Bullnose Garage Monthly: Jan 2026

Shop talk and grease-smudged updates from the garage.

January was one of those months where progress doesn’t look flashy, but it matters. I officially hit pause on engine work and shifted gears hard toward getting the Bronco ready for Poverty Tour in June. That sounds far away until you realize how fast four months disappear when a 40-year-old truck is involved. This was about planting the flag and saying “okay, it’s go time,” even if that meant stepping away from the Windsor for a bit.  No worries, we’ll get the heads off soon (hopefully next couple of weeks) but having it sitting there doesn’t hurt anything.

At the same time, something new fired up in the shop. I finally got my 3D printer dialed in and forced myself to stop “thinking about learning Fusion 360” and actually learn it. Turns out, once you get over that first hump, it’s dangerously empowering. I’m now at the point where I can design and make my own parts instead of hunting forums or hoping the aftermarket hasn’t abandoned me yet. That’s a big shift for this channel, and honestly, I’m pretty fired up about where it leads.

Content-wise, January was… painful. Literally. I dropped a video on stuck bolts that is basically a highlight reel of frustration, a few wins, one big loss, and lots of mechanical stubbornness. If you enjoy watching someone suffer so you don’t have to, that one’s for you. And then there was the wildcard: my deep dive on the 7.3 IDI. That video took off in a way I did not expect and somehow became the biggest release I’ve ever put on the channel. Apparently, a lot of people still care about loud, slow, indestructible diesel engines. Who knew?

A lot of the January momentum has come out of the 3D printer. Bronco badges are coming off the bed like a factory run, and right alongside them is a growing pile of 3D-printed wrenches. And when I say a pile, I mean a whole lot of them. They’re part of a special project I’ve been quietly chipping away at, and at this point the printer is basically earning its keep around the clock.

At the same time, I’ve been deep into designing a new radio bezel for the Bronco. This isn’t just a cosmetic cover, either. It’s being built specifically to cleanly integrate a modern head unit and a CB radio into the dash without it looking like a stack of aftermarket compromises screwed together in the 1990s. This is easily the most complex thing I’ve designed so far, and it’s forced me to really learn Fusion 360 instead of just poking at it until something works. Painful at times, but incredibly satisfying when the parts finally fit the way they should.

All of that work finally justified something I’ve wanted to do for a while: I launched a dedicated 3D Print Space on the Bullnose Garage website. You can find it here:
https://bullnosegarage.com/3dprints

This is going to be the home for all the prints I come up with specifically for Bullnose trucks, from badges and trim pieces to functional parts that just don’t exist anymore. I also want this space to grow beyond just my stuff. If the community is designing smart, useful parts for these trucks, I want a place to showcase and share those too. Think of it as a growing digital parts bin for Bullnose owners.

Beyond plastic and pixels, there’s also been real-world progress on the Bronco itself. I’ve started knocking out paint work and touch-ups as part of the larger Poverty Tour prep, cleaning things up piece by piece so the truck looks as good as it runs. I’ll get more detailed on that in the Bronco-specific update section, but just know that January wasn’t all computer screens and printer noises. There’s been plenty of hands-on work happening too.

If you’ve ever gone digging for 302 hardware and come up with nothing but a handful of mystery bolts and your own rising blood pressure, you’ll feel right at home with this guide. We skim the big stuff… intake bolts, motor‑mount nuts, torque‑converter hardware, the smog pump circus, transmission bolts, and that A/C bracket that loves to vanish the moment you need it. Bullnose Bill tackles the real question here: where to find all the missing hardware on an ’86 F-150 302 and how to make sure you’re buying the right stuff instead of whatever the parts-counter kid shrugs at. If you want the full walkthrough, Bill’s answer is worth the read… he lays out exactly what to check, measure, and buy before you turn one more bolt.

The Windsor build is officially in a holding pattern right now while I focus on getting the Bronco ready for Poverty Tour. That said, it’s not completely frozen in time. I did manage to get all the bolts out, which honestly feels like a small victory in itself. Only one of the two heads was destroyed in the process, which is what it is.

The next step is pulling the heads. That’s queued up for the next stretch of real shop time I can carve out, hopefully within the next couple of weeks. Once the heads are off, things start getting a lot more interesting again, and I’ll be back into proper teardown and inspection mode instead of wrestling fasteners.

For now, the Windsor is patiently waiting its turn while the Bronco gets the attention it needs. It’s not abandoned, just temporarily sidelined.

