Bronco Restoration Redefined: The Mike Manit Story

Third Time’s the Charm

Sometimes we come across cool vehicles while looking for magazine-caliber rides, and sometimes those vehicles come with just as cool of a backstory. We found exactly that with this 1972 Bronco that Mike Manit from Reno, Nevada, owns. We were able to chat with Mike to find out more about this flawlessly built rig. It was a long process with multiple versions of this Bronco, so we had to see how that happened. Follow along as Mike tells us in his own words.

BRONCO: What made you pick this specific vehicle up from the beginning?

MIKE MANIT: “I purchased my 1972 Bronco nearly 30 years ago. I was working lots of hours at that time and looking for a hobby to escape to on the weekends and evenings. My dad, now 78, suggested an early Bronco and said he knew of one for sale right down the road from his home in Quincy, California. What I didn’t know until later is that my dad has always wanted an early Bronco. At that time, I didn’t even know what an early Bronco looked like, so I drove up to Quincy to take a look. The little Bronco was completely stock, and I liked the idea of restoring it in a “stock-ish” manner—keeping it uncut with slightly larger tires and a small lift, paint, etc. We purchased the Bronco for $2,600 and took it straight into my dad’s garage that evening where we removed the top and rubber floor liner. I was shocked to see what was underneath, or more accurately what wasn’t there! The floor was completely rusted out to the point that I tried to take the Bronco back to the seller the following morning. She said that she could not take it back, but she would give me $500 back—and so our journey began!”

BRONCO: Being you weren’t a big shop owner or someone who regularly modified or restored vehicles, how did you tackle this worse-than-expected project? And how did you make that happen?

MIKE MANIT: “I remember being a little overwhelmed at the thought of how I could ever repair the rust. My dad’s response was that anything could be fixed and that we would tackle it together. With his positive attitude and encouragement, we did just that. I drove up to Quincy nearly every weekend and worked on the little Bronco in my dad’s garage, which sort of became like a sanctuary to me. I would crank up the music and spend countless hours away from work, phone calls and distraction while dreaming of how the project could turn out when finished. Most importantly now that I look back wasn’t the end result, but the weekends spent with my parents. I would work in the garage from Friday evening when I arrived, sometimes until 2 or 3 Saturday morning then grab some sleep and get back to it mid-morning Saturday and repeat until I had to leave Sunday. All this time in the garage with my dad and my mom’s famous taco dinners—life was good!”

BRONCO: How did the actual build process work for you and your dad?

MIKE MANIT: “Of course, the build went from an initially mild plan toward a more off-road focus. Once the body was back to solid, we tackled an engine rebuild on the stock 302, fitment of a 3.5-inch Wild Horses suspension with 2-inch body lift and cutting the rear fenders to fit 35s. A few years later I purchased Dynatrac high pinion 60’s front and rear. This was a huge purchase for me at the time.”

BRONCO: Now that you had the Bronco done and drivable, were you happy with it?

MIKE MANIT: “About the time my dad retired, we decided to put the Bronco under the knife yet again. With my dad being retired he had more free time, but I was working more than ever so weekends at my parents’ house was even more welcomed and important. We decided to change the paint color from tan to the now popular Boxwood Green, go to 37-inch tires, change the suspension to Wild Horses 5.5-inch lift, 3-inch body lift, move to Duff radius arms, add rear anti-wrap bar, etc. The build came out nice and we enjoyed driving the Bronco on weekends—camping trips, rock crawling with our kids, my dad, father-in-law, and brother-in-law. I remember my first rock crawling adventure. We were at the trailhead watching my brother-in-law navigate some tricky boulders. My wife must have seen my nervous look as we approached knowing that I was terrified to mess up the Bronco my dad and I had put so much work into. She turned to me and said, ‘If you want, I can tell everyone I am not feeling well so we can leave lol!’ Just one of the many things I love about my sweet wife; but I said no, we can do it. I remember my clutch foot shaking like crazy as we inched over the rocks, but we made it through and ultimately, I was hooked.”

BRONCO: Sounds like you really enjoyed this version of the Bronco. But just like any project, I bet you still had more changes you wanted to make.

MIKE MANIT: “About three years ago my business partners and I sold our company, and I decided to do one final build on the Bronco, but this time having the work done at a professional shop since my dad and I were working on another project, a 1959 F-100 4×4. I called multiple shops and ultimately selected Fat Fender Garage (FFG) owned by Jason Noel to do the work. They specialize in F-100s, Coyote swaps, and early Ford trucks and Broncos. The initial objective for the Bronco was to do a Coyote swap and new seats. Of course, as many can relate, the project ended up getting completely out of control with a complete body off frame restoration, suspension changes, 3-speed t-case, Tremec 4050, Whipple supercharger, new interior with electric Mustang seats on lowered floor pans, 40-inch tires and on and on!

“The process was a dream come true to work with the guys at FFG to build a Bronco that would be a nod to the work my dad and I did early on, but with a fresh new twist here and there. For instance, when Jason at FFG asked what color we wanted to go with I said we have to use the same Boxwood Green my wife and I saw on a bump side F-100 almost 15 years ago. I took a little grief over not going with coilovers, but again the Wild Horses 5.5-inch lift served me so well with such great drivability, I decided to simply purchase a new kit and move to longer 15.5-inch shocks. Roman Elizondo at FFG designed the new shock mounting to both accommodate the gen 3 Coyote and get the full 15.5 inches of travel out of the new shocks. There are many additional little touches that honor the prior work my dad and I completed years ago while infusing modern technology and comfort. Most recently FFG entered the Bronco in SEMA 2023 along with a Squarebody C10 called “Red Velvet” they completed, as well as an incredible Bumpside F100. The Bronco and C10 finished in the SEMA Battle of the Builders top 40 with Red Velvet finishing top 10 in its category and the Bronco finishing top 10 in the Four-Wheel Drive and Off-Road category.”

We love stories like this, where father and son work for half their lives together on a project, which brings them closer together and creates a huge bonding process. Even with the Bronco being “done” multiple times, Mike always found changes to make it better time after time. But it seems with this latest version of the Bronco, it may be its final phase. Not sure what else can be done at this point to make it any better. This just goes to show, you need to buy that project vehicle and make those memories while you still can. You can make more money, but you can’t get back the time you let pass by.

SPECS

Owner: Mike Manit

Location: Reno, NV

Vehicle: 1972 Bronco

ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN: 2021 Gen 3 Coyote 5.0 V-8, ARP head studs, MMR timing guides and tensioners, Whipple supercharger, Modified PBH front runner, Moved engine 3 inches to passenger side, Hero 3-speed t-case, FFG custom headers, FFG custom stainless exhaust, Tremec 4050, Silver Sport Transmission short throw shifter, Tilton racing clutch, Arizona Driveshaft 1410 shafts, ARB air lockers front and rear, Dynatrac disc brakes, Baer Remaster master cylinder, Wild Horses 4×4 hydroboost, All engine work by Fat Fender Garage (FFG)

CHASSIS: Stock but modified by FFG, Long-travel shock hoops front and rear, Modified front cross member, All frame holes welded up, Powdercoated frame, 5.5-inch Wild Horses lift (front coil, rear leaf), 14.8-inch travel Rancho RS9000 shocks, Fox bump stops, FFG custom axle wrap, Custom skid plates, Wild Horses 4×4 M1A1 stainless EFI fuel tank (modified by FFG), All chassis work by Fat Fender Garage (FFG)

WHEELS & TIRES: 17×8.5-inch Hutchinson Rock Monster wheels with 4.5-inch BS, 40-inch Mickey Thompson Baja Boss M/T tires

EXTERIOR: FFG modified Hanson bumpers, Winch, fog light and spare mount, Wild Horses 4×4 Gorilla Warflares, KC fog and reverse lights, Boxwood Green paint by Fat Fender Garage (FFG)