, if you have a roll bar and live in California. BesTop Cost, from $130.There's the half cab, if you need a really short bed or just like the look. Bronco Graveyard Cost, around $2,000.

OPTION 3: BUILD YOUR OWN

This seemed like a lofty idea at first. But, the more I thought about it, the more I said to myself; "I am a designer (more on that later), and I've been working on cars since I was a teenager". What could go wrong, right?

On to the next chapter...