adsm08's Ranger build up

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

My truck was a 2wd when I started. I went and cut my engine crossmember out then built a removable crossmember out of .25" X 2" X 5" tube.
That gave me 2" of clearance even with a 5.0
So that's what I recommend.


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[adsm08]

From past experience I doubt adsm08 has any V8 swap plans though.

Actually, I stated that the idea is now on the table earlier on this page. I've decided that I have enough brakes and now I need more power.

The 4.0 just can't move as much as my brakes can stop.

I'm not 100% set on anything yet, I'm still just spit balling. With my current cash-flow status and work schedule no decision needs to be made on a frame for a few months, and the engine can happen whenever I am ready. My heaviest moving is done for the foreseeable future.

 

[prerunner]

With a live axle, the crossmember mostly keeps the frame rails the right distance apart and to some degree provides a place to mount the engine although that can be trimmed back significantly or replaced as others have done.
On a TTB or TIB truck the crossmember doubles as a suspension mounting point and out of necessity is quite beefy.
You're in an excellent position to have a second frame to modify to suit your needs while keeping your 4x4 to do what its always done for you.

My vote (it is a poll thread...) would be to strip the front sheetmetal and engine out of your parts truck, mock in a D30HP (Jeep XJ) axle and see if you think its feasible within your skillset, tool collection and budget. You should find the XJ D30's fairly cheap and common. They sure are around here.

If its not something you feel like pursuing, its still a parts truck and you should get back any investment in that D30. You should only lose your time invested.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[adsm08]

Thanks Prerunner. That's was extremely helpful, since I hadn't thought about it that way. I am in the unenviable position of having to deal with PA inspections though, which means I do have to be careful about what I do to the frame in terms of removing stuff.

Anyway, to today's business, my new bed:



I got it off about two weeks ago, but was short on time and help, so it just sat in the garage. I got it flipped and set on stands Sunday and got to take a good look at the under side. Little rust, mostly around the welds and mounting points, which is to be expected.

The plan ATM is to wire brush and sand the whole under side, replace that heat shield, and treat the whole under side with a rust inhibitor before painting. I am still collecting supplies and tools for all this, which is OK, because I probably won't be able to start sand and paint work until the end of April due to the weather. From now until the end of April, or beginning of May it's just going to be too wet.

 

[adsm08]

Going one step back, to the issue of more power, I have been working on a SportTrac, and talking to SnoRanger.

Yeah, I'm gonna take a crack at a SOHC swap. I am pretty sure I can make it work on my existing wiring, just going back to a batch-fire computer. I've been eyeballing things, by the looks of it it may even be possible to bolt the OHV accessory brackets to the OHC engine.

I negotiated a bit with the guy that owns the SportTrac I've been working on and I got him to leave the old engine as part of the payment. As best I can tell all it needs is a set of timing chains and some valve seals. I'm up in the air on using the early-build valve covers and intake I have, or go to the later ones used on the Rangers.

 

[prerunner]

Very doable. RacinNdrummin has (or had, haven't been there in a long while) a thread over on that Explorer forum. He put a 2006 SOHC into a 90 Bronco II running on the 90 computer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD6KCQm_nIo

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have heard of guys running V8's on V6 computers. Not knowing much about it it is kind of incredible it works.

 

[adsm08]

The old computers and engines were so simple that it isn't hard to believe a V8 could run on a V6 computer.

If the cylinder size is similar then the amount of air in the cylinder is gonna be similar.

Then if you are on a batch-fire system the computer doesn't know if it has 6 or 16 injectors. It's still only firing two units as far as the computer is concerned.

 

[Shoddy Cologne]

The old computers and engines were so simple that it isn't hard to believe a V8 could run on a V6 computer.

If the cylinder size is similar then the amount of air in the cylinder is gonna be similar.

Then if you are on a batch-fire system the computer doesn't know if it has 6 or 16 injectors. It's still only firing two units as far as the computer is concerned.

Thats confusing me a bit. So if youre running a V6 computer in say a 5.0 swap does that mean you dont swap the wiring harness?

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[adsm08]

Thats confusing me a bit. So if youre running a V6 computer in say a 5.0 swap does that mean you dont swap the wiring harness?

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Eh, do what ever you want.

I have seen a few 5.0 swaps done with little more than adding two injector connectors to a 2.9 harness and rearranging a few pins at the PCM.