The good news is the ’85 still runs, which automatically puts it ahead of a lot of old trucks on the internet. The less good news is that it’s developed a couple of electrical gremlins. The gas gauge and the blinkers both decided to stop working correctly at about the same time, which usually isn’t a coincidence. My current theory is a bad ground somewhere, so that’s officially on the diagnostic list.

I’ve also got the driver’s door panel off so I can finally deal with the locking mechanism. That’s been on the “I’ll get to it later” list for way too long, mostly because it involves tight spaces, sharp edges, and my very un-dainty hands. At some point you just have to stop avoiding it and accept that you’re going in knuckles first.

Nothing catastrophic, nothing glamorous, just the normal slow march of keeping a 40-year-old truck functioning the way it should.

Most of the real work this month went straight into the Bronco, and a lot of it was the kind of unglamorous-but-important stuff that actually moves the project forward. I started by cleaning up the exterior, which included peeling off every last old political sticker the previous owner had applied over the years. That alone made the truck feel about ten years newer.

Both bumpers came off next. The rear bumper is officially done for, thanks to a poorly designed hitch setup that the previous owner tried to tow something far too large with. It’s not salvageable, so it’s headed for retirement. I’ve already got a universal replacement bumper sitting in the garage and I’m just waiting on the mounting hardware to finish that part up. The front bumper, on the other hand, is in good shape. It just needs a fresh coat of paint, which puts it firmly in the “easy win” category.

Paint has been a recurring theme lately. I pulled the grille and headlight bezels and gave them a full refresh, and this is where the Bronco really started to take on its new personality. The grille is getting painted to match the copper accents I’m using for the new badges, which also went on this month. That same copper theme carries over to the wheels, which were painted, cleared with 2K, and finally wrapped in brand-new tires. That part felt huge. They’re not going on the truck just yet, though. I’m holding off until the brake overhaul is done.

Speaking of brakes, every part for a full front-and-rear brake refresh is either ordered or already on the way. I’m redoing everything. No shortcuts. This truck needs to be safe and predictable on the road, especially with the family riding in it. Once the brakes are done, the new wheels and tires can finally go on and the Bronco can start to feel like a real, usable vehicle again.

Inside the truck, I managed to score a really nice set of captain’s chairs to replace the completely worn-out bench seat. Comfort is about to improve dramatically. As soon as the new radio bezel design is finished, I’ll be able to start installing the interior pieces and tying everything together.

I’ve also been chasing down the gas gauge issue and I’m pretty confident I’ve got that one figured out. Turns out painting the fuel tank without accounting for grounding is a great way to make a gauge stop working. That one’s on me. The diagnosis is done, and I’ll be adding a proper ground strap to fix it and officially cross that off the list.

There’s still a lot to do, but the Bronco finally feels like it’s moving forward in a big way. My hope is to get a dedicated video out soon that covers the work so far and talks more about Poverty Tour itself, because this thing is quickly becoming the centerpiece of the start of this year.

From a channel perspective, January had two genuinely big milestones. The first is the 3D printer. That thing isn’t just a new tool, it’s already changing what this channel can do. Being able to design and make parts in-house opens up a whole new lane for content, especially for trucks where the aftermarket has quietly given up. You’re going to see a lot more problem-solving, custom parts, and “why doesn’t this exist already?” projects coming out of the shop this year.

The second big moment was the 7.3 IDI deep dive. That video took off way beyond anything I expected and somehow became the most popular video I’ve ever published. Clearly, there’s still a strong appetite for old-school diesel content, and that tells me I’m on the right track leaning into deeper, more technical engine history and teardown-style videos.

Behind the scenes, I’ve also been doing some less exciting but very necessary work on my editing and processing workflow. None of it is particularly interesting unless you’re also a YouTuber, but it should help me turn videos around faster and spend less time staring at progress bars. That means more time in the garage and more content actually making it onto the channel, which is a win for everyone.

If you’re reading this thinking, “Wait… isn’t it February already?” yes. Yes it is. Turns out January ended while I was still in the garage, covered in dust, paint, and excitement for the future. That one’s on me.

That said, a lot of real progress happened this month, and I wanted to get it all down in one place instead of rushing something out just to hit a calendar date. Thanks, as always, for sticking around, following along, and supporting what I’m building here. There’s a lot more coming as Poverty Tour gets closer, and things are about to get very real, very fast.

See you in the garage.

— Ed

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