I found a 79 ford bronco custom for sale....owner is selling for health reasons.It has pretty good body..some rusted out places around door jams and bottom of tail gate..interior is poor but all glass is good no cracks.It is priced at 1000.00 but owner is out of town so I havent been able to start it yet.I was told running gear,motor and 4 wheel drive works good but it needs brake work and tires.What should I look for before I buy? Owner says it has 351 windsor engine? It has round head lights and most 79 models I have seen have square.Is this a fair price or slightly over priced...thanks for any help  

look for rusted tailgate (at the bottom)
if it needs brakes broncos are bad for brake portion valves being bad
and rusted brake lines on rear axle
and being gas hogs
i have 1995 bronco 351w and im looking for a tailgate  

these trucks are known to rust first around the wheelwells, tailgate, and bottom of the doorjambs. if the wheelwells are a bit rusty fender flares can solve this issue, if it is more sever cutouts from bushwhacker can solve this problem but they are wider so you will want to make sure it looks ok with your lift/tire size.  As for the headlights they came with both rouund and square and are ver easily interchageable. switch out retaining bucket and bezel and you ca can go from round to square in a snap.  One downside to the 351 is that ford did make alot of different kinds so sometimes it can be hard to tell exactly which you have. If the guy seems to know the truck fairly well you should be fine or run the vin code to double check. To me as long as the running gear is in fairly reliable shape and the body/frame are in fairl reasonable shape then 1000 bucks is a fairly good deal for a truck that is ready for the trail with minimal amount of work.  

It all depends on what you are planning on doing with it.Daily driver or off-road toy.One of the things you need to check is the body mounts.They are prone to rusting out.These can be exspensive to replace.If the motor hasn't been replaced then it should be a 351 modified.It is about right on the price for it.www.broncograveyard.com is a good place to check out prices for just about all parts for these.  

The 3 different 351's are the 351W which represent where it was produced - Windsor, Canada, the 351C from the Cleveland plant, and the 351M - the M actually doesn't mean anything, it was just set it appart from the other two, but most have taken the "M" to stand for modified.  The price is fair, but sometimes you can come across real deals.  About 7 years ago someone here  bought a 79 Bronco for $500 and it was in good running order, it had the rust but good mechanical order.