This 1973 Classic Ford Bronco Has Been Beautifully Restored

Nate Harvey has 27 years of wheeling experience and a long history with early Broncos. In fact, he has owned several of them, and he’s even raced a Bronco in Tough Truck competitions. So, it makes sense that his latest project is this awesome 1973 Ford Bronco, which he built from the ground up using parts from his collection combined with new components.

Combining Old With New

We caught up with Nate at the 2025 Summer 4-Wheel Jamboree in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, which gave us the opportunity to see his latest in-process creation. Its foundation is a 1973 Bronco from his collection, and it reuses the rig’s frame, a few of its body panels, and other original parts. Nate also integrated a laundry list of new body components from CJ Pony Parts.

Fuel-Injected 302 V8 Under The Hood

Nate’s 1973 Ford Bronco is powered by a fuel-injected 302 cubic-inch V8 that he acquired from a 1989 F-150 pickup. Modifications are light—primarily a pair of headers to help improve performance. Other underhood items include an aluminum radiator and an Optima YellowTop battery.

Manual Transmission, Twin-Stick Dana 20 T-Case

Bolted to the small-block V8 is an NP435 four-speed manual transmission that he purchased from a seller on Facebook Marketplace. Mated to the transmission is a Dana 20 transfer case that Nate had in his Bronco parts stash. The T-case is controlled via a twin-stick setup from Wild Horses 4×4, and it uses Advance Adapters linkage.

Axles Procured From a 1976 Bronco

The Bronco’s axles were also acquired from Nate’s parts stash. The front Dana 44 is from a 1976 Bronco, and he completed a disc brake conversion. He also added a truss to strengthen the housing and PSC Motorsports hydraulic steering to make pointing the 15/39.5-15LT Interco Super Swamper TSL tires (mounted on 15-inch-wide Bart wheels) easy. The 9-inch rear axle also came from a 1976 Bronco, and it was upgraded to disc brakes and a truss. Both axles have 3.50:1 gearing.

Five-Link Suspension With Coilovers

The Bronco’s suspension was designed to handle everything from high-speed to low-speed wheeling. It includes Profender remote-reservoir coilover shocks front and rear, tuned specifically for the rig. Nate reused a set of air bumps from a race truck he owned, and he added limit straps to both axles. A five-link setup at each end locates the axles, and the link bars are constructed from 1.5-inch-diameter thick-wall tubing.

Interior Mods, Custom Cage

The Bronco’s floor and other contact areas are coated in Raptor bed liner to ensure durability. Other interior modifications include front Corbeau seats with four-point harnesses, an instrument cluster sourced from Jeff’s Bronco Graveyard, and an aftermarket steering wheel. There’s also a custom center stack that houses a voltage gauge, power sockets, and switches.

Providing safety for passengers is a custom roll cage. Nate says, “I took ideas from several factory options and combined them to get the look and lines to fit the early Bronco.” It’s made from 2-inch-diameter, 0.120-inch-wall tubing.

All-Business Exterior

The truck’s exterior vibe is all business. It features a simple black and gray motif, sans chrome. Nate fabbed the bumpers from the same material as the roll cage. The front bumper helps create an outstanding approach angle and also serves as a mount for an LED light bar. The rear bumper is designed to provide a great departure angle and includes a 2-inch hitch receiver. Other exterior mods include LED headlights and taillights, as well as a custom hood scoop.