4BT-POWERED DRAMS
A FULLY OVERHAULED 1974 BRONCO BEAUTY & BEAST
This 1974 Bronco masterpiece is a story of diesel passion, and a project vehicle that sat for years. Paul Rutledge has always been a Bronco fan, and a forum thread by a guy back in 2003 who swapped a 4BT into a Bronco stirred Rutledge’s imagination. That diesel swap project stuck in Rutledge’s head for years until he finally found a Bronco with which to build his passion project in October of 2013.
The Beginning
The base truck only cost him $7,000, but he and his wife Naomi had to drive all the way to Oklahoma City from his home in Jasper, Texas, to get it—an 8-hour drive each way. The 1974 Bronco he found was just a shell of a vehicle; it wasn’t running, it had cut-up fenders, and there was rust on the floors and other decay. The Bronco project sat in the back corner of Rutledge’s diesel performance shop, Complete Performance, for years, as life, marriage, and owning a diesel shop kept him busy. While the Bronco collected dust, Rutledge kept seeing amazing renderings and vehicle builds coming to realization over the years. In order to find the motivation to finish the Bronco project of his dreams, Rutledge turned to Kris Horton of Cars by Kris to create a rendering of his vision in May 2017. That rendering hung on Rutledge’s fridge, a continual reminder that he needed to finish what he started.
Getting Started
One of the key features for Rutledge’s vision was a custom set of Weld XT wheels. Specifically, he wanted to incorporate the new spin on an old-school Cheyenne wheel. A copy of the Bronco rendering was sent to Ryan Husted at Weld XT, who was instantly interested in helping get things moving—and to have the completed Bronco in the Weld XT SEMA Show booth.
It took from May to August to solidify a program and get moving on the build, which left only a few short months to put things together. Once Weld XT was all-in and the Bronco was to be featured at SEMA, a host of other sponsors jumped on board to turn Rutledge’s vision into reality.
Just as the project was about to get going, Hurricane Harvey hit in late August, which set the project back a good three weeks with the massive flooding and the damage the storm created. Rutledge almost called off the build, but his brother and business partner Chris reminded him that the team at Complete Performance has pulled off bigger feats in the past and that they’ve never backed down from a challenge. The entire shop rallied to make sure the Bronco was ready for SEMA.
The Build
Most everything on this Bronco is custom built, from the frame to the engine and most of the accessories. Rutledge’s shop, Complete Performance, tackled the