Backwards Bill's Garage · Leander, TX
Built in Leander, Texas, near Austin. Shipped nationwide.
Backwards Bill's Garage builds custom restomod Broncos from 1966 to 1977 Ford Broncos. That can be a resealed driveline, fuel injection and new suspension on the Bronco you already have, or a full frame-off build on a new Kincer chassis with a modern engine, brakes and wiring. We build one or two at a time for owners anywhere in the country.
Most people who call us have the same worry. They're about to spend real money on a truck they can't stand over every day, with a shop they found online.
Everything about how we work is built around that worry. You get a real number before anything comes apart, a call before anything changes, and photos the whole way through.
From around $65K
Full frame-off builds have run about $300,000
8 to 9 months
For a full frame-off build
New Kincer chassis
Under every frame-off build
150 shakedown miles
At least, before delivery
Shipped nationwide
Most of our Broncos leave Texas
Built by Cam Musgrove
About 15 early Broncos and an IMSA race team background
Start a build conversation
Tell us about your Bronco
Tell us what you've got, or what you're looking for, and how you want to drive it. If what you want and what you want to spend don't line up, you'll hear it on the first call instead of a year in.
Or call (512) 937-7086, Monday to Friday, 8AM to 4PM.
5.0 on Google
"Cam was very quick to get me a quote and communicated with me throughout the entire process. If you're looking for an honest reliable shop these guys are it."
"It's refreshing to find someone who actually cares about your car equally or more than you do."
A restomod Bronco keeps what people love about a classic Ford Bronco: the body, the size, the look. Then it replaces what made the truck hard to live with. The original frame, drum brakes and 1960s steering come out. A modern chassis, engine, brakes, suspension and wiring go in.
A restoration puts the truck back the way Ford built it. A restomod builds the truck Ford would have built with today's parts.
It looks like 1969 when you walk up to it. It drives like a modern truck when you turn the key.
Every Bronco we build is custom. There's no package list and no trim levels. The truck gets built around how you're going to drive it.
| Original 1966 to 1977 Bronco | Backwards Bill's frame-off restomod | |
|---|---|---|
| Frame | Original frame, more than fifty years old | New Kincer chassis |
| Engine | Inline six or small-block V8 | Coyote, Godzilla, LS, 306 MAX or R2.8 Cummins |
| Brakes | Drums on most early trucks | Modern disc brakes |
| Suspension | Front coils, rear leaf springs, original geometry | Modern coil, coil-over or 4-link setup |
| Wiring | Original harness | New wiring throughout |
| Air conditioning | Rare | Available |
A Bronco can look perfect parked outside a restaurant and still be miserable to own. It wanders on the highway, something electrical quits, and every drive ends with a new noise to track down.
Cam's least favorite line in the Bronco world is "that's just how they drive." He doesn't accept it, and neither should you.
So we put the effort where you won't see it. The wiring under the dash gets laid out clean. Fuel lines get run tidy, with attachment points that don't fail. Mounts, wiring, cooling, fuel and driveline get handled as one job, so the parts work together instead of fighting each other.
Before any truck leaves, we drive it at least 150 miles and fix whatever those miles turn up. We'd rather find the rattle, the leak or the loose connection before you do.
The point is a truck you use. Drive it to work, take the kids for ice cream, or put three hours of interstate under it without wondering what that noise was.
Your Bronco won't spend a year sitting in the corner of a shop. We keep one or two major builds in the building at a time, so when your truck is here, somebody is working on it.
Plan on 8 to 9 months for a full frame-off restomod Bronco build. A simpler engine swap on a solid truck can be done in about 6 months. Heavy custom work, or parts that are built to order, can push a build past a year.
The shop stages add up to about 6 months. Good parts often aren't on the shelf, and some are built to order. Waiting on those parts, plus paint, is what takes a full build to 8 or 9.
Paint and bodywork are the one thing we don't do in-house. We'll tell you up front who's doing it and where it fits in your schedule.
You'll get photo updates as the work happens. When the truck is done, you get a binder with the paperwork for every part on it and a USB drive with the full photo album of the build.
The two things that stretch a build are parts and changes. We chase the parts. Making decisions quickly and sticking with the plan is the best thing you can do to keep yours on schedule.
Here's how the shop time breaks down when every part is on the shelf.
| Stage | What happens | Time with parts in stock |
|---|---|---|
| Teardown and prep | The body comes off, everything comes apart and gets photographed | About 1 month |
| Chassis and driveline | Kincer chassis, engine, transmission, axles, brakes and suspension | About 2 months |
| Paint and body | Handled by an outside paint shop | Scheduled with the paint shop |
| Body, wiring and interior | The body goes back on, new wiring, gauges, seats and trim | About 2 months |
| Shakedown | We drive it at least 150 miles and fix whatever those miles find | Before delivery |
Restomod Bronco work at Backwards Bill's Garage starts around $65,000. That covers cleaning up and resealing the entire driveline, a fuel injection conversion and new suspension. A full custom frame-off build sits at the other end and has run about $300,000. Where yours lands depends on a handful of decisions, and we walk through every one with you before you commit.