 

[adsm08]

So I was looking at the picture of the truck back on page one from when she was bone stock and thinking that she doesn't even look like the same truck anymore.

Then:


This past November:


Now for about a month's worth of update/pictures.

We all remember the immaculate red Ranger I brought home last May.


It is missing some parts now.


No engine or trans anymore either.

There's the bed:


The underside isn't too bad, but it could be better

That heat shield has got to go. Well, technically it's already gone, it's in the driveway now.

Spent two hours scraping, sanding, and applying rust converter about a week ago. Took this today though.

I got ahead of myself and started washing the head gate before I started taking pics.

So dirty



I washed it up good. First round with a sponge and some good car soap. Then I rinsed, what didn't come off got hit with a a piece of scotch-brite. I washed and rinsed a few times, until I had it all good and clean, then I scratched the head gate up good for some mechanical adhesion. Then it was time to make it pretty.

First coat on the underside of the bed


First coat on the head

Second coat from far away


Head gate after the second coat



The underside of the bed is nice and smooth. The head gate is orange-peeled pretty bad and has a few minor runs in it, but all things considered I think it has turned out pretty good. Today was my first run painting with a new setup that I have never used before, and this paint isn't really meant to be sprayed.

I'm using Valspar Tractor and Implement paint, which is a very thick oil-based paint, in a gloss black. I mixed it up using a formula I found here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Painting-a-vehicle-using-Tractor-Paint/step4/Masking-off-the-truck-and-painting-the-door-jambs/

I spent about $200 on paint, thinner, and hardener. 2 gallons of paint and thinner each, and 4 bottles of hardener. I need more hardener, I have mixed about 32 ounces of paint and used almost a whole bottle of hardener.

I am going to turn the bed over and do the inside of the box in a few days. I am going to try to refine my paint mix and gun settings as I go over the inside of the box and try to eliminate the orange peel, but honestly I what I have now I can probably sand it smooth without any real effort, then buff it up to a nice shine.

If I can get the paint to lay nicely, which might just take a lot more much lighter coats (my test shots on the tail gate turned out nicer but are really really light) I will probably do the whole body with this stuff.

I am also thinking about changing up the silver stripe at the bottom, and going straight across, and not up over the wheel wells, like the newer F-150s with the two-tone paint. If I do that and decide that I cant live without that silver arch I will probably get some fender flares and paint them silver.

Since Valspar doesn't make the T&I paint in silver I am also thinking about doing the lower stripe in bed armor.

 

[Shoddy Cologne]

Sweet. Im interested to see how this turns out. I like the idea of using implement paint. Thats should hold up better than chassis paint right?

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[adsm08]

The tractor paint was recommended to me by a guy I worked with who had done a frame-off resto/fire recovery on his 96 F150. He used it on his frame and and bed box and they looked great.

He said he prefers the tractor paint to bed liner because if bed liner gets just a little bit of moisture behind it it is trapped and can eat the metal away anyway. The tractor paint is a super thick (hence the large amount of thinner in the formula for spraying) oil based paint, so it keeps water out once dry, but takes forever to dry in the first place and gives any moisture a good chance to evaporate and get out. Plus if you ever have to touch up the frame it can be done easily with a brush.

 

[Shoddy Cologne]

Ill consider that for a later project. Can you get decent results with a roller and brush? I feel that would be good option for the inside and floors of my bronco\57 without worrying about over spray on windows and panels.

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[85_Ranger4x4]

I'm using Valspar Tractor and Implement paint, which is a very thick oil-based paint, in a gloss black. I mixed it up using a formula I found here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Painting-a-vehicle-using-Tractor-Paint/step4/Masking-off-the-truck-and-painting-the-door-jambs/

That is ironic since Valspar spray paint runs better than most tractors, I hate the crap. Most every aftermarket tractor paint has switched to that watery junk.

Since Valspar doesn't make the T&I paint in silver I am also thinking about doing the lower stripe in bed armor.

They should, many tractors have silver rims. If they don't Case IH has a really nice shade of silver, I think they call it "argent" I can get a part number off a spray can you can match to a quart or whatever if you want.

My plan is bedliner the lower rockers to protect against airborne gravel, living on a gravel road they take a beating. I have experience the phenomenon you mention with rust under a coating with powdercoat but I don't know what else to do.

What are you using for a painting rig? How do you like it? I need to start collecting that stuff too...