My 87 Ranger I will be restoring soon I want to keep track of my progress and add information as I find it.

[Terrys87]

I am staying with the non Halogen headlight. To me, the Haligen pulls two much current thru the Dimmer Switch and melts the plug. A friend of mine is going to help me do the Headlight Relay Upgrade to avoid the melted plug.

 

[Terrys87]

I do not recommend trying to disassemble the vents. The tabs are just to brittle. I have some spares and going to junk yard and will grab some more.

After cleaning and painting and if tabs were not so brittle, the following picture is what you can have. I will just have to mask when I paint my other ones. I got Gray and Silver paint pens at Hobby Lobby. I think Silver will be best.

Here is what you could have if disassembly and reassembly would go without breaking tabs. I will get there but will have to do some fine masking.

 

[Terrys87]

Went to my local salvage. Last time they had three 89-92 trucks. They crushed 2. Only thing I could get off of the one they had was passenger window seal. Other side was missing. Guess I will work with what I have. Start insulating passenger door with sound deadner and new to me window seal. Small steps.

 

[Terrys87]

Mostly a reference picture for me for the grill piece.

 

[Terrys87]

The back of cubby hole has some felt worn off. I think I will find something similar and just do bottom only.
The back has some flaws. No way could I reline the whole box without wrinkles. I was experimenting with the Ranger badge hiding the backside. I think I will pass on the badge. I was hoping it would look like something the factory would do. I am not adding the badge.

 

[JoshT]

I am staying with the non Halogen headlight. To me, the Haligen pulls two much current thru the Dimmer Switch and melts the plug. A friend of mine is going to help me do the Headlight Relay Upgrade to avoid the melted plug.

I agree with keeping the load off the factory harness if possible. LEDs be your friend here. They cost more money, but they put out a lot more light with same or less draw than the stock sealed beams. Better than halogens too. When I get around to working on a first gen again, it'll be getting H4 conversion housings and a good LED bulb, or some 6054 LED assemblies like a jeeper would use.

My 68 F-100 uses the 7" round sealed beam. I'll eventually install a headlight harness. When I put it back on the road in 2018 it needed bulbs after sitting for 12 years. I installed Hella H4 conversion housings and middle of the road (for then) LED bulbs and it was an excellent lighting upgrade. I imagine it would be even better with updated LEDs.

View attachment 108551
I do not recommend trying to disassemble the vents. The tabs are just to brittle. I have some spares and going to junk yard and will grab some more. View attachment 108552
After cleaning and painting and if tabs were not so brittle, the following picture is what you can have. I will just have to mask when I paint my other ones. I got Gray and Silver paint pens at Hobby Lobby. I think Silver will be best. View attachment 108553
Here is what you could have if disassembly and reassembly would go without breaking tabs. I will get there but will have to do some fine masking.

Maybe try a little heat to soften the plastic. Not a lot. I'd use a heat gun on low since I have them, but possibly just a hair dryer would do. Maybe even some hot water. It'll help make the plastic a little more pliable and bend better without breaking.

I need to harvest a few of those vents myself. My sister does the craft show thing. One of the things she makes is the vent clip air freshners, but apparently people don't recognize what they are just sitting on the table. She was asking me about a way to get some vents to display them and first gen dash vents instantly popped in mind for an easy display. Size and shape would make them easy to pop into a board and set out on a table. Of course that might also make them too small.

View attachment 108558
The back of cubby hole has some felt worn off. I think I will find something similar and just do bottom only.
The back has some flaws. No way could I reline the whole box without wrinkles. I was experimenting with the Ranger badge hiding the backside. I think I will pass on the badge. I was hoping it would look like something the factory would do. I am not adding the badge.

I believe that the original finish on these is flocking or something close to it. IIRC it's finely chopped fabric (maybe felt?) glued to the surface. I believe it can be done at home and might be worth looking into if you want to closely match factory finish.

 

[Terrys87]

Hello JoshT.. Post a picture of your 68 F-100 on here. I always thought the several years of all Ford trucks look great. I plan on finishing this truck and my 87 and my big truck will be a 73-79 with 76-77 grill.

I eventually want to look inti some better headlights. I want to see what the newer style could do for visibility as I do a lot of night driving. I work 4pm-midnight, and we have deer a plenty around here.

I may be going to the boneyard this weekend if all works out and I want to grab some more vents to try heating see if that will soften the tabs. I have a list of several other parts I want. The boneyard is hour and half away that has a few trucks so want to make it worth my time.

I will Youtube up flocking and see what that brings up as I want this truck looking as close to new as I possibly can make it when finished. I would like to find some thing for the cubby hole. I have 2 more boxes that I can practice on. I do a lot of practicing on old or broke parts. I also like to tear a part a bad piece and see what can be done to fix it, improve it, or what caused it to go bad.

 

[Terrys87]

My old window seal was so old and brittle that it would only come out in pieces. The boneyard window seal is nice and flexible.

Some may not know that the doors have drain holes in them. They can clog and cause rust. I used a vacuum and air hoes to get all the debris out. The long narrow is a drain hole.

Next I used some Dawn dish detergent and pushed the seal down the metal track in door. Sometimes I would have to roll window up and pull from inside the door.

This seal is toast as well. It is the one that seals glass and outside door skin. I will purchase it new online somewhere. Best to remove it before installing the window seal. Be prepared to have a new seal to replace it as it is easily bent when removing

While in the door, I used my Amazon sound deadner. It was about $20 for a 3 foot square. I may buy another sheet when I do the drivers door window seal. Getting passenger door done should cut my wind noise down. Probably make me notice the drivers door more and get it higher up the priority list. The Velcro trick I did helped but was not the magic answer and was always a temporary fix for the time.

Also I started form the bottom of the door and only did 2 strips about 8 inches wide. Easier to fit thru the door slots and to handle. I overlapped the top sheet to the bottom like shingles on a roof so that any water could just run on down the door. I did not do the top 6 inches of the door due to the contours of the door. Not sure how well I could get it to stick and stay. This should be enought to cut down on road noise and the tinny sound of the door. I did notice a differnce in the door when I closed it. Or at least I think I did. It could just be in my head hoping I heard a difference. lol

 

[Awesom-O]

Looking great! I sprayed a rubberized bed liner in the dash cubby because mine had similar wear. It’s durable and has a texture. Yes, mask the vents as they are indeed brittle. Here is the brand of paint markers I bought off Amazon to do the chrome on the dash.

 

[Terrys87]

Thanks Awsome-0. I will be getting them on order and doing my trim in the. For now I am using silver from Hobby Lobby but to touch them back up in chrome won’t take long. Thanks again!!!!

 

[Terrys87]

Spent my allowance and I am getting two new tires and Alignment Saturday so I’m dining freebie things. I don’t plan on using these wheels, but it is what I have got for now. Aluminum Foil, Soap and water. Before pic on front drivers' side.

After wadded up foil and some elbow grease. I only have three of these rims. It is what came on it when I bought it.

Here after front has dried.

Here is driver rear before.

Here is driver after. Still need to do other side.

When I have the rims off of the truck, I will clean around the lug nuts. Just did not want to pull rims off for that reason today.

 

[Terrys87]

Yesterdays failure is now success.

With the other 3 unbroken vents I have. I cut 2 strips of paper and over lapped them.

Somehow pictures got out of order. With the broken vent I used it to practice and see what painting the individual vent flaps would look like. Not going to do it but broke parts can be handy.

Pinched them in the back. A stapler would have been nice to have.

 

[Terrys87]

A picture that did not post. I will edit when I get to computer and try to correct things. Was for previous post. I pinched them in back with a tight grip.

Only stock rim I have. Hope to pick up some stock Ford Outlaw 2 rims next week

 

[JoshT]

Looking great! I sprayed a rubberized bed liner in the dash cubby because mine had similar wear. It’s durable and has a texture. Yes, mask the vents as they are indeed brittle. Here is the brand of paint markers I bought off Amazon to do the chrome on the dash. View attachment 108581

You got a pic of the results? I've been trying to figure out a nice chrome marker to do the same when I start into the 85 Ranger.

 

[Terrys87]

You got a pic of the results? I've been trying to figure out a nice chrome marker to do the same when I start into the 85 Ranger.

Hello JoshT. I got my Silver marker from Hobby Lobby. Awsome-O found some chrome ones on Amazon.

I just posted on my thread with one vent done, and a way of not breaking them. Pictures got out of order but hope it shows a good way of doing it.