You'll get a written plan with the scope, the parts and the budget before a wrench turns. Parts are paid for in full up front, and full builds are billed every two weeks as the work gets done.
Nothing gets added to the bill without a phone call first. If something changes during the build, like rust we didn't expect or a part on back order, you hear about it before we spend your money on it.
We won't throw out a low number to get you in the door and walk it up on you later.
The things that move the number most:
You don't need to know which engine you want, which chassis, or what a 6R80 is. Figuring that out is our job.
We hear the horror stories all the time. Someone buys an engine online, a transmission from somebody else, and a suspension kit that looked right. None of it fits together, and now they're paying a shop to undo it.
Cam learned engine fitment the hard way years ago, so our customers don't have to.
That's also why we don't install customer-supplied parts. When we source every part, we know it fits. If something fails down the road, there's no question about whose problem it is. It's ours.
The first call is a conversation. Cam usually asks:
Your answers decide the engine, the chassis and most of the parts list. If what you want and what you want to spend don't line up, you'll hear it on the first call instead of a year in.
We use the best parts we can get. We also know a Bronco build is a big number for most people, and we'd rather you spend it where it counts.
Cam will talk you out of parts you don't need, and out of cheap parts that cost you later. When he looks at other shops' Broncos, the misses are usually the same. The wheels and stance are off, or the build cost a lot more than the finished truck is worth.
Tell us your budget and we'll show you the best truck it can build. If a less expensive part does the job just as well, we'll tell you.
Every frame-off Bronco we build sits on a new Kincer chassis.
An original early Bronco frame was designed in the mid-1960s for a small six-cylinder, drum brakes and skinny tires. After more than fifty years, most of them have rust in the seams you can't see until the truck is apart. Putting 450 horsepower on that is asking a lot of old steel.
Kincer builds early Bronco chassis to order in Louisville, Tennessee. They're designed for engine swaps from the start, so a Coyote, Godzilla, LS or Cummins goes in without fighting the frame. Kincer built the chassis under Jay Leno's early Bronco, and its chassis carry Ford's official licensed product mark.
We're on Kincer's builder list. Their own early Bronco chassis page sends owners who need a shop to finish the build to us. If you want to call Kincer and ask about us, go ahead.
| Kincer series | Built for | What's underneath |
|---|---|---|
| Classic | All-around driving with a classic Bronco feel | Heavy-duty frame, upgraded suspension, stronger axles, bigger brakes |
| Freeway | Street cruising and road trips | Coil springs at all four corners, 4-link rear, extended front radius arms, Bilstein shocks |
| Adventure | Street and trail | Coil-overs, custom 4-link front and rear, Wilwood brakes, fabricated axles |
The right one comes down to how you drive. You can compare all three on our Bronco chassis page. We also install Kincer chassis on customer trucks as standalone work.
Cam likes a pushrod V8, and the Godzilla is about as good as a modern one gets. It's our favorite for these trucks. But tell us how you plan to drive it and we'll tell you honestly which one you actually want.
There's more on each one on our Bronco engine swaps page.
| Engine | Output | A good fit if you want |
|---|---|---|
| Ford 7.3L Godzilla V8 | 450 hp, 475 lb-ft | Big low-end torque from a simple pushrod V8 |
| Ford Coyote 5.0L Gen 4X V8 | 460 hp | A lightweight aluminum V8 that loves to rev |
| GM LS V8, 5.3L to 7.0L | Depends on displacement | The most power per dollar, with parts everywhere |
| BluePrint 306 MAX Bronco Edition | 365 hp, 365 lb-ft | A classic small-block Ford, built for low-end torque |
| Cummins R2.8 turbo diesel | 170 hp, 310 lb-ft | Diesel grunt down low for trail and towing |
Cam Musgrove leads every build. He came up through General Motors training, worked with Pratt Miller in professional motorsport, and was a crew chief for an IMSA race team before this shop. He has finished about 15 early Broncos, including a few firsts:
John Kemper and Coleman Bement work alongside him. John has eight years in the industry and is a TSTC automotive graduate. Coleman has five years in engine swaps and restoration. The people who tear your truck down are the people who put it back together.
Weston Ready started Backwards Bill's because he was tired of how the performance world handles budgets and timelines. That's why you get a written plan, a real number, and a phone call before anything changes.
That's what we want to be known for. Down-to-earth people, doing the best work we can, and telling you the truth along the way.
Some people want to commission a build. Others would rather skip the wait and drive one home. We do both.
