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- Jul 28, 2009
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- San Diego
- Vehicle Year
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alright ladies and gents, thought I would throw this up on here. I like the 06 and up front end, but I have a 94 ranger that has way too much work to sell and buy a newer one. I also am lazy, so swapping the radiator core support was out of the question.
Now, going into this, I knew that there were some very clear differences, and that all of the exterior panels would need to be changed. So first thing I did was do research on what panels would have to be swapped out.
Fenders, Hood, Header Panel, Lights, Grille. Starting looking, and found everything i needed used. Bought a set of 01 fenders, 2010 hood, 09 grille and header panel, and 2006 lights.
once I got everything gathered up, I decided I needed to start bolting everything up, and see what modifications would have to be done to make everything fit.
Here you can see where the front of the fenders needed to be cut to fit properly
All the mounting holes on the fender do not match the inner fenders, so the mounting holes need to be redrilled.
After the fenders were on, next was the header panel. The header panel went on rather easy, but you will need to replace the mounting brackets with ones from whatever year clip your dealing with. I got mine from an 05 Edge. The holes do not line up, so they will need to be redrilled. I have yet to do it, just because its not really needed.
After the header panel bolts up fine to the fenders, and all the clips for the screws from the old doghouse will work on the new one. Corner lenses mount right up, but the lights are a TOTALLY different story. The header panel will need to be notched about an inch and a half to mount correctly. you can see from the pics below where I notched everything. Just used a die grinder and a 3" cut off wheel. The bulb retainer will not work either, as the newer headlights have a thicker housing. What to do you ask?? RTV it
The turn signals are now on the inside of the light instead of the outside like on the 93-97 style. The lights are VERY tight to get in, but once there, they dont move.
I used the factory headlight mounting clips, as once the panel was notched, everything fit fine.
Now comes the fun part.....
The 93-97 hood latch WILL NOT WORK. Period. Get the idea out of your mind. I went to a junkyard, and bought the piece you see below, along with all the headlight clips, and additional brackets for 50 bucks. Kinda pricey, but hey, its San Diego. Everything is expensive here.
What they did was cut the center section from an 05 Edge and kept the hood latch connected. I cut it down to what you see above. Next I removed the 94 hood latch and the trim piece that goes with it. (just a couple bolts and it comes right off) Next, I installed the hood, which to my surprise, was the toughest part of the whole swap. The mounting surfaces are just a little different on the 2010 hood, so i had to bend the factory hinges just a bit to fit correctly. Then i simply clamped the new latch section to the 94 support using vice grips. It took a few times to get it just right. Just clamped, shut the hood. Then if it was too high, take off the clamps, reposition, reclamp it. Once I had it right where i wanted it, drilled two holes through both the new latch piece and the 94 support being VERY CAREFUL to not press so hard that once i get through the metal, i go through the radiator. add two grade 5 bolts with a set of locking nuts and that is good. Next was the cable. Simply used a zip tie
Last brackets I had to buy were the fender mounting brackets that are below the header panel. These also came off the junkyard truck (05 Edge). They are a little bit longer than the 94 ones, so it lines the fender up correctly.
after all that fun... I went from this:
To This:
Now, going into this, I knew that there were some very clear differences, and that all of the exterior panels would need to be changed. So first thing I did was do research on what panels would have to be swapped out.
Fenders, Hood, Header Panel, Lights, Grille. Starting looking, and found everything i needed used. Bought a set of 01 fenders, 2010 hood, 09 grille and header panel, and 2006 lights.
once I got everything gathered up, I decided I needed to start bolting everything up, and see what modifications would have to be done to make everything fit.
Here you can see where the front of the fenders needed to be cut to fit properly
All the mounting holes on the fender do not match the inner fenders, so the mounting holes need to be redrilled.
After the fenders were on, next was the header panel. The header panel went on rather easy, but you will need to replace the mounting brackets with ones from whatever year clip your dealing with. I got mine from an 05 Edge. The holes do not line up, so they will need to be redrilled. I have yet to do it, just because its not really needed.
After the header panel bolts up fine to the fenders, and all the clips for the screws from the old doghouse will work on the new one. Corner lenses mount right up, but the lights are a TOTALLY different story. The header panel will need to be notched about an inch and a half to mount correctly. you can see from the pics below where I notched everything. Just used a die grinder and a 3" cut off wheel. The bulb retainer will not work either, as the newer headlights have a thicker housing. What to do you ask?? RTV it
The turn signals are now on the inside of the light instead of the outside like on the 93-97 style. The lights are VERY tight to get in, but once there, they dont move.
I used the factory headlight mounting clips, as once the panel was notched, everything fit fine.
Now comes the fun part.....
The 93-97 hood latch WILL NOT WORK. Period. Get the idea out of your mind. I went to a junkyard, and bought the piece you see below, along with all the headlight clips, and additional brackets for 50 bucks. Kinda pricey, but hey, its San Diego. Everything is expensive here.
What they did was cut the center section from an 05 Edge and kept the hood latch connected. I cut it down to what you see above. Next I removed the 94 hood latch and the trim piece that goes with it. (just a couple bolts and it comes right off) Next, I installed the hood, which to my surprise, was the toughest part of the whole swap. The mounting surfaces are just a little different on the 2010 hood, so i had to bend the factory hinges just a bit to fit correctly. Then i simply clamped the new latch section to the 94 support using vice grips. It took a few times to get it just right. Just clamped, shut the hood. Then if it was too high, take off the clamps, reposition, reclamp it. Once I had it right where i wanted it, drilled two holes through both the new latch piece and the 94 support being VERY CAREFUL to not press so hard that once i get through the metal, i go through the radiator. add two grade 5 bolts with a set of locking nuts and that is good. Next was the cable. Simply used a zip tie
Last brackets I had to buy were the fender mounting brackets that are below the header panel. These also came off the junkyard truck (05 Edge). They are a little bit longer than the 94 ones, so it lines the fender up correctly.
after all that fun... I went from this:
To This:
