1968 Ford Bronco

The build in detail.

Every honest resto-mod has an origin story, and this one begins with a hard lesson. The owners sent their 1968 Bronco to a shop that promised a rolling chassis by January and delivered excuses instead. Thousands of dollars in, with parts scattered across benches and boxes and the truck no closer to running, they went looking for a shop that finishes what it starts. They found Crown.

The first job at Crown was not a wrench, it was a clipboard. Every bracket, every hose, every bagged bolt that arrived from the previous shop got tagged, photographed, and checked against the parts index before a single piece went back on the truck. It is unglamorous work, and it is exactly the work that keeps a family from paying twice for the same part, or discovering a missing bracket six months into reassembly.

Underneath, the Bronco now rides on a Patriot Classic 4×4 chassis, a heavy-duty steel frame with five cross members and a two-inch body lift built specifically to swallow a Coyote engine. That is exactly what is going in: a Gen 3 5.0-liter Coyote V8 rated at 460 horsepower, paired with a Ford 10-speed automatic, a Dana 44 front axle, and a Ford 9-inch rear on 4.11 gears. Wilwood six-piston brakes up front will do the stopping, and Bilstein 5100 shocks with a Rancho steering stabilizer will keep it composed on the trail or the highway.

Above the frame, the plan calls for a factory-correct silhouette in light blue over a distressed coyote-brown leather interior, hand wrapped around the dash, the shifters, and a roll cage built for real driving. The owners want a Bronco the family can climb into for a decade of trips, not a trailer queen. Crown is building toward exactly that, one logged part at a time.

Under the hood, power will come from a Gen 3 Coyote 5.0-liter V8 rated at 460 horsepowerDana 44 front axle with chrome-moly axles. The engine is paired with a Ford 10-speed automatic transmission, a Ford 9-inch rear on 4.11 gearsTimken bearings and 1350 billet steel yokes front and rear.

Patriot Classic 4×4 full frame with five cross members and a two-inch body lift. Stopping power comes from Wilwood six-piston front and four-piston rear disc brakes with stainless steel lines.

Distressed coyote-brown Italian leather interior with a roll cage built for real drivingBilstein 5100 shocks and a Rancho steering stabilizerLight blue exterior with chrome trim and factory emblems.