Building one means the truck gets set up around exactly how you'll drive it, and you watch it come together over 8 to 9 months. Buying one finished means you can have it sooner, built by the same people to the same standard.
We build some Broncos on spec, with no buyer attached, so from time to time we have finished restomod Broncos ready to go. What we have changes, so the best way to find out is to ask. You can also see finished trucks in our gallery.
We also buy and sell early Broncos, and we help clients find the right donor truck to build from.
Whoever you build with, ask these questions before you send a deposit. A good shop will answer every one of them without hesitating.
One more worth asking anywhere you look: can I see underneath a finished build, and not just the paint?
| Ask any builder | Backwards Bill's answer |
|---|---|
| How many builds are in your shop right now? | One or two major builds at a time |
| Who actually works on my truck? | Cam, John and Coleman, the same crew start to finish |
| What happens when the scope or budget changes? | A phone call before any money gets spent |
| How does payment work? | Parts paid in full up front, then billing every two weeks on full builds |
| How often will I get updates? | Photos as the work happens |
| How many miles do you put on it before delivery? | At least 150 |
| What paperwork do I get when it's done? | A binder with every part's paperwork and a USB drive of build photos |
| Can I come see my truck during the build? | Yes, by appointment, or on a video walkthrough |
Backwards Bill's Garage is an early Bronco restomod shop at 14305 FM 2769 in Leander, Texas, twenty to thirty minutes northwest of downtown Austin. Most of the Broncos we build leave Texas when they're done.
Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM. Visits are by appointment.
We help coordinate enclosed or open transport in both directions, and we price the haul into the quote.
You're welcome to come see your truck during the build, by appointment. Most owners fly in twice, once at teardown and once at delivery. If you'd rather not travel, we'll walk you through it on video.
You can see everything we do on early Broncos on our Early Bronco page. The same crew also handles air-cooled Porsche work. Same bench, same standard.
Backwards Bill's Garage
14305 Farm to Market Rd 2769
Leander, TX 78641
(512) 937-7086
Monday to Friday, 8AM to 4PM
By appointment only
Restomod Bronco work at Backwards Bill's Garage starts around $65,000 for a full driveline cleanup and reseal, a fuel injection conversion and new suspension. A full custom frame-off build has run about $300,000. The donor truck, engine, paint, interior and extras decide where a build lands. Every customer gets a written plan with the budget before any work starts.
Parts are paid for in full up front at Backwards Bill's Garage. Full builds are billed every two weeks as the work gets done. Nothing gets added to the bill without a phone call first.
No. Backwards Bill's Garage doesn't offer financing. We'll help you plan a build that fits the budget you have.
A full frame-off restomod Bronco build at Backwards Bill's Garage takes 8 to 9 months. A simpler engine swap on a solid truck can take about 6 months. Heavily custom builds, and parts that are built to order, can stretch a build past a year.
Sometimes. Backwards Bill's Garage builds some Broncos on spec and occasionally has finished restomod Broncos ready to sell. Inventory changes, so contact the shop to see what's available right now.
No, and most people don't. Cam will ask how you plan to drive the truck and what your budget is, then recommend the engine, chassis and parts that fit. That's how you avoid buying parts that don't work together.
No. Backwards Bill's Garage sources every part that goes into a build. That way everything fits, and if something fails later, one shop is responsible for it.
Yes. If you already own an early Bronco, it can be the starting point for your build. Send photos, especially of the underside, and we'll tell you honestly what it needs. If you don't have one yet, we can help you find a good donor truck.
Yes, if it's the right platform for the build. Backwards Bill's Garage will build on any suitable platform, original early Broncos and new reproduction bodies included, and we'll tell you which one makes more sense for the truck you want.
Yes. Backwards Bill's Garage takes over stalled builds from other shops. We go through the truck, document every issue we find, and give you a straight plan to get it finished.
Plenty of people do. Where do-it-yourself Bronco builds usually go wrong is fitment: an engine, transmission and suspension bought from different places that don't work together. If you're building your own, we take on standalone work like chassis installs, suspension, brakes, air conditioning and interiors, and we source the parts we install. No job is too small.
No. Most of the restomod Broncos we build leave Texas. We help coordinate transport both ways and include the haul in the quote.
A restoration brings a Bronco back to its stock look. A restomod keeps the original body and look, then replaces the chassis, engine, brakes, suspension and wiring with modern parts. Backwards Bill's Garage builds restomods and stock-style restorations. Even a stock-style build gets aftermarket parts most of the time, because they hold up better than OEM. We don't do factory-correct restorations.
Picture the first Saturday it's yours. A full tank, the top off, an early start, and nothing in the back of your mind wondering whether it'll make it home.
Getting there starts with one conversation.
Tell us what you've got, or what you're looking for, and how you want to drive it. If we're not the right shop for it, we'll tell you that too